Comments by "Steve Parker" (@steveparker8065) on "Just Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis speaking pure sense in Commons Select Committee" video.

Unemployment benefits alone cost £1.23 billion in 2020/21 yet we spend 100x that much on giving corporate subsidies. In the same year, 2020/21 £120.1 billion was given to corporations in subsidies alone, that's without bailouts, tax relief, tax loopholes etc. We aren't poor there is plenty of money in the pot, it's being given to the wealthy at the expense of our life expectancy!
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@alanb9443 Government stats from the ONS which anyone with an ounce of intellect would have researched before asking a redundant question...
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@MartinNelson Agreed to a point but those are gov stats, I have to use their own stats and terms to defend my position. What we also have to consider is that we pay our own wages through tax credits also. The taxpayer tops up low wages from corporations out of our own taxes. It's ridiculous. The Welfare state is funded by the taxpayer to protect the vulnerable, those with temporary illness, the disabled and those stuck in zero-hour contracts and temporary agency work. It's not a gift from a nanny state but a protection that we fund ourselves.
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"Capitalism is inherently corrupt, it is entirely capitalism under neoliberal direction. Privatisation, small government, deregulation of the banking sector and a huge percentage of taxpayer money being given to shareholders..." my reply to empty space!
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@NoNowwwell lol another person who fails to understand and interpret basic language... I didn't say welfare! I said unemployment benefits which is the term used by the ONS who provided the data!
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I can solve our economic woes: If we simply invest in the sunlit uplands and increase the unicorn population we could have a thriving business model to export to the world. You gotta think big!
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@Nickle314 I'm not being sealioned by someone who can't find simple ONS data and instead uses terminology to semantically argue... Learn logic and reason and that your attempts to sealion me are about as much use as an ashtray on the international space station.
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@Nickle314 I've already told you they are ONS stats that are clearly displayed on our government's website. Your lack of ability and pedantic nature is not my problem. Simply type the statements into a search engine and you will find them...
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@nickharvey7233 PS if I'm being harsh on people it's because they're excusing the loss of so many lives to feed shareholder profits and then trying to make inane comments to confuse or excuse this abominable situation...
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@terryj50 Read the comments as I've answered your incredibly ineffective understanding of language several times - Government stats from the ONS and I didn't mention welfare! I've paid 25 years of tax and stamp last time I checked with the HMRC and watched it all being given to the private sector via subsidies, tax breaks, grants, bailouts, loopholes etc... Taxpayers pay for infrastructure and for their own welfare, we do not pay taxes to give shareholder's off-shore accounts a boost!
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@terryj50 Who said I've never checked my own statements? what are you talking about, I clearly stated last time I checked my account at HMRC I'd paid 25 years of taxes and stamp. UK GDP is over £3 trillion mate! Government mismanagement of our finances and the reclassification of how figures are presented have to be closely studied by someone with the raw data and logic...Half of the money given to the NHS goes to shareholders through soft privatisation and outsourcing, same can be said for pensions and the welfare state. When governments outsource their responsibility to the private sector it costs the taxpayer in admin and profits to shareholders.
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@nickharvey7233 The subsidies are predominantly for nationalised industry that was sold off to private enterprises. Look up the definition of Public Corporation (an oxymoron if ever I heard one) and who decides the classification? The ONS - The government. PS I used the term corporations, that doesn't exclude any corporation. Hence why it's pedantic semantics. "it is classified as a market body – a body that derives more than 50% of its production cost from the sale of goods or services" Hope your day is as nice as you are!
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@terryj50 The Tories created a market of unskilled labour with temp jobs, agency work and zero-hour contracts. Most of the people on unemployment benefits are in between agency work or on tax credits to top up low wages or short hours from employers. Tabloid catchphrases about lazy people are for lazy thinkers...
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@terryj50 Who brought in anti-union and anti-worker legislation, while reducing skilled work to menial tasks? The Tories, Labour had no choice but to provide a solution to a Tory created problem. As usual, you blame the solution rather than the problem...
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@terryj50 lol sorry mate, but it's pointless debating with someone who thinks unions find it easier to strike now. The current strikes are the result of a dire situation in the cost of living and the fact that wages have decreased steadily in the past decade. If people can't feed themselves because corporations won't pay them enough to live on, the only option was to top up their wages, again the result of inherited Tory created problems. Why do you keep blaming solutions rather than the problems?
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@terryj50 Listen, the lack of worker's rights and anti-union legislation is the reason we have low wages. We can't afford to pay for the lack of decent wages because the Tories have bled the country dry, sold off taxpayer assets, destroyed the economy etc. We have to make decisions to improve people's lives, but without the support of working people, it's impossible. If people keep voting the Tories in then Labour can't do anything but oppose. When Labour are in power they have to struggle to balance the books because of the short-sighted economic decisions of the Tories. I left Labour when Blair dropped clause 4, I have no wish to defend him. But I will defend the truth!
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@Noallegiance Capitalism is inherently corrupt, it is entirely capitalism under neoliberal direction. Privatisation, small government, deregulation of the banking sector and a huge percentage of taxpayer money being given to shareholders...
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@Nickle314 Welfare spending is not unemployment benefit, learn to read before typing. Just think you could have made an intelligent or witty comment...
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@Nickle314 No! I've used the figures and terms used by the government and the ONS who compiled those figures on behalf of the government. Furlough is a separate issue. Subsidies cost us £93 billion in 2016 and grow annually. Your lack of comprehension skills and pedantry is your own problem. Stop wasting my life because of your own ineptitude!
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@nickharvey7233 Furlough payments are not included in the figures, the trend of increased subsidies has been continual for decades. I haven't confused anything, simply given the figures and my opinion. I don't appreciate your accusations and attempted excuses. I'm not interested in your interpretation of the data, semantics is the refuge of the desperate...
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@terryj50 I've already pointed out in this thread that the taxpayer tops up their own wages through tax credits... I agree claiming benefits or giving the cost of living support/energy support to the wealthy is wrong. While corporations cost us £40-120 billion via non-payment aka the tax gap.
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@nickharvey7233 The figure and the language used is directly from the government's own website. It's very clear that £120.1 billion was corporate subsidies alone! You said "you have confused some terminology here" and also stated that you think I was conflating furlough with subsidies. I castigate the right who have sealioned me for decades and cost me thousands of hours of my life! So have little time to waste on subtle pleasantries with pedants. I will be happy to agree with you on things we have in common, but while you try to dismiss my figures that are represented factually and accurately I will try to end the conversation as quickly as possible!
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@nickharvey7233 My name is Parker which surprisingly isn't a Welsh surname, my grandfather moved to Wales after the war to become a miner. So I blame 1/4 of myself for oppressing me and stealing my culture and language :)
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@terryj50 Reread what I said, you can't seem to follow the conversation. I haven't denied strikes in the UK I've pointed out the reasons for them I haven't said I wanted the taxpayer to be forced to top up their own wages, corporations should provide liveable wages. I simply said that the decision was taken because of necessity brought about by Tory legislation reducing worker's rights and anti-union legislation. Stop trying to make arguments out of thin air.
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@Nickle314 They are both government stats from the ONS as I've already pointed out. Your diatribe is as much use as a rubber beak to a woodpecker!
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@JamesOversteer Agreed. Saying that the media creates the narrative and they predict the future. We accept their analysis and hence become the self-fulfilling prophecy.
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@nickharvey7233 Choosing Anglo-Saxons over fellow Celts, tsk tsk. Enjoy your night!
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@JohnDoe-gc1pm You mean nationalised industry that was sold off by the Tories and run for profit? some who have taken bailouts from the public taxes...
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