Angry workers have slammed a universal income benefit trial handling £1,600 a month to people who will be paid without having to work.
A group of 30 people have been selected to take part in what will be England’s first-ever trial of a universal income scheme.
Over the course of two years, they will receive the monthly sum without any conditions while researchers monitor what effects the money has on their lives, but hard-working Britons have lashed out at the scheme, with one saying that pensioners like them have worked all their lives and only getting £205 a week, yet someone will be getting paid almost double and that hard-working doesn’t pay.
Another lashed out saying that they’ve worked all their life, 40-50 hours a week and are due to retire, but that with their state pension and small works pension, they will get nowhere what they’re getting a month on the universal credit scheme, and that it’s not right.
The money will be given to 15 participants in Jarrow, South Tyneside, and 15 in East Finchley, north London.
They will be paid without a requirement to work or to show a willingness to work, but numerous people didn’t seem convinced, and one Twitter user predicted it would lead to unemployment rates shooting up.
Another explained his issue with the scheme, and that there was a massive problem with it because there will be people, many millions, working 40 hours a week, with the costs of work, and earning less than the Universal Basic Income Trial, but that they would still be taxed to fund UBI which they said was extremely unfair by every measure.
Not everyone was against the scheme, however. One said he was interested to see the results and pointed it had worked in other countries.
Another argued it would result in certainly happier people.
Cleo Goodman, Co-Founder of Basic Income Conversation, said that no one should ever be facing poverty, having to choose between heating and eating, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and that basic income has the potential to simplify the welfare system and tackle poverty in Britain.
Will Stronge, director of research at the think tank Autonomy which is running the scheme, said the £1,600 figure was a substantial amount.
He said that a guaranteed basic income could be transformative for welfare in this country.
Elon Musk made a good point about all of this a while ago and said that universally state-funded income will become standard as Artificial Intelligence takes over the vast amount of jobs and that it could be done faster, more accurately and no doubt ultimately a lot cheaper. Sad really, but that’s the way the world is going.
And of course, the Tories despise the working man.
However, if money is just handed out and not earnt, will it actually have any real value?
Today, £1,600 doesn’t go very far, but what it would mean is that people wouldn’t have to worry about basic needs such as rent and food, and keeping a roof over their heads, but I do wonder who will fund all of this once the UK runs out of taxpayers because it will.
The Bank of England will probably just print money so that people can have it, or there will be no monetary system. It will go straight to our accounts so we can spend invisibly.
I mean where do we get it from now? It’s printed endlessly.
If you can live on £1,600 a month, then good for you, but many people have to pay their mortgage, but I guess having a monthly safety net is always a good thing to pay for things like bills et cetera, and of course it will also be a tremendous asset to everyone’s mental health.
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