I'm Becoming Even More Confused | James O'Brien - The Whole Show

This is a catch-up version of James O'Brien's live, daily show on LBC Radio from the 25th of September 2024.
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[@MrBlackfalconuk]

My daughter was put through this system, she was a zero contact hour Ambulance Driver, studying to be a Paramedic, with three children, seperated from her husband, living in a private rented house claiming benefits and the system was sytematically at least 2 - 3 months behind, so as a last resort she took out a loan to cover the benefit gaps, to which they cut her benefit because she could afford a loan, she seen now way out and thought her children would be better off without her, we lost her 2018. She was embarrased about her situation and we only found out after she died.

[@susanb4816]

I am so sorry for your family and her children. Peace and strength to you all

[@Moonshine-d5i]

Sorry

[@gregchew8225]

My most sincere condolences to you and your family💙

[@matthewhackett1710]

I do fear that 80% of the population is only "allowed to live" to feed money into the pockets of Lloyds names with car insurance, bankers with loan interest, and the corporate giants of food, gambling, smoking and beverages.

[@ceesjanmol]

After the post office, you actually stil believe that "training to the highest levels" combined with "new types is oversight" will not end up in problems?

[@JourneyLT]

My answer is very simple to this benefits question. Just turn UC into a universal basic income (UBI), and you eliminate all the cruel means testing. If everyone received it, there wouldn't be any resources put towards scrutinising every corner of people's lives to determine if they get assistance or if they're left in the dark to suffer. The more I hear about stories like this, that prove that a horribly designed welfare system traps people in misery, forcing them to live apart from their partner in order to ensure they retain their benefits, it just makes me realise that we need a UBI, and in the process of establishing a UBI, we can get rid of so much useless bureaucratic nonsense that simply exists to enforce these arbitrary lines between those who get benefits and those who don't. As well, we can eliminate the stress that comes with fearing destitution. If you can be sure that you will receive some income every week or month, it frees up so much of our lives to make something of ourselves, without fearing the possibility of losing our homes, or going without heating, or worst case scenario, ending out on the street sleeping rough. That safety net would make us feel so much more secure in our ability to try to start businesses, without tha catastrophic consequences that come from them failing. People don't realise how damaging widespread chronic stress is to a society, the amount of strain it puts on the NHS, from all the comorbidities that come with stress like obesity, heart disease, diabetes, lower healthspans, a higher percentage of life plagued by chronic disease, and a lot of the current mental health crisis.

[@cozimo64]

This won't work, sadly, as it will make the poor even poorer due to having to share the budget with nearly 70 million people as opposed to the 6.4 million currently claiming UC. I was a strong proponent of UBI until I realised this, a common suggestion is to just take the UC budget and share it with everyone, but let's do some simple maths: £59.8bn was spent in 2023 on UC, for 6.4 million claimants - for the sake of argument, let's spread that evenly between those people; £9,343/yr, or £778/m - not much but not nothing, right? Across the entire population, that turns into £74/m. Let's go further and take all pension and working-age/child welfare and social security spending - £258.72bn (including bureaucratic costs) - divvy that up between everyone you've got £322/m for everyone, even the wealthiest in society (bear in mind that 29% of pensioners have assets at or above £1,000,000). It simply doesn't make sense for our country and what we can literally afford.

[@billmorris2353]

2.4 million of those claiming Universal Credit are in work but aren't paid enough to make ends meet. This is a subsidy for bad employers and false competition for those employers who pay wel.

[@tombartram7384]

I bet you're a remainer too. Borderless Europe. So in your world we'd be living in Spain on free money from Britain like Bargain Brits in the Sun. It'd be a disaster.

[@gazfisher7391]

Well said. I wholeheartedly agree with you.

[@JourneyLT]

It is something we will have to adapt to anyway in the future. There simply won't be enough jobs as automation becomes cheaper than hiring people. We're already seeing this to an extent. Of course such a system would have higher taxes in places, that's probably unavoidable, at least in the short term. However, more long term, you could find the lower burden on the healthcare system and the reduction in crime able to make up the difference, allowing re-allocation of resources that fought the symptoms of poverty to back the UBI system and lessen the tax burden.

[@terryrowe289]

Vote for change ( different politicians on the take ) 🤦‍♂️

[@dogblessamerica]

We need to push back on this policy. Might seem "reasonable" now but successive governments will extend the powers in ways we might not be able to anticipate.

[@duckweedy]

Fraud is not as big as they say. The figures include mistakes by DWP & carers being fined for doing 1 extra hours work puts them over the limit. How long till they ask for access to everyone' s account eg Journalists who may have worked with someone the govt doesn't like,

[@chatham43]

.......systematic fraud..of course...but they'll go after the easy targets...pensioners who's savings have crossed a specific threshold or something..!

[@BumberClarke]

Quite sad that the people at the bottom suffer the most scrutiny over a small bit of money 💰 meanwhile corporations evade so much 😢

[@ibexdnb2879]

Politicians and big corporations go hand in hand in todays world.

[@edwinbrighty5678]

It doesnt take much to confuse this beauty

[@jeffsimon9594]

James O'So-Handsome

[@nothereandthereanywhere]

I don't know what Starmer is talking about as well. I have been a kitchen manager in the past, part of my job was employing people. We would mostly stay clear of English nationality and employ non-British(Scottish were actually better - there I have said it!). Because of the reasons you have mentioned. We just couldn't be sure they would be on the job long term - enough to actually train them. In a way, I understand why British don't want to do the job. Hard, unsociable hours, full of s***** stuff, listening to a lot of whingers and the pay was terrible. British wanted to have a better life than that. Not blaming them - or would you want to work 50 hours and barely afford a rent of a flat? Of course not.

[@gailforce]

Really annoyed that I went back to edit a typo in my comment only to find that it's been removed.

[@djpeekay25]

seems to happen a lot on youtube now. Ridiculous

[@vincentblack7467]

Cabbage...!!

[@wiseget]

Confused enough to support Starmer!

[@Durka-Durka01]

😂👍

[@greamespens1460]

Has the vegetarian Starmer been have a sausage while away from home

[@jeremygough1387]

Are you articulate?

[@mickreaddin4979]

I'm not condoning fraud of any type, but if we compare the amount lost to government in benefit fraud to that of tax evasion/avoidance, it is minuscule. This is deja vue for me, because I remember pointing out the same thing in 2010-15. Before anyone starts ranting at me about "but, but I know a guy who knows a guy that lives like a king... and he's on benefits. I'm fully aware that there are some that play the system, but the overwhelming majority do not.

[@ibexdnb2879]

Who cares that rich pensioners get it nobody has an issue funding proxy wars or housing illegal migrant men.

[@mickreaddin4979]

​@@ibexdnb2879 Did you read my comment? If so, can you point me to where I talk about pensioners? I'm speaking of the social security system in the round.

[@mandyharewood886]

This is the first time I have felt great annoyance at James O' Brien. I live in the free world, as free as any small Caribbean country can be in this neo-colonial world, and we have NEVER thought of the US president as our leader! Leadership requires that we consent to be led. We DO NOT consent. The US president has never been anything but a bully we have to navigate around to the best of our ability. Or else we would be like Cuba, a country we insist on having a special relationship with as a show of defiance, just as we have recognised the One China policy. In fact, our first prime minister famously declared after our declaration of independence from Britain that we would be "friends of all, and satellites of NONE"!

[@jayr9952]

The DWP already have the power to request bank statements of benefits claimants.

[@AKcoxy]

Can you look at your bank account James?

[@wendywebster5351]

Hope everybody has seen the brilliant Pam Ayres' poem about the winter fuel situation. You too, James, after your pathetic rant the other day.

[@brianferguson7840]

My generation (pensioners) are the richest demographic in the UK by a huge margin ! We benefited from cheap housing, final salary pensions, early retirement on full pension from public sector jobs, massive profits from house values, and a triple lock scheme which guaranteed bigger pension rises than workers pay rises. And yet my contemporaries are whinging about losing a £200 energy payment when young parents can't feed or clothe their children.

[@catherinemartin6258]

Wendy it’s time for you to leave the room my darling

[@jeffsimon9594]

@@catherinemartin6258 OK Karen

[@RichardStamp-s4e]

They are nasty

[@keefwolfson]

Poor O'Brien, he looks exhausted and ill. It's not easy trying to defend labour.

[@RichardStamp-s4e]

Its still broken , write another book

[@blueodum]

It makes sense if the immigrants are smarter, more motivated and more reliable than native-born young people.

[@Durka-Durka01]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@isbestlizard]

Let's see every MP's bank accounts and tax returns submitted to mandatory yearly auditing. They're all on the take if they can get away with it, as Keir Sturmer proves.

[@douglasrogers3918]

Does it? Please make your case where he has broken any rules - compared with almost any major Tory MP.

[@isbestlizard]

@@douglasrogers3918 Following 'the rules' is part of his mental calculation of 'getting away with it'. He is the sort of person who doesn't stop to think 'is this right?', only 'will I be punished if I do this?'.

[@ibexdnb2879]

​@@douglasrogers3918 Come on mate enough already. Kier is playimg the same game that every politician before him has. He is put there and reaps the rewards. It will be no different when he leaves. You have to be naive to think he is any different.

[@MichaelN-l4t]

Have you read Amy Gibbons article in the Telegraph. She's the political editor. The article is about kier starter using a labour donors apartment for a TV message in 2021 during covid. Wow. I really can't believe it. What's the relevance, significance or anything else. What a waste of paper etc.

[@annphillips1086]

Desperate innit?

[@brianferguson7840]

My generation (pensioners) are the richest demographic in the UK by a huge margin ! We benefited from cheap housing, final salary pensions, early retirement on full pension from public sector jobs, massive profits from house values, and a triple lock scheme which guaranteed bigger pension rises than workers pay rises. And yet my contemporaries are whinging about losing a £200 energy payment when young parents can't feed or clothe their children.

[@greamespens1460]

Not allowed pensioners are as lucky as you. You could always donate what your perceived excess is.

[@johntaplin3126]

You must be an AI avatar. Well done, if not, but I wouldn't brag about how well off you are - you're buddies are coming for you, too.

[@nothereandthereanywhere]

@@johntaplin3126 Brian isn't an AI, he has been commenting for quite some time. Not always popular opinion to some people...

[@nothereandthereanywhere]

@@greamespens1460 Sure, he donates the fuel allowance - wouldn't it be a better use of it to give it to someone that actually needs it and benefit from the full value of it?

[@greamespens1460]

@@nothereandthereanywhere and those who are in receipt that do not need it can do it

[@FoxtrotBravoRomeo]

9:22 I dont have an issue with sharing and helping. But sadly too many of us know too many who swindle the system. It needs investment to stop this happening so that those who actually need help, get that help.

[@catznjam470]

We must be constant gardeners if we want to keep our democracy.

[@garyballared2077]

i have lost out on benefits because i refuse to show people my bank account - its my private business.

[@greamespens1460]

Or maybe you would not qualify

[@garyballared2077]

@@greamespens1460 i would have

[@craphead9842]

JOB has always been confused.. LOL.. Tony cuenca

[@RichardStamp-s4e]

Just like blair your alright mate

[@dougieboy777]

what a sausage JoB is

[@Ballas56]

Benefit cheaters should learn from Labour - if you hide you will pay.

[@Durka-Durka01]

The Tories couldn't even sort that out, there's not a chance Labour will sort it out.

[@hag7097]

Flimflam

[@dufud]

Free the sausages . Kier starlins gaffs are nearly as bad as his corruption.

[@richardgilbert5339]

DWP staff will be trained to the highest standards to investigate benefit fraud ? Would this be the same highest standard yhst some of our law enforcement officers and detectives went through ? Police trained to a degree standard,I doubt it ! The same standards as the Post Office investigations and security teams ? I hope not ! Will the claimant be selected for investigation have been identified by an Artificial intelligence algorithm ? Most probably!

[@luke7708]

JOB wouldn't be defending this DWP policy under the Tories. It now seems clear that he would defend any punitive welfare cuts as long as its Labour welfare cuts.

[@chatham43]

@luke You mean he's a Labour stooge!!😊😊

[@luke7708]

@@chatham43 oh no not you again chatham43.

[@ibexdnb2879]

James knows how to be right remember...

[@magicrectangleEnt]

12:20 This is exactly the case. And maybe it "shouldn't" be that way, but it absolutely is. The kind of person who will use a snooping hotline is the exact kind of busybody who will call any and every snooping hotline they can find until the person they don't like gets in trouble.

[@adamclarke7725]

I 100% agree with James hwrw

[@jodonnell8625]

Turning up on day one then going home. I’ve seen it many times in U.K. and Ireland which is why people from Poland etc are so reliable as they have motivation. Now, if you have no dependents and you don’t take the opportunity to work, sorry but no benefits for you.

[@kerraptregolls4929]

Kevin seems to not take into account is that it is cheaper to run 1 household than 2.

[@kmacgregor2481]

Why is it funny hearing James say "snitches get stitches".

[@elainedaprano9130]

Send Frank a REAM of the emails when you HAVE spoken about rich vs poor. That will keep him busy for a WHILE 😂

[@robinwallace1399]

We have people come to our job that don’t last a day.

[@elainedaprano9130]

No phone ins=no screamers 🙄👍

[@jimmyJohnstone-r7n]

He's at a saucy age.

[@julian987r4]

Comedy gold listening to a man so detached from reality, delusional and so infatuated with Sue Starmer.

[@simonblurton8009]

People can spend their money on whatever they want. It's up to the system to decide how much much they give. I wonder if they would start cutting people's benefits because they are spending too much on luxuries, or not spending all of it...

[@mickreaddin4979]

Social security rates are based on the law, and "the *lowest* amount the law allows you to live on". There has *always* been the media narrative that those in receipt of social security are somehow living the life of Riley, and it's that narrative that drives the misconception.

[@Aguyfromthe60s]

It doesn’t take much to confuse a child!

[@davidt5194]

Zinger! When’s your stand-up career starting?

[@DennisMoore664]

Most of us have something to hide. Even if it's not something illegal there are things that could impact our lives professionally or with personal relationships or that are just embarrassing.

[@rosarose3443]

I don't.

[@DennisMoore664]

@@rosarose3443 Well then you aren't like most people.

[@rosarose3443]

@@DennisMoore664 I know I am not, I am Autistic and cannot cope with lies etc.

[@greamespens1460]

I agree women should not go to prison just like the woman who was sent to a male prison in Scotland

[@drummingtildeath]

It's hilarious that he said sausages, but not exactly a big deal. I'm prone to spoonerisms myself.

[@Ballas56]

Another exciting day about gifts to Labour, the black hole and corrupt Tories.

[@cariad4297]

It's very simply, if you cannot afford children, don't have them.

[@mickreaddin4979]

There's always one, isn't there?

[@ibexdnb2879]

😂 what a clown. Theres more to life than finances.

[@annphillips1086]

In that case no-one should ever have a child, as you never know what the future may hold. Now who's going to push your Bath chair when you get old?

[@cariad4297]

@@annphillips1086 I am a single parent and I have never taken a penny from the state. Having children is not a right, it’s a responsibility and a privilege. Strange how raising a child you cannot afford is ok, but if the same person buys a car or house they cannot afford they are deemed irresponsible. So in your world children are less important than a car.

[@cariad4297]

@@ibexdnb2879 Unlike you I think the child should be the priority, not the desires of the parents. The correlation between a child raise in poverty and them going on to live the remainder of their lives in poverty is undeniable.

[@brianferguson7840]

To all the Anti Starmer commentators, who don't or can't understand the true versions of current affairs carefully and gently explained by James O'brien, I challenge you to call LBC and debate your version with him on air ? No ? I THOUGHT NOT !

[@---df5sr]

Why don’t you call into GB news? No? Thought not!

[@barnbersonol]

What about pensioners whose only income is "the lowest state pension in Europe"?? When Labour were in opposition these oaps had to "heat or eat?"

[@paulcampbell1596]

"sausage's"...... to you my man!

[@julian987r4]

You can’t reason with James as he is infatuated with Sue Starmer. Even if you table today’s hypocrisy of claiming the £20k was for his son to study elsewhere, even though it was not during term time?!, and that the donation was for Kier to work for Emperor Ali’s penthouse…whilst proclaiming to the nation to not work from anywhere but your home….James would still twist the narrative and not have a single bad word said about Liebour, not a single bad word. Kier could accidentally launch the nukes and James would say ‘we all make mistakes, I know I do, just the morning I put (and off he goes)..’. It is not healthy. He can’t be well in his mind to be a that infatuated with Sue Starmer.

[@wiseget]

Two tier Starmer heating allowance, one for pensioners and one for MPs!

[@suzyqualcast6269]

If you're a claimant of bar Mobility/DLA/PIP, then ALL income and savings proofs must be produced. Although they're even now starting to involve PIP in certain assessments.

[@kauandededeus8110]

I'm a big fan, James.

[@jeffsimon9594]

I'm a big air conditioner.

[@BeepBoos]

Thank you, James for another great conversation. I think I learn a new work from you almost every day. Thanks for making me smarter :-)

[@fodsaks]

Instead of paying James O'Brien, why don't you just broadcast directly from Labour Party headquarters? It'll be pretty much the same show.

[@llllMikellll]

Thanks to this show we'll actually you james & your callers I now fully understand why this is being done not only will it help keep families together, it will make sure women get the help they need plus as a added bonus it will save the country a lot of money too

[@gulars2000]

In Norway people with means tested emergency benefits can't borrow money from friends. Or help them out with shopping unless it's done in cash. Cause all positive movements on your account gets deducted.

[@matthewstrange3778]

The vast majority of people arriving here never pay enough tax to cover their use of public services, let alone pay for anyone else according to the office of budget responsibility.

[@chips2605]

Ha ha wurst. Chuckle worthy. Nice one James.

[@davidgreen6490]

Im sick of hearing O'Brien calling for the terrorists to stop the rockets!!! Oh wait......... Hes never done that has he......

[@joloholo4060]

Which terrorist? IDL

[@davidgreen6490]

@@joloholo4060 You shoukd research the definition of terrorism.