Thursday 5 May 2011

National Community Service

Rise: Unemployment Unemployment increased by 12,000 to 1.62 million in the three months to May



I first mooted the idea of a National Community Service way back in June 2009 and followed up in October 2009 when I suggested that the unemployed could be used to supplement our troops in the war in Afghanistan. As usual in the seamless transition from NoLab to the Conservatives nothing has really changed. There appear to be no plans which would make an impact on the hardliners or the immigrant unemployable.

Surely a National Community Service is more relevant than ever? It would seriously inconvenience the 'never had a job' brigade and would ensure that some of those hiding in the ghettos would have to emerge and integrate. The penalty for not attending for NCS would be loss of benefits.

I have posted how this system could be organised, who should do it and what the aims would be. It could not fail to uncover the dross. Those who remained undercover would lose money and identify themselves as having something to hide. Those who stepped up to the mark willingly would also identify themselves as fit for employment.

It is a sure fire winner but that is why it has no chance of being adopted by the mainstream parties.

4 comments:

Vaino said...

I have just been made unemployed for the first time in nearly 20 years. The first time they wouldn't pay me any money because I had too much saved and had to rely on my insurance to pay the mortgage. Fortunately been employed for a very long time as a higher rate tapayer and paying far too much NI as well as independant insurance. So as a workshy ne'er do well I suppose I should be on the first plane to Afghanistan, as I'm nearly 50 and overweight I should last all of three minutes. Then you can pay my widow and support my kids for me. At least that way I wouldn't have worry about losing my house or everything else I've worked for.

bryboy said...

Under your recent circumstances Vaino I can quite understand why you are feeling raw and disgusted. Clearly you can see that my post was not aimed at people like yourself. There is a vast difference between people with a history of work and those who have no intention of ever finding work. My fictional NCS would be aimed more at helping people than punishing them. Sorry if my proposal annoyed you but I believe that we do require more effort into dealing with the legions of people who expect handouts for nothing!

Vaino said...

Agreed but we can't all be tarred with same brush. Maybe national Insurance should be just that, i.e. some form of income protection, your benefit should be proportional to your last wage or based on the amount of insurance premium you pay each month. I believe in Denmark the benefit paid is the same as you were paid for a short while. That should encourage people to work and not penalise those who have.

bryboy said...

Yes I agree Vaino. We must have some compensation for people who havd held positions of reponsibility and suddenly find themselves out of work. To be honest I was mortified that you thought my post was aimed at you. My proposal is to engage the workshy but you have a point. How can people newly redundant with specific skills suddenly discover that they have zero income? The whole system needs a revisit but the EU dominated parliament will not budge.