Latest Moan From You and Me 2024

@CanadianLori EE is a cell phone company owned by British Telecom (BT) the phone (landline +) company

 

I cant understand the thinking behind building 3, 4 or 5 lane motorways and then expect people to keep dropping back into lane one, there is no sense to any of it especially if you have a 70 mph limit, it might work on an autobahn.
They have even pinched the hard shoulder on motorways to create another lane, should we now all aspire to drive on the hard shoulder unless overtaking.

 

And now there are road works all over the place making more emergency refuges on the motorways where the hard shoulders have been taken out / made into driving lanes. Because (as I was told by a colleague who was involved) the plan was that if someone broke down (or stopped for some other reason) they would be seen on the cameras , that lane would be closed (with the X on the overhead signs - good luck if everyone takes notice) and the emergency services would be there in a matter of minutes. Of course it didn't work out like that in practice.

 

I don't keep switching lanes. As I said in my original post, there were several hundred yards (metres) between me and the vehicle ahead and behind me. It's a different situation when on busy motorways with all lanes going at roughly the same speed, but if that was the situation there wouldn't be huge gaps between vehicles.

 

Looks like DWP have the power to look at and seems they can also TAKE money out of your bank account or from your wages now

 

Explain, nobody has ever taken money from my bank account without my permission, so not sure what you mean.

 

@pete, the DWP recently got permission to look into the bank accounts of anyone on benefits, which includes every state pensioner. Now they are seeking permission to take money directly from any of these accounts if they believe it is owed back to them. Slippery slope, in my view. During the pandemic, the Greek gov threatened to stop paying pensions to anyone not getting the vaccine and boosters. Only outrage and a sharp drop in uptake stopped this happening. Permission for the DWP to take money now could have severe implications for draconian actions down the line. Govs should not have that level of control over a person's private finances.

I have nothing against the DWP investigating fraud ... if they have reasonable cause to believe it is occurring. Blanket measures I am not in favour of.

 

So they cant take money just yet then.
I assume if they intend robbing you bank account they have to give good notice first, otherwise they could put you in the red, or are they allowed to put you into the red.

I have no problem with them looking, if they have good reason, like I'm claiming some benefit or other that is means tested, but look cant touch would be my thoughts.

It actually sounds illegal to raid someones bank account without permission or having committed no crime.

 

And given how often they make mistakes, and how slow they are to correct these, it all sounds a recipe for disaster, IMV.

 

That should never be allowed unless you have been through the courts and been found to be breaking the law.

 

Quite so!

 

My understanding is that the new rules will enable them to check bank accounts without going to the courts for every case. They don't have the staff to check accounts at random. They will concentrate on those where they have reason to suspect fraud. There are plenty of those to be going on with. I would guess the initial targetting will be those claiming benefits and stating they have no other income.

 

I assume that mean most of the Cabinet, Starmer first, Rayner second.

 

Not in France it isn't. The tax office and probably other organisms like the Social Security are perfectly within the law to withdraw money owing to them, as long as they've issued a previous demand. Whether the demand was correct or an error is immaterial.