wait, what?! while reading that i was definitely wondering how they were going to make sure what items were bought and which weren't, which was kind of answered right at the end... how are they going to enforce this anyway?
also: WTF.
i mean, okay, i don't live in b'ham, i live in london. i have never been to an asda there because there are none, none at all, that i could possibly get to ever. like, are they all expected to have access to an asda? maybe if they all had cars, but then they said you can't use it to buy fuel? (which i think might actually be enforceable compared to the rest).
and they say they will offer 'white goods'. so if someone has a leaky roof, i guess that means they will pay for the repair completely? if there are not going to be any loans available...? (or did i misunderstand that bit?)
Not even the pretence now that they are anything other than Tory Lite.
'Asda, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, said its low prices offered an "efficient use of the public purse".
Asked why Birmingham was restricing choice by partnering only with Asda, a council spokesman said the chain had been "the only main supermarket in the city willing to work with the council". He said the council hoped the scheme would be extended to other stores after a period of evaluation.
A Labour run council and a multinational corporation screwing the poor. Beautiful.
The Labour authority said the cards - which Asda said were similar to their gift cards - would restrict spending to a list of predetermined goods, which would exclude tobacco, alcohol, phone-related expenditure and fuel.
Because there's no way that people seeking jobs would need fuel or a phone! But they're supposed to get jobs and get off welfare, amirite?
And there's no way that people who are disabled would need phones or fuel either!
Yeah what the fuck about no fuel or phone expenditures? If you have means of travel and communicating with people, aren't those.. kind of important? I wouldn't class those as luxuries of any kind.
And no pet food. Do animals suddenly not need to eat any more if their owners are poor? So many things that this is excluding aren't luxury items at all.
Claudia Wood, deputy director of thinktank Demos, said that by using store prepayment cards, it was not possible to stop people spending on certain products. "In a supermarket you can also buy alcohol, toys, pet food, lottery tickets, everything else … you can't stop particular products."
...Why wouldn't you want people in need of emergency food assistance to be able to buy pet food?
Because owning a pet is seen as a luxury by some folk and the moment you can't afford to feed your pet, you should take it to the RSPCA or another rescue centre...
*seethes*
Oh, and never mind a Guide/Service Dog needing a nice bowl of Chum after a hard day's work...
I think we need the "eat the rich" tag on this post.
And just... this is such a terrible idea. Not least is the fact that there aren't that many Asdas in B'ham -- I've certainly never seen one of the little ones everywhere the way that Tesco and Sainsburys are.
My university college participates in a voucher exchange scheme in London, where we buy the Tesco vouchers people are handed out (I think the charity we partner with is for people seeking aslymn, iirc) for the equivalent cash value. Because these voucher schemes are so horribly restrictive. I know the program we swap with doesn't allow people to spend the vouchers on pharmaceutical products. Because no one who's poor is allowed to be ill!
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also: WTF.
i mean, okay, i don't live in b'ham, i live in london. i have never been to an asda there because there are none, none at all, that i could possibly get to ever. like, are they all expected to have access to an asda? maybe if they all had cars, but then they said you can't use it to buy fuel? (which i think might actually be enforceable compared to the rest).
and they say they will offer 'white goods'. so if someone has a leaky roof, i guess that means they will pay for the repair completely? if there are not going to be any loans available...? (or did i misunderstand that bit?)
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Not even the pretence now that they are anything other than Tory Lite.
'Asda, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, said its low prices offered an "efficient use of the public purse".
Asked why Birmingham was restricing choice by partnering only with Asda, a council spokesman said the chain had been "the only main supermarket in the city willing to work with the council". He said the council hoped the scheme would be extended to other stores after a period of evaluation.
A Labour run council and a multinational corporation screwing the poor. Beautiful.
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a multinational corporation screwing the poor
Wal-Mart is known for that, so I'm not really surprised. You should see how they treat their workers!
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The Labour authority said the cards - which Asda said were similar to their gift cards - would restrict spending to a list of predetermined goods, which would exclude tobacco, alcohol, phone-related expenditure and fuel.
Because there's no way that people seeking jobs would need fuel or a phone! But they're supposed to get jobs and get off welfare, amirite?
And there's no way that people who are disabled would need phones or fuel either!
Asda, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart
Wal-Mart is evil.
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No, those are definitely not luxuries. But it's all about punishing the poor, so... yeah.
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...Why wouldn't you want people in need of emergency food assistance to be able to buy pet food?
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*seethes*
Oh, and never mind a Guide/Service Dog needing a nice bowl of Chum after a hard day's work...
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And just... this is such a terrible idea. Not least is the fact that there aren't that many Asdas in B'ham -- I've certainly never seen one of the little ones everywhere the way that Tesco and Sainsburys are.
My university college participates in a voucher exchange scheme in London, where we buy the Tesco vouchers people are handed out (I think the charity we partner with is for people seeking aslymn, iirc) for the equivalent cash value. Because these voucher schemes are so horribly restrictive. I know the program we swap with doesn't allow people to spend the vouchers on pharmaceutical products. Because no one who's poor is allowed to be ill!
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I know the program we swap with doesn't allow people to spend the vouchers on pharmaceutical products. Because no one who's poor is allowed to be ill!
More like they should just die off, amirite?
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