Scott is being very controversial today! ;D However, here's my two pence worth!
Kind of fusion of both of his posts really....
I do agree with Katie about people getting rid of essentials before using a foodbank, however, some like sky and mobile phones have contracts that aren't always easy to get out of. Also, as a massive pet lover, and someone who helps out at animal rescues, I would rather people keep their pets (which helps with stress etc) and use a foodbank then I would them getting rid of them.
As for blaming THIS government for everything, it wasn't THIS government that got us into this mess. Labour overspent and sold our gold at a ridiculous price and did not regulate the banks when borrowing got out of control. To my mind, it is people themselves to blame. They borrowed too much, over extending themselves a lot more than they could ever afford to repay. I do agree with the Conservatives in some respects, work should pay better than staying at home on benefits! And I work for a government company that has had their budget cut to the bone and had a £400 pay rise in 5 years! What was a reasonably paid job with a lot of responsibility now pays the equivalent of an admin person locally! I am also on a National Pay Scale (which Labour brought in) which sounds fair enough, however, a house in a not so nice area near where I live is minimum £185,000!!! Up North (and I know there are a lot of you on here :/ ) can be considerably less and yet we are all on the same wage. London has a weighting allowance but we don't which strikes me as a bit unfair.
As for the other parties (in Scott's first post):
Labour - I wouldn't trust with the contents of my piggy bank. Just don't tell my dad cos he was quite high up in the union when he was working.
Lib Dem - Don't agree with a lot of their policies, however, I think in coalition they have curbed the Tory's "nastier" side
UKIP - Agree with not sending foreign aid money to countries with a nuclear programme! And I think we should have a serious conversation on immigration without fear of being branded a racist! Not that I mind who comes here as long as they are working, however, it does impact on road infrastructure, NHS, house building, schools etc so to my mind there has to be some sort of cap. Unfortunately, there are too many people in that party who should never be allowed to stand as MP.
Greens - Nice people but that's about it. Dread to think what would happen if they got in!
SNP/Plaid Cymru - ..........................
Sorry about the long post!
It's only my humble opinion.........