POUNDLAND INTERN ATTACKED AGAIN BY IAIN DUNCAN SMITH
Intern hero Cait Reilly sees herself as “too good” to stack supermarket shelves, the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said, hitting out AGAIN at the 24-year-old geology graduate who dared to challenge the government’s back-to-work schemes. The attack came after many of his department’s schemes were last week ruled unlawful in a surprise ruling by the court of appeal which backed young jobseekers like Cait.
Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Duncan Smith dismissed the judges’ ruling as “rubbish” and issued a direct rebuke to 24-year-old geology graduate Cait Reilly, 24, who challenged having to work for free at a local Poundland store in Birmingham or face losing her jobless benefits. In what is now appearing to become an obsession towards Cait, he said:
“You have to learn early that if you commit to something you stay by and do it… She was paid jobseeker’s allowance by the taxpayer to do this. Most young people love this programme and I am sorry but there are a group of people out there who think they are too good for this kind of stuff.
“…I am not going to give way on this. I absolutely clearly tell you this. People who think it is their right to take benefit and do nothing for it — those days are over.
“The next time these smart people who say there’s something wrong with this go into their supermarket, ask themselves this simple question: when they can’t find the food on the shelves, who is more important: them, the geologist or the person who’s stacked the shelves?”
Graduate Fog still has no idea what that last point meant (anyone?) but thinks it is high time Duncan Smith stopped bullying Cait like this. Among young jobseekers she is a hero, the poster girl for a generation of unpaid – and very low paid – interns. When he attacks her, he attacks everyone who empathises and agrees with her.
In last week’s ruling, Lord Justice Pill, Lady Justice Black and Sir Stanley Burnton unanimously agreed the government failed to give the unemployed sufficient public information about the complex schemes for them to be lawful. If the Department of Work and Pensions fails to be granted an appeal by the supreme court, lawyers say the department will be forced to pay out millions of pounds in order to refund 130,000 job seekers who had their benefits docked after being sanctioned unlawfully. Late last week, the DWP said fresh guidance letters — required under the law — were being sent to hundreds of thousands of jobseekers placed on the government’s Work Programme, the Work Experience programme and a handful of smaller schemes.
Reilly, who is currently working part-time in Morrisons (paid!), has already insisted that she is no job snob – and told the Guardian last week that she felt angry at being branded workshy:
“I didn’t want to be on benefits. I hated it. I wanted to get a job as soon as I could. So for them someone as high profile as that to say: ‘Well they’re not trying, they’re a job snob, they’re lazy, they’re a scrounger … ‘ It really made me angry.”
Graduate Fog wonders how long it will take for this government to wake up and realise that this is not about just one young person who is refusing to put up and shut up. Cait Reilly represents a generation of young jobseekers who are prepared to work hard to find a job – but they will not be bullied into giving their labour for free when this offers no gain for them whatsoever. Duncan Smith and his colleagues should also note that Cait’s support is more widespread than they might expect. When the Daily Mail reported on Cait’s victory, they probably expected their right-wing readers to be outraged. But no – all “Best Rated” comments were all supportive of her. How long will it be before the politicians consider the idea that perhaps it’s them who is wrong on workfare, and not everybody else?
*SHOULD IAIN DUNCAN SMITH LEAVE CAIT REILLY ALONE?
What do you think of his latest comments – do they amount to bullying? Was Cait right to challenge the government’s back-to-work schemes? Should the government accept the judges’ ruling – and focus on producing a real plan to tackle youth unemployment? If you support Cait Reilly, please post a note below!
IDS (Irritating Dumbass Syndrome?) is indeed a bully. Just like his government! They are trying to bully young people into working without pay – in essence, slave labour for corporate chain stores. IDS seems to think that just because he is in charge of social security, it gives him leeway to do as he sees fit and that the unemployed are somehow disempowered menials who can be pushed around without any fear of them dissenting. He’s an idiot. You can’t treat people like dirt and he’s objecting because Cait Reilly had the gumption to stand up and defend herself and others in a similar situation. The sooner this total prat is out of power the better it will for everyone, not just the unemployed.
I don’t think that many people really think that they’re better than working in a supermarket. Hell, my first job involved cleaning out the deep fat fryer of the local chippie. What I liked about it most was the £4 an hour (or whatever the Under 18 minimum wage was back then) that I got for it which the employer paid me in return for my labour y’know, how employer-employee relationships are supposed to work. I didn’t even mind doing voluntary work experience at a local shop or even the mandatory 2 week long placement my school put me on for free.
Reckon I, like a most sensible people probably would have minded making taxpayers (i.e. my parents, friends, cousins, total strangers from Wigan or wherever etc etc etc) subsidise a supermarket for the honour of having me hang out there.
Also since these days I pay tax so I totally get to have one of those “and my taxes go on that” rants, I really don’t want my tax going on some proven failure of a scheme just so IDS can massage his own ego and pretend that he’s “getting tough on scroungers” and all sorts of other bullshit macho cliches whilst doing precisely nothing to stem the tide of youth unemployment, nothing to help build a society where people stand on their own two feet.
But hey, if you’re incapable of doing anything I guess being a complete prick is pretty much just as good eh.
Given all of the above and the writer’s sympathy with graduates who do shop work I do hope we’ll see a change in tack from this webpage, previously this website seems to have peddled the viewpoint that graduates deserved better than shopwork. Now its sticking up for graduates who do shopwork.
Lose the shoulder chip, we’re not frying tonight.
I think the last point meant that we should all consult our career choices with IDS – clearly he knows what’s important in this world!
Honestly, I think he just keeps attacking Cait because he’s embarrassed that his supposedly amazing solution to unemployment isn’t working and has seen a pretty significant backlash. He probably just wants to make it look like none of that was his fault and it’s all because of us lazy job snobs who failed to appreciate his genius! Also, I find it ironic that he presumes to lecture Cait on how to “commit to something and stick with it” – is that not what she was doing by getting her Geology degree and then finding work experience in a related field? I fail to see how stacking shelves in Poundland would fit into that in a meaningful way.
The government is determined to carry on with its programme and the message is quite clear. Smith will not waver in implementing government policy. He is a safe pair of hands. Labour’s strategy must be to win the hearts and minds of Liberal voters and a sufficient number of Liberal Democrat MPs. A lot of people probably agree with Iain Duncan Smith because he speaks as a Coalition government minister and have been sufficiently convinced by Nick Clegg – for now – that the government is acting fairly because the Liberal Democrats act as moderators.
However, I’m not so sure Cait would have been protected under Gordon Brown’s government. I would like to believe Ed Miliband would stand up for unemployed graduates.
I don’t see how Ian Duncan Smith can defend this programme. Big companies (the ones the government should be chasing) were using it as a source of free labor and found out for doing so. I was on a different branch of the work programme for over a year (I didn’t have to do unpaid work placements). The scheme is a shambles, in part due to lack of organisation and in part because there’s simply aren’t enough jobs.
I’ve just posted my take on the whole issue on politicoid if you wanna take a look. I haven’t nearly finished what I really think though!
I think what he’s said is disgusting – Cait Reilly embodies everything we should be proud of in young graduates. She made the decision to gain relevant work experience in the sector she wants to pursue a career in. She stood up for her rights when she was forced to stop doing this. She now works in a supermarket, proving that she doesn’t have anything against shop work. By continuing this ridiculous tirade against her, IDS is making himself look like he hasn’t got a clue.
Yes, but when the Earthquake and Tsunami hit Japan I bet the geologist was more important the the shelf stackers, or when it comes to keeping petrol in the cars I bet the geologists and chemists are more important. When it comes to country-wide floods due to climate change, the climate scientists will be more important than the shelf stackers.
http://www.lbc.co.uk/listen-obriens-explosive-row-with-duncan-smith-67738
I did some calculations to see what would happen to IDS if he were forced to work full-time at Kings Heath Poundland in Birmingham (the city I live in) on the income of a single 18-24 year old childless single jobseeker:
His income would be £56.25 a week (JSA for an 18-24 year old, is £71 from age 25) – plus B’ham City Council’s £55 a week under-35 single adult shared room allowance if you don’t live with relatives or a partner.
Hopefully he’s fit enough (and lives near enough) to be able to walk or cycle to Kings Heath, since a West Midlands bus pass would be c £15 a week out of that (he wouldn’t have a regular or high enough income to get the slightly cheaper monthly one – even a weekly one may be pushing it), leaving him £205 a month to rent a room in the area
Rooms as a lodger or in a houseshare in Brum start at around £300 a month inc bills/council tax (if you’re very lucky – maybe a teensy bit less in a real dive in a dodgy area, or shared with students and illegally dodged the council tax share). Maybe if he shared the room with one or two others, and found somewhere that doesn’t say “no DSS”. Otherwise – for £205 – no chance!
After rent & travel, I guess he’d just have to make do with a soup kitchen or food bank, or scavenging. Unless he thinks that’s above him…
If I’m recalling correctly, Kings Heath Poundland is where Cait Reilly was forced to work, I wasn’t just plucking it out of thin air in case anyone wondered.
Ian Duncan Smith does have a point, people like Cait Reilly are lazy, deluded people who believe that a proper days work is beneath them. Degree or not, it’s not the tax payers place to subsidize people like Cait while they wait for their dream job.
It was her choice to go to University and rank up debts in the first place. Therefore I believe she needs to put it down to experience that her career path was a fatal mistake.
Her placement in poundland would of given her added work experience which would of benefited her in the long run.
In this current economic climate, people cannot be picky when it comes to employment. As far as employers are concerned, degree have little to no value in this day and age. (Law, Medicine etc:) exempt.
Basically Cait screwed up and instead of learning from her experience, she decided to throw the toys out of the pram like a spoiled brat.
Again, how would this placement have benefited her in the long run?
Ok then IDS, if this is what graduate can expect then I suggest your party lowers tuition fees. After all, its only fair.
I cant believe that IDS is getting both barrels over this. Surely Cait Reilly should have the spotlight fixed permanently on her. I’ve worked all my life, over 30 years, and NEVER claimed a thing, yet this scally straight out of uni has the nerve to say im not working for free!!! Well why should I pay my taxes so that she can have her JSA each week. If she wants free cash then she should work for the JSA she receives and not at company’s that offer easy jobs stacking shelves. Id have her sweeping the streets. The nerve of some people makes me sick. The “I want money but don’t want to lift a finger to get it” syndrome is farcicle. The movie “THE PURGE” should be made legal so that we can legally get rid of the money grabbing scroungers that want free money for nothing, exactly like Cait Reilly
@Fleetzy: You ask “why should I pay my taxes so that she can have her JSA each”
The answer to that is that this is what happens in a welfare state and a civilised society. One day you might get ill and I might ask why my taxes should go towards your hospital bills. The answer will be the same – that’s how fair societies manage themselves.
Don’t be bitter about it, it’s all swings and roundabouts in the merry-go-round of life. No doubt it will all even itself up over time, but if you happen to be down a bit at the end of your life you can always console yourself that someone else might be a little bit up.
@Maryb Being a responsible adult, I have had hindsight to save for emergency’s and also keep myself in a healthy state, so that my medical insurance would cover any unforeseen emergencies. Your comments really do show the blase’ attitude of this country. There is no fair society anymore, the small percentage of the country that feel that working is beneath them just wait for there JSA and claim all they can get there grubby mitts on. Swings and roundabouts don’t cover the “it can wait attitude” you seem to portray. This country was built on hard work and determination, although it now seems that people just want handouts. Lets try cutting the JSA to women like Cait Reilly and the thousands of other layabouts and start paying our nurses and armed forces a better wage. I would gladly put my tax’s in a system that represents them rather than the degenerate wasters of this society. One final point you failed to consider is, Ive PAID into the system for 3 decades, so if i was to fall on hard times then i would be entitled to. Miss Reilly is fresh out of Uni and not only did a degree in what can only be described as a pastime, but she hasn’t contributed to the system to warrant claiming JSA. I best stop now, as I have work to do and im sure you need to pop down to the Job center to get your benefits.
@fleetzy
Why should you pay taxes to subsidize free labour for private enterprise? If they need workers then they should pay for them. You seem to have a very one sided view here about fairness and want to punish people for being unemployed cf. your comments about cleaning the streets.
You seem to forget that this woman was promised an interview that never materialised. She also works at a supermarket, and I think, she also had previous experience in a supermarket before ‘workfare’ so all those commenting on her being a snob are misguided I think.
The government’s work schemes are shambolic and don’t have any real positive impact on people’s lives. Even when they break the law they retroactively change the law. It’s just one big con to hide the extent of unemployment.
I agree with Cait. If someone is working then they should be paid a wage. Benefits are not a wage and aren’t intended to be. What kind of message does this send to graduates? Don’t bother having ambition as the job centre will just force you into any work, no matter how short term, and ruin any worthwhile training you are engaged in. Coercing people in her situation will only destroy any positive steps they are taking in their careers.
By that logic, you should only be entitled to take out the amount you have put in. Despite paying “into the system for 3 decades”, you would come rather a cropper if you had a serious, long term illness. Would you then consider it fair to pull the plug once your available credit had dried up – I rather think not.
How wonderful that you have had the good fortune to stay employed for such a long time, and to have had enough available cash to put some by. Sadly, not everyone has had that good fortune.
Like you, I hold some pretty unpalatable views. I’m rather of the opinion that it would seem fair to impose some extra taxation on illiterates who did not bother working at school. Unlike you however I do try to rein in those wild thoughts as being pretty indefensible. However if it did come to pass, the powers-that-be may come knocking on your door first. Maybe we should both try to be a little more tolerant.
Not to be morbid but you cant always prevent serious illness with a healthy lifestyle and while sound financial planning (saving if you can and not spending beyond your means) is always a good idea it is not a 100% guarantee against getting into money trouble.
Sometimes unexpected things happen in life that are out of your control and you cant always get yourself out of them with positive thinking and moral fibre. I think we need to have more empathy sometimes and not just a smug “It would never happen to me because…” attitude.
@Fleetzy
I am sorry, but MaryB has given you a completely logical explanation as to why we have JSA. You seem to think that you are entitled to it more just because you are older. Everybody has to start somewhere and Cait can’t help the fact that she is young. Of course she hasn’t contributed anything yet – she is just trying to get her life started and society hasn’t given her the chance to even join the workforce yet and land a job that actually pays enough to put her above the tax threshold.
I find it completely frustrating how many older people today just don’t seem to get how difficult it is these days. I really do wish people would see the difference between people who don’t want to work and live off of benefits and the majority who actually do want to work but due to stubbornly high youth unemployment and employers’ obsession with experience, they can’t even get their foot on the first rung of the career ladder.
“I best stop now, as I have work to do and im sure you need to pop down to the Job center to get your benefits.”
Sorry but this last sentence irked me a bit. I’m not going to cause a fuss, but really, just have a little respect for the decent, young people of today who just want to get their lives started and contribute something to the world. Believe it or not, most of us don’t actually want to live off the state and it’s not easy living with your parents and watching them go to work every day as you get your laptop out for yet another day of job hunting.
Many of us go to uni because at the age of 17 we are bullied into it by our parents and our teachers who say that we are destined for a life on the breadline if we don’t go and having a degree will somehow set us up for a better life. At 17 we are considered not mature enough to vote, yet we are encouraged to sign up for a debt in excess of £30,000 for something that employers don’t seem to care that much about anymore. These days all employers seem to want is experience, which is why the young are always hit the hardest. Having gone through uni to me it seems perfectly reasonable to not want a job that I could have gotten straight out of school.
Believe it or not, not all young people today are “degenerative wasters”, but sadly this is an attitude I hear quite a lot of…
The whole benefit system needs a big overhaul, those that claim JSA who don’t obey the rules, should be sent on a community payback order, or lose their benefits.
There’s far to many graduates these days who believe a weeks hard graft is beneath them.
Cait Reilly is a lazy, deluded, piece of human waste with very little talent on offer.
Graduated from a substandard university, and thinks the world owes her a living.
People may not agree with Ian Duncan Smiths benefit reforms, but I truly believe it is for the best.
Why should lazy, good for nothing trash such as Cait Reilly get free handouts paid for by the tax payer.
Scum like Cait are the equivalent of 20000 job loses.
The margins of society need to start living in the real world, a degree is about as useful to an employer is an action figure.
Desmond.
@Desmond, your attitude is disgraceful. Show some respect.