Anyone else think this is shocking?

Question

On tv last night in the UK - sky 3 on digital.

There was a programme entitled "inside the fattest man in britain". It was hosted by Richard Hammond, and it was basically another of those programmes about an obese person. This bloke didnt work because he was so fat, so obviously was claiming some kind of benefit for his money. It showed him on one of his drinking sessions, he drinks around 40 pints of lager when he goes out to the pub!

A pint of lager is give or take £3 these days. That means he spends around £120 on beer when he is out!

How can it be right that the tax payer pays for this! Its so so wrong in so many different ways!

My comment wasnt about the fact he was drinking lager. Its the amount of money he is spending vs not earning.

Tony A.

No, this man is from Birmingham.

Tinkerta....

I am not slagging HIM of inparticular, I am aiming my comments at the benefit scroungers.

But to play devils advocate a little here, tinkertaylor.

Surely if everyone buys him drinks, arent you all encouraging him to put on even more weight? Sounds to me a little bit of a flaw in the plan there.

Answer 1

I saw that too. I didn't make a conscious decision to watch it, I just caught it while channel surfing, and it was a bit like 'car crash TV'.
I did wonder where the money was coming from. He admitted that one night he went to a curry house and ordered everything from the menu!! What really nailed it for me was the fact that he spent £347 on two weeks worth of groceries just for him. I'm buying groceries for me and two kids and I'm only spending maybe £40 at the most. Even when my husband was living with us, the bill rarely tipped over £70. It's obscene that someone can spend all of that in a regular supermarket (Morrisons, if memory serves correctly. Hardly the most expensive place to shop) just on food alone.

Answer 2

Is this the man you are talking about? Notice the date on the newspaper cutting.


From The TimesFebruary 6, 2006

Fattest man dies at 50 stone

Mr Taylor, who weighed more than 50st (320kg), had rarely ventured outside his front door for 30 years other than for hospital appointments. He spent his days watching videos and eating.

Mr Taylor, 60, left his flat in Bradford, West Yorkshire, for the final time when he was lifted out on a stretcher with the aid of eight firemen. He had died of a heart attack. Mr Taylor’s girth — he wore specially made trousers with an 80in waist — had been the source of some fame in recent years including a role in The Fattest Men in Britain on ITV1.

A spokesman for Men’s Fitness, which conducted the survey of towns with larger residents, said: “No one should have to die like that in the 21st century. Britons are eating too much and not getting enough exercise. You can’t blame people for being overweight if they don’t know any better, or if they can’t afford to eat the healthiest food or join a gym. People need more help.”

Answer 3

Agreed - it's completely wrong.

It's just laziness really. If he can drag himself down the pub for 40 pints, he can drag himself into an office and work at a call centre or doing data entry or something.

It's a complete joke that people like this can claim disability when there are genuine cases out there of people that need help. I would be more sypathetic if I thought he was trying to do something about it, or if he was housebound, but the fact is, he's just lazy and wants to sit in the pub all day. Well, wouldn't we all?? But some of us have got morals and ethics and would rather earn our living than get handouts.

Answer 4

If he can go to the pub and drink like that then he's not sick just fat , lazy and greedy what has happened to the system. I have a serious lung disease and can't walk more than about 15-20 feet without gasping for breath and yet every year the DWP haul my butt in every year and make me take an exercise test that when completed means I need oxygen for 4-5hrs and they don't even apologise for the strain. If I could get a job that'd be great but no one will hire you in that condition.

Answer 5

Well, you'll be happy to know that it doesn't happen ONLY in Britain. In the U.S., we've pretty much perfected having the Welfare class who refuse to work and feel Entitled to do whatever they want. We've spent over $40 TRILLION (about 18 Trillion Pounds (sorry, it's a U.S. laptop; no Pound key)) since the 1960's, but the Social Programs (that don't work) won't go away, because we also have public servants (e.g.: Congress) who are afraid of the shakedown artists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (whom the liberal media LOVE and will propogate whatever they say).

Perhaps decreasing the surplus population wasn't such a bad idea after all.....
(only half kidding)

Answer 6

Assuming that he is on some form of social benefit it is not up to ther tax payers to dictate how he spends this money. One may also say that any person whos income is derived from tax payers should also be allowed to decide how they spend thier money.Teachers,doctors,firemen,armed forces,government ministers etc. If he decides to spend it on drink then we may well feel that it should go on something more worth while,but who are we to judge ?
Have you considered that he may have got the money in another way,inheritance for example ?
If we could all guarantee that if any of us were to go onto state benefit we wouldn`t spend any of the money on alcohol,sweets,magazines,crisps,feel good purchases,fags and junk food.The £300 annual bonus given to pensioners for the winter fuel allowance should by definition be spent on fuel,but I would suspect that not all of it goes on that.


Well said Tinkertaylor,perhaps those who were so ready to be judgemental will now think about thier comments

Answer 7

i agree i work bldy hard for what ive got and then i hardly go out cos it goes on my family and if i had 120 quid it certanly wouldnt go on beer.like you im fed up of these people saying they cant work then complaining that they are skint but manage to go out drinking smoke 20 a day and wear all the latest gear.its my bldy money their spending and do they ever buy me adrink do they hell. plenty of jobs out there im just of for an interview at kfc so i can earn more money cos im that skint mmmmmmmmmmm bargin bucket

Answer 8

couldnt argree more with you hun - its good to know our hard earned money keeps that fatass in a lifestyle like that.
Even more shocking is the fact that hes not even embarrassed to show people on national tv what he spends OUR Hard earned money on!!! (Ok - maybe not mine coz Im Irish - but we have those types over here too!)
Its shocking.
xx

Answer 9

Apparently there is more to why he claims money for his disability, or he simply meets the requirements. Or else no one would have given them to him. And what he buys with the money or doesn't buy is his problem.

And really if I'm going to be labeled the fattest man anywhere, I'd wanna keep myself pretty drunk to ignore it all as well.

Answer 10

sounds like a lady in Chicago a few years back. she had like 30 different social security cards, and was drawing a pension on all of them. she drove a brand new cadillac, lived in a million dollar house, etc. she is now serving 20 years in a federal penitentiary.