Saturday, March 22, 2014

Selling The Big Issues The Brits Won't Sell.

Apparently one third of Big Issue sellers are from Romania originally. Near where I work, one of those Romanian vendors got into a fight this week with someone collecting money for teenage cancer who had "stolen" her patch. This same woman has been selling the Big Issue for at least three years and tells people in the shops nearby that she makes about £40.00 a day- not bad for untaxed income for doing fuck all. Oh and she also begs aggressively and sometimes has a shit behind the shops.

All in all a charming woman. It does raise the question about why the Big Issue- which is supposed to be helping homeless people get by- is effectively enabling beggars coming over to this country to ply their wares. It makes a mockery of the idea of charity.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...
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JuliaM said...

The idea of charity is indeed a mockery these days...

Yaffle said...

Given that the Daily Mail story is over two years old, we can only conclude that the Big Issue's publishers are quite happy with this state of affairs. If so, what exactly is the point of the Big Issue?

Ross said...

Yaffle- most good causes carry on long after they've outlived their usefulness. I suspect the Big Issue is one of them.

Julia- it is. "Charity" is a label that makes something seem selfless and worthy even when it isn't the case.

Jim said...

Don't forget that Big Issue sellers can claim tax credits too, as they are classified as 'self employed' workers. Thats why so many Romanians were over here selling BI prior to this year - they didn't need a work permit to be self employed, and could claim benefits while doing so.

Furor Teutonicus said...

Same here.

What I want to know is how come all these gypoes speak PERFECT English (in an underclass way), and with Broad Manchester and Birmingham accents?

Do yours happen to speak German, by any chance?

Some "Government" department sending them on Foriegn work experience trips?

Ross said...

Jim- to receive tax credits wouldn't she have to declare her earnings? I'm not sure that she would do that.

FT- I haven't heard this one speak enough. She doesn't usually say much to me.