[Martyn*]

Literally.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/2...7319-31284847/

I suppose some Tory politicians are just loving this thinking that's what you get for being too lazy to work.

They'll probably stick his head on a spike as a reminder to everyone outside the job center.

[Historophilia]

For all we know the man may have been mentally ill.

He was clearly in a very bad place for some reason and I hope he makes a full recovery but if you read the article it sounds like he was threatening the people inside the Jobcentre. They were evacuated which suggests they thought he was going to hurt someone or set fire to the building.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure how you can justify threatening people like that and potentially putting others lives in danger.

We don't even know the real reason why he did this, it said something about a payment not being made? For all we know it could have been a computer error and no-ones fault, so there's no call to go threatening people and endangering your own life in such a drastic way.

We don't know the whole story yet so lets not call judgements about "nasty Tories" shall we?

[Tigzie]

Surely this is more of a mental health issue than a job seeker one? Just because he was a job seeker doesn't automatically mean he is going to go and set himself on fire. There must be deeper problems for this man for him to do so.

Yes, his situation may have put him under stressed which deteriorated his mental condition, but why should it be written up as 'desperate jobseeker'? It seems like this article has been dressed up in a way that it did not need to be. The failings for this man must be more down to lack of support or knowledge of help for a mental health problem rather than a lack of jobs.

[Skeppy]

(Original post by Martyn*)
Literally.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/2...7319-31284847/

I suppose some Tory politicians are just loving this thinking that's what you get for being too lazy to work.

They'll probably stick his head on a spike as a reminder to everyone outside the job center.

Yes because everyone on JSA is lazy... There are no jobs u absolute stuckup ******* not everyone has mummy and daddy for support. C U Next Tuesday

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Wildfire S A510e

[museobsessed]

(Original post by Historophilia)
For all we know the man may have been mentally ill.

He was clearly in a very bad place for some reason and I hope he makes a full recovery but if you read the article it sounds like he was threatening the people inside the Jobcentre. They were evacuated which suggests they thought he was going to hurt someone or set fire to the building.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure how you can justify threatening people like that and potentially putting others lives in danger.

We don't even know the real reason why he did this, it said something about a payment not being made? For all we know it could have been a computer error and no-ones fault, so there's no call to go threatening people and endangering your own life in such a drastic way.

We don't know the whole story yet so lets not call judgements about "nasty Tories" shall we?

I was actually in this job centre at the time. It was pretty dramatic. I didn't see the guy but they did suddenly evcuate everyone to outside. The person I did speak to who saw it said that he'd come in doused in petrol and the police had arrived by the time he lit a match to himself. He was taken off to hospital quickly (luckily there is one within a few minutes drive of the job centre). They had police, firemen and an ambulance at the scene

Yeah I think he must have had mental health issues but i'm sure that money and desperation from being on JSA is a big issue too

[I Gurn Hard]

I love how someone would prefer to set fire to themselves than take menial work or gain some qualifications. Screwed up priorities or what?

Edit: Not sure what the negs are for, he isn't a martyr for those without a voice like the buddhist guy who self immolated in protest. Would you seriously prefer to set fire to yourself than speak to the job centre staff maturely and sensibly? There's plenty of bloody work out there, I was offered all the positions I applied for. Yes, they were menial jobs, but all the interviewers said the same - they were desperate for people and they were barely getting any applicants. They thanked me for applying. This moron who set fire to himself is clearly one of the people so dependent on benefits that he can't imagine a living a week without his giro cheque. His priorities are clearly screwed up - a default in benefits payments is not worth setting yourself on fire for. Also, do any of you actually understand JSA? As long as you follow the rules you WILL receive payment. I know plenty of people on JSA and they did as they were told and they received payment no problem. This idiot probably couldn't be arsed to apply for jobs one week so his payment was delayed. That is fair. His gross overreaction proves there is something terribly wrong with the system, and probably this lazy, feckless reprobate's head. Neg me all you want, but I fail to see how you can argue that setting fire to oneself is a reasonable and justifiable reaction to what happened.

[Lamps08]

How did he afford the petrol?

[gateshipone]

(Original post by Historophilia)
For all we know the man may have been mentally ill.

He was clearly in a very bad place for some reason and I hope he makes a full recovery but if you read the article it sounds like he was threatening the people inside the Jobcentre. They were evacuated which suggests they thought he was going to hurt someone or set fire to the building.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure how you can justify threatening people like that and potentially putting others lives in danger.

We don't even know the real reason why he did this, it said something about a payment not being made? For all we know it could have been a computer error and no-ones fault, so there's no call to go threatening people and endangering your own life in such a drastic way.

We don't know the whole story yet so lets not call judgements about "nasty Tories" shall we?

Totally agree with you. He was clearly suffering with mental health issues to do this. Issues with payments happen all the time for a million different reasons but people aren't lighting themselves on fire every 5 minutes. There's something much deeper going on in this case. It's clearly not because of the nasty Tories!

I will say that while JCP staff have to deal with threats every day, it's usually just some idiot shouting and swearing. In this case it's almost certain that a few of them saw this guy light himself on fire. That's going to be pretty traumatic for them and they will hopefully get some support. No matter what this guy's issues were, he had no right to threaten them or cause them mental harm, something Martyn* is clearly forgetting in his post.

[Architecture-er]

At least employers will know he won't shirk from the tough jobs.

[somethingbeautiful]

(Original post by Historophilia)
For all we know the man may have been mentally ill.

Apparently he was in fact mentally unwell and wasn't expected to work but recently he had been called for a re-assessment in order to see if he was well enough to go back to work. Obviously he's not.

[n00]

(Original post by gateshipone)
He was clearly suffering with mental health issues to do this.

He might have been. Was Jan Palach?

[rock_climber86]

poor guy; he has my sympathies. I have been unemployed on and off for 2 years with a 7 month temp job which finished 3 weeks ago. When I was unemployed I honestly felt like I was an outcast and unworthy of being in british society due to my inability to work and due to having to go on JSA. I honestly started googling "unemployed+suicide" which was really worrying because that is how unstable a mindset I was in. To the lady who said he may have been mentally ill I say this: being unemployed makes people ill! I am attest to that and I'm sure a lot of people who have been on JSA for a year or two will say the same.

Hope the economy picks up soon else this lost generation crap will continue for god knows how long!

[ljsilver]

(Original post by I Gurn Hard)
I love how someone would prefer to set fire to themselves than take menial work or gain some qualifications. Screwed up priorities or what?

Thats the one, I totally agree.

I just love the politics of it.

Guy attempts self harm and responability is immediatley infered upon the government. Almost as if this man is not a free individual responsible for his own actions.

It's almost as if some people believe that governements cause mental health problems.

If this mans mental instability is an example of what happen when you get a Torie/coalition government, what is the affect on the minds of men under a Labour Governement?

Objective conjectures only please. We can't be biased.


Ha.

[gateshipone]

(Original post by n00)
He might have been. Was Jan Palach?

Umm...what does Jan Palach have to do with this? I'm not saying everyone who sets themselves on fire is mentally ill, I'm saying in this particular case the person probably was due to the reason they did it. When I signed on I had a payment get delayed. Guess what, I didn't threaten the staff at my local Jobcentre and then set myself on fire! I did eventually work at the Jobcentre, and guess what, no one who had a delayed payment set themselves on fire outside. While I can't say with 100% confidence this guy was mentally ill, based on the details we have it's a solid guess that he was.

(Original post by rock_climber86)
poor guy; he has my sympathies. I have been unemployed on and off for 2 years with a 7 month temp job which finished 3 weeks ago. When I was unemployed I honestly felt like I was an outcast and unworthy of being in british society due to my inability to work and due to having to go on JSA. I honestly started googling "unemployed+suicide" which was really worrying because that is how unstable a mindset I was in. To the lady who said he may have been mentally ill I say this: being unemployed makes people ill! I am attest to that and I'm sure a lot of people who have been on JSA for a year or two will say the same.

Hope the economy picks up soon else this lost generation crap will continue for god knows how long!

I was unemployed for a year and I will admit I suffered a lot of depression because of it. This guy would have my sympathy if he hadn't threatened to kill others first. That to me isn't right and removes a lot of pity I may have for him. It may sound harsh but it's true, there was no reason for him to do what he did. Yes being on JSA sucks but to threaten other peoples lives for no reason is sick.

[rock_climber86]

(Original post by gateshipone)
I was unemployed for a year and I will admit I suffered a lot of depression because of it. This guy would have my sympathy if he hadn't threatened to kill others first. That to me isn't right and removes a lot of pity I may have for him. It may sound harsh but it's true, there was no reason for him to do what he did. Yes being on JSA sucks but to threaten other peoples lives for no reason is sick.

yes it sucks but i'm sure it was a case of diminished responsibility. One could argue he wasn't "being himself" when he reached that state of mind. He has my unconditional sympathy and I hope he finds a job or something meaningful to do with his life soon

[Acidedge]

At least he can put "flammable" on his CV.

No, seriously, having had two long spells of unemployment in the last two years, I also know that being without a job really sucks. If I had spent any more time trying to get help from the Fail Centre I would probably set myself alight too out of shear frustration.


This was posted from the PC in your mamma's bedroom.

[ufo2012]

(Original post by rock_climber86)
poor guy; he has my sympathies. I have been unemployed on and off for 2 years with a 7 month temp job which finished 3 weeks ago. When I was unemployed I honestly felt like I was an outcast and unworthy of being in british society due to my inability to work and due to having to go on JSA. I honestly started googling "unemployed+suicide" which was really worrying because that is how unstable a mindset I was in. To the lady who said he may have been mentally ill I say this: being unemployed makes people ill! I am attest to that and I'm sure a lot of people who have been on JSA for a year or two will say the same.

I was about to post something about similar thoughts elsewhere (can't remember where now but that doesn't matter)...

Does anyone else think that the JobCentre need to get to grips with the mental health issues that are arising out of the long-term jobless that are on their books?

Their attitude seems to be a 'numbers' game, but there is obviously a lot more going on in people's minds than just that.

By the time a long-time JSAer gets offered a job, will they even be mentally stable enough to do it?

[Historophilia]

(Original post by ufo2012)
I was about to post something about similar thoughts elsewhere (can't remember where now but that doesn't matter)...

Does anyone else think that the JobCentre need to get to grips with the mental health issues that are arising out of the long-term jobless that are on their books?

Their attitude seems to be a 'numbers' game, but there is obviously a lot more going on in people's minds than just that.

By the time a long-time JSAer gets offered a job, will they even be mentally stable enough to do it?

But people at the Jobcentre aren't trained counsellors or psychiatrists, they can't do everything!

Perhaps their could be more leaflets and phone numbers up in Jobcentres that people can use if they think they need help but Jobcentre staff can't be expected to know when someone needs help. For a start they don't know them well enough or see them often enough.

It's not fair to be the burden of responsibility on a normal Jobcentre worker to know when to refer someone to support for mental health issues. It puts too much pressure on them and could lead to people being referred who didn't need it.

[ufo2012]

(Original post by Historophilia)
But people at the Jobcentre aren't trained counsellors or psychiatrists, they can't do everything!

Perhaps their could be more leaflets and phone numbers up in Jobcentres that people can use if they think they need help but Jobcentre staff can't be expected to know when someone needs help. For a start they don't know them well enough or see them often enough.

It's not fair to be the burden of responsibility on a normal Jobcentre worker to know when to refer someone to support for mental health issues. It puts too much pressure on them and could lead to people being referred who didn't need it.

I know, I am not saying they should take on this role.

Considering however that long-term JSAers get regular 'interviews' (or at least they are supposed to) to see how they are getting on, you would think at least that part of this would/could be concerned with the well-being of the person as they are going about their job search.

But obviously this is not the case, as for a JobCentre worker (even a senior who may be doing the interview) it is still a numbers game.

It could be as simple as questioning how are you doing through this process and if the JobCentre worker thought/could see it was taking its toll then yes throwing them some leaflets to give the person some direction would hardly cost them a second of their time.

In the end, the onus is on the jobseeker but at the same time I have heard and read so many stories that the JobCentre are not the most helpful in actually 'helping' to find people a job.

[sconter]

by job seeker you mean an unemployed man sets himself on fire.

doesnt sound as good then though does it.