<% ballot="47673" ' Check nothing is broken broken = 0 if ballot = "" then broken = 1 end if set vt = Server.Createobject("mps.Vote") openresult = vt.Open("Vote", "sa", "") ' Created object? if IsObject(vt) = TRUE then ' Opened db? if openresult = True AND broken = 0 then ballotresult = vt.SetBallotName(ballot) ' read the vote votetotal=(vt.GetVoteCount(ballot, "yes")+vt.GetVoteCount(ballot, "no")) if votetotal <> 0 then ' there are votes in the database numberyes = vt.GetVoteCount(ballot, "yes") numberno = vt.GetVoteCount(ballot, "no") percentyes = Int((numberyes/votetotal)*100) percentno = 100 - percentyes ' fix graph so funny graph heights dont appear 'if percentyes = 0 then ' percentyes = 1 'end if 'if percentno = 0 then ' percentno = 1 'end if else ' summut went wrong frig it numberyes = 0 numberno = 0 percentyes = 50 percentno = 50 end if end if end if %> Votes so far:

100% 0%			>		>
			Yes: <% =percentyes %>%		No: <% =percentno %>%

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? How easy for our society, one of the wealthiest in the world, to dodge its responsibilities by encouraging us all to regard the less fortunate as 'them' rather than as part of 'us'.
I've been fortunate in that only once in my life have I needed the benefit system. I do remember it, however, as a most unpleasant system, administered at least in part by some very unpleasant people. The only time in my life that I've ever been tempted to strike a woman was in a benefit office.
'Millions wasted in benefit fraud' the media cries. Never a word on how little effort is spent on ensuring that genuine cases receive their due. Never a word on the fact that when pressure is applied to claimants, ALL withdrawn claims are counted as fraudulent, even if withdrawn because the claimant had simply given up hope.
John Luby, Scotland

Welfare may be 'a dead end' - but sadly it's a necessity for many individuals who've received the typically apalling educational and life opportunities that are the lot of most working class Brits.
Tony Blair should tackle the problems which are denying people real opportunities in this country, rather than attacking the victims of a grossly unfair society.
Paul Warren, UK

The Japanese use a better system where you are given 70% of your last salary for 3 months only. This forces people to look for a job a lot quicker.
Darren Flindall, UK

When you go to the unemployment office all they want to do is push you into a job - any job. It doesn't matter if you'll hate it, and it doesn't matter if you're no good at it. Getting benefit payments can keep your head above water, but you need more than that to survive long term. All in all the welfare system should be a lifeline, but so often, rather than being a dead end, it directs you into an unhappy maze of unsatisfactory jobs.
Jenny Hamblin, unhappily employed, Leeds, UK

Yes, it is long overdue that the welfare system was overhauled. It has led to the kind of attitudes such as that of Jenny Hamblin (above). She's content to milk the system rather than work for a living, even for a pittance. Welfare is, no doubt, responsible for the decline in personal and family responsibility in Britain. It has created an underclass of workshy unemployables.
Richard S. Seba, United Arab Emirates

The welfare system is a deadend for some, probably many, but a lifeline for others. It was meant as a safety net for those who could not help themselves. There is often not a connection in the minds of those receiving benefit between the payments and who is providing them - the taxpayer. Very often the beneficiaries seem to assume the money comes "from the government". The whole system does need reform - but not dismantlement.
James Morris, Ireland

The welfare system should not be a dead end. However, after years of abuse of the benefits and NHS system they are bankrupt. Reform is essential and the systems need to continue to exist. The public must be made aware of the level of abuse, and accept change or be prepared to scrap the benefits and NHS systems altogether - it seems that, given some of the criticisms, this would be the prefered choice: status quo leading to abolition!?
Cormac McGettigan, UK

Just because there is fraud doesn't mean we do away with a system that tries to help those in need. It is like saying "throw out all the politicians from the House of Commons, just because a few are unscrupulous". However, what also needs to be done is to inform the public that welfare is not a "right". Its aim must be to get those in need back on their feet. There needs to be a time limit and a gradual decrease in benefit payment over that time limit as an inducement to seek work. In those cases where disability is total, a "civilised" society should take of these citizens. At the same time, when fraud is encountered, it must dealt with severely. Punishemnt must be swift and "painful" and should be "publised". Word needs to get out that fraud will not be tolerated.
Sudhir Suchak, USA

The welfare state has been a fundamental part of our country for 50 years. It has provided both a safety net and support for those who are out of work, too ill to work or require assistance. Such a noble goal as to help people in need is not a dead end. However the Welfare System is in dire need of change and modernisation. There are many problems which need to be dealt with, while remembering the aim of this noble services. Hopefully Tony Blair will be able to do this.
Elliot Treharne, UK

Should society really support able-bodied people who simply choose not to work, or give those with minor disabilities the same level of support as those with serious problems? I think not. Welfare should always be given to those who genuinely need it but it should not be an alternative to work for those who are not in genuine need.
This is where the present Government is making a mistake, in that it gives the impression that benfit will be withdrawn or reduced in the case of certain groups who do genuinely need it - this is commonly seen as unfair.
Neil Tonks, UK

Workshy scivers will only ever find a dead end. It's all up to the individual. If you're a sciver who doesn't really want help then of course the benefits system is a dead end - and that's probably all you want. But, if you are self motivated, then the benefits system is the only way back onto the ladder of society.
John Jones, Cardiff, Wales

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