River’s comment editor has her say on Natalija Belova and benefits

Natalija Belova, ex-Kingston student and single mother from Lithuania, seems to have it all figured out.

Julie Hebenstreit

Miss Belova spoke to The Sun, boasting that she turned down work because she makes over a grand a month in benefits. Now she expects sympathy because she got a bad name from the press. Well she’s got another thing coming.

Broken benefits system

“I need a full-time job that pays at least £25,000.” Hello, don’t we all? Take a look at the job market at the moment. A job paying 25k is a thing of students’ dreams, so this level of snobbery drives me mad, especially when most of us have to take on low-paid work to survive after university.

However, Miss Belova can’t be blamed entirely. The benefits system is broken and holds its doors wide open for people like her to come and claim benefits.

If she took a job, her housing benefit, child tax credit and child benefit would be out of the window. She would have to take care of that herself and she would undoubtedly lose the cushty life she is enjoying right now.

Paying for the scroungers

Benefit-cheating immigrants, and those Brits who can’t be bothered to get a job either, can’t keep blaming the press for the stigma attached to their lives.

We’re paying for the lives of these scroungers whilst searching for the few graduate jobs we can get our hands on.

But who I really feel sorry for are the immigrants who live in the UK and do their fair share of work. People like Miss Belova bring a bad name to the vast number of immigrants who pay their taxes and work hard for their families and community.

Miss Belova’s definitely figured the UK out. Why bother with a job if the system makes it so easy for you to stay at home and put your feet up?

Now, see the other side of the argument here