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campaign against welfare cuts and poverty

The draconian welfare sanctions regime is quite deliberate.

It is designed to make being on welfare support as anxiety inducing and insecure as possible, with sanctions for the most piddling of things. I mean for example, if I am 5 minutes late for work one day, the worst that might happen is a bit of a telling off, though they will probably be much more understanding if I have a good reason. Worst thing that could happen financially would be the loss of 15 minutes pay. But be 5 minutes late for a DWP interview and you could have all income for two weeks or a month removed, with very little sympathy for your reasons.

All of this of course serves an economic purpose. It is designed to induce such feelings of desperation that people will take absolutely any job on offer, no matter how poor the terms and conditions. And indeed they are likely to be sanctioned if they don't. Working people are induced to support this by a media narrative of feckless scroungers, with talk about people laying in bed whilst they get up in the morning. And yet they too are, as is intended, also victims. By creating an economy where people have to take any old rubbish, no matter how poor, they have created an economy riven with poor and exploitative contracts - the gig economy, zero hours contracts, fake self-employment, and so on.

A few decades back there was very little of this. When I was unemployed for a time in the 80s, had anyone offered me a zero hours contract I would have told them to stuff it and continued to look for a proper job. As would almost anybody. So employers had to offer something reasonable. Those who sometimes moaned about layabouts not wanting to take their jobs were generally the ones trying to offer exceptionally crap ones on very low pay.

But by creating an environment where people dare not say no, however poor the offer, they have created an environment where terms and conditions can be worsened for all, including many of those in work. This is quite deliberate in the interests of those with wealth and power. It is not in the interests of working people.
 
Don;t know how I didn't know this! Benefit claimant hater Rachel Reeves is married to DWP Director General for Finance. :mad:

Activists’ anger after they discover Labour frontbencher is married to DWP director

[T]he shadow chancellor, has been a focus for anger among many activists since she said seven years ago that Labour did not want to be seen as “the party to represent those who are out of work” and was “not the party of people on benefits”.

Only a couple of weeks ago, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer mirrored the 2015 comments made by Reeves by declaring in a speech that Labour was “the party of working people” and “the party of work”.

But it has now emerged that Reeves is married to Nick Joicey, DWP’s director-general for finance and a speechwriter for Gordon Brown when he was Labour’s chancellor.

There had already been growing concerns about Labour’s commitment to promising an independent inquiry into deaths linked to DWP’s failings, and to calling for a police investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office by senior DWP civil servants and ministers.
Click to expand...
 
Yes but watch the clip in its entirety - Rishi was being accused on doing ANYTHING was the problem with the "throwing red meat" speaker - he stated that the Cons should be handing out anything rather have used the money for tax cuts.

I stand by my remark, the Tories don't know what welfare is for; they've never been without their ETonian pocket money.
 
DWP contractors put lifts out of order and remove cups from beside water coolers to try to test the mobility of disabled people who are waiting to be assessed for benefits. (No, I'm not surprised.*) These are the people whose word counts far more than medical specialists on how disability/ill health affects any person being assessed.

Benefit claimants have backed up these claims:

Benefit claimants back up MP’s claims of assessment secret tricks

Another claimant, L, told DNS they had been told by an Atos assessor in about 2018: “There’s no available offices on the ground floor, let’s just got up here.”

The assessor then began to walk up the stairs.

When L failed to follow them, the assessor returned and suddenly found an empty ground floor office.
Click to expand...

*Another thing they sometimes do is hide which company they are - eg, the receptionist answers the phone with a vague "Hello, medical centre?" and there are no clues at all in the public areas of the building whether it's run by ATOS, Capita or Maximus. That makes it appear more legit and also makes it that bit harder to complain.

It's also often apparent that the receptionist is watching people in the waiting room and listening to their conversations. Don't forget, lots of people can't readily get to these places by themselves, and those that accompany them can sometimes be naive about how cynical the whole procedure can be, so might easily say things that could go against someone's claim. So for example they could be asked "How are you?" and reply "We're fine aren't we!" That could count against someone, as next thing "Mum/neighbour/random care assistant says they're fine" gets written on their notes for the DWP.
 
Dystopiary said:
DWP contractors put lifts out of order and remove cups from beside water coolers to try to test the mobility of disabled people who are waiting to be assessed for benefits. (No, I'm not surprised.*) These are the people whose word counts far more than medical specialists on how disability/ill health affects any person being assessed.

Benefit claimants have backed up these claims:

Benefit claimants back up MP’s claims of assessment secret tricks



*Another thing they sometimes do is hide which company they are - eg, the receptionist answers the phone with a vague "Hello, medical centre?" and there are no clues at all in the public areas of the building whether it's run by ATOS, Capita or Maximus. That makes it appear more legit and also makes it that bit harder to complain.

It's also often apparent that the receptionist is watching people in the waiting room and listening to their conversations. Don't forget, lots of people can't readily get to these places by themselves, and those that accompany them can sometimes be naive about how cynical the whole procedure can be, so might easily say things that could go against someone's claim. So for example they could be asked "How are you?" and reply "We're fine aren't we!" That could count against someone, as next thing "Mum/neighbour/random care assistant says they're fine" gets written on their notes for the DWP.
Click to expand...

Even the travel expenses procedure can be used against you if you reclaim say a bus fare as then you can be questioned on oh, you're ok on public transport then?
I've noticed staff following you out the building after an assessment too pretending to be on their mobile or similar, like your going to break out into a Johnson wedding dance or summat.

Luckily for us all this scummy behaviour is very often disregarded at appeal stage.
 
BCBlues said:
Even the travel expenses procedure can be used against you if you reclaim say a bus fare as then you can be questioned on oh, you're ok on public transport then?
I've noticed staff following you out the building after an assessment too pretending to be on their mobile or similar, like your going to break out into a Johnson wedding dance or summat.

Luckily for us all this scummy behaviour is very often disregarded at appeal stage.
Click to expand...
Yep, horrible.

True dat. Just with it could be scrapped.
 
existentialist said:
I think they will go further. Watch for the "benefits scroungers bleeding are cuntry dry" messages, followed by real-terms cuts in benefits.
Click to expand...
Very likely, however I would say that the cost of living payment is a unique proposition and they have already paid some of it (to some). Cutting it I dont' doubt is in their wheelhouse, but would they is the question? I hope not because I need a new phone and some trews
 
Karl Masks said:
Very likely, however I would say that the cost of living payment is a unique proposition and they have already paid some of it (to some). Cutting it I dont' doubt is in their wheelhouse, but would they is the question? I hope not because I need a new phone and some trews
Click to expand...
Ah, but the cost of living payment is also for Decent Hardworking People. I could see them having to make it for people on benefits, but that would probably give them even more justification for reducing other benefits.
 
existentialist said:
Ah, but the cost of living payment is also for Decent Hardworking People. I could see them having to make it for people on benefits, but that would probably give them even more justification for reducing other benefits.
Click to expand...
Don't misunderstand me, I don't think anything's off the table for these people. I just expected to hear a firm date announced at this point, which concerns me.
 
Unfortunately punishing claimants is popular with most of the electorate (and not just those who vote for the blue tories). The protestant work ethic is still very much with us (despite the strike wave and its not just confined to the right)

Btw I was in the bank earlier and I overheard an old fella being informed that he'd received a cost of living payment. But the bank clerk made sure to tell him that "its not for us workers though."
 
AmateurAgitator said:
Unfortunately punishing claimants is popular with most of the electorate (and not just those who vote for the blue tories). The protestant work ethic is still very much with us (despite the strike wave and its not just confined to the right)

Btw I was in the bank earlier and I overheard an old fella being informed that he'd received a cost of living payment. But the bank clerk made sure to tell him that "its not for us workers though."
Click to expand...
I've heard similar. A very clear sense of divide and rule. Tories love it of course.
 
Has there been any movement to increase benefit rates in conjunction with the cost of living crisis? Not just the "standard" inflation increase in April.

It was already dire during austerity and now...this!
 
shroudedincloud said:
Has there been any movement to increase benefit rates in conjunction with the cost of living crisis? Not just the "standard" inflation increase in April.

It was already dire during austerity and now...this!
Click to expand...
That's supposed to be further cost of living payments this year, totalling 900£ iirc. Obviously one wood have to qualify.
 
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