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campaign against welfare cuts and poverty

flicy said:
Brutal medical tests? What are they doing applying thumb screws to make people tell the truth about their physical capabilities. All they are trying to establish is whether claimants are still in the same condition as when DLA was applied for. information that has been voluntary up to now. And guess what? they don't get many people say their health has improved. I see no reason why the genuinely disabled should have anything to worry about. Of course one persons idea of disability is another's discomfort. With real disability a persons doctor & medical records can tell it all. The benefit bill to this country has become so out of control that it is no longer affordable, if the truly sick & disabled are to be cared for as they should be, the benefit system has to be reformed, the abuse of it ended & returned to what it was originally meant for. If this is not done we will end up like Greece & Portugal where we may find we cannot afford a system at all.
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That all seems to be a basic argument by someone who seems to "trust" this government..the reality is that this is a cost cutting exercise.
I was asked today at the end of a "back to work" interview if I had managed to walk up the stairs to the first floor.. I saw no lift and was not told there was one... I did manage but took it's toll on my breathing.
At the end of this interview the person said as some kind of afterthought he had noticed I manage to climb the stairs.. then he gave me some chat about how was annoyed with his boss because he had sick people having to walk up the stairs.. then I was told that this government had a programme of helping people back to work.. and that my benefits of around £86.00 a week could be cut to JSA at around £65.00.
OK get the violins out..I've had four major ops on my heart over the last five years ,three replacement heart valves,been hospital for around a year over that period.. but because of the brilliant NHS surgeons I can walk .. I've never been afraid of hard work and most of my working life has been in building and labouring.. this government are simply transfering sick people onto the dole to save £30.00 per head.
 
'I've never been afraid of hard work and most of my working life has been in building and labouring.. this government are simply transfering sick people onto the dole to save £30.00 per head'


That is what NL always planned, it was never about helping sick and disabled people..
 
treelover said:
'I've never been afraid of hard work and most of my working life has been in building and labouring.. this government are simply transfering sick people onto the dole to save £30.00 per head'


That is what NL always planned, it was never about helping sick and disabled people..
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Makes no difference to me,or anyone in a similar position whatever government as far as health goes...any MP of any political party must know that to live on a basic income of £65 per week is impossible for even the most able bodied people unless other payments such as housing are made.. but this government are simply trying to cut the deficit by screening out the sick from the extremley sick to save a few quid..a drop from £86 to £65 for genuine sick people is massive but would not even cover the cost of a dinner meeting for any MP... it makes me feel sick :(
 
Roonster said:
Makes no difference to me,or anyone in a similar position whatever government as far as health goes...any MP of any political party must know that to live on a basic income of £65 per week is impossible for even the most able bodied people unless other payments such as housing are made.. but this government are simply trying to cut the deficit by screening out the sick from the extremley sick to save a few quid..a drop from £86 to £65 for genuine sick people is massive but would not even cover the cost of a dinner meeting for any MP... it makes me feel sick :(
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It's not even just about money... how much are all these changes onto (doomed ESA) costing, when it is clear they will stop it and change everything again onto the universal credit. It's an ideological campaign to try and stop anyone claiming anything (especially longterm). They're happier giving tax payers money to private companies like A4E than to the people who need the money to live on. :(
 
Urbanblues said:
At last, they're rolling out information on Personal Independence Payment Guidelines. The following link will take you to the relevant 'Disability Alliance' factsheet.

http://www.disabilityalliance.org/f60.htm
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"they" are not rolling out anything, it's independent organisations like DA who are taking the time to analyse and communicate what "they" intend to do with this invidious scheme to remove disabled people from additional benefit payments that were introduced by a tory administration in recognition of the extra costs associated with disability. and these lib-dem fucks bleat about being "human shields" in the coalition or something, despicable wankers.....
 
Paulie Tandoori said:
"they" are not rolling out anything, it's independent organisations like DA who are taking the time to analyse and communicate what "they" intend to do with this invidious scheme to remove disabled people from additional benefit payments that were introduced by a tory administration in recognition of the extra costs associated with disability. and these lib-dem fucks bleat about being "human shields" in the coalition or something, despicable wankers.....
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Hmmm, thought that's what I was getting at. After all I did mention it's a DA Fact Sheet.

Anyway, now we have a better idea of what we're, potentially, up against we can start to challenge some of the excesses.
 
Good demo in Cambridge last night. Eric Pickles was invited to speak at the uni union by the student tory club.

The residents that turned up to demonstrate nearly had the life drained out of them by droning socialists on megaphones until a group managed to find a way into the building and disrupt the Tory pow wow.

We got within a few metres of Pickles himself and managed a volley of abuse and jibes to his face :)

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Pickles-protesters-storm-Union-building-24052011.htm

http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/issue/news...nion-–-union-security-staff-“out-of-control”/

Anybody spot an Urban75 tshirt?
 
flicy said:
Why do you think that everyone who dosn't agree with you is a troll & entitled to abuse. I am not afraid because I know I am absolutely genuine. Incidentally 2 days ago the possibility of people slipping through the net when they are genuine was put to a health minister. & he said any such cases should be brought to his notice in order that any changes that need to be made will be. There is no such thing as a perfect system due to it being implemented by individuals with individual judgement, but that dosn't mean that no attempt should be made to reform the welfare system in general. It is grossly abused, although I do agree DLA is less likely to be other than where improvement in circumstances is not volunteered. But our welfare bill has gone through the roof in recent years & is just not sustainable at present levels. The system has to be tightened to discourage abuse & sometimes downright fraud. This money dosn't come from nowhere it comes from working people. No one minds their money helping genuinely sick & disabled people. I for one feel privileged to live in a country where you are not left to die if you can't help yourself as they are in so many parts of the world. But the system is abused & it has to stop because it is now out of control. Anyone who is genuine in the benefits they claim should be grateful that the welfare system is being reformed because it will ensure the country can continue to look after them. All parties want these reforms, but until now no one has had the guts to carry them out.
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'Genuine'? Ha, that's a good one. Its obviously not occurred to you that the debt crisis has been greeted in certain quarters as a golden opportunity to further roll back the post-World War II social settlement, so not only are workers jobs, pay and conditions under threat, but also the social wage too.
 
I am one of the "work shy scroungers" vilified in the press on an almost daily basis. I havent worked for 5 years nor am I going to be able to for the next five years. the past 12 months I have been spat at and abused in the street, been called a faker by strangers. and why? because I served for 13 years in the armed forces until I was caught in an IED which left me completely blind, reliant on oxygen, take 52 tablets a day to keep my organs working and only able to stand for 5 minutes until my spine gives out.

according to the proposed cuts I will have to leave the small 2 bedroom house i have which means loosing an overnight carer when I am ill and my guide dog. Today I had a letter from Lord Freud who just said we all have to accept what is happening and gave the worst case scenario of benefit fraud and inflated rent prices (£2000 a week - mine is 133 a fortnight - big difference !!!)as a blanket excuse. my local MP is aware that if the reform goes through as planned I will have to choose to either move to another area loosing all contact with friends and be in complete isolation or make up the short fall in my benefits to pay the rent which will be paid using my meals on wheels money allowing me to have a meal just once every other day.

My situation is not unique but this is what thousands of others are facing. but i thought in this day and age i would never have to choose between if i want human contact each day or a meal each day. This is not what I fought for my country for. and i wish those who want to tar us all with the scrounger brush to have a think before you speak. we have feelings dignity and pride even if we dont have a meal everyday. I am ashamed to be British if this is how we will treat the disabled and sick in this country from now on'

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2011/06/welfare-reform-employment



new Laurie Penny article on the 'human cost of welfare reform' its very good, but the comment below the lines are just as revealing, as in this one
 
'http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/06/480493.html'


some major sucesses developing, the 'Making Work Pay' conference has been suspended, its a real shame though all this wasn't happening when the reforms were first being discussed and Serco, etc were sponsoring such conferences.
 
treelover said:
'http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/06/480493.html'


some major sucesses developing, the 'Making Work Pay' conference has been suspended, its a real shame though all this wasn't happening when the reforms were first being discussed and Serco, etc were sponsoring such conferences.
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Exactly and we must not loose sight of that,
 
Final Commons vote on Monday 13th June:

Fight the Welfare Bill - lobby your MP today

9th June 2011

MPs take a final vote on Iain Duncan Smith’s Welfare Reform Bill on Monday, 13 June 2011. Our Welfare Reform Bill briefing sets out why the Bill should be opposed, and was sent to every Labour MP in March (the last time Parliament debated the Bill). Lobby your MP today to tell them to vote against the Bill (model letter here). If you’re not sure who is your MP, you can find your MP here. Let us know what response you get by emailing info@l-r-c.org.uk

The Bill is an attempt to scapegoat those on welfare, part of the coalition’s plans to slash £18 billion from welfare payments. The plans will also further privatise welfare delivery and result in a less generous and more punitive welfare system at a time when people need it more than ever. Last time, the Labour frontbench abstained on the Bill, this time we need Labour to pick a side and clearly vote against the Bill - banishing the legacy of privatisation, sanctions and workfare that was pushed by New Labour ministers like James Purnell.

As well as writing to your MP asking them to vote against the Bill, please make sure your CLP passes the model motion on welfare.

PCS has also recently launched a new pamphlet, ‘Welfare: an alternative vision’. The 24-page booklet was unveiled at a public meeting in Brighton – during PCS’s conference in the city. The aim is to arm activists with the information needed to campaign against attacks on benefits – and to put forward ideas for the future of the welfare state. Speaking at the launch, LRC Chair John McDonnell MP, said:

“This small booklet challenges the big lies that form the basis of this government’s welfare reform policies. Every time a politician or political commentator tries to spew out the same old myths about scroungers and benefits fraud or the abuse of the system, just swat them intellectually with the facts and arguments set out in this excellent booklet.”

Defend jobs. Even though unemployment remains high, in May the government announced a further 2,400 job cuts in the Department for Work and Pensions. Lobby your MP against these cuts.

http://l-r-c.org.uk/news/story/fight-the-welfare-bill-lobby-your-mp-today/
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Did anyone see this weeks Panorama?
They went to sunny Rhyl to investigate the welfare to work plans. Interesting that even a spokesperson for one of the private companies they intend to use for the welfare to work schemes is urging caution, saying that the government should be careful about promising more than it can deliver.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/default.stm
 
Surely the key point here is should those on JSA or Income Support be entititled to have chidren. I have heard of many families on income support who are having up to five children.
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comments, prick

stop the poor from breeding basically
 
I see the standard are allowing racist posts now

Very well said David. I expect you have offended someone already. Probably the 15 year old "mums" with assorted fathers and multi-coloured kids. Best way to get a council house and money from us for the rest of their "non- working" lives. Many will be grandmothers (sorry, grand mums) by the time they are 30. What a drag on the nation.
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so Tory infighting now about the £26k benefit cap - Pickles write to Cameron and told him basically that in the long tern, this cap will not save money, and will in fact cost more - as it will lead to increased homelessness - with the local authorities having to place some of those made homeless by the cap into temporary accommodation which costs more :facepalm:

still has to go through the Lords - will there be yet another u-turn by the Tories?

Also will it lead to a revival of rent caps? surely if you limit the rent a private landlord can charge - then HB bill would be reduced - and BTL landlords can share some of the pain.
 
In Bloom said:
I'd be up for doing something around this.

I was actually thinking of trying to get a claiment's union going in Merseyside. And then maybe after that I'll punch out Mike Tyson and climb Everest ;)
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ordulucocuklaryaztatilinicalisarakgeciriyor0_o_.jpg


 
'New Labour, the market state, and the end of welfare
Jonathan Rutherford

Jonathan Rutherford looks at the connections between government and the insurance business in their joint project to reduce eligibility for sickness benefits.

© Soundings 2007
In November 2001 a conference assembled at Woodstock, near Oxford. Its subject was 'Malingering and Illness Deception'. The topic was a familiar one to the insurance industry, but it was now becoming a major political issue as New Labour committed itself to reducing the 2.6 million who were claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB). Amongst the 39 participants was Malcolm Wicks, then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work, and Mansel Aylward, his Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Fraud - which amounts to less than 0.4 per cent of IB claims - was not the issue. The experts and academics present were the theorists and ideologues of welfare to work. What linked many of them together, including Aylward, was their association with the giant US income protection company UnumProvident, represented at the conference by John LoCascio. The goal was the transformation of the welfare system. The cultural meaning of illness would be redefined; growing numbers of claimants would be declared capable of work and 'motivated' into jobs. A new work ethic would transform IB recipients into entrepreneurs helping themselves out of poverty and into self-reliance. Five years later these goals would take a tangible form in New Labour's 2006 Welfare Reform Bill. '

http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/journals/articles/rutherford07.html


always worth reposting , all the usual suspects were at the Conference, Aylward, DWP, Unum, NL, Wesseley, Sharpe, etc.
 
News

Government delays Welfare Reform Bill

15 July 2011

The Government has been forced to delay the 2nd Reading of the flagship Bill in the Lords due to peers' concerns over the people affected.

DWP is suggesting other business has blocked progress but the surprise postponement till September from Tues will also give the Government time to lobby peers and answer the queries raised in DA's legal challenge.
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treelover said:
mmmm, first time that has happened I think on welfare, the weakening of the tabloids may help long term as well...
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Although it may be good news it being delayed -- who knows maybe it might not go thru the Lords (we can hope). I wouldn't say that tabloids had been "weakened" esp not the Mail, but it's all media that have been continuing this drip drip drip of poison against claimants of anything for any reason.
 
Defend Elaine McDonald & Disability Rights


Lobby Kensington & Chelsea Council’s Cabinet Meeting

The Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX

at 5.30pm on Thursday 21 July 2011

Please come if you can. See below more info from Disabled People Against Cuts and at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14042078

Defend Elaine McDonald and Disability Rights – Lobby Kensington and Chelsea Council’s Cabinet Meeting on 21 July 2011 @ 5.30pm

Please circulate and print and display wherever you can.

The Supreme Court has ruled in support of Kensington and Chelsea council’s withdrawal of overnight care to Elaine McDonald to save money. This will mean she will have no choice but to wear pads, although this is undignified and against her express wishes. Male judges are undermining a woman’s right to choose how she is helped with personal care.

The ruling has accepted that reviewing care plans can be treated as a reassessment of need. Therefore any contact with social services, even a phone call, could lead to detrimental changes to a disabled person’s care package.

The idea that privacy and independence can best be facilitated by dispensing with personal assistants or care workers at night was also supported by the Supreme Court. This is contrary to the government’s Independent Living Strategy, and undermines everything we have fought for as a disabled people’s movement for the last forty years. Personal assistance is vital to many disabled people’s independence and safety. Disabled people with complex health and social care needs who cannot move unaided should never be left alone at night in case of a fire or a sudden deterioration in their condition.

Disabled people, family carers, personal assistants, women, pensioners, community activists and trade unionists should come to the lobby to support Elaine and oppose this disgraceful ruling. Elaine’s overnight care should be restored immediately. A defeat for Elaine is a defeat for us all.

Contact ADKC on 0208 960 8888 or at pbsupport@adkc.org.uk

Contact HAFCAC on 07899 752 877 or at hafcac@hotmail.co.uk


Contact DPAC at mail@dpac.uk.net or visit our web site at www.dpac.uk.net

Contact WinVisible on 0207 482 2496 (voice & minicom) or at win@winvisible.org
 
Demonstration & Rally Against Welfare Cuts

Saturday, July 23 · 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Brighton Level


As a result of the bankers’ crisis, over a million people lost their jobs. To pay off the bankers’ gambling debts, the government is making massive cuts to public spending that will throw over a million more onto the dole queue.

While the number dependent on welfare increases, the government is implementing major cuts to benefits for the sick and disabled, the unemployed, single parents and those on low wages.

At the same time mil...lions of pounds of public money are being diverted to private companies as our services including health, welfare and education are hived off.

To justify their actions the government is trying to divide the people, painting the unemployed and sick as lazy scroungers. The truth is that welfare cuts – which create misery and destroy lives – amount to many times less than the unpaid taxes owed by fat cat businessmen.

At any time, we can find ourselves in need of help. We must be able to rely on a decent, publicly funded and run welfare system. Public good cannot be served by private greed.

It's time to say NO!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=218318601530164
 
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