Purnell: more attacks on the unemployed, etc
- Thread starter treelover
- Start date
some interesting news from the Benefits And Work website, a number of the major disability charities, most of which all seemed to roll over in relation to the welfare reforms, are now attacking the govt for reneding on ESA, etc, saying that they basically lied about rates of the benefit, etc. Further, Roger Berry has a EDM calling for it to be postponed.
Well, there were plenty of people who told them so, bit too late now, they are discredited.They are still not too concerned about all the harrassment that claimants will face
ESA honeymoon ends in bitter accusations
charity government split27 May 2008
The all-party, all-charity, consensus on employment and support allowance has finally started its acrimonious break up with leading charities accusing the government of going back on its promises. Meanwhile, Roger Berry MP has launched an early day motion signed by 36 MPs so far calling for the introduction of ESA to be postponed. It’s all far too little far too late to change ESA, but it means the government’s proposed further welfare reforms are in difficulty before they’ve even been launched.
Misled
Disability Alliance, CPAG, the Disability Benefits Consortium, the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group and Citizens Advice have all written to the Merits of Statutory instruments committee of the House of Lords setting out their disappointment and frustration at the reality of the ESA regs.
The Disability Benefits Consortium quote various ministerial statements in which assurances were given that ESA would be paid at a higher rate than incapacity benefit and allege that in reality: “Our organisations and the people we represent believe these commitments have not been followed through and that Parliamentarians have in effect been misled.”
CPAG echoes this sentiment, accusing the government of not meeting the spirit of its commitment and pointing out that:
“Everybody in the work-related activity group will receive £84.50 after 13 weeks. This compares with existing claimants on income support who are entitled to the disability premium who get £86.35, amounting to a reduction of £1.85 per week.”
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/content/view/955/92/
[/QUOTE]
Well, there were plenty of people who told them so, bit too late now, they are discredited.They are still not too concerned about all the harrassment that claimants will face
ESA honeymoon ends in bitter accusations
charity government split27 May 2008
The all-party, all-charity, consensus on employment and support allowance has finally started its acrimonious break up with leading charities accusing the government of going back on its promises. Meanwhile, Roger Berry MP has launched an early day motion signed by 36 MPs so far calling for the introduction of ESA to be postponed. It’s all far too little far too late to change ESA, but it means the government’s proposed further welfare reforms are in difficulty before they’ve even been launched.
Misled
Disability Alliance, CPAG, the Disability Benefits Consortium, the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group and Citizens Advice have all written to the Merits of Statutory instruments committee of the House of Lords setting out their disappointment and frustration at the reality of the ESA regs.
The Disability Benefits Consortium quote various ministerial statements in which assurances were given that ESA would be paid at a higher rate than incapacity benefit and allege that in reality: “Our organisations and the people we represent believe these commitments have not been followed through and that Parliamentarians have in effect been misled.”
CPAG echoes this sentiment, accusing the government of not meeting the spirit of its commitment and pointing out that:
“Everybody in the work-related activity group will receive £84.50 after 13 weeks. This compares with existing claimants on income support who are entitled to the disability premium who get £86.35, amounting to a reduction of £1.85 per week.”
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/content/view/955/92/
[/QUOTE]
It also fails to mention that the initial rate will be the same as income support/JSA
Sounds like these disability charities are ran by wishy washy careerists similar to the RSPCA or Blairite unions. Did they really think the govt would have the people's interests at heart?
Sounds like these disability charities are ran by wishy washy careerists similar to the RSPCA or Blairite unions. Did they really think the govt would have the people's interests at heart?
_angel_
.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
A lot of them are "establishment" through and through. Most of the problem is that when the tories and then new labour encouraged the charities to "professionalise" their hierarchies a lot of "careerists" got their feet under the table, and the people the charities served got locked out of the decision-making processes.
Apparently at the Welfare To Work conference sponsored by Serco(formerly Securicor) they are having 'speed dating sessions' between the private sector and the third sector in order to more quickly expedite deals, it stinks...
I really can't believe there are no lobbys/protests at this event
I really can't believe there are no lobbys/protests at this event
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
IMO the charity laws and/or what the Charity Commissioners might do if a charity is overtly "political" is used as an excuse, and as an excuse not to (pardon the business-speak) "push the envelope" as far as taking action is concerned.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
Was it November 1998 or 1999 that Jack Ashley capitulated and so allowed Labour’s first Welfare Reform Bill passage through to the statute book? Whichever year it was, I do know it was bloody cold for us disabled activists waiting outside Parliament for the Lords’ decision.
For months we’d mounted a weekly vigil outside Parliament; demonstrating against stringent new rules proposed for applying for disability benefits, and of course the big one, taxing of IB – a measure deemed too draconian by the Tories during their 18-year junta.
Whatever the time was, it was cold, dank and dark on that November night. To my surprise, another group had turned up; and, while not quite joining with us, were nonetheless there for the Welfare Reform result. They differed from us, in that they were suited, booted and ‘normal’ looking – that is, most could stand up unaided; they weren’t speaking with their hands; and, there was a general absence of Labradors.
But, what really separated them from us was the media attention they were attracting. Several TV crews attended to them, like flies around a particularly fresh steaming dog turd. Of course, what we had here was the professional disability experts being parachuted in to do the TV interviews; speak on behalf of us poor fucking raspberries, spazers, Bennies, retards, Flids, Joeys and assorted mongs – because, we’re worth it.
Not too happy with being marginalised, once again; we approached the TV people to tell them our side of the story; how we had campaigned, as grass-roots disabled people, since spring, week-in-week-out; how we’d lobbied both MPs and Lords; and, how we’d petitioned various other grass-roots people and groups. They weren’t interested in the very people these laws would directly impact on; their interest was interviewing non-disabled people at the head of organisations such as Radar, Scope, Leonard Cheshire etc – the very people who’d turned up on the last night to steal the moment.
VP, these establishment ‘voices’ of the disabled have been around a long time; they’re always the ones the establishment press and TV hone in on. A upright ‘normie’ with a prerequisite set of everything, including education up to and beyond degree level, will usually win over a dribbling crip who if not kept in check will trip over his own tongue while offering up some unpalatable truths. Do TV companies really want a spokesperson for disabled people who compels their viewers to engage their listening faculties? Doubt it; far easier to employ people that look like other people who speak for the people who can’t speak for themselves.
To bring this overlong and rambling reminiscence to a close...As the TV people starting interviewing the televisual people; we, the invisible choir, began singing and chanting. A sheepish lad was sent over from the TV people to ask us to keep the noise down until after they’d finished interviewing. We refused. A TV journo came over. We negotiated. We won; and, we had a spokesperson on the 10 O’clock News, both Sky and real TV.
Fucking careerist cunts!
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
There does seem to be a well-trodden route from "charities" into senior positions at various Government departments these days, where people who (according to their CV) have fuck all experience of anything somehow end up foisting ludicrous proposals on the rest of us.
Its a slight derail but stuff like this and this have brought me around to this opinion.
The Black Hand
Unclean
Totally.
Tory views? Like what? Like believing that disabled people can work????
How is that a Tory view?
Oh dear here we go again.....Another person who thinks that they can describe suns thick working class readership........
And what exactly do the royals have to do with this? The biggest waste here is that so many people have been wrongly written off as unemployable.
Hi UB. No i used the figure as raised 2.3m out of 2.7m....Suprised that anybody on here would really support the idea that Remploy!!!!!!!!!!! Should be opening more segregated workplaces!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaggghhh.....
You might think that....sad how people in this country still have such a cap doffing mentality when it comes to doctors.
agricola
a genuine importer of owls
Surely it is of relevance that the workers at Remploy wanted to work there, rather than the dubious liberation of being desegregated-via-P45 into some poorly paid agency McJob. Some empowerment that is.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
Have you ever visited a Remploy factory? Do you have total control over your working day; are you at liberty to walk in and out of work at will; can you do what you want when at work; are you, like many in work, tied to a particular building, even part of building, in which you are expected to remain during your contracted hours of employment; can you walk into any job you wish; can you demand what you earn, where and when you work; can you invite your partner, kids or mates into work to help you while away a few hours?
The likelihood is you’d say no to most of those things. So, isn’t that a form of segregation? How much does that differ from the Remploy employees work experience?
You want to know about segregation, Baldwin? Segregation is when you want to work but cannot find work; cannot find work because employers conspire against you on the grounds of your disability. This has happened to scores of workers from the Crosfield Supported Employment scheme which closed down a few years ago. I know people from that factory, who while in work, were both economically and socially active in their communities. Sadly, I’m also aware of the despair experienced by some of these people; who, despite trawling through papers, visiting job centres walking in off the street into businesses on spec, are still out of work. A few have managed to get low paid jobs with poor terms and conditions; most, are riding the merry-go-round of futile courses, interspersed by a few weeks here and there on ‘job experience’.
Most of these people, though disabled, do not claim IB. No, they attempt to survive on JSA. They’ve seen their future, it’s bleak and empty. Most can still remember brighter days; days when they had a sense of purpose each morning; days when, after a week’s work, they had a few quid in their pockets, and the freedoms afforded by this wealth.
Now, economically ostracized they know the true meaning of segregation.
You pal, haven’t a fucking clue; you live in a world where one-size-fits-all. Fuck the fact that forcing some poor cunt into a job he’s not able to carry out, or ready to do; fuck the fact that he already had a job he could cope with; a job he was happy to carry out. Fuck the fact that you’ll criticise him when he can’t find another job. Because Baldwin, that’s exactly what you’ll do; because, you’re worth it.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
Good luck with the shop assistant you call on when you have your heart attack.
_angel_
.
A lot of these arguments sound the same as the ones to close special schools and try and 'integrate' all the children. In the end even the woman who pioneered this idea was forced to concede it had gone too far.
Still now we have children with SEN statements needs not being met (ie educated) within mainstream (and sometimes special) schools because 'inclusion' hasn't worked. Schools where they want to but can't exclude disruptive behaviourial challenged kids (often ASD spectrum or ADHD, or emotional behavioural disturbed)
Put simply you can't force square pegs into round holes. Some people are different, their needs need to be met differently.
Baldwin is typical of many today - Tories without even realising it.
he whines about the workshy but the Queen gets thousands of times more for not working. THAT was what i was getting at!
The government don't care WHOSE benefit they stop. I have seen people who are total suicide risks have their benefit stopped. It's about bending over for their tabloid proprietor friends more than anything
And Urban Blues is spot on about the doctors.
Maybe it's time to replace MINISTERS with shop assistants?
he whines about the workshy but the Queen gets thousands of times more for not working. THAT was what i was getting at!
The government don't care WHOSE benefit they stop. I have seen people who are total suicide risks have their benefit stopped. It's about bending over for their tabloid proprietor friends more than anything
And Urban Blues is spot on about the doctors.
Maybe it's time to replace MINISTERS with shop assistants?
The Black Hand
Unclean
Not by me or trev.
The Black Hand
Unclean
DOn't forget the high aristocracy, the extended and extensive ROyal family itself, and the over class - those rich billionaires who swan about do fek all too. and that Mosely Formula 1 racing gadgy.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
The sad thing is _angel_ , this drive to the bottom to get everybody into employment will result in forcing lots of square pegs into round holes. Just as with their predecessors, this government is approaching unemployment amongst disabled people from a short-termist perspective.
Rather than laying down sound foundations from which to build upon, they instead look to their neo-liberal friends in the City for solutions; as though merchant bankers have any idea of the needs of disabled people, in or out of the workplace; indeed, as though these people have any clue as to how the majority of us live.
Welfare Reform does not only target disabled people. This piece of legislation is also there for unemployed single mothers, young people and some ethnic groups ‘underrepresented’ in the workplace. Not sure of the figures involved; but, if we start from Baldwin’s figure of 2.3 million disabled people joining the ranks of the idle; I’d guess the other three groups could scrape together another 1.7 million between them.
This makes interesting reading. The government is expecting over 4 million jobless people to fill the 700,000 vacant positions. Not only is it determined to fit square pegs into round holes; it is now hell bent on getting a gallon into a half-pint pot.
_angel_
.
Why on earth they put a banker in charge of welfare reform, something even he conceded he knew nowt about, well, I do know, but isn't it bloody stupid?
And yeah. x million people into x 100,000 jobs (regardless of what they are and where they are) I've heard of job sharing but that's ridiculous!!
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
People in suits, usually either non-disabled or otherwise insulated from the vagaries of disability by nicely cushioned salaries, mainly. They’ll have to; because TV cameras won’t come near us, unless we’re willing to perform DAN-like stunts for them, involving pots of red paint and flids handcuffing themselves to moving buses.
As for keeping warm next year; hmmm, let’s wait and see.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
We'll have to do what we always do: Speak for ourselves and not rely on a bunch of silk tie-wearing phonies to do it for us.
Tory? How do you define Tory?
I believe in a massive redistribution of power and wealth.
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