Rachel Reeves, shadow work and pensions secretary: said the long-term unemployed would have to take a job or lose benefits. Photograph: Christopher Thomond
Many people will have been disappointed to read Rachel Reeves’s comments in the Observer. It is a worrying trend that at a time of high unemployment, we see those unable to find work treated like criminals for not finding work that doesn’t exist.
Unemployed people are perfectly capable of assessing what is in their best interests, without threats. They don’t need to be compelled into demoralising and futile exercises so that politicians can look tough. No one would willingly choose life on unemployment benefit that pays just £10 a day (£8 if you’re under 25). Trade union members expect better from the Labour opposition, which should be taking a constructive approach of supporting people into work through training and re-skilling. Work experience also has a role to play, but it should be voluntary and paid, as per TUC policy.
It is pathetic that politicians compensate for their failure to build an economy that provides adequate jobs by bashing the victims of this failure. Many of us had hoped the reshuffle would open the door to a serious debate about the role of social security and the labour market. We hope it still can.
Mark Serwotka
General secretary, PCS
Michelle Stanistreet
General secretary, NUJ
Bob Crow
General secretary, RMT
Steve Gillan
General secretary, POA
Bob Monks
General secretary, URTU
Ronnie Draper
General secretary, BFAWU
Ian Lawrence
General secretary, Napo
Matt Wrack
General secretary, FBU
John McDonnell MP
Rachel Reeves, the new shadow minister for work and pensions, endorses the myths that flow from the lips of Iain Duncan Smith by claiming that nobody should be under any illusion that they are going to live a life on benefits under Labour. There is no life worth living on benefits: £71.70 a week single adult unemployment benefit is now paying rent and council tax and becomes valueless because annual increases are pegged at 1% while prices of food, utilities, clothes and transport escalate.
Tins of beans collected at a food bank cannot be cooked at home when the gas bill cannot be paid. Unless there is a policy to provide affordable housing, then a higher and higher proportion of the £500-a-week cap on benefits will be needed to pay rising rents in a housing market in short supply, forcing more individuals, parents and children into penury and out of their homes into temporary and overcrowded accommodation.
The Rev Paul Nicolson
Taxpayers Against Poverty
London N17
Unemployment: it is a lack of jobs, not laziness, that prevents people working ~ The Observer,
The leaders of eight trades unions today hit back at Rachel Reeves, Labour’s new work and pensions spokeswoman, for pledging to be “tougher than the Tories” on cutting the welfare bill, and accuse her of “bashing the victims of failure”.
In a letter to the Observer, the union bosses say it is “pathetic that politicians compensate for their failure to build an economy that provides adequate jobs” by implying that some of those who are out of work want to stay on benefits.
“Unemployed people are perfectly capable of assessing what is in their best interests, without threats,” says the group, which includes the general secretaries of several major unions, including Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union, Michelle Stanistreet of the National Union of Journalists, and Steve Gillan of the Prison Officers’ Association.
Last Sunday, in an interview with this paper, Reeves, who was promoted to shadow work and pensions secretary in Ed Miliband’s recent reshuffle, said that Labour would be “tougher” than the Conservatives in slashing welfare costs. The long-term unemployed would be offered a job under a government scheme, and would lose their benefits if they refused it. She said that no one should expect to be able to spend a life on benefits under a Labour government. Her comments angered some on the left of the party, who saw them as aping Tory language on welfare claimants.
Labour taunted the coalition over the lack of growth in the first half of this parliament, but its own difficulties on the economy will probably be highlighted this week when the chancellor, George Osborne, points to new evidence that the UK has “turned a corner”, with official figures expected to show that the recovery is gathering pace.
When the Office for National Statistics publishes its first estimate of GDP in the third quarter of the year on Friday 25 October, City analysts expect it to reveal growth of 0.8% – an improvement on the 0.7% recorded during the previous three months, and stronger than the independent Office for Budget Responsibility expected in March, when it forecast 0.6% growth for 2013 as a whole.
Some economists are projecting an even more robust performance, perhaps 1% or more, after a series of upbeat business surveys. Rising consumer confidence as the housing market has begun to thaw in many parts of the country, and the end of the recession in the eurozone, the UK’s major market, has helped firms to feel more optimistic about their prospects.
Labour is likely to respond by stepping up its argument that with wages still rising much more slowly than inflation, very few families are feeling the benefits of economic recovery, because of what Miliband has called the “cost of living crisis”.
The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Chris Leslie, said: “To catch up all the lost ground since George Osborne became chancellor, we need to see 1.4% growth every quarter between now and the next election. We need action to secure a stronger recovery that sees rising living standards for the many, not just a few at the top.”The latest official figures on the labour market, published on 16 October, showed that a record 29.87 million people are now in employment in the UK, but average wages in the three months to August were only 0.7% higher than a year earlier, while inflation was running at 2.7%.
The contrast between paltry pay increases and the rocketing cost of living was underlined as British Gas became the latest utility company to announce a price rise, pushing up bills by more than 10%.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
78 Responses
Sack her Ed,
So it is not just the tories who will use unemployed people as slave labour. I can safely say that the labour party will lose millions of votes. I for one will never vote for them as they are becoming every bit as bad as the tories. Thank heavens we have Alex Salmond and SNP and the chance of independence in Scotland.
For many years I have been alerting folk to the fact that the Labour Party are no different to the Tories and are every bit the enemy of the working class.
Don’t forget it was originally Labour’s idea to introduce
For many years I have been alerting folk to the fact that the Labour Party are no different to the Tories and are every bit the enemy of the working class.
Don’t forget it was originally Labour’s idea to introduce WELFARE REFORM.
In Scotland we have the golden opportunity to scrap the benefits changes that have been imposed on us when we vote for Independence next year.
This is a chance that won’t come again. Separation from Westminster would give us the chance to build the society we want with a proper welfare system that does not treat benefits claimant like criminals.
BUT IF THE SNP GOT IN THEY WOULD JUST FEATHER THEIR OWN NESTS ASWELL!, WHEN WILL PEOPLE WAKE UP TO THE FACT THAT NONE OF THEM GIVE AN ABSOLUTE FLYING FUCK, ANYWAY I HOPE MR SALMOND DOES SOME GOOD ON THE OUTSIDE, CAUSE ONCE ON THE INSIDE IT’S I’M ALL RIGHT JACK, AND ABSOLUTELY FUCK YOU!
General Strikes !! That is just the people in work !! Now back to disability because it`s not politics.
I would caution against using the word ‘Tougher’ for creatures such as these. ‘Tougher’ is not an insult, any more than ‘Brave’, ‘Bold’ or ‘Maverick’.
They’re all words which are used as euphemisms for ‘Bull-headed’, ‘Insensitive’, ‘Selfish’, or ‘Cruel’.
Mussolini did well as ‘The strong man of Europe’ rather than ‘Gangster bully’, The psychopath Iosif Vissarionovich gained much PR advantage from being called ‘Man of Steel’ and Margaret Thatcher was delighted to adopt ‘Iron Lady’.
Don’t buy into this self-ascribed image of ‘toughness’ which excuses theft and murder as ‘Tough choices’. Call the woman and her ilk by a name that says what she is. Not ‘tough’ but ‘Callous’, ‘Greedy’, ‘Unprincipled’ and ‘Stupid’.
Oh – and whilst we’re at it, please drop the word ‘Reform’ for ‘Destruction’ and ‘Austerity’ for ‘Siphoning off public money to Corporate business’.
Thank you.
ANOTHER BANKER FOR WELLFARE,AS IF THEY HAVE NOT DONE MORE DAMAGE THAN THEY WILL EVER DO ON A MAS SCALE.
JEFF LPH
If I were in Scotland, I’d vote for secession like a shot.
But I’m in England, and if the Scots leave, I am terrified by the possibility that I will have to live in a country forever Tory…
That’s not the case, Sam! Here’s the empirical evidence:
http://wingsoverscotland.com/why-labour-doesnt-need-scotland/
Scots who think independence will be some sort of panacea to their social ills would due well to peruse the latest report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. This warns that Salmond would need to cut billions from public spending upon independence in order to balance the books. Scotland’s high levels of public spending – 17% above the UK average – would in effect cancel out any benefits from North Sea oil and gas revenues, meaning an effective 15% cut in overall expenditure (£2.4bn over the first two years, with possible further cuts of £3.5bn).
Of course, reports like these have a habit of turning out to be incorrect, but if true, Scottish welfare recipients could find themselves in an even worse position than if they’d remained within the UK.
Only time will tell.
Yes, they do have a habbit of turning out to be untrue.
It’s called “Project Fear”.
Could help to drive down unemployement north of the border.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-20042070
ATOS workers are have now voted to go on strike. Pay & conditions. Mutiny.
OOOOOh now that IS good news. Where did you hear of this Steppin Razor?
These Politicians are Taking the Piss and People Need to Stand
Up to them
Their Arrogance and Ignorance is Disgusting and Not Acceptable
It is Not Tory Rich Peoples Labour Party that is Needed but
Socialist Care For the Poor and Vulnerable Labour Party that
is Needed
The Lack of Choice that there is is Bloody Well Not On
Hear hear!
What is also Needed is More Events to Challenge the Victimisation
of the Poor and Vulnerable to Get Sheople Out of Their Tiny
Little Worlds and Say to Politicians Hands Off the Poor
No More Neo Liberal Rich Peoples Governments or Out of Touch
Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions what is Better is a
Socialist Secretary of State For Charity and Poor Relief
Tax the Rich Hands Off the Poor
Welfare before the Murder of Warfare
The whole policy is based on emotional blackmail. Rah Rah Rah they go at PMs Questions with their rude & bad manners & behaviour. Once you take the emotion out of it you see it for what it really is. Too many contradictions to be a coincidence. There are no winners just losers blackmail the truth with success of the Emotional Blackmail Contradiction Policy.
Once you avoid the emotion of genocide, it makes it a lot easier to understand where the policy stands in a world with no Emotional Blackmail Genocide.
It is a disability Human Rights Issue not a political cash cow!!
here ya go – tories make 20m limit definite re:PIP – motability fucked
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251631/pip-mobility-consultation-government-response.pdf
It seems the WCA test results are already written before the WCA test –
1.10
Whilst the 50 metre distance is used to measure mobility in other Government policies, it does not mean that it is the right distance for use in determining entitlement to the enhanced rate of the Mobility component. Government is entitled to use different criteria for different purposes and it is important that decisions on PIP criteria are based on an objective consideration of the policy intent for the benefit.
— Yes make it up as we go along. How long`s a piece of string !!!
Chicken or egg – What came first ATOS or the WCA Results!!
The whole thing is a contradiction in non elected terms.
If you read the whole *** & break iit down – It Is Not Worth The Paper It`s Written On
They put so much **** in it so as your lawyer will have to spend months & months & ££££ going through it all.
Another reason It Is Not Fit For Purpose — And they know it – It will take at least £20,000 lawyer fee to even get close.
Forget all that Human Rights Laws have been breached & that it is a Human Rights issue about disability not politics,
Mike Penning welcomes us to his new job as Minister of State for Disabled People. 62 wonderful contradictory pages of poppycock. Soon to be moved on.
A 62 page non sticky sticking plaster.
SR
Have many disabled people are in work now because of a failed WCA at ATOS !! The figures the DWP will give you is for people in so called non jobs, like sitting at the job centre all day getting day time tv training at the job centre all day every day. That is not a job, it is a non employment figure to be juggled to make figures & good news for the non elected in government. We don`t hear the great stories about disabled people now in work after 30 years on the sick, because there arn`t any!! All playing snakes & ladders their political & corporate standings, using the disabled as the main tool of share prices going up in companies that have disabled people as customers.
In the end it`s nothing whatsoever to do with disabled people. They rob their money & kill them of. Who`s to say !!
The political tactics are nothing less than corporate manslaughter [Corporate personslaughter] or Corporate Human Slaughter, to give it it`s correct title.
SR
Indeed.
State Terrorism is what I call it – somewhat more people involved that the ‘collapse’ of the Twin Towers – and still no international outcry – and still the labour party are into appeasement – makes ya wanna die
FUCK LABOUR, VOTE GREEN.
It is Clear as Crystal that Thatcherite Free Market Economic
Neo Liberalism has made Britain a Worst Place to Live in for
those Outside the Ivory Tower of Obscene Wealth
A Revolutionary Socialist State and Society with Charity and Care For the Poor and Vulnerable is the Way Forward
BROKEN BRITISH POLITICS –EXEMPTIONS FOR BEDROOM TAX IN IRELAND (11/10/13) A deal to pave the way for the introduction of the bedroom tax in Northern Ireland is due to be announced ‘within weeks’, senior political sources have said. Inside Housing reported in August that a behind closed doors deal had been reached with the Treasury that existing tenants should be exempt from the penalty. Sources within first minister Peter Robinson’s office have said a deal is ‘close to being announced’, after months of negotiations with the UK Treasury. The Northern Irish Government has the power to decide its own package of welfare reforms, but will have to foot the bill if it deviates from Westminster policy. A welfare reform bill is awaiting consent from the executive before being bought before the assembly. The Chartered Institute of Housing said it had lobbied for the policy not to affect existing tenants, and to only hit those new tenants with two or more spare bedrooms. Cecilia Keaveney director of CIH Northern Ireland, said: ‘The best solution would be for the bedroom tax not to be introduced, but if it has to be we recommended ways to mitigate it.Is the reason behind this because the People of Northern Ireland have a voice on their side.
http://brokenbritishpolitics.simplesite.com
Ever felt you’re caught between a rock and a hard place? To put it mildly!
I am very distressed about Labour in the sense that they skirt round the DETAIL re.what they will do about “reforming” WCA.
I sent an email to the party regarding my concerns about the whole appalling cruel unfair system and has a long e-mail back that gives an idea of their direction, but no detail. I COPY THE E-MAIL I RECEIVED BACK FROM LABOUR BELOW FOR YOUR INFO:-
Thank you for your email regarding Labour’s policies for disabled people. For help with specific cases please get in touch with your local MP.
The Government is creating a climate of fear amongst disabled people and their families, with the bedroom tax, failure to reform the Work Capability Assessment, badly thought through changes to Disability Living Allowance, and the complete failure of the Work Programme to help disabled people into work. Labour has demanded a cumulative impact assessment of the reforms hitting disabled people, but the Government have refused.
David Cameron’s Bedroom Tax is forcing 400,000 disabled people to pay more while he gives a tax cut to people on incomes over £150,000. It is a cruel and unfair measure that hits some of the most vulnerable in our society, and does nothing to solve under occupancy. So Ed Miliband has committed the next Labour government to abolishing the Bedroom Tax.
The climate of fear amongst disabled people is worsened by the problem of hate crime, which can have profound effects on disabled people’s lives. Nobody should have to live in fear, so Labour will change the law to treat hate crime against disabled people the same as every other hate crime.
Labour has called on the Government to sack Atos from the Work Capability Assessment contract, and to reform the WCA so it works properly and fairly. Labour believes the principle of assessments is right, but Atos is getting too many wrong, which is why Labour would reform them to ensure disabled people are given the support they need.
Labour is looking closely at how we can ensure the social security system is better equipped to address the needs of disabled people. We have established a Disability Taskforce to recommend changes to social security to maximise disabled peoples’ control over their own lives and break the link between disability and poverty.
In the meantime, we will continue to put pressure on the Government to come clean about the effects of their policies on disabled people, and push them to ensure the social security system works for all.
You can play a part in shaping our policy programme through Your Britain, Labour’s online home of ideas and policy development. If you’d like to let us know what you think the next Labour government should do to reform social security for disabled people, please submit your ideas to our Work and Business Policy Commission.
With kind regards,
On behalf of the Labour Party
Sent by email from the Labour Party, promoted by Iain McNicol on behalf of The Labour Party, both at One Brewer’s Green, London SW1H 0RH. Website: http://www.labour.org.uk to join or renew call 0845 0922299.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-simon-duffy/lets-close-down-the-dwp_b_4141154.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
discuss
I can’t wait for all these jobs to appear. Presumably Labour have a costed out plan for them? Proper jobs, Proper hours and a living wage, suited to the individual. Proper advice and training for those of us that need reskilling to our new more limited abilities? Employers who are sympathetic to the needs of sick and disabled people, who may not always be able to be at work. Surely the government won’t be forcing folks into work that could further damage their health, or into ‘self employment’, zero hour contracts, part time contracts for full time hours? Or just any old job to get more folks off benefit? Lap Dancing perhaps? (As I found advertised on the govt web site for jobs in my area. Sorry Boys, Ladies only!) That would be a little um, naughty wouldn’t it? As dispaches channel 4 pointed out this week there are a lot of big companies exploiting hard up and hard working people. The govt, if it wants any credibility at all, needs to ensure it is not condoning such practices when it forces people into work. A first world country condoning slave labour would be a little bit off don’t you think?
A door stop at StarRucks is a good job. You can get promotion to be the bosses door stop. Wait a minute being a door stop is very hard work & differecult & lots of things to go wrong. Simple Policy, simple people thinking up the policy, Simple policy for simple MPs not simple disabled people.
“No confidence” in Atos after poor performance in Islington”
Date: 18 October 2013
Author: Charles Dean
Islington Council’s Executive has passed a vote of no confidence in Atos, the Government contractor running Work Capability Assessments for local residents on disability benefits.
It is believed to be the first time a council has made a direct challenge to Government over the poor performance of Atos in determining eligibility for benefits.
The vote of no confidence comes after an Islington Council scrutiny investigation raised significant concerns about the performance of Atos.
On behalf of The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Atos carries out assessments on local people to assess eligibility for a range of disability benefits including Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which has replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
Of 108 ESA appeals made by Islington residents and assisted by the council in the 18 months to September 2013, 95 were won – almost 90 per cent. Islington has over 13,000 disabled residents.
Regionally, 45 per cent all appeals against Atos ESA ‘Fit for Work’ decisions in London been successful.
With Remembrance Sunday looming, war veterans are also reminded that Atos are responsible for determining the sickness and disability part of their pension entitlements.
Cllr Richard Watts, leader of Islington Council said: “Many of Islington’s disabled residents are already in work or would like to work and Islington Council is proud to support them.
“However it’s important those who can’t, have financial security. The Government wants to cut the benefits bill by 20 per cent and the assessment process is weighted against the disabled claimant, limiting the number allowed.
“Disabled residents deserve far better than this over-reliance on dangerously simplistic computer questionnaires.
“Atos’s performance in Islington has been shocking and we are telling the Government we no longer have any confidence in them.”
People who have been assessed have complained Atos methodology is too simplistic, ignores medical evidence and assessors lack the high level of knowledge and understanding required.
Disabled mother-of-four Hatije Musa of N1, who used to work in an Islington primary school until multiple health problems ended her career, was told she was fit for work despite serious health conditions including cancer and heart disease. She said:
“I’d love to work but I can’t due to my cancer, asthma, liver and heart disease, and I am not going to get better.
“Atos assessors should understand the effect radiation treatment has on the body longer term. I submitted and resubmitted doctors’ letters but Atos weren’t interested. They check if you have trouble walking or can lift your arms up but they don’t listen to you as a person. And they don’t care about how ill and tired your conditions make you feel each day – which can vary.
“The assessment system makes you tired and depressed and I was so angry and upset after my back to work interview – I was pronounced fit and my income support was stopped.
“Thanks to Islington Law Centre, I got my benefits back on appeal.”
Islington Council has committed at least £1.3 million for advice services in Islington – including advice provided through Centre 404 and Islington Law Centre. In March 2013 the council agreed further one-off funding of over £100k to assist the CAB, Disability Action Islington and Islington People’s Rights to increase their capacity to cope with the increased demand from residents affected by welfare reform.
Disability Action in Islington’s Chief Executive Rahel Geffen confirms that much of the charity’s time is spent challenging clients’ fitness to work assessments. She said:
“When we review the success rate in ESA claims following DAII’s intervention – it is 76 per cent.
“Atos is a disability denial factory. Evidence from disability campaigners is that people are trapped in poverty caused by withdrawal of benefits they are entitled to and rely on.
“The worry and stress of these assessments further impacts on disabled people’s mental health and national campaign organisations report an increase of suicides as a result.
“The aim of the Work Capability Assessments carried out by Atos is to force Deaf and disabled people into a labour market with already high unemployment rates, whether they are ready for work or not. The Work Capability Assessment is deeply flawed and has to stop.”
Article:
Islington.gov.uk
http://www.islington.gov.uk/islington/news-events/news-releases/2013/10/Pages/PR5109.aspx
It is Important that the Official Opposition Behaves like an
Opposition Not a Consensus of No Choice and in Event of becoming in Office Reverses Damaging Public Spending Cuts
and Lays the Foundation of a Socialist Britain of Charity and
Social Justice
“Now you know why Homeland Security purchased 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, enough ammunition to fight the Iraq war for 12 years, has its own para-military force and 2,700 tanks. If you think the “terrorist threat” in America warrants a domestic armed force of this size, you are out of your mind. This force has been assembled to deal with starving and homeless people in the streets of America.”
http://paulcraigroberts.org/2013/10/23/ye-sow-shall-ye-reap-paul-craig-roberts/
the sun are at it again,lady scrounger gets 200,000 in handouts
as she cant wear footware,let doctors decide who is disabled not the sun or the daily mail.
teachers should teach doctors should doctor,
jeff lph
Who cares about politics !! Who cares about Human Rights !!
Denial Factories !!
This Country is like a Crowd of Zombies in a Trance
People have No Bloody Life in Them and Mayhem Prevails
Anyone who Does Not Despair is in Cloud CuckooLand and
Out of Touch
So tell us what to do about it… What do YOU do about it?
“US food stamp assistance to be slashed next week”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/26/food-o26.html
“Kansas suicide rate jumps more than 30 percent in one year”
{http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/26/kans-o26.html}
“Irish pensioners protest in Dublin”
{http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/26/irel-o26.html}
“Welfare changes for disabled people delayed – 26th Oct 2013
The government’s welfare changes for disabled people in England, Scotland and Wales have been delayed.”
Good Start !!
“The IMF Proposes A 10% Supertax On All Eurozone Household Savings”
http://theautomaticearth.com/Finance/the-imf-proposes-a-10-supertax-on-all-eurozone-household-savings.html
mate of mine had this reply from labour party re welfare
Good evening,
Thank you for your email about Labour’s plans for social security reform.
Because of this Government’s economic failure, the next Labour government must start planning now for what will be a very difficult inheritance. David Cameron claims the economy is fixed, but the welfare bill is going up, not down. Long-term unemployment is up; the housing crisis is pushing up housing benefit spending; and the growing number of people earning less than a living wage is costing the taxpayer more in tax credits and other benefits.
One Nation Labour will get welfare spending back under control, but based on our values, not the Tories’ failed approach. That means tackling the underlying problems in our economy that drive up welfare spending: unemployment, low pay and the housing crisis.
The Tories have allowed long-term unemployment to rise. But under a Labour government, nobody who is capable of work will be left to live a life on benefits; people who can work, should work. We will guarantee anyone out of work for two years or more (or 12 months for under 25s) an offer of a real job, which they must take up, or risk losing their benefits.
Labour will halt the race to the bottom in our workplaces, tackling low pay, insecurity and exploitation rather than leaving the taxpayer to pick up the bill. We will strengthen the minimum wage, encourage more employers to pay their workers a living wage, and ban exploitative zero hours contracts.
Under the Tories, Britain is building fewer new homes than at any point since the 1920s. As a result, rents are soaring, and for every pound spent on bricks and mortar, £19 is spent on housing benefit. Labour will turn this around. We’ll aim to build 200,000 new homes a year by 2020, and if necessary, we will use ‘use it or lose it’ powers to force land-hoarding developers to build the homes that communities need.
Labour will build a social security system that is fair for both those in and out of work. To restore the public’s faith in a system that sometimes appears to give something for nothing, we will look to better recognise contribution of people who have paid in to the system for years. And where the Government’s incompetent handling of welfare reform is costing a fortune, Labour will get a grip, reforming the Work Capability Assessment so it works properly and gives disabled people the support they need.
You can play a part in shaping our policy programme through Your Britain, Labour’s online home of ideas and policy development. If you’d like to let us know what you think the next Labour government should do to reform social security, please submit your ideas to our Work and Business Policy Commission.
To see what else we’re talking about, follow us on Twitter.
With kind regards,
On behalf of the Labour Party
Impersonal and irrelevant
What does Reeves mean “the long-term unemployed would have to take a job or lose benefits”? What job? No one has offered me a bloody job! She’s talking out of her arse just the same as Liam Byrne and that knobhead IDS.
Been on the Government PIP consultation report posted by Jed.
The rhetoric was expected, more than half of respondents argued that the 20metres was totally wrong, yet the Government insist it will stay to “achieve their policy”
In other words, they could not give two fucks about the plight of the disabled and would carry on with their social cleansing programme whilst raising two fingers to every law, act or provision, ever enacted, to enable a reasonable, equal status to the less fortunate…………………
They stole all my benefits that i was awarded for life. They have drawn a line in the sand and are the enemy as far as i am concerned.
Soon there will be murder and mayhem on the streets that i will welcome with open arms.
You can only kick a dog for so long………….
“LET THE FUN BEGIN”
Labour needs to call a General election NOW because Cameron is not fit for purpose as PM, also Cameron will be called as a witness the the phone hacking trial that is happening at the moment. Cameron can throw all his toys out of his pram but an election scares cameron more IDS`s IT failure costing writing off £300 Million in 5 days this week. The IT system they use is a ATOS IT System. Cameron you can blame your IT contract to ATOS all you want for losing the election but Cameron will still be in court answering questions in a criminal Phone Hacking trial with his Sunday dinner guests every Sunday. So Cameron is not fit for purpose with his IT firm ATOS. Failed failure, failed leader, failed PM failed, failed IT programmes. Denial Cameron you will be facing being up in court for the next 15 years defending your failures.
SR
What a truly hypocritical country we live……………
“Jolly good show, old chap”, and all the bollocks that go with it!
At the moment, Royal Wooton Bassett, the place which was given an honoury title of “Royal” because it was the place where our fallen heroes were flown back to, is preparing a commemoration.
Yes our fallen comrades should be remembered, but it should never be forgotten that Blair, the Americans lapdog poodle, put us into a position of war, in the first place, based on fictional evidence that is still being investigated today……..
Over four hundred of our finest personnel gave their lives to a cause that should have been overlooked if the parliamentarians had listened to the electorate, instead of following the “gung ho” British Bulldog sentiments……….
…….Nevertheless, the fodder of what we are being fed, is a mask to cover what is going on behind the scenes……..
The “New Eugenics and Murdering Arm”, of our government, the inglorious, DWP, is closing ranks swiftly to try to cover up the amount of victims it has stockpiled in its bulging cemetery of shame that has resulted from its sanctions against the most weakest and underprivileged in our society……..
Call it what you will, i recognise it as murder on an epic scale, unrecorded and hidden from not only the rest of the world, but Britons alike.
Over ten thousand six hundred and counting, have fallen to this bitter, twisted regime manufactured by a few elite officials commanding central posts in our crumbling coalition government.
They bear no thoughts of shame or remorse, their wallets telling the true tales of involvement in the greatest mass murder since the last war……….
Our memorials to the fallen, always say, lest we forget…
What these arseholes in power are doing, is just the opposite, they are instrumental in a mission used by the Nazis in our darkest past.
You are being driven into a situation where the NHS is being hived off in huge chunks to satisfy the greedy, grabbing private health insurance industry. Your welfare means nothing to these giants who are pulling the strings via our corrupted politicians. You are just another stepping stone that lays in the path of total dominance to greed…………….
Deaths are of no significance to these butchers. All our present legislation has been significantly altered to welcome the changes they are trying to fulfill………..
Please check how many people have used the freedom of information channels to ask how many have succumbed to death since the introduction of the welfare acts………
The answer from the DWP is always the same, they are unaware of the spiraling death count and it would cost more than £600 to archive the information, therefore it cannot be collated……….
Meanwhile the murders are increasing whilst the biased media run hand in hand with our corrupt government to hide the truth of the real carnage.
The reason that the other political parties stand by and do nothing is obvious…….
They are quite content with what is happening because deep down it is doing them a favour in the long run. Lowering debt is beneficial. They may moan during prime ministers question time to give the impression that they object, but deep down they welcome it as it makes their ascendency a little easier and leaves scope to blame the party who was last in power.
“GREAT BRITAIN, WHAT A FUCKING JOKE”………………..
About the red poopy week [used to be one day] is all about fund raising. The government should be paying that not charity. It is the government responsability to look after the soldiers not rely on charity. What an insult fighting for the uk & being told the uk can`t you once you get injured. So every one on tv wearing a red poppy out of political correctness has no meaning just PC. That also is an insult when an injured soldier is found not injured or disabled, but fit for work. Political Correctness will call that high treason, but I call it double standards. What an insult to soldiers giving their life away.
SR
So the wrinkly old bird who lives in the big house on the corner, which incidentally has 240 bedrooms, is going down to do her bit of remembrance soon……….
“Good on her”, you may think, but never forget, she and her ilk are the biggest welfare scroungers this country has ever had.
The hardest thing she has ever done is shake hands, eat exotic foods and unveil pictures of herself. She has no idea what end of a corgi, the shit comes out and no doubt one of her loyal subjects, a serf, will have to clean it up…………..
No bedroom tax for this house, despite the starving huddling up in cardboard under bridges and in park shelters or near warm air ventilation shafts.
Double standards is not the issue, its whats reasonably fair to expect in this century, what is at stake.
We are all supposed to be born as equals, where does this argument lie when privilege throws the ball out of the window completely………….
When old wrinkly decided to put her monicker on the governments welfare reform acts, she gave it royal assent.
This means that she was happy with the powers that be, to screw you all into the ground, take away your lives, your dignity, your homes and your food.
“You are just plebs”, never forget this!
All the bollocks of, we are all in this together, was just a smokescreen for the ones stupid enough to accept it……….
Buckingham Palace has palatial dining rooms that can accommodate six hundred guests at one sitting, yet further down the road is a food bank where the likes of you and me have to humbly request the crumbs from the table.
As for remembering the the fallen from the war, she wants to remember the dead that are mounting up from the fallout she caused since giving the DWP HIT SQUADS the ok to blitz the disabled and most in need………….
Whilst she trundles down to the cenotaph in one of her limo’s or a stage carriage, you are having your independence stolen from right under your noses. Your mobility is a thing of the past.
Legislation bearing fancy titles like, Personal Independence Payments, are just the opposite of what they appear to say.
You are being shafted, big style, to pay for the huge hole in the economy that the City of London created.
Don’t worry, if this government and it’s extermination arm, the DWP could get away with it, they would kill you outright. The method they decided upon was more cruel, inflicts more stress, pain and agony, demeans your soul and takes away your very reason for living.
The government call it an austerity measure yet it only affects the poorest and weakest and has no effect whatsoever on the wealthy.
High speed rail, 20 minutes off a rail journey to Birmingham, “what an utter pile of crap”………………..
PEOPLE COME FIRST, NOT TOYS FOR THE STOCKBROKERS AND BANKERS AND HEDGE FUND MANAGERS…..
BROKEN BRITISH POLITICS – THE FORTY FACES OF CAMERON
If the Devil could cast his net he would have had a field day at Matthew Freud’s 50th birthday party last weekend .The Chipping Norton Set were present with the exception of Rebekah Brooks it is alleged .Freud is married to Elista Murdoch Rupert’s daughter and is head of a firm of PR consultants.
The guest list was an usual bunch considering ,Tony & Cherie Blair ,Sam & David Cameron
Alastair Campbell ,and chinless wonder Gove all mixed with personalities from the guest list Jimmy Carr ,Davina McCall Bono and Bob Geldoff .
Teflon Tony got away with it ,Blair let nothing stick to him even after being the first PM to be interviewed by the Police in history over cash for questions but will Cameron be as lucky .
It was reported that Cameron & Blair did a deal before Cameron was elected ,he would cover up damaging letters concerning Blair and Blair would condone Cameron’s bid for becoming PM.
A party is supposed to be a happy celebratory time for like minded people ,sorry they are all like minded “their all in it together” .
Cameron & Blair were probably discussing the next Draconian moves against the Public as this gathering helps substantiate their compliancy in implementing Thatchers Vision of an even bigger class divide ,a free workforce ,chargeable Services and a dismantling of Social Cohesion .
The blatant way in which our faces are rubbed in the dirt we need to respond accordingly do not conform .They have taken the Country from us ,it’s time to take it back .There are many unreported demonstrations because they want us to believe all is well – we know it is not .Don’t forget both are Europhiles
http://brokenmbritishpolitics.simplesite.com
The Welfare Reform is a hidden one sided war = A one sided war is genocide hidden & has had millions of £££ thrown at it to keep it hidden. Brainwashing votes so Cameron can win the election & impliment further = Kill off the remaining disabled people that have either survived the hidden genocide war or have wised up very early on to what cameron`s grand genocide plan was.
How outragous no one is going to believe you that is what is happening. Wrong, cameron & IDS failed yet again, like the nazis could not kill all the Jews {I am half Jewish myself before you call me a racist] Cameron & IDS can not kill off all the disabled people. Thalidomide victims was another hidden **** up that the uk government has refused to except, only some sort of sorry with no meaning a few years ago.
The hidden genocide is not being hidden very well cameron & IDS so throw yet more millions of £££ on the cover up.
Very very cold today – Time to put another book on the fire to keep warm. Might as well burn all the books to keep warm. IDS & the nazis trying to destroy any history & past.
Time to get the hot water bottles going – It was a very very cold night. The old people on their free bus passes are sitting on buses all day for the heating on the bus, rather than freeze to death at home with no heating because they would rather eat. So yes Cameron you are attacking the old people even tho you are scared of cutting their benefit for votes. Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, don`t force it, it will break the welfare reform flagship. More millions ££ wasted on another cover up.
SR
Because the crematoriums are pushed to the brink as we approach Christmas, and the backlog of DWP induced deaths are stealthily hidden from public view, one must ask the question,”will global warming be affected?”.
No lighting, no fire, no food, no money, alas the glad tidings will be such a futile exercise………
Hobbling around, trying to stay warm, wearing at least three coats, will be the highlight of my festive period.
Adjudged disabled for life after an industrial accident at work and now stripped of everything except my dignity. They can’t take that away, although they are trying their damnedest.
Tried to tax my car but no luck. They have taken away my DLA,my Incapacity Benefit and now want to take my life. A virtual prisoner within the confines of my home. Can’t get road tax or fuel without money.
Just another little prompt from the DWP to drop my appeal for ESA………….
Starving a benefit recipient into submission is the latest trend in the sanctions wars…………………
………when the carol singers harmonise outside my door i will have to hide, for i will have nothing to give. They will not accept a cuppa soup or a few stale crackers…………………
Life is not over yet, although it might as well be for the thousands who are in a similar position to myself.
I am not a religious man, and never have been, but one thing is certain, if there was a God, would he allow the powers that be, to persecute the less fortunate of this world as they are doing?
You would have been better off born as a horse with a rich master, Geoff, then you would be well fed and nice and warm in your heated stable courtesy of the tax payer!
see here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mp-nadhim-zahawi-apologises-for-claiming-taxpayers-money-to-heat-his-stables-8931130.html
The staggering hypocrisy of these rich scum knows no bounds
Radio 5 Live ATOS uncovered – 10th Nov 2013
Government fitness to work tests are failing to take account of the medical history of people suffering mental health problems, say campaigners. The result is that people are losing benefits. One father says his son killed himself after being told that he no longer qualified for employment and support allowance, which replaced incapacity benefit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03h31k6
7 days left to listen on the bbc radio show – A damning report !!
It’s not just those who are Sick and disabled who are suffering, it’s their families and friends too. How do you come to terms with losing a son? It’s not just having a list of those who have died but those around those left behind and still hurting. Think how big that list is? There should be a list.
I was born disabled, perhaps I was not born at all because disability does not exsist. So disability for life means disabled for life. FACT !! or does the process don`t count me as a human being & run id fraud off be NI number !! The fraud is within the DWP itself – Time to investigate the DWP !! Perhaps we live in a world where there is no illness & disability on planet cameron where we are happy that the disabled die like your own child cameron. The worst thing is that any GP facts are dismissed as cranks !! The killing machine continues for ID theft of the victims even before they die, once dead the ID theft can continue because you are not on benefits & have been deemed fit for work. In a nutshell the reason for the genocide flag ship welfare reform plan !!
SR
ATOS workers going on strike because of pay & conditions !! So DWP it is your responsability to control your sub contractor ATOS & the failures are showing up as a DWP failure.
As well as the walkout on Tuesday, staff are planning to ‘work to rule’ from the 6 November. The union warned that the strike is likely to be the first in a series of walkouts.
Atos said that robust contingency plans are in place to maintain services during the industrial action.
“The changes we have put forward are in order to sustain our business for the future and we have made a fair and competitive offer and are disappointed in this position,” the company said in a statement. “The offer we have put forward is substantial in the current economic and reward climates.”
It added: “This strike action does not reflect the view of the vast majority of our employees.”
OT.
“Australia: Public housing tenants face evictions”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/11/11/evic-n11.html
All the UK Labour party governments and all of the Australian Labor party governments had/have a VERY unhealthy relationship.
I remember reading that Atos was first started up by the wife of an Australian Labor minister before being sold on, I don’t know if that ex Australian Labor minister and his wife still have a stake in Atos ?.
Mum & I interviewed yesterday 10.11.2013 by the brilliant Artist Taxi Driver. Please retweet the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdPaF4ipHk0
AllenVincent489
Yes the real truth about what is happening & there is no way the uk government can surpress such evil tactics on the disabled. Keep strong Allen we are with you all the way on how you have been treated. The inhuman acts against the disabled need to stop NOW !!
The uk government are trying to get rid of the Equality Law – Which is unlawful – If no one is to stop Cameron & IDS they will do what the nazis could not, kill all the jews – Cameron & IDS want to kill off all the disabled people once all for all so their is no evidance of Genocide. It is called ETHNIC CLEANSING of the worst kind.
The National Autistic Society highlighted an inconsistency in the law whereby disability hate crime is not treated in the same way as religious or racial hate crime. Currently, the Attorney General has the power to review sentences he considers “unduly lenient” for some racially or religiously aggravated offences, including common assault. However, this power does not extend to offences aggravated by hostility towards the victim based on his or her disability. The National Autistic Society, along with other charities, is calling for the Government to make sentences fairer for disability hate crime.
Sent in an appeal after they took away my DLA. Still awaiting my tribunal after they took away my Incapacity Benefit last November after undergoing an ATOS EXAMINATION and being awarded zero points, despite having previously awarded a lifetime disability…..
Have sent a 182 page dossier to the UN in Geneva.
In my latest appeal i cited that what the DWP had done was in breach of Human Rights, Equality and Disability Discrimination laws.
They wrote back saying that in my appeal, i had not specified the specific acts in which i base my case………….
To them it is just a sick game using human lives as a throw of the dice.
The evil that manifests itself within the DWP is truly shocking.
Meanwhile in an effort to justify Britains lead against HUMAN RIGHTS violations, Cameron is wanted to hug centre stage in Sri Lanka while Lord Snooty and Camilla Parker Bowels have been doing the same in India…………….
“DON’T BOTHER LOOKING ABROAD FOR CASUALTIES OF OPPRESSIVE LEADERSHIPS, THE FALLOUT IS ON YOUR OWN STREETS WHERE DEATH IS ONLY A WHISKER AWAY FOR MANY”
“YOU SYSTEMATICALLY, ROB, CHEAT AND STEAL FROM THE MOST UNDERPRIVILEGED WHILST YOU LAUGH FROM YOUR BASTIONS OF POWER”
” HOLY HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE SOON AND MANY MORE LIVES WILL BE TAKEN, ON TOP OF THE MANY THOUSANDS YOU HAVE ALREADY CLAIMED”
Seems like ATOS & the DWP has shut down AtosVictimsGroup site.
ATOS getting nervous again. It`s been down 12 hours & counting.
http://atosvictimsgroup.co.uk/
Time to burn all the books & be done with it. Cameron will go to any measures to win the election & surpress anything said against his genocide flag ship killings aka welfare reform. Cameron you might as well close down the whole internet because that`s the only way you will win the election. Do you think any one will notice the dead bodies lying about in the sunken flag ship or perhaps kill anyone who gets in cameron`s way to finish off killing all disabled people once cameron has won the election !! Dictator times !! Cut your loses & run away now while you can cameron. Genocide times !!
SR
Yesterday i watched Labours attempt to get a repeal of the much hated BEDROOM TAX.
It was a long debate that led to a vote in the early evening.
Labour gave all they could in a well put together, much concerted effort, to rid this country of the most heinous law ever introduced…
Some members were close to tears as they gave impassioned speeches to the government benches.
It made me aware of the hatred that now exists between the haves and have nots.
Such hatred is beyond belief, reaching some kind of fever pitch last seen when Nazis were encouraging German citizens to smash the windows of the jewish shopkeepers and ridicule and beat them in the streets while trashing and stealing their hard earned property.
History has a way of repeating itself and the actions of the government, by ridiculing the pleas of the poor, left me with a sour taste in my mouth………….
The suffering of those worse off, the disabled and poor, has become a national sport, a sport driven by one thing only, wealth.
Kicking a person when they are down is the easiest thing to do. They are vulnerable and are lacking, not only money, food and shelter, but a means to overcome their problems and rise above what they are lacking.
Civil society has gone out of the window as the trendset of “FUCK YOU JACK, I’M ALRIGHT”, is the new norm………
Yesterdays vote was not indicative of the voice of the people in our country, it was a political strategy to try to cling onto power at all costs, despite the suffering of the many.
Our government do not reflect the voice of the people. They never have for a long, long time. They are merely pawns used by the multinationals and Monetary sectors to control the interests of greed. Joe Public does not even get a look in as the corporate giants bribe and lobby to reach their hidden agendas……
Our ministers, mostly within the DWP, are following an agenda that was made possible by the groundwork of the “Faculty of Occupational Medicine”, an organisation that has links to Private Health Insurance and the disgraced UNUM insurance giant of the USA.
The tentacles of the aforesaid faculty run deep and wide and control all aspects of welfare reform including the desecration of the NHS and the introduction of the private health insurance onto our shores.
BILL GUNNYEON, the CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER of the DWP is at the helm, enabling a swift transition of power to those pulling his strings whilst other strategically placed faculty members clear the roads ahead……….
Changes to sick notes, ESA examinations, PIP and and a whole raft of changes to disability rights have been engineered on the behest of the UNUM giant.
You, my friends, are the waste product that this elaborate network saw as a price worth paying……………..
” you have been sold down the river by a conspiracy so deep, and yet, the truth is slowly emerging every day”…………
Strange how the ATOS VICTIMS GROUP blog has disappeared from the web………..
Anyone trying to access it will be told that entry to the site is forbidden.
Could it be that the tories decided to remove it from view whilst they have been busy erasing 10 years of their manifestos and promises that spanned the last ten years.
Would it be the shame of having reneged on every promise they ever made in public, or an extraordinary attempt to erase their pasts from the prying eyes of not only the furious electorate, but the inspectors from the Human Rights Commission?
Time will tell, one thing is for certain, any move to remove skeletons from a cupboard is always an indication that someone or somebody is getting close to sinister actions that have been perpetrated in the past………..
To be honest, walking backwards inside your own footprints while trying to erase your tracks is completely futile when the amount of your victims runs into countless thousands as do the piles of corpses that continue to mount in your wake.
Denial is the act of the insurance industry, the same industry that fuels your hatred of the disabled in the UK, the same industry that was brought to its knees in the USA and the same industry that will lead to your undoing………….
“THE EVIL THAT YOU ARE DOING IS COMPLETELY INDELIBLE, FOR EVERYONE TO SEE THE WORLD OVER”
Trying to find centre stage in Sri Lanka whilst purporting to expose Human Rights issues is futile, given your record back home!
Murder by decree upon the weakest is hardly a yardstick for heralding your concerns for others…………..
THESE QUESTIONS WERE POSED TO THE DWP ( the arm of the government that uses genocide on a daily basis to rid the UK of poor and disabled)………
Make up your own minds as to the cover up of the spiraling body count that is running out of control.
Strange how they have no information as to the affects of their austerity measures on the weakest in society???
1) When you are taken to task about these abuses in human rights will the sick &
disabled get reparation for their maltreatment by your disability denial factory ATOS?
The Department does not hold the requested information.
2) When someone dies after being found “fit” for work will you compensate the
spouse/partner & children of the bereaved?
We hold no information of DWP being required to pay compensation to a spouse, partner or
child of an individual who ‘dies after being found fit for work’.
3) will you compensate the disabled for losses accrued whilst appealing?
Information about payment of ESA whilst appealing is already in the public domain and is
therefore exempt under section 21 of the FoI Act, however we can confirm that the ESA
assessment rate remains in payment whilst a claimant is awaiting an appeal and if a Tribunal
finds in the claimants favour we would pay the balance of benefit due back to the thirteenth
week of the claim. Further information can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/appeals-procedures-staff-guide-decisions-made-
before-28-october-2013
4) how many people have appealed since they get nothing to live off (I refer to clause
99)when they are found “fit” for work?
The Department does not hold information on people who have ‘nothing to live off’ and
therefore does not hold the requested information.
5) When are you going to have proper WCAs? With proper medical evidence? Off
proper medical personal?
The Department does not hold the requested information. I can confirm that ‘proper WCAs’
with ‘proper medical evidence’ conducted by ‘proper Health Care Professionals’ have been
taking place since October 2008.
6) How many appeals are you expecting when your disability denial factory (ATOS and
their ilk) perform the “medicals” for PIP?
As we do not have a ‘disability denial factory’ we hold no information to answer this request.
7) how much does each appeal cost?
The Department does not record the costs of individual appeals however figures from HM
Courts and Tribunals Service state the average cost of a Social Security and Child Support
Tribunal appeal is £248 (1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013). The DWP will also incur a cost but
we do not hold this information.
8) How many Freedom of information requests did you have BEFORE the welfare reform
started? And After? Please give data for every year.
(i) please give me the number of all FOIs about the WCA for every year since the WCA
started?
(ii) please can you give me the number of FOIs you received about sanctions on JSA
since they started?
(iii) please give me the number of FOIs received about income support BEFORE the
welfare reform and after?
As Welfare Reform has been a continuous process and even in respect of Acts of Parliaments
named as such (for example the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999), ‘welfare reform’
predates the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and it’s introduction in 2004, we can therefore
confirm that no FoI request were made before welfare reform started.
The number of requests made after Welfare Reform started are therefore every FoI request
made. This information is already available to individuals seeking it on the Ministry of Justice
website here:
https://www.gov.uk/search?q=freedom+of+information+statistics&tab=government-results
If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number
above.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
……………….MURDER IS MURDER, REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU TRY TO DRESS IT UP……….
Disabled Scots may lose DLA permanently, if falsely accused of fraud and still found not guilty?
We comment today an article that was placed on the atosvictimsgroup.co.uk website concerning DLA that some disabled Scots receive. It is a UK wide benefit to assist disabled people.
It is very worrying indeed if the following action is to be taken by the Department of Work and Pension`s. Their boss being The Angel of Poverty, Iain Duncan-Smith is not reforming welfare, he is wiping it out. Tomorrow, we will plan to run an unbelievable report concerning unemployment benefit. Slowly we are creeping to the American system of food stamps and abject poverty.
According to the Atos Victims Group website, the DWP have decided that if someone who is claiming and receiving DLA is accused of claiming the benefit falsely (maybe by a phone call or anonymous letter) but is found not guilty of wrong doing, they will have their DLA still removed from them!
From 28 October, where a claimant is investigated by the DWP as a result of a false accusation of fraud, they will find that they automatically lose their DLA and be forced to make a claim for PIP, the new version of DLA which is extremely hard to qualify for. Even if they are found to be entirely innocent! The new DWP policy is legally questionable and is likely to cause enormous distress to claimants, whilst rewarding hate-callers.
So if someone has a grudge about a disabled person or hate towards disabled people, all it will take possibly to lose the DLA will be one anonymous phone call or letter.
The change in DWP policy has come about because of the roll-out of PIP to existing claimants which has started.
According to PIP regulations, after 28 October if ‘a DLA entitled person . . . notifies the Secretary of State of a change of circumstances’ they will be ‘invited’ to claim PIP instead.
So, if you are getting DLA and you inform the DWP that your condition is getting better or worse, then you will be assessed for PIP rather than for DLA. PIP being more difficult to obtain could mean disabled Scots who`s illness becomes worse will still fall foul of the stricter rules.
In March of this year the DWP published a PIP toolkit which included a number of factsheets about the PIP claims process. Included in factsheet 6 was confirmation of how changes of circumstances would be treated:
From October 2013, the DWP started to write to the following existing DLA claimants, inviting them to claim PIP. The invitation will explain how to make a claim, and the time limits for making a claim:
• claimants who choose to claim PIP (self-selectors) can do so from this date
• those DLA claimants who report a change in their care or mobility needs will be invited to claim PIP
But in September the wording of the second bullet point was carefully changed, and it now states that amongst those who will be invited to claim PIP will be:
• those claimants where we receive information that there has been a change in their care or mobility needs
It therefore means that it will not just be where the claimant themselves inform the DWP of a change of circumstances that they will be assessed for PIP or reported from the medical profession.
The Atos Victims Group website believe that where someone else, including a malicious neighbour, friend or just someone with a grudge against disabled people using the anonymous National Benefit Fraud Hotline or sends in an anonymous letter and reports that the disabled claimant is no longer in need of help with care or mobility, the claimant will still lose their DLA and be assessed for PIP instead.
What a clever way of wiping off disabled Scots from receiving help without running the risk or widespread newspaper and public anger of the way the government is still reducing very sick and disabled people in to poverty and hunger.
This approach the article tells us appears to be confirmed by a poster on Rightsnet who explained:
“At our local JC+/customer/representative forum meeting last week a DWP partner support manager brought the following change of wording to the attention of the meeting (second bullet point on page one of link)
“In his words anyone who was ‘bubbled’ (shopped) would be taken as if they were a ‘self-selector’ in the DLA/PIP reassessments.”
The decision about whether the claimant has been committing fraud is still based on the DLA criteria.
If it is decided that there has been no change in their condition and they are the victim of grudge a malicious informant, the claimant will still lose their DLA and have to claim PIP instead. Many will we believe will find PIP difficult to obtain, though expect The Angel of Poverty Iain Duncan-Smith and the DWP to not agree so.
The Atos Victims Group believes that it will “be cheaper and more convenient for the DWP to assess claimants for PIP at the same time as they are investigating them for DLA fraud. It saves coming back and looking at their claim again at the proper time.”
Adding “We know that large numbers of people are likely to lose out under the transfer from DLA to PIP, including some people with mobility problems and some people who need supervision because of serious mental health conditions. Being assessed early for PIP, in some cases possibly by three or more years, will therefore be a serious blow.”
A Freedom of Information request has been made to the DWP to try to uncover guidance has been issued on how to treat DLA claimants accused of fraud after 28th October.
One comment was left on the website which we thought was perfectly correct, stated that malicious reports can amount to Disability Hate crime, which could result to Criminal Prosecution to the one reporting & the Authority dishing out the punishment!
We in Scottish BNP shake our heads in disbelief that disabled Scots and fellow Brits could lose DLA based on a simple anonymous call or letter. The Tory and Lib Dem government has told us that PIP will be aimed at helping those most in need. We have learnt from their other reforms, that such wording is a code word for meaning that many will lose help and be cut adrift. Would you trust a Tory Minister?
Posted by Scotland’s British National Party. at 10:58
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And there it is for the whole world to see……
The Dwp are stealing every benefit possible, that has ever been awarded by qualified doctors to the disabled.
First they stole my incapacity benefit by using an unqualified shyster from Atos, then they stopped my industrial injuries benefit for eight months for no apparent reason and lo and behold they have now stopped my Dla because I refused to fill in a thirty five page questionnaire about my circumstances.
Instead I sent them a letter telling them that my circumstances gad not changed. If I had filled in the questionnaire, regardless of what I wrote, they would have sent me for a Pip examination to relieve me of my Dla anyway…..
this is gaining peculiarly advantage by deception, commonly known as theft on a grand scale.
What the government are doing is in breach of every law that has ever been afforded to the disabled, they openly flout equality, disability discrimination and human rights that have afforded the disabled the chance to compete on an even keel with the advantaged of this world……
I have sent an 182 page dossier to Strasbourg highlighting the evil being perpetrated by our twisted condem government.
I have been forced to borrow money to even exist. My heating has not been turned on for the last four years and my family and I are not cherishing the thought of minus nine and six inches of snow next week.
Starving me into submission or driving me to suicide is now the accepted norm.
My son has just started six form college, we have been unable to claim free meals or travel to and from college has been rejected as my benefits have been withdrawn.
Our car cannot be taxed as my Dla has been revoked, therefore we are virtual prisoners within our home having no money to eat or live properly…..
Of course the Dwp refuse to accept that these type of injustices are happening on their watch, the biggest con ever enacted on society.
I have just received news that my ESA appeal will be held in Scarborough on the 13th of January next year, in which time the Dwp have done every conceivable dirty trick to make me and my families existence as frugal as possible….
I hold out no hopes as the whole system is rotten to the core and I bear the scars of the evil that men do………
DIsability hate crime is on the increase and is being metered out by our own state departments…..
Therefore what ESTHER MCVEY stated to parliament was just another set of lies.
Mcvey stated that anybody already in receipt of DLA,would not be called upon to undergo a PIP examination till October 2015.
It seems that everything they say is a total pack of lies and the DWP are hellbent on forcing existing DLA benefit holders into an examination before the specified time.
No doubt the actions will expand the government coffers while forcing destitution onto the most weakest and vulnerable, which will in turn, raise the already spiraling amount of deaths caused by ill thought out welfare reforms.
I just typed in,”ill thought out”, but i dont recognise this as being the case, i now recognise this as a pre planned exercise, an assault on the disabled to reduce their numbers, and to hell with the consequences.
If you like, “Ethnic cleansing of the weakest by decree”.
The strangest thing surrounding PIP examinations was that Mcvey announced in parliament how many disabled would lose out under PIP, even before the tests had begun, further highlighting the fact this was never an exercise to help those who needed it, just a cost cutting extravaganza by no other than the shamed, ATOS make believe HCP’s.
Taken from JOHNNY VOID;
Cuts to social security, stagnating wages and high fuel bills have been blamed for a trebling of hospital admissions due to malnutrition in Leeds.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, 93 people needed hospital treatment for malnutrition in 2012, compared to just 30 in 2008. These tragic cases could represent the tip of the iceberg says Councillor Lisa Mulherin, warning that the number of hospital admissions: “tells us something about the changes to the welfare system, wage stagnation and the way fuel prices have gone up out of all proportion with people’s pay.”
A shocking 27,000 people across Leeds were estimated to be suffering from or at risk of clinical nutrition said health professionals in the city last year.
Appalling the situation is likely to become far worse as a wave of cuts to benefits begins to bite. The Bedroom Tax is just a few months old and 9000 households in Leeds are estimated to be affected. Changes to Council Tax Benefit mean claimants in the city will now have to pay a weekly sum out of their already meagre incomes. The re-assessment of people on sickness benefits is still far from complete and many people are still to face having benefits slashed due to being found ‘fit for work’. When reforms to Disability Living Allowance finally take hold around a fifth of disabled people are expected to lose this vital benefit.
The pain doesn’t even end there. George Osborne’s benefit uprating bill represents a real term cut in almost all benefits, pegging annual rises far below inflation at just 1%. The poorest people in the country are set to be made steadily poorer over the next few years. The rise in benefit claims being sanctioned for not meeting ever more draconian conditions for claiming out of work benefits is leading to horrific suffering, and the number of people affected is rising sharply.
A recent report by Citizens Advice found that 70% of claimants serving sanctions were forced to cut down on food, with some people reporting having to beg or go through bins to find something to eat. For those with health conditions the situation is even more acute. One person told Citizens Advice that during a sanction: “We couldn’t afford a meal each day so often didn’t eat for days on end. I suffer with hypoglycaemia and need to eat, so this left me with many black outs, confusion, incredibly weak and sick.”
According to callous Ministers in the DWP, this kind of desperate poverty will ‘incentivise’ people to find work. Yet even if the Government’s manufactured unemployment figures are taken at face value, the miniscule rise in jobs has not been seen across the whole of the UK and certainly not in many northern cities like Leeds. The number of unemployed people in Yorkshire rose by 4000 in the last three months.
Forcing unemployed people to the brink of starvation will not create a single job. Yet still Iain Duncan Smith tries to foist the blame for poverty and unemployment onto the poor and unemployed. Rarely has any modern Government shown such cruel indifference to the suffering of their poorest people. That this kind of state-inflicted poverty is happening in one of the richest countries in the world should be a global scandal.
“No one can say for certain when this bubble will burst, but it is certain that when it does, the economic consequences will be catastrophic. The drunken orgy of greed on Wall Street will turn overnight into a spectacle of fear and panic.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/11/19/djia-n19.html
Marvelous reading ANNOS. It explains the reasons why the poorest and disabled are being shafted by the greed of the wealthy in tandem with the banks and multinationals……..
A chilling true story that is going to result in another collapse of our infrastructure, leaving us considerably worse off than we have ever been before…..
A tale of how the tiny percentage of the dominant rich, are putting the livelihoods of the greater percentage of the poor’s into certain freefall………..
“FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE”……………………..
Everybody must have noticed in recent days, that the government sponsored,”HIDE THE TRUTH”, Deletors have been working double time….
Type in ATOS on google and it used to show page upon page of negative comments about these robbing, cheating, evil bastards.
The web pages have had a makeover, hiding the evidence deeper into the searches……
Furthermore ATOS VICTIMS GROUP, comes up as forbidden and when you typed in “freedom of information”, the “what do you know” site was easily accessible on the opening page.
It has been hidden away with the governments own FOI website featuring on the top of every page……….
We are witnessing the biggest removal of incriminating evidence ever collated against an oppressive murdering government.
THEY MAY TRY TO HIDE THE ERROR OF THEIR WAYS, BUT THE DEATH TOLL, OF WHICH THEY TRY TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES, WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT THEM……………..
ERASING FACT IS THE ACTION OF A REGIME THAT IS IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR IT’S HEINOUS CRIMES………….
WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO THE DISABLED AND POOREST IN SOCIETY IS COMPLETELY INDELIBLE……………..
You tried to erase your last ten years of tory speeches and promises, yet the cemeteries bear the fruits of your policies and the death toll escalates as you dither and wonder about your next move.
You are the authors of your own destruction…………..
Labour party.
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/more-workfare-more-sanctions-labour-think-tank-proposals/#comment-72186
Who would EVER have thought it, voting for the most left wing party out of the big three means voting Tory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
This is due mostly to the Labour party who didn’t build many councils houses in all the years they were in power.
http://www.shelter.org.uk/
Please folks, DON’T vote Labour/Tory/LibDem, PLEASE.