ESA Backlogg Causes Disruption and Fear to Vulnerable Lives.

Debbie Sayers posts another example of the dire situation many chronically sick and disabled people battle with daily.

People’s lives are at severe risk whist IDS & Co continue to tinker with the Social Security budget saving Nothing and causing Death – Time for it to STOP? Join the TRUTH Campaign

#ImpeachDWP #NOWPetition

Ramblings of a Fibro Fogged Mind

A few nights ago after six pm, I received an urgent cry for help and advice from a lady I know, who has herself faced major health issues with her son and is disabled herself. When completely out of the blue her brother who is also a vulnerable adult with health problems received a accelerated eviction notice from his landlord stating he had to leave the property the next day.

She desperately needed advice on whether the landlord could do this. Having had issues with private renting, I advised her about his rights re his section 21notice and googled some info on accelerated evictions, as well as who else might be able to advice such as Shelter and her local councils housing department. As well as advising that she spoke to a solicitor first thing in the morning…

This has seriously stressed two vulnerable disabled adults trying to sort this…

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If there is an Inquiry by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concerning the UK…

Interesting post on the timeline of an investigation by the UN Disability Rights Committee into the UK; well worth a read.

Making rights make sense

There’s been lots of back and forth on Twitter and elsewhere regarding the rumoured Inquiry by the UN Disability Rights Committee into the UK, and in particular the confidentiality of the Inquiry procedure.

First of all, an ex Committee member Gabor Gambos announced that there was to be an Inquiry when speaking at the National University of Ireland in Galway School of Disability Law and Policy Summer School back in June.  He did not say what the Inquiry was about, only that had been launched.  The Secretariat of the UN Committee will not confirm or deny the Inquiry because it considers itself to be subject to confidentiality and presumably that confidentiality extends even to the question of whether or not an inquiry is taking place at all.  So there is no official notice that an Inquiry is taking place and no information at all in the public domain about what…

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‘Making it up As we Tory Along’

Ever Voted #TORY or Failed to Vote – THIS is YOUR Legacy! Thanks 😦

juxtaposed

We are the Tories
And this is our song
It’s called

‘Making it up as we Tory Along’

And whether we’re right
Or whether we’re wrong
We believe we are right
Anyway

So, come on..

And support your local conservative man
If you think publicly owned stuff’s a nanny state scam
When you can just purchase a privatised plan
If you like that a school can make up its own rules
And you think that the poor are just idlers and fools
That the sick and disabled are burdensome cheats
And you want undesirables cleared from the street
If you’re full of resentments regarding your tax
And think working on welfare will ever fix that
If you still are deceived about who is to blame
And think finance and markets remain a fair game
That the City’s unfairly achieved a bad name
That the regions all benefit by London’s gain

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More Tory Lies – or Disability Discrimination in Action?

Cameron today announced “All government policies will have to pass a “family test“”; this apparently means that from October, Impact Assessments must be undertaken on ALL Government Policies with regard to families, these will include cost effectiveness .

These Impact Assessments are what Lord Freud insists are “not possible” to be carried out for disabled people!

How can the Government manage to conduct numerous assessments against the impact on  18.2 million families in the UK, when it is allegedly ‘not possible’ to do the same for approximately 1,760000 disabled working age adults??

Is this Disability Discrimination in Action, or merely more Tory Spiel ???

‘Stop the Spin’ TODAY

Join the TRUTH Campaign

#NOWPetition #ImpeachDWP

 

 

Lies, damn lies and statistics

Here we have yet MORE LIES from IDS & Harper at DWP

SAY NO MORE Sign #NOWPetition http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/house-of-commons-stop-ministers-spinning-statistics-accept-the-recommendations-of-select-committees-stop-ministers-spinning-dwp-statistics

Making rights make sense

‘Eleven million people in Britain – with an estimated combined spending power of £80billion – have a disability’ claimed Mark Harper this week, as the government called on the UK tourism industry to improve its accessibility to disabled customers ‘“So, as part of our long-term economic plan, improving the accessibility of hotels and self-catering apartments and tourist attractions for disabled travellers is a no-brainer.’

Harper was relying in statistics drawn together by the Department for Work and Pensions which say: ‘There are 11.5 million people in the UK who are covered by the disability provisions set out in the Equality Act. This is 19 percent of the population – a similar level to the USA, Canada and Australia (FRS 2010/11, WHO 2011).’

As the DWP notes, these estimates are based on various survey findings and:

‘Estimates rely on self-reported responses to survey questions. These responses will be determined by…

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ESA – URGENT Call for HELP??

A comment left on my recent PIP post really needs answering; I’m copying it here in the hope someone can help Julie:

I am so confused. I had my pip form and have filled it in,waiting for my CPN care plan. Went to look at my ESA payment in the bank, and to pay a bill,I get it every two weeks(I am in the support group)It wasn’t there??????????? I have had no letter to say that they are stopping it. I thought they could only stop your payment,if you were in the WRAG..I just don’t know what to do now. I cannot phone them,as I have only got a mobile and can’t phone their Bull@@@@ 0800 number.

Has anyone else had this happen?

I’m sure this isn’t an isolated  incident and if anyone has any productive ideas for Julie PLEASE leave them here – I’ll forward them on

On a broader note – THIS type of situation arises because #DWP no longer have Free Phones in JobCentres – Where DO people Go???

  Let the TRUTH come out #NOWPetition #ImpeachDWP

 

 

This is the way

This is the Way
The Tories Rule,
Whilst We the Fools
Allow the To…

Stunningly Scary Piece

juxtaposed

Here we go ’round the Burning Bush
Just one more push
Now shake your tush
Here we go ’round the Burning bush
Praying for an illusion

This is the way we keep the dosh
By corp’rate cosh
Woo hoo! Bish bosh!
This is the way we feed at the trough
Every day is our payday

This is the way we slave each day
Well, you, anyway
From cradle to grave
This is the model we have paved:
Delegating your serfdom

This is the way we spin our words
That’s right, you heard
Define ‘absurd’
This is the way we shepherd the herds:
Every act by our say so

This is the way we use our tools
To shape the rules
Ha ha! You fools!
This is the way we pull the wool
So close your eyes a bit tighter

This is the way we bake your heads:
He said/she said

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URGENT for ALL DLA recipients awaiting PIP

URGENT Information to ALL DLA recipients awaiting PIP

 

Back in March I received a notice from DWP, informing me of two thing:

• I needed to claim PIP
• My DLA award (ending this month) would continue until PIP assessment was complete

I duly completed and returned my PIP form; today I phoned DWP DLA section, requesting how to  manage the imminent renewal of blue badge/bus pass & car tax given the above; further I received a letter yesterday from the DWP office dealing with my Carer’s allowance informing this award was also ending at the end of August.

I was pleasantly surprised to be informed that due to the delays with PIP my DLA had automatically been extended for a YEAR – to Aug 2015 (subject of course to a possible PIP assessment in this time).

This is great news, but here is further evidence the DWP is not only failing claimants, but is in fact creating further chaos, with one section making decisions and failing to inform colleagues!  If I hadn’t have phoned I would not have known of this decision which, could have left me housebound and destitute;

They are now sending a letter with this decision not only allowing me to renew my mobility support with their supposed partners, but will also demonstrate to other DWP employees, I’m still entitled to Carers.

I strongly urge anyone in a similar situation to call DWP today and GOOD LUCK;

Time to Put the S(ocial) S(ecurity) Back Into DWP?

Isn’t interesting how ‘Words’ can mean So very much?!

John Turner demonstrates how this works in practice –

“Perhaps, changing the name to the Department for Work, Pensions and Social Security would be a small contribution towards changing attitudes towards people on sickness benefits (and lone parents on benefits not requiring them to seek work)”

The ramblings of a former DWP Civil Servant ...

There is something vaguely Orwellian and misleading about the Department for Work and Pensions’ title.  The title would seem to suggest that you are either you are fit for work or on a State Pension.

I can well imagine the average voter, with no experience of receiving social security, assuming that if you do not fit into either the work or pensions group then you must, in some way, be playing the system.  There are, after all, some people around who still talk about the Social, the DSS and/or even the DHSS.

Perhaps, changing the name to the Department for Work, Pensions and Social Security would be a small contribution towards changing attitudes towards people on sickness benefits (and lone parents on benefits not requiring them to seek work)?  And, may be we could also resurrect the original Jobcentre Plus Mission Statement:

Help for those who can work and support…

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In Memory of My Pop a WWI Soldier, who Fought for Honesty and Freedom

As a child of the Sixties I absorbed the new ‘freedoms’  of that era like a sponge; I watched the development of  the sexual revolution which, to me was everyday women finding a voice, previously before only accessible to the middle class and above.  I read about the Civil Rights movement, and became sickened by the Racial prejudice and discrimination; particularly as I was friends with many children whose families had come to the UK as refugees from Uganda. These struggles instilled me with a personal power, no longer did I have to defer to my ‘betters’, I could and should, question and challenge my elders.

Having said this, my strongest influence at home at this time was my granddad (Pop), he was born in 1899 and lied about his age to serve his country in WW,  only for him to be the victim of a rogue grenade. This resulted in him spending his life in and out of hospital undergoing surgery after surgery, as the countless pieces of shrapnel he carried in him moved towards his vital organs. I adored him, but he was a man of his time born when Victoria was still Queen, and we had endless discussions about right and wrong. I like to think he really heard me when I argued for Equality, but maybe he indulged me as his only grandchild, either way he listened, and even when we disagreed he never shot me down, he taught me to debate and for this, and everything else he was to me, I adored him .

With today being the Centenary of  WWI, these memories of my pop are more emotive than ever, his desire for honesty was I believe, born from his experience of soldiering, he was sold a story of  ‘Britain needing him’  how he was fighting for freedom and this would be “The War to end All wars”; in return he was damaged, physically and emotionally. He never spoke to me (or any other family members) about his experience, but we lived with its effects.  Today I’m convinced he would have been diagnosed with PTSD, he certainly suffered from brain damage, being blown up does that, and this revealed itself in his occasional outbursts of rage. However, despite the pain he lived with for the next 70 years, he always demanded Truth; whether this be because he lived with the fact he suffered as a result of the Lies sold by the ruling classes I can’t say, but knowing him I can’t help but think this is so.

These experiences laid the blueprint for who I am today, I remain committed to Equality, I fail to understand how prejudice and discrimination are anything but destructive, and I believe wholeheartedly in Truth. In this week as I especially remember Pop, I read that  Lord Freud  has been proven to have Lied AGAIN,  joining Mark Hoban, Esther McVey and Mike Penning  to become the Fourth DWP Minster to have Made the SAME LIE – Impact Assessment are Impossible.

This default position of Lying when proven incorrect is unacceptable, the reality is the Lies Politicians spew out today, are resulting in pain as those told 100 years did; and albeit in much lesser numbers, people are still Dying  as a result of the Policies they Lie about.

I can’t help but think it must be common knowledge that Politicians Lie, they’ve been doing it for at least a Century now, and maybe this is the reason people don’t feel the need to demand it should End and End Now?

I can’t and won’t accept this, to do so would not only dishonour my Pop, but I would feel  in collusion with these Lying Ministers, and this I will not do. For these reasons and because I feel if We don’t scrutinise this unelected Government No one will; I continue to urge you all to please share our petition demanding TRUTH from Parliament; the House of Commons has responded to the Recommendations of the Select by basically informing us the DWP is doing a great job!

If you share my belief , this response is yet another example of Government Spin – please Sign, Share and talk to everyone about the NEED for The TRUTH Campaign.

 

#NOWPetition #ImpeachDWP