Thursday 2 February 2012

WARNING - TOXIC GOVERNMENT

What to say today? We knew that our government had reached levels of arrogant prickery previously unseen in the UK. Yes, even Blair backed down from sending cancer patients to the jobcentre and screwing over profoundly disabled children.

We knew the government had cheated at every stage of the welfare reform bill. First, they utterly whitewashed their own consultation on Disability Living Allowance and lied** about the results to parliament and to the public. 

They used made up statistics** to make a case for DLA that simply wasn't accurate. 

They tried - in a way never seen before - to rush the welfare reform bill through the Lords before the summer recess last year, despite this meaning peers would have just a few ludicrous days to scrutinise it - they didn't get away with that one. 

Then, when peers did return from recess, they took the unprecedented step of holding the committee stage debates in a back room - in Grand Committee rather than the main chamber. For a few nail biting days we weren't even sure if we'd still be able to watch proceedings live or even if the disabled peers would be able to access the rooms!! This is highly unusual for such a large and controversial bill. 

When it became clear that the government were going to be utterly slapped down by the Lords, Lord Freud, the Government sponsor of the bill tried to cheat again and sneak through a few amendments to overturn the defeats when everyone had gone home. Again, totally unprecedented

After 7 - count them - 7 amendments passed (and two measures were accepted by the government in advance AND they made significant concessions over DLA reform) the government simply whipped their members to overturn every one of them and then used financial privilege to make sure the bill didn't go back to the Lords for further consideration!! Guess what? Totally unprecedented For this to happen normally it must be decided before a government are totally humiliated over unsound policies, not after!!

How many times can I use the words "Highly Controversial" or "Unprecedented"? And over one bill? To translate, this Government have ridden roughshod over any thread of democracy we might have thought we still had in the UK. They have treated Parliament and the House of Lords with complete contempt. They've cheated** and steamrollered and sneered their arrogant way through the whole process, believing they were above the law, that no-one would hold them to account, that no-one would notice. 

Well we noticed, and we made a fuss and we will hold them to account for every single person hurt by their policies. Every day, week in, week out, every death, every person who loses their home, every family left with too little to buy food, every over-run soup kitchen, every paraplegic declared "fit for work" every cancer patient that dies expected to look for work - we will expose them all. 

We tried everything to warn them before it was too late. The great irony is that we played fair. However much they cheated and lied, we kept to the truth, we stuck with evidence. We played the ball not the man. We showed them for what they are. 

And just in case anyone thinks "Ach well, it's only welfare, we ALL support using any means possible to give the scroungers a good kicking remember this : 

THE NHS BILL AND THE LEGAL AID BILL AND NUMEROUS OTHER PIECES OF LEGISLATION THAT WILL TOTALLY TRANSFORM THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS AS WE SPEAK. 

However much this coalition would like us to forget, they have no mandate for these changes. They were NOT in either manifesto, the Conservatives did NOT win a majority and the Lib Dems opposed many of the measures they are now allowing to pass through parliament. None of these changes to Disability Living Allowance were in either manifesto and as everyone knows, nor were the NHS reforms. 

Are we going to let this happen? Are we going to give up on democracy altogether? Are we so cynical, so fatigued by corruption that we're just going to sit back with a sigh and give up? 

I'm not. 

They can carry on living in their little Westminster bubble if they like (and clearly, they will use any means to do so) but times have changed. The world has changed. Now, we can expose their lies in seconds. And we will. And the public will only hate them so very much more in the long run for this arrogance. 


**Today, I can use the words "lied" and "cheated" and "made-up" because that's what they did. They lied. And they cheated. And they made things up. To get what they want. All those weeks drafting the Responsible Reform report using words like "misled" and "mendacious" and "inaccurate" made me want to scream when what I knew I was saying and they knew what I was saying was : "You're lying cheats"

So sue me. 




135 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more. But...what do we do now? I have to give a presentation about the whole tragic lot next week to a load of parents who've got kids with disabilities. And I haven't a clue what to say! Apart from 'We're all fucked.'

    Annie

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    1. Annie, ask those of them particularly who have Tory or LibDem MP's to go to their MP's surgeries. Such MP's need to have their noses rubbed into the chaos and misery that they have voted for.

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    2. Hi.

      Yeah, I'll do that. My own MP is Tory and I am disgusted at his replies to my emails and letters. He just repeated the Party Line ad nauseam. He's leaving Parliament at the next election because of the reduction in MPs allowances/expenses which he thinks is very unfair!!! But I shall certainly set all the local parents on to him and his disgraceful colleagues. He himself is, I suspect, screening calls from me!!

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    3. i agree and they are liars cheats and 2faced B,S AND WOULD,NT KNOW WHATS LIKE IN THE REAL WORLD, AS THEY LIVE ON CLOUD COOKOO LAND

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    4. Good idea. I am in the middle of writing to ask only for an apology for what they've done to my prospects. If you do suggest that they visit MPs, tell them that you don't get anything from the first time; it's only once you become a thorn in their side that they start talking to you remotely properly. My approach is to allow myself to direct my vindictiveness towards them, but then dislike does make me very articulate!

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    5. If only so much effort as this load of sh1t was put into doing work!.. The benefit cycle would not even be an issue.. Put yourself in the rest of the world where,,, don't work die.. and no Jeremy Kyle

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  2. As usual Sue, you write down what we are all feeling. I think I felt my heart break while watching the debates yesterday. It is only today that my anger is started to wake up. Don't they know that the way they have gone about this will be their downfall. They have exposed themselves as having no valid argument for their actions. And we will call them on it, loudly, repeatedly in public until people start to listen.

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  3. What arrogance they have, what total disregard for democracy and what hatred for sick/disabled people, yes hatred, I can't explain their actions any other way. There are many of us though who know what is right, many of us who will continue to fight and show them up for what they are and the day will come when the tide will turn, oh yes it WILL turn.

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  4. when we stand together, thats when we all win :)

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  5. It wasn't in the coalition agreement, either.

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  6. They ARE lying cheats, Sue. I am in your court and we will get more and they will be exposed for who and what they are. Keep up the brilliant, brilliant work both as a campaigner and a writer and I will support Spartacus however I can.

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  7. Yet again, Sue, you have spoken for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been left reeling by the callous savagery of this government. Deepest thanks.
    The heroic Sonia Poulton in Mail online article:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2094805/Why-does-David-Cameron-insist-disability-cuts-sickened-party.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

    quotes Conservative MP and social security spokesman Quentin Davis in 1999, when Tories and LibDems vehemently opposed cuts Labour proposed:

    "I am proud that we stand today on our previous record, which is that the disabled, far from being a soft target and an easy touch for the Government, are a group of vulnerable people who should be the last people to be disadvantaged when changes are made to the welfare and benefits system."

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  8. Couldn't have put t better.
    I've got more angry. I've cried. I'm not sure where we go from here. I want for every organisation and protest group to come together and take the government on over the likely cumulative effect of all these poisonous bills versus human rights. To bring together a focus group made up of representatives of these groups along with any willing lawyers. If they're all scattered, we could arrange online conference chats in a designated IRC chatroom. Need more spoons.

    Do we know what the Lords are saying about this yet?

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    1. I think you are right. What does occur to me is that, if we can get them on board, parents of disabled children would be useful. People like me. I am not disabled and I have spoons!! A lot of our time is spent with our kids in hospitals etc and just coping with having a life-limited or severely disabled child but...there's a lot of us out there. What we need to do, and I what I am trying to do in my own small part of the East Midlands, is to get through to other parents of disabled children that this affects them too. The current stuff and the fact that, for most of us, our children will survive into adulthood and become the severely disabled people of the future - and kids grow up fast. It's not far away!!

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    2. I'm not a mum myself but I understand mumsnet is very vociferous..not sure if it's entirely composed of Sam Cameron yummy mummy types, but if not, that could be another info sharing source. Also, I kid you not, but the Womens'Institute has long ago tried to shed its Jam and Jerusalem image and has engaged in real campaigns.
      Lastly, consider contacting broadcaster Jenni Murray from Woman's Hour.

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    3. I've been asked to write a blog for Mumsnet, but I've been so POORLY. Note to self however - must do it by next week !!

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    4. Forget Jenni Murray, but who knows, I tried to encourage her to do a programme about how minimum waged single older women were suffering as their wages didn't cover basic living costs (in the cheapest place to live in the country!), that it was so bad that friends of mine, decent honest hard working people, had seriously talked about going into prostitution they were so desperate.
      I got a letter back, but honestly, they're just not interested. I like Radio 4 for some things, but on the whole, Woman's Hour is a middle class baby.

      Channel 4's unreported world might be a good one; at least they might present the actual circumstances, like they did when the U.S. pushed through their welfare reform that meant people went to work by day, and lived in tents or just on the street by night. Forget also the BBC; I am disgusted with them, and after all, Chris Patten is a Tory!

      It might be good to gather evidence and experiences over the next however long, not only for a peer reviewed journal/report, but also there would be many small independent production companies willing to self fund a documentary, which could then be sold on to a terrestrial TV company. Many people who have trained and are part of these production companies, and of the right mindset, might be very interested in that as a vehicle for their careers. Make a note of any such companies and write to them. If I had been well, I would have done one myself as I have most of the equipment, but negative spoons for years now.

      A word of warning however, I could kick myself for not remembering his name now, but a famous documentary maker and film maker (Ken Loach??), made a documentary about the unions and how Thatcher was trying to break them, and EVEN TO THIS DAY, Thatcher's government and successive governments have BANNED it!!!!!! ON ANY, AND ALL NETWORKS. When you appreciate this, and consider how much further this government has taken ANY of Thatcher's reforms, in one day abolishing numerous laws, some of which they made when they were still in power during the 90s (see end of WRB), you will understand that any type of documentary about the negative affects of WR will not be allowed, this is why we have all of the steriotyping on the BBC currently.

      That said, an independent filmaker could just put it on youtube and it would still help them get work, and also publisize the issue, so it may well be worth the work sourcing such people.

      I think Mumsnet is a good idea, though there was some negative stuff on there about the cap, but it's a free country and if people don't debate, then we've really had it as a country, and it is the only way that people get to understand about the lies.

      Hope you are not so poorly soon Sue.

      Clarebelz

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    5. In terms of the BBC, who have been atrocious in the biased coverage of welfare issues, I do wonder if we could have some sort of protest where we withold a small % of our licence fee to register our dissent/anger. The thing is the BBC think that all interest groups think the BBC is biased against them and that they are are basically balenced.

      But, on welfare they are clearly not balanced, just watch Emily Maitliss interviewing Sue...

      re banned film, its Ken Loach, and it was a film made in the 1969 for Save The children, other films of his have been banned..

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    6. No, it was 'Questions of Leadership', a documentary series on the response of the British trade union movement to the challenge posed by the policies of the Thatcher government, which also gave members an opportunity to call their own leaders to account.

      from wikipedia

      anyway, back on topic..

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  9. An eloquent and heartfelt summary of exactly how I am feeling. I am still too numb to fully grasp the enormity of what has happenned and so very angry that the regular man in the street has simply no understanding of what has exactly been done. Press reporting has been at best wholly negligent and at worst blatantly untrue and filled with right wing propaganda. I have lost my career , my independence , my husband , my sanity and now they want to take my self respect.I don't think I have any energy left to fight but fight I will , if I can't do that I might as well give up altogther. I don't know what we can do , I'm just praying someone does. Thank you for everything.

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  10. Was it on the news? I had to go bed after all that. I was amazed the amount of times they used the word Disabled it really was a bill that was largly against us and not so much against all those huge living on welfare families they keep going on about.
    I wonder if any Lords will make up a stink over this? Why isnt Labour all over the news saying how bad they think this is? Might as well have voted with them.

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    1. The parents of libs cons labour all attend the same PTA meetings. A very close nit group at eton.

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  11. Sue

    I totally agree with all you've said, the way that Welfare Reform has been handled by the government is disgusting.

    What do we honestly expect though, very few politicians have to live like we do, the majority are able bodied and have secure finances behind them to live their lives, they don't understand that by removing a relatively small amount of money from us can do untold damage and destroy lives, basically they don't care.

    Sure there are some politicians who do support us and our aims but the majority don't, disability is a dirty word to them, I've been saying for a number of years that the first thing politicians will try and do is to REMOVE the term disability from our vocabulary, once they remove the word, disability will not exist, functionability is the new word, what we can do?

    Society doesn't want to see disabled people, it makes them feel uneasy, it makes them all too aware of what can happen to them?

    All those people who comment on "The Daily Mail" about malingerer's and the workshy, all of them are frightened, as the general pot gets smaller those able to defend themselves will do all they can to secure a bigger share for themselves, those unable to defend themselves will fall by the wayside, society is going backwards not forwards, disability rights, justice, empathy, caring, all these things are being lost in our modern day society, those at the bottom of the pile namely the sick, the poor, the disabled,the unemployed, all these groups as far as the likes of Cameron, Clegg, Miliband are like detritus, rid society of it and society will be a better place?

    I remember how calously Cameron exploited the disability and death of his darling child Ivan, I knew then that he was an uncaring B######, he lacks empathy, he lacks moral fortitude as do all the other political leaders but Cameron is the worst, exploiting a childs disability to gain sympathy, how low does that go?

    Your also right about people dying, I have peope contacting my site all the time telling me they cannot go on any longer, there on the edge, they've lost all hope, everything has been removed from them, they've lost their homes, they cannot afford to feed themselves, they cannot afford to go to hospital appointments, a woman this morning contacted me to tell me she's had enough, Atos/DWP have destroyed her, she wants to end her life, life for some people has got so bad it's not worth the struggle anymore, for people who laugh at me when I say this is a Eugenics based policy, maybe now you will see the truth, you can only back people into a corner for so long, when people have nothing left, when you keep pushing, the only thing for people to do is to start pushing back.

    As someone said the other day, maybe this is our POLL TAX time, that destroyed Thatcher, maybe we need to start thinking in the way the people who campaigned against the poll tax did, the politicians will only do something when it hurts them and their position.

    Again Sue, I thank you and all your associates for the Sparticus report, all my blog members support what you've done 100%.

    Hope your feeling better.

    Paul Smith (Atos Victims Group)

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  12. Poor houses, out of sight out of mind, ring fenced, destitute, evil, possessed. should not have been born. Natures rejects-
    Should I just kill myself now and save you the tax payers a bit of money.Is that what they want of me.
    Are we not humans Do we belong on another planet I do not recognise this one any more.

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  13. When they argue over time limiting ESA to a year as to the same as JSA if you have a working partner they foget the fact that anyone on JSA has a chance everyday of finding a new job. Whilst if you are too ill to work you have no options whatsoever.
    And as for including child benefit in the cap how long before kids are "living with grandma" who is working so also able to claim tax credits and child benefit for them whilst if they lived at home they bring in no income to feed and clothe them.

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    1. So if you are on benefits you dont get child benefit so your kids suffer but anyone who is lucky enough to have a job gets it even if you are on say a 100 grand a year and dont need it .ALL in it together....where next..see my reply below

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    2. You have to remember that most illness and disability is solely in the mind. One year is enough for you to recover and get back to work. You are an economic unit not a human being - and don't you forget it!!

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    3. You need to spell your name properly it's lord FREUD

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    4. I think 'Lord Fraud' is using sarcasm, i hope he is!

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    5. JSA is actually time limited to 6 months before being means tested. Everyone on JSA doesn't have a chance of finding a new job - there are far fewer vacancies than there people on JSA never mind mind those who are unemployed but not registered (for various reasons). Many on JSA have health problems too and that's before the ill conceived WCA declares many of those currently on IB/ESA fit to work. For example I'm on JSA and get DLA. Guess how employable I am.

      However congrats to the government, they have managed to divide and conquer once more. The poor fighting/blaming the other poor. I don't know you and I'm willing to believe that you are much iller or more disabled than I am. JSA is worse than ESA on all levels - conditionality, time limits, £s per week, workfare. I hope you never get the cahnce to find out first hand.

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    6. lord fraud is the right way to describe that dolt, he should write that down more often cameron is a fraudulent no feelings no idea, ignorant ill informed dolt

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    7. If I had a pound for every-time I've heard
      If I get pregnant I will get........
      I would be in receipt of child benefit

      Lets hope this will put an end people having kids they can't afford.
      On the comment above, already looking for ways to remain on the SCAB..
      it people like you that makes others so angry. How did you pay for your computer....Popped out a rug rat and what number child was it for the flat wide screen to watch JK... got to go and vomit now,, got the image of a shit filled nappy that hasn't be changed for days.... sterotype SCABS

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    8. Can Sue delete this obscenity, he/or she can **** off back to the Daily Mail, free speech is important but what does that load of bile do to contribute to the debate?

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  14. They stamped all over us, their actions were undemocratic, they ignored the second chamber, they vilified the Church. Then I heard a lone voice telling it like it really is ... 'The new poor law'.

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  15. 'THE NHS BILL AND THE LEGAL AID BILL AND NUMEROUS OTHER PIECES OF LEGISLATION THAT WILL TOTALLY TRANSFORM THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS AS WE SPEAK.'

    - God you are melodramatic. Welcome to the real world. Austerity sucks, Labour broke us, and the country has to live within its means. RL sucks, and there are, unfortunately, no respawn points.

    The democratically elected chamber has spoken.

    Good luck to you all, I wish you well.

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    1. Oh well im glad Dave has found someone that is so happy that when they have an accident or become ill after a year they will have no income whatsoever. Im sure all those beans and toast will go down well knowing that its just you sucking up austerity.

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    2. @anonymous 03.08 AM Fuck off.

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    3. No, you fuck off.

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    4. "The democratically elected chamber has spoken."

      And If you believe that you'll believe anything...but wait, you already have, haven't you.....

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    5. Much as it annoys me to have to respond to your drivel, I should just point out that "austerity"doesn't seem to "suck" much amongst the tax avoiders and tax evaders who are doing very well for themselves while disabled people face penury.

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    6. anon at 03 o8.well when you get ill and need help you better hope there is an nhs left you idiot.NON so myopic as those who refuse to look.
      TROLL on then eh!!!!

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    7. @ Anonymous 03:08am

      Your pathetic argument has been refuted every time it has been repeated. There are plenty of places to save money without killing people, as this bill will do. You are the one who has no understanding of real life.

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  16. oldtrekkie Ann Woods2 February 2012 at 11:12

    I agree with everything above and the fight will go on. Being co-ordinated is definately the key. My interest is people with learning disabilities, however I consider we are all part of the same family and we are all in the same fight. We are Spartacus, we are pissed off and we are going to be a pain in the arse till someone listens. this is now my mantra.

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    1. That's my main interest too as my son is SLD/ASD. Yes, he'll be able to physically work....but not sure what as! He has a mental/emotional age of a small child. But we need to get co-ordinated.... physically disabled adults, learning disabled adults, parents of disabled children...we all need to find some way of getting together.

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  17. David Cameron wont give up trust me on this. The only time the government will be vulnerable is if a sick or disabled person killed either themselves or others and left a note as to why it happened as the press would be able to go over it with a fine tooth comb and i dare say pass judgement

    The main aim thou would be to get maximum news coverage

    Another would be that a sick or disabled person took out a private persecution against the government on a human rights infringement

    Both of the above thou are not likely to happen so the government can and will do as they please up until then

    Of course if something above did happen then they would obversely have to pause with the welfare reforms but it still would only be temporary so in overall reality the government would still win the day and like in the middle east david cameron would press on to the bitter end

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    1. Fourbanks - you are right on the question of maximum news coverage.
      Look, every one of us feels despairing and pissed-off right now, but we have to believe that awful things CAN change...Ghandi chucked the British Empire out of India after all...

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  18. A little while after the '97 election win for Labour a former Conservative Minister admitted that there was a paper/study going around Conservative Central Office looking at the possibility of Privatising the NHS. I for one, knew it wouldn't be far off their agenda then, if they ever did get back in.

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    1. anyone seen the couple of ads for taking out insurance to cover illness whilst at work/

      that magician bloke pulling a tablecloth of a table without disturbing the dishes ....?

      it's for UNUM - the american private company who also have a say in the 'fitness for work' interviews here

      website: http://unum.com/

      privatisation of health/ welfare / education on its way already

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    2. I've been noticing their TV adverts recently. parasites the lot of them

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  19. After the government yesterday railroaded their welfare "reforms" (what a mis-use of a word) through the House of Lords, it is evident that whatever the statistics, the government is intent on ignoring them, & whatever the evidence or arguments, ignoring people who are sick or who have disabilities, ignoring disability charities, ignoring disability support groups, ignoring human rights groups, consumer groups, ignoring the church (and the teachings of Jesus and God that are sacred to many), and now they have ignored the House of Lords. The government is ignoring fact, ignoring human rights, and ignoring morality. Many people with disabilities are in utter despair. We evidently have a harsh coalition dictatorship, that does not think in terms of using facts or researched information to inform decisions to make them good ones but in using misinformation to justify themselves. The government has upped it's game over all our heads now.
    This government has no noble feeling or compassion at all. If it were anyone else we would call them arrogant, ignorant, uneducated, uncaring, grossly biased, and foolhardy, but sadly this is our government. I wonder what does move them? Shares falling? Losses not profits?

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    1. Only Money and the fact they might loose power, sadly. :(

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    2. I will put simply!!
      The county goes in to recession.
      The same amount of money is in the country,
      only less number people have the money, this makes the few richer than before, so they hold all the power
      and send there kiddies to a school called eton, they grow up and take over and so on.......
      The country did not even vote for them.(no one questioned this at the time) .. MONEY IS POWER ..
      We all do what is going on now, called dead heading pulling out the weeds, spring clean the spongers.. in another country! think back only to 90s this country went to war. It was said ethnic cleansing was a step to far in economic hard times... DON'T FORGET HOW EASY WE ARE just to get anything.....

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  20. Don't forget Dorries et al. 's shenanigans around abortion counselling.

    It's absurd someone can introduce an amendment, get HUGELY voted down in the commons, then introduce exactly the same measures by another means.
    If the house of commons is anything its supposed to reflect the will of the people.

    It is utterly and entirely failing to do that currently.

    http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/content/view/450/1/

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    1. Here's something else I posted a while ago on the Graniaud comment threads, which sort of sums up my feelings......

      Jesus. I thought labour was bad, bureacratic, annoying, actually pretty illiberal.

      This government has done more to alienate me in 18 short months or so than Labour managed in 10 years.

      A year of service to recognise the importance of faith in volunteering (I'm an atheist)

      Spending a fortune on royal jubilees/weddings/yachts (I firmly believe if anything we should scale back the royals and their money)

      Promoting Faith Schools on the taxpayer as a good thing (when my kids can't use them even though my taxes go there).

      The absurd and untrue arguments deployed in the No to AV vote.

      Completely reorganising the NHS when they promised not too

      It's fair to say I was at least ambivalent towards the Tories before they were in power. Now I absolutely despise them, and realise they live in a completely different world, with a completely different set of values to me.

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  21. David Cameron managed to smuggle a misleading two-liner under the wire, about sickness benefit claimants, in his conference speech to the Conservative Party faithful on October 5th 2011. This set the trend / prepared the ground for a campaign of further deliberate misinformation.

    Quote: “We've got to get some sense back into our labour market and get British people back into work. For years you've been conned by
    governments. To keep the unemployment figures down, they've parked as many people as possible on the sick. Two and a half million, to be exact. Not officially unemployed, but claiming welfare, no questions asked. Now we're asking those questions. It turns out that of the 1.3 million people who have put in a claim for the new sickness benefit in recent years. One million are either able to work, or stopped their claim before their medical assessment had
    been completed.”

    The cabinet office refused to say (in response to an FoI) where David Cameron got these figures, and said that it was a matter for the conservative party.

    If you try to contact the conservatives via their website, you have to fill in an array of personal details, so they have efectively blocked contact / discussion / protest.

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    1. Well you're daft to privately FOI then use the WDTK site

      http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

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    2. The government well aided by the media has managed to sell the idea that "the disabled" are a large number of people with a bit of a twinge of backache, or feeling a bit down. It is of course true that some people were nudged sideways on to IB out of political expediency, but that was a long time ago and has zero to do with disability anyway. I can't decide whether our illustrious betters are thick or corrupt - but I do know they are not invulnerable. I doubt Thatcher's mind is clear enough to feel the irony, but they will not all escape unscathed. Sufficient money is a cushion they want to deny the rest of us, but doesn't solve everything.

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    3. I can't see what anyone has to worry about, the genuine sick/disabled will be looked after. The last thing they want to be is a burden on those around them and do there part in there own way. However a council estate near to where I live all on the sick. My god they can run and fight when the police come to bust them for drugs. I worked for brighthouse delivering white goods, one guy kindly got out of his wheelchair which he had been in for years and years and carried a TV which I could only dream of being able to afford.

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    4. Ah, the 'ubiquitous' flat screen TV, which seems to appear in all diatribes against claimants,

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  22. Having read all the comments, I think that we can all get together to *do* something. But I'm not sure how...not being that good at computers etc! Via Twitter or something? Could Sue, as a Central Point, get a list of our email addresses so we can keep in touch with each other and plan?

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    1. I'd certainly be willing!

      Clarebelz

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    2. Why not put that energy into doing your CV. As you have time on your hands do a course in computer studies.
      I think you answered for everyone why the changes are plainly needed...

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  23. OK so NOW WE ARE ANGRY.....so the next step is to REALLY fight these bastards.Once all these cuts start to bite there will be a backlash but people will need a place to focus that anger and i have said we should now become someting more thah we are.WE know now as i said earlier that they KNEW the outcome.It has all been planned a long time ago.IDS hid in the shadows planning and enlisting the likes of..well we know who...and always beware the quiet men in gray suits.So given that we now know thay had it all mapped out we must now fight on and we should become a proper voice and as i said yesterday we should become a political movement... a party...We have no choice but to fight on the inside .IT is the only way and we have nothing to lose now so nothing to fear.
    COME ON lets do it.Lets organise a meeting and start the ball rolling...call it waht you will like social reform party or something similar..but DO IT NOW as we have no more time left...10 million remember...10 million votes and 10 million very pissed off people...Do it now and fight fight fight or give up and fade away and then there will be no one...thos govt only cares about themselves and labour and dimleds are no better and if we dont we lose..

    ReplyDelete
  24. I today ponder the disgraceful ruling in the Commons last evening whereby the Commons, Lets not forget all parties took part in these votes, declared the Welfare Reform Bill to be Privilege. A process which has been around since 1671 and until now only used for the budget.

    Should we now anticipate that this House of Commons will now declare that the Health and Social Care Bill alongside the Legal Aid Bill be part of the process of Privilege.

    I for one will not be surprised by this, Will you.

    We must and will as a charity organisation representing the amputee and limb impaired communities and individuals of the United Kingdom continue to oppose the measures being placed in the pathway to our independence.

    We must as a group of peers stand together in unity and solidarity, we must endeavor to educate our fellow citizens as to the plight of our fellow man.

    The date 31st January 2012 will be marked on the historic calender as a black day for democracy in the United Kingdom. Let it also be marked down as the day the disabled population enabled its voice and power to be heard as one entity.

    Gordon McFadden

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    Replies
    1. I called yesterday BLACK WEDNESDAY and its the day democracy died in this country.These bastards knew all along about the use of Financial and Parliamentary privilege so the debate and therefore voting was always rigged and now they will use this agin and agin so we now do not have rights...your vote counts for NOTHING...we have been granted Priveiges which they can and will take away as they see fit.
      SO it wasnt just us the sick and disabled that where crapped on yesterday but the wholoe democratic process but it seems only we can see it.SO enough .Gordon why not help start a new political party.You will have valuable experience to contribute and as i have said we have nothing to lose now....ONE meeting is the first step..

      Delete
    2. Yes, the use of Financial Privilege explains Cameron's disgusting performance at PMQs yesterday when he bated Milliband and the Labour benches to support the ConDems in the lobby last night. Knowing that the bill would go through he showed himself to be the arrogant bully we've come to realise he is.

      The use of Privilege also raises the question about how much of the debate over the last few weeks and months was genuine. Given the outcome one could be forgiven for thinking that it was just carefully stage managed to keep a lot of people quieter than they otherwise would have been.

      Yes, of course they will now use this process to force through anything they want. The Parliament Act was Blair's tool of choice and now Cameron has found Privilege. What is it going to take for the general population to realise what is happening to this country?

      An opposition party that really understands disability issues is needed now more than ever. Moreover we need representation by a party that respects the electorate and isn't just interested in gaining power for its own sake.

      Delete
    3. Actually, sorry to disagree, but before that, it was the con government as well...any one think that the only people that are 'all in it together' are the powers that be? And, as we all now know because of being better informed via technology, the 'powers that be' aren't necessarily elected.

      I have been helped by M.P.s in the past though, and I know that some are genuine, but they are in the minority obviously, and even when they do vote with their conscience, like we have seen, democracy is subverted.

      Clarebelz

      Delete
    4. Of course all administrations have forced through legislation to achieve an aim, all the while telling us it will be for our own good.

      What we have now is a professional political elite with no real principles or concern for what's best for the country as a whole, just their own pet projects and in the case of the Cons, a particular hatred of certain sections of society. They view the country, economy and the voters as their playthings to do with as they see fit. With blinkered vision they pursue an agenda at all costs, completely ignorant and uncaring of the effects any legislation will have. If they screw things up it doesn't matter because it won't affect them and in the end they pick up a few well paid directorships to top up their pension and probably some kind of honour as well for services rendered (bet the "no reward for failure" won't apply to them.) All they know is that they are right and they will use any means possible to realise their "dream".

      Forcing MPs ,who are supposed to represent their constituents, to vote in a particular way is undemocratic at least. Using privilege (even if it is a legal option) to prevent any further scrutiny of that vote and process is immoral but I suppose politics and morality don't sit easily together.

      Delete
  25. Thanks Sue for all your inspiration. It has certainly not been wasted. There is now much higher consciousness about the issues. The challenge will be how to keep up momentum and keep pushing the effects of this nasty bill into public view.

    We do have some political support. My MP (Labour) emailed in response to the Church Action on Poverty campaign:

    “I am opposed to the thrust of this pernicious attack on vulnerable people. The government won't use "parliamentary privilege" to force these changes through;they will use their inbuilt majority of rabid right wing back benchers and toadying Liberal Democrats.”
    It's a little hedged, and not very hopeful, but I believe his heart is in the right place. Trouble is, I'm likely to be shunted onto the periphery of a Tory constituency with the proposed boundary changes. But of course the Tories had all this worked out a long time ago, and got their master plan out of the filing cabinet once they had a workable majority. It's not just lies, cheating and propaganda, it's a conspiracy against us all.

    ReplyDelete
  26. ͼ(ݓ_ݓ)ͽ

    Politicians the thinking Crips burden. How shall we lighten the load? Should we vote for another or just say no?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. see my (one or two up) above reply..LETS really fight back.
      Democratic Reform Party ???

      Delete
  27. Sarcboy, may I use the phrase "The day democracy died" ?

    If people wish to debate the issues you can visit Ouchtoo.org, a message board that debates sensibly the reforms, that has strong links to the Spartacus campaign, and allows for personl interaction via private messaging etc.
    Regular newsletters keep posters up to date with the work of Sue, Kaliya and the team.
    Campaign strategies and assistance is available for those who feel sometimes out of the loop.
    You can find us here;
    http://ouchtoo.org/
    Join us for campiagning, discussion, support and advice, and quite a few giggles.

    Regards,
    Hoss.

    P.S. Sue, as I said last night, the gloves may not be coming off just yet as we have our dignity, but they are certainly wearing a bit thin around the knuckles...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course you can..feel free and i have to say it again. WE are not beaten...i dont know how many fights you have all had in your lives but if you think you are beaten then you are....SO get fighting. There are already people commenting on here such as the one above and gordon etc so LOOK if you want to be beaten then fine be bloody beaten but once again i have to say it we have NOTHING to lose now ,if we ever really did, so bloody well get back in the ring and fight FFS.....there are people who will join whatever we set up once they know that the reforms will affect them.There are people who will join once they realise democracy was hijacked and stolen yesterday by people who have been planning this for years when they were in opposition and it is not just about the WRB they will now use this trick everytime they dont get thier way as almost nothing that comes before parliament can be separated from a monetary concern so mark my words we aint heard the last of the finacial and parliamentary privilege bullshit.Once they know they can get away with it they will run with it.
      i must say here that a couple of weeks ago i was listening to a certain Radio 2 midday show and a man came on who was on the Thatcher general election campaign trail the first time around and on the day they won he overheard her saying Now we can really put the working class in thier place.....now this man said this on air so we have no reason to believe its not true SO my point is to them we are all just the lowest on the heap and exist only to serve them so why the hell we epect any other kind of treatment from them is a mystery....Labour and the Dimleds are no better and they bloody knew this Financial Privilege bullshit was going to be used they bloody knew.....do you not think they would have used this themselves given the chance.Now it may well be that the Lords didnt know about this but i would suggest that the ones who were ex MPs did and i bet they are the ones who voted with the govt but that hardly matters when we realise that Democracy was hijacked by liars and cheats who presume we didnt notice and will do nothing so again i say to you all FIGHT BACK OR DIE its that bloody simple and to quote a friend of mines mantra Stand for something or die for nothing .The choice is yours but in reality you have no choice....what you all do about next is up to you BUT the gloves must come off if we want to win...So what are you gonna do???

      Delete
  28. I think we all know what we're dealing with here, but I've just gone right ahead and said it in my blog, which you can find at http://wp.me/p262ZD-2Z
    I'm so angry about this that I can't even find the words to express it properly!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Sue,

    You are an incredible person,(as are all of the campaigners on these issues) I think people who were feeling crushed will be inspired by your statement of intent. The whole welfare reform process has been characterised by deceit, ommission, misinformation smears, begun under Blair and now the odious Lord Fraud and Smith and Grayling. But,the events of the last few months have made the parliamentary system look even more the 'banana republic' it has been moving towards.

    I agree with you, that over time, the public will see what a disgrace these reforms and how they came about and yes, the cruelty and injustice that informed them. You will have many allies: the new Unite Community Union Branches will focus on welfare issues as a priority, occupy and uk uncut will now join the fray, the churches are waking up to the injustices, and of course the tens of thousands of Spartaci..

    NEVER GIVE UP!

    ReplyDelete
  30. http://www.conservativedisability.org/philosophy

    HA HA HA HA HA !!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. oh and lets use all the new social media, this one is good, an independent news service

    http://www.blottr.com/

    ReplyDelete
  32. At the moment I just don't know how to feel about everything, I just want to curl up in a corner and avoid everything, I am in a state of despair at what will happen to myself and hundreds of others like me. I think for myself and for others like me we need to start some sort of fight or campaign, I don't care if we can't win but I need something to focus on and to restore the fight in myself, to give myself a purpose and to stop the despair from taking over and sending me into a downward spiral!

    ReplyDelete
  33. First thing to do: Watchdog, the BBC1 consumer affairs programme is asking for contacts of people who have been declared fit for work by Atos when they're obviously not. I'm sure posters here can tell them real horror stories...

    their Twitter page ...

    https://twitter.com/#!/BBCWatchdog

    ReplyDelete
  34. To cheer you up - here is a link to the transcript of the debate in the welsh assembly on welfare reform yesterday:

    http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-chamber-fourth-assembly-rop.htm?act=dis&id=230078&ds=2/2012

    It starts on page 54. That is how parliament should be.

    Planeshift

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  35. Anonymous 4.27 - you say Unite Community Union Branches will focus on welfare issues.

    I was a member of a union that was one of those that formed Unite. I was a loyal member for many years until I became permanently ill and then was told that as I was no longer in work, I couldn't stay in the union. They couldn't even be bothered to help me negotiate an exit package - after paying an enormous sum into the union over the years, I had to pay solicitors to help me. I won't ever trust a union again to give a toss about people once they're too sick or disabled to work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry to hear that, I think they have changed under Len McCluskey and that these things won't happen again..

      Delete
  36. Many posters have been arguing that anyone can become ill and disabled, this brilliant Rowson cartoon in the Guardian, feat one Margaret Thatchers, beautifully makes that point...

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2012/feb/01/stripping-fred-goodwin-knighthood-cartoon

    ReplyDelete
  37. The government first created the media blitz against welfare and then played to a populist audience while ignoring any basis of common decency.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No the media attacks began with Labour when cooper and purnell were on the case i am afraid these bastards in power now just took it up a notch.

      Delete
  38. A very sad day for democracy. For me saddened even more by the fact that the party to which I once proudly belonged and which I supported merely accepted the Tory line. And today Miliband the elder wants Labour to move to the right - can you believe that?! Let's hope they're all out of work after the next election - They'll pretty soon campaign for better benefits when they're on the receiving end!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Now that this sick joke of a "government" has decided that no-one is allowed to be disabled anymore, can we please get rid of Maria Miller MP?

    I mean, what's the point of a minister for disabilities if there aren't any disabled people?

    Surely she is now even more irrelevant than ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, she only ever was a sort of ventriloquist's dummy.

      Delete
    2. If Maria Miller was minister "for" the disabled, can anyone say what she has actually done for us? In all this, the only mention I can recall of her is that she backed out of a long planned meeting with groups representing the disabled to discuss the reforms. From what I remember of an interview at the time, she certainly didn't seem to be "for" us at all. Another con by the administration. If you're told you have a Minister for the Disabled, you'd naturally assume someone intends to promote and protect your interests as a disabled person.

      Delete
    3. Maria Miller is a similar age to David Cameron born in 1964/66
      She is a Advertising and marketing expert and has no experiences whatsoever of the sick and disabled

      It would be a bit like me going in to the nuclear power service chief executive and ask to be one of the directors when i know nothing about the industry at all


      He would turn round to me and say "what drugs are you taking " and then show me the door

      Delete
  40. game over... no more continues

    ReplyDelete
  41. I am devistated by this and I am angry..what can I do to help..
    jennie

    ReplyDelete
  42. Goverments more people getting into the ESA Support Group = 1 extra person being allowed in.

    ReplyDelete
  43. At the moment I still feel rather shellshocked and afraid..like the man in wales who was told he couldwork despite being registered blind/svi and having rheumatoid arthritis I have a svi and other impairments now it looks as if my security may well be ripped from under me as the welfare reform begins to bite.. we can no longer claim to be a civilised country as we wont be looking after the vulnerable not even disabled childen, adults and others who need their benefits just to exist

    We must remain standing together because if we dont we will all likely fall.

    Myrtlemaid

    ReplyDelete
  44. I had a nightmare dream last night; it was 2018 and the re-elected coalition government had just been assassinated by a disabled suicide bomber. The Disabled Liberation Front had recruited this terminally ill cancer patient to undertake this mission; as they were poverty stricken and had nothing to lose they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause. The DLF announced it was the start of the disabled Jihad (Struggle). The BBC Newsnight team were wondering how come all this had happened; what were the causes, then someone tweeted #remember the Welfare Reform Bill.

    Perhaps it was my anger and feeling of hopelessness that inspired this disturbing dream after listening to the voting yesterday? But history does show that when some people have nothing left to lose then their reaction becomes extreme.

    Perhaps I'll be dreaming about the 2012 Paralympics being boycotted tonight?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah the olympics..that great opportunity for protest and civil disobedience.Blocked roads etc etc.....

      Delete
    2. Don't think you'll have much luck with that. Ms. May has already said that there will be no chance of any protest camps appearing at the Olympic venues. Can't have us scum spoiling the views of the new stadium on the news can we? Mustn't let the rest of the world know how they treat us.

      Delete
  45. My partner said to me last night and she used these exact words, "it seems like they want to eradicate all disabled and sick people" that was some statement from her i assure you and you know what she is right. The fight should go on more so now than ever before we can and shall have our day.
    "we shall overcome"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well you know those conspiracy theorists......eugenics...the new nazis and all that kind of stuff now you have to wonder if they do indeed have a point.Even nutters like Mr Icke may be right i mean just cos you aint seen a ufo land in your garden doesnt mean its not possible...ok bit extreme i know but you get my point.
      Maybe the Torys are eugenicists and really do want the sick and disabled to vanish from all statistics which they surely will when the time limited esa runs out and the time limited jsa is used up too as to be a statistic you have to be on the list...very clever eh...no record you no exist.

      Delete
    2. The government over time will destroy all sick and disabled people wherever possible that was always the conservatives driving force that and slavery they never ever did stand for anything else so to this day am still surprised by their following

      They are worse then the BNP party because they talk openly about immigrants and their dislike of them whereas the conservatives don't talk openly about their hatred for the sick and disabled hence they are seen as electable but the truth is they both have hatred as their core value and always have had so therefore they should never have been elected or electable in the first place

      It would seam that the voting public learned nothing from the second world way and the likes of Hitler are still very much alive and always have been throughout time and always will be

      Hitler was not a one man band he was one of many across the world that believe in total control and death to all those that are inferior and hardship to those at a working level

      Delete
  46. "every person wandering abroad and endeavouring by the exposure of wounds or deformities to obtain or gather alms... shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond ... and it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace to commit such offender to the House of correction there to be kept to hard labor for any time not exceeding three calendar months." Vagrancy Act 1824

    So I hope no one here is hoping to beg for their living when they lose their benefits in case as a disabled person they appear to be trying to get money on account of their deformities.

    This is not the first government to try to hide disabled people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's right. The Soviet Union did in the late 1950's. My father, a doctor, did some translating for parties of British medics visiting Soviet hospitals and doctors. When someone expressed an interest in finding out about the systems used to help people with learning disabilities, he was told "we have no people with learning disabilities in the Soviet Union".

      Delete
    2. In around as little as ten years you will find that the sick and disabled will have vanished from the tv and media you may not even ever see a glimpse of such people you mark my word

      Bit by bit there quality of life will be eroded as mine has become so you will all end up like me a total recluse and afraid to go out

      I never in my wildest dreams never thought it would happen but it has and it's not nice living in a Paul Getty recluse no friends type way of life

      Delete
    3. I doubt it. Thanks to the internet, largely, we are not so easily disappeared. I think that is what the Government hopes for, but they are behind the times. Sure, the stupid and the vicious like a scapegoat (and governments, and this one has plenty of thugs) but I think attitudes to disability are a lot more positive than they used to be. The general populace doesn't have much of a clue, but that can change.

      Delete
  47. Yeah its probably no coincidence that they have been banging on about immigration today.....so you see they will use that financial privelige bollocks again and again.
    It really is it seems history repeating...first they came for the disabled and sick...then they came for the immigrants...then they came for......what a nasty buch of bastards they really are....

    ReplyDelete
  48. Labour would have been as happy to see these changes go through as the Conservatives and the Lib Dems. The idea that Tony Blair would have been significantly more moderate is a joke. These policies were written by corporations with the full collusion of the entire political class.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yep it was but the thing is now how to continue the fight.....i have already given one idea and i think its the way to go

      Delete
    2. The whole discussion seemed rather political, Labour Vs Cons/Lib dems and voting seemed to go that way, too bad these people didn't think of the disabled first when voting.

      Besides a few passionate Labour speakers(Credit to them) none of them seemed to care about the disabled.

      Delete
  49. There are many countries operating a no sick and disabled policy and you will find that in many countries you'll never see them outside of Europe and even in some European countries they are thin on the ground

    ReplyDelete
  50. David Cameron had a son who died as his care was not as good as it should have been and yet he voted to cut his own dead sons money

    Now that is a very very serious error on David Camerons part as you could read that in that his own son had played a part in the country's downfall by being disabled and now i David Cameron am cutting the night time care for disabled children of a certain disability

    I may have this wrong by my interpretation and am sure sue or someone may correct me so please do

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You wouldn't have thought it at the time but since we now know his attitude towards the poor, the sick and the vulnerable, Cameron used his son's illness and death.

      Most people would naturally feel sorry for his loss, so he managed to generate sympathy and empathy. I think he was reported at the time as saying that he understands how difficult it is for people to manage or cope with a sick child in a similar situation. Cameron is a millionaire, so he didn't and doesn't understand at all. There was no limit to what he could have done for his son in regards to care and treatment. He was never at the mercy of the limitations and restrictions of the system.

      Elsewhere here, someone has suggested that he claimed DLA for his son. If that is correct, given that he has now forced through changes that will limit DLA for those very same people, on the basis that he believes the system needs reforming and the reforms are right, maybe he should at least repay the difference between what he claimed and what he is imposing on the people now.

      Delete
    2. As i said above David Cameron seams to blaming his son for the country's woes hence he wants to cut off the night time support for some disabilities for children

      A normal person would wont to protect all disabled people not some at night time or any time the sick and disabled should never be used in a political battle that is very disturbing only Hitler and the likes ever did that

      Something has gone very wrong with the thinking at the likes of Oxford university where this has all come from it is just as bad as the ideology that the terrorists learn from their uk uni studies

      Delete
    3. Yes, and when C got into government, and they were first debating reforms (when I watched parliament tv permanently until I had to give up my license and subscription that is), they were specifically asked about DLA, and the answer, and I cannot remember now who it was who spoke, either Cameron directly or IDS/treasurer, but they assured: 'we have NO plans to scrap DLA'. Yes, just like Grant Shapps stated live on tv and in the newspapers the same autumn, that housing benefit/LHA reforms would 'NOT' affect 'existing tenants'.

      Lies we expect, but so very many, on so many different levels, to confuse people, is the mark of a very dangerous government.

      Delete
  51. This Government is the epitome of corruption,if there is any justice they will regret the day they shamelessly railroaded these polices through Parliament.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Robin B'stard(cameron)steals from the poor to give to the rich...wheres Robin Hood when you need him.

    ReplyDelete
  53. I am from New Zealand and am watching this debate very closely. Our own Tory (National) Party led Government proposed similar welfare reforms during the last election campaign here in 2011. I have been particularly alarmed at the role of the tabloid press in all this. Isn't there a public inquiry (Levenson) into the activities of the tabloid media? I think the rot began when papers like The Sun (which used to be left wing and pretty progressive when it first began) were purchased by Rupert Murdoch's right wing News International back in the 1980s. I also now predict that the UK will experience even more civil unrest as a result of these policies. A repeat of the August 2011 riots might well be on the cards. I think that if another series of riots eventuates that this time we will see disabled people on television taking part in their wheelchairs, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've half a mind that the reason that the Tabloid press has been going so heavily in support of the government on this, is that they see it as a way to sidestep round Leveson. at some point whatever his lordship decides will have to go to parliament to decide, and by this callous betrayal of their readership to fit with Lunatic right wing marketist policy, then the papers have laid themselves down a big IOU which they may want to call in at the time.

      Delete
    2. Thats interesting .Have you anymore info on this please.New Zealand is a long way away but are Atos or unum involved there and heas there been any fight back.Also if it happens here it could happen there so any info you can glean from the UK might help you there.

      Delete
  54. Have just seen the latest from Nick Clegg - apparently the Lords are out of touch and irrelevant, when it seems that they have been the only ones that have any idea of the reality of living with a disability.
    I thought I couldn't get any angrier. I was wrong.

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/clegg-lords-irrelevant-public-200955468.html

    ReplyDelete
  55. I've just posted this to the 1st Feb comments instead of 2nd February so I am reposting. Sorry but have a splitting headache!

    I get more angry as time goes on, today I sit here seething with anger and frustration. Surely we must have some grounds for challenging them, the government’s welfare reforms will certainly contravene article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

    Article 25.
    · (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
    · (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

    Even the benefits we have now are inadequate to meet the criteria above.

    The future looks bleak, we have to carry on with the campaign , we cannot give in. Often it takes a long time to achieve social justice, it is likely to be a long fight. They have attacked the most vulnerable group in society.

    Shame on government and all who support them.

    I don’t give a dam about the national debt or how they pay it back if they ever do. We did not cause it. Savings from destroying our lives are but a drop in the ocean of a debt of 1 trillion!

    Who does the government owe this money to? big corporations? other nations?. Why is not this information available? I mean precisely word for word, figure for figure, exactly who the hell do we owe this money to. I bet many of these evil MPs have shares in the very corporations that we own money to.

    Does anyone have an answers to these questions ; is it just me that is ignorant about such matters

    We have to continue to fight this corrupt and evil government, a government devoid of empathy, humanity, compassion or indeed any ethical consideration to those in society who are disabled, sick and vulnerable.

    Sue is right. We need to expose every infringement, every deprivation, every death, every injustice, every facet of suffering that will result from these heinous welfare reforms, and “hold them to account for every single person hurt by their policies. ...”

    For this purpose perhaps we could set up a Con/Dem Wall of shame blog similar to the Spartacus Stories where we could post accounts for every single person hurt by their policies, accounts of our personal experiences and those of others we come across on the net and elsewhere. Just a suggestion not sure about the practicalities or if anyone else has suggested this

    My son has been summoned to an ATOS assessment. His GP considers he should be in the support group, at the very least in the work related group. We will have to see what happens. A worrying time for me for him and for us all. Is it is not enough to struggle with sickness and disability day in day out without having to confront this nightmare of uncertainty. I fear for the future of my son, myself and for all of us who struggle with disability and chronic sickness which of courses amount to the same thing. If you are chronically ill and are not able to do what well people do, you are disabled are you not

    They Can glibly present their tired rhetoric about benefits going to those who need them but we all know at the end of the day everyone will loose money and will have to struggle on much less in a time of escalating prices, of food, housing and energy. It’s going to get colder this week, already it is reported that 200 people per day may die from cold. That number will increase as these evil reforms kick in.


    Another good and inspiring piece of writing Sue.

    To answer your question:

    “Are we going to let this happen? Are we going to give up on democracy altogether? Are we so cynical, so fatigued by corruption that we're just going to sit back with a sigh and give up? “

    NO MOST CERTAINLY NOT!

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  56. I think this is a great move.Earlier this week i posted the ifo on what was to be the last push ,if you like,on a website that is specific to my illness and asked them all to email thier Mps and i got not one single reply until two days later and that reply shocked me.
    You would think that people who have a long term,in most cases a lifetime illness with no knowable cause or cure would actually want to fight but to be then told that more or less there is TOO much fraud in the system and the unfair assesments by atos cause people to commit this fraud is frankly unbelievable.This is from people who should know better.This was from one person who really should know the real figures on fruad in the system and not believe the lies but they didnt and THIS is what we are up against.Not only do the public believe the lies but people who are ill and ON sickness benefits beleieve this rubbish...
    I told them about the Spartacus report and to come to this website and get the real figures and i hope they do.

    As i said earlier we have to fight and seeing as they clearly do not have any qualms about using any method possible, including CLEARLY hoodwinking some people in the sick/disabled community, then nor should we.Firstly lets find out if wer CAN use the article 25 of udh and maybe Liberty or some other organisation can give us the info on that OR maybe someone in the legal proffesion who would help..There must be someone and somebody who knows someone.
    How do we go about it and i see WE because it might mean us all putting in some funds here and we already have the mechanism for that.
    When will the bill be signed off and how long do we have before that?Is it easier to challenge now or after royal assent? Can it be challenged through any EU mechanism?Our euro mps could maybe help with that...
    Meanwhile lets get this Wall going and we need to contact people like shelter too to provide evidence of how this bloody bill is affecting people .Again we might need to pay someone to do this...more funds in the fighting fund.
    Whatever Wall we put up needs to be seen so it should be extremley linked and pushed out in the frontal vision of everyone and anyone...media friendly people(if any )etc ect.
    The fight continues and it has to get as intense as they have been.Nothing to lose and everything to gain ...And it need t be on all fronts with as many other affected people on board.This has to become more than what we are right now and sue and Kaliya cannot do this on thier own so you now know that its heads above the parapet time for all as keeping a low profile will not stop the machine that is the wrb passing its evil searchlight over us all so stare right back and say F*** You we are not having it...

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  57. Below is the website of the United Nations Disability section Enable

    http://www.un.org/disabilities/index.asp

    The following link is both mailing address and an e-mail address.

    http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=175

    This may be of interest - perhaps there may be a point in individually contacting them with our concerns regarding the Welfare Reform Bill - in relation to Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    Kevin

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  58. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2012/feb/02/welfare-benefits

    Powerful Rowson cartoon in the Guardian, i think liberal society is waking up to the brutal atttacks on welfare benefits and sick and disabled people, sadly according to polls(are they correct) working class people are behind the govt on this...

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    1. Yes, Cameron, IDS and Osborne have managed to con the people with the daily "scrounger" rhetoric and the backing of the media. What the working class supporters don't yet realise is that if they find themselves redundant, sick or disabled in the future, there will be no sympathy or assistance for them. At that point they will start to complain about how unfair the system is.

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    2. Well yes the whole media campaign by the givt has worked as they have used the good old emotive techniqiues of snake oil salesmen and the most effective point i think gas been the 26 grand bullshit.Now anyone who isnt thinks everyone who is on ANY benefit gets this figure which is plainly so bloddy ridiculous but its believed.
      The dialy scrounger rhetoric is a big part of that too backed up by programmes on tv such as saints and scroungers et al.
      If you read my post above where i mention the illness specific website i posted on and how someone on there also believes the fraud rhetoric too and its clear that the govt played a clever game here.Not many people realise the influence of atos and unum in this or the fact that unum was banned from operating in the states until the ban was overturned,and you can read how if you search for it,but they will become aware of it or at least the ones who become ill in the coming months and years will...and then we come to the people on in work benefits such as working and child tax credits,housing beneifit, council tax benefit etc etc and of course there is the disgracfull attack on disabled childrens Ni contributions and cancer patients....we can only hope that the reaction to all this comes about very very rapidly and it adds fuel to our fire but in the meantime all of us should explore every avenue.Collate all the info needed for the Wall of Shame ,but expect themm to do the same with the fraud figures etc.. and contact and try to enlist as maany other organisations and individuals as we can and see what happens.
      All changes in both public perception and legal changes have to have momentum and such a momentum has to reach a critical mass and thats what we have to do.Now this may take months and months but the key is unity of force.
      All battles have to follow plans and all battle pland never succeed first contact with he enemy so we have to be adaptable.They certainly were and they had years to plan this but all counter attacks have no luxury of time so we have to be quick here.Maybe it will be that there is nothing we can do but we dont know this yet and when the homeless start sleeping on the steps of Houses of Parliament or failing that some other high profile buildings then we may get some momentum
      REMEMBER this we are hosting one major event where the eyes of the world will beupon us and if we cant force some air time then well....
      MEANWHILE anyone out there know any lawyers...

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  59. OK folks i have just emailed the Un Human rights council to ask for thier help under article 25 so lets see what happens...might take a while but if we do get a rply and they will help then i dont have the expert knowledge so i will need to pass this on to someone who does so dont be shy here in coming forward...

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  60. This is such an interesting story at it gives in-depth information to the reader as well. Good thing you have it shared.

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  61. Such an interesting story to read and I enjoyed reading it as well. Keep up the good work.

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  62. We certainly WOULD sue you, Sue, however since that would take even more of our hard earned tax than you are already hoovering up, it's not really cost-effective. Tell you what; instead of producing this blog, why not turn your efforts and output to something more productive - maybe work for a living?

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  63. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isFL6c98Hjg
    Here Sue - an interesting little video about what public opinion feels about benefit scroungers!
    ENJOY :
    As the man says, "Thirty five thousand a year is a fucking good wage!" But some will always want more, eh Sue?

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    1. You haven't got a clue what your talking about
      I would explain the full breakdown of a persons benfitt claim but you wouldn't understand so there would be no point

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  64. I have aspergers syndrome, adhd, mild learning deficit and all diagnosed by a psychiatrist, I have had many meltdowns over this subject and I cannot believe what this government is doing to us. Look after those who need looking after.

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