Amendment to keep Legal Aid for welfare cases - Today

Legal help with welfare benefit appeals would be retained under Liberal Democrat amendment to the Legal Aid Bill. Campaigners urge last minute emails to MPs

A Liberal Democrat amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is being debated at Report Stage this Monday 31st October, would see legal help for people appealing or reviewing benefit decisions retained. Under current government plans all welfare benefits advice will be cut from legal aid, along with many other areas of law including much of employment, debt and housing advice. Charities like Citizens Advice, Law Centres, and advice agencies use legal aid to fund much of their work in this area. 

Part of a motion on welfare reform passed at Liberal Democrat conference called on government to "reconsider the exclusion of welfare benefits casework such as this from the scope of legal aid." A group of Liberal Democrat backbenchers have put down the amendment, including Tom Brake MP, Co-Chair of the Home Affairs Parliamentary Party Committee. The other signatories are Stephen Lloyd MP, David Ward MP, and Mike Crockart MP.

Help with appeals is vitally important, particularly at a time when the benefits system is being radically changed. The introduction of Employment and Support Allowance has been beset with bad decision making - 40% of those appealing were successful. Yet in terms of the number of people affected, this will be dwarfed by the estimated 18 million people who will be caught up in the move to Universal Credit.

Campaign group Justice for All is urging people to email their MP urgently to ask them to speak during the debate and vote in favour of the motion. You can do this via their website at www.justice-for-all.org.uk

Justice for All have also produced a pair of videos, highlighting why help with appeals is so important. They feature three women who have had help from local advice agencies in appealing wrong decisions. They are available to embed herehttp://www.youtube.com/user/justice4allcampaign

The amendment is number 149, the full text is available herehttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2010-2012/0235/amend/pbc2352610a.3619-3625.html

We all know someone who could work but doesn't - Don't we?

Well, there's that Jim at number 27. Have you seen his garden?? Out there all weathers he is. It's like the bleedin Chelsea Flower Show. Now you can't tell me he couldn't work? 


Jim is 62. He has epilepsy. He was born with it and back in the 50s, most people still thought you were possessed or evil if they saw you having a fit. His mother never used to take him out for fear he would have a seizure in public. He's never been able to drive. He gets "warnings" before the 4 or 5 seizures a week he has, allowing him to get inside to somewhere safe. No-one ever sees his disability - he wouldn't dream of talking about it with a neighbour.

He still never leaves his home. The shame he grew up with never really left him. His garden is his life. It gives him joy and purpose. Somewhere beautiful where he never feels lonely or ashamed.

It's just got ridiculous! There's this girl in our village - never done a day's work in her life....and she jogs!! Hours she runs up and down with those earplugs in, round the village, out on the quiet country roads, sometimes she goes out in the morning and she runs til lunchtime!! Why should she get my hard-earned tax money just to do nothing?


Laura is 26. From the age of 6, both her uncle and his friend used to sexually assault her. She never told anyone, they said they would do it to her brother if she did. As she grew up she became more and more withdrawn. Sometimes they hurt her physically and she had to try to hide the bruises away.

She never made any friends and ran away from home when she was 15. Living on the streets, people took advantage of her and she soon became a prostitute with a crack habit.

At 18, she managed to get a place in a hospice and with the amazing help of mental health workers, counsellors and a safe environment, she got clean. She moved away, moved to a nice safe village, kept working on her past and found solace in running. All the time she runs, music pounding in her ears, she can forget. She feels free and alive.

She has managed to start volunteering in a local centre working with other young people who've been through what she went through and hopes that one day, she might be able to make a career of it.

She has never spoken to any of her neighbours, she's still too damaged, and she certainly wouldn't tell them about her childhood.

Do you remember Doreen? She never stops that woman, out at work all hours, looking after the kids, running em here and there. And all her husband ever does is lie around on the sofa watching daytime TV! 16 years it is since he worked! The man must have no shame. 


Karl served in the army for years. He lost many good friends. One night, just after midnight, he and his men were taking cover behind an old burnt out coach. A bomb suddenly exploded and every last man but him got blown to pieces. He was taken away and held for days with little food and light. They questioned him at gunpoint until he soiled himself, then left him sitting in the mess. He saw women raped and children left to die at the side of the road, their eyes pleading with him as he marched past.

Since then, he's suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has terrible periods of depression, flashbacks, sweats and night terrors. He can't sleep and when he does he wakes up screaming. He barely pays attention to his family, and though the television might be on, he never sees the programme. He only sees one programme now, running through his mind every minute of every day.

He makes Doreen promise she won't ever tell anyone what he goes through. She wouldn't dream of talking about it with her neighbours.

*****************

The BBC seems to be running a "Scrounger" season. You are being asked to judge our social security system in a flurry of documentaries, based on anecdote. A GP who "feels" it's unbelievable that we have so many people on sickness benefits, random women in the street who share stories like the ones above.

No evidence, for the evidence is most certainly not with the programme makers. Rather they feed into a stereotype that is being used comfortably by all main political parties and the media to push through welfare reforms. We already have one of the toughest welfare systems in the developed world with the toughest sanctions and among the lowest rates of fraud. But you will never hear that from these documentaries. You almost certainly won't believe it now, but it's true. Pesky evidence.

No. These "documentaries" ask you to ignore the stories that make up the person and simply judge your neighbour.

Nasty eh?

We all know someone who could work but doesn't - Don't we?It gives him joy and purpose

Well, there's that Jim at number 27. Have you seen his garden?? Out there all weathers he is. It's like the bleedin Chelsea Flower Show. Now you can't tell me he couldn't work? 


Jim is 62. He has epilepsy. He was born with it and back in the 50s, most people still thought you were possessed or evil if they saw you having a fit. His mother never used to take him out for fear he would have a seizure in public. He's never been able to drive. He gets "warnings" before the 4 or 5 seizures a week he has, allowing him to get inside to somewhere safe. No-one ever sees his disability - he wouldn't dream of talking about it with a neighbour.

He still never leaves his home. The shame he grew up with never really left him. His garden is his life. It gives him joy and purpose. Something beautiful where he never feels lonely or ashamed.

It's just got ridiculous! There's this girl in our village - never done a day's work in her life....and she jogs!! Hours she runs up and down with those earplugs in, round the village, out on the quiet country roads, sometimes she goes out in the morning and she runs til lunchtime!! Why should she get my hard-earned tax money just to do nothing?


Laura is 26. From the age of 6, both her uncle and his friend used to sexually assault her. She never told anyone, they said they would do it to her brother if she did. As she grew up she became more and more withdrawn. Sometimes they hurt her physically and she had to try to hide the bruises away.

She never made any friends and ran away from home when she was 15. Living on the streets, people took advantage of her and she soon became a prostitute with a crack habit.

At 18, she managed to get a place in a hospice and with the amazing help of mental health workers, counsellors and a safe environment, she got clean. She moved away, moved to a nice safe village, kept working on her past and found solace in running. All the time she runs, music pounding in her ears, she can forget. Shejust after midnight feels free and alive.

She has managed to start volunteering in a local centre working with other young people who've been what she went through and hopes that one day, she might be able to make a career of it.

She has never spoken to any of her neighbours, she's still too damaged, and she certainly wouldn't tell them about her childhood.

Do you remember Doreen? She never stops that woman, out at work all hours, looking after the kids, running em here and there. And all her husband ever does is lie around on the sofa watching daytime TV! 16 years it is since he worked! The man must have no shame. 


Karl served in Kosovo. It was brutal time and he lost many good friends. One night, just after midnight, he and his men were taking cover behind an old burnt out coach. A bomb suddenly exploded and every last man but him got blown to pieces. He was taken away and held for days with little food and light. They questioned him at gunpoint until he soiled himself, then left him sitting in the mess. He saw women raped and children left to die at the side of the road, their eyes pleading with him as he marched past.

Since then, he's suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has terrible periods of depression, flashbacks, sweats and night terrors. He can't sleep and when he does he wakes up screaming. He barely pays attention to his family, and though the television might be on, he never sees the programme. He only sees one programme now, running trough his mind every minute of every day.

He makes Doreen promise she won't ever tell anyone what he goes through. She wouldn't dream of talking about it with her neighbours.

*****************

Watch Out, There's a Humphreys About!

Well, I sat with gritted teeth through the Humphreys "documentary" on BBC 2 last night.

Live tweeting it using the show's hashtag was extraordinarily successful. My whole timeline was filled with shock and disgust at the almost comically biased nature of the programme. If you want to go back over the comments they are here If you want to read the article we were posting to counter the Beeb's lazy journalism, it's here

He rolled out sick people with a sense of entitlement, single Mums with 7 kids, Housing benefit claimants in Islington, Immigrants - did I forget anyone? Who else do we hate, let me think......

There was no mention at all of these people being statistical anomalies, rarer than chicken's teeth. Nope, everyone on benefits has a mansion in Islington or 7 kids and a nicotine habit.

I won't waste much more energy on it. Just because the Daily Mail suddenly came alive for one painful hour of totally unsubstantiated, kneejerk, nonsense, there' no point being downhearted.

If you want to complain to the BBC you can find the details by clicking here


Many of you were also bitterly disappointed by the lack of coverage of the Hardest Hit protests too, so why not combine the two issues?

I know it feels like no-one listens. I know some of you will ask me "What's the point?" You'll almost certainly be fobbed off with a standard letter.

Well the point is, that last night social media was awash with our right to reply. We created it for ourselves, and when I wake up in he morning to find my in-boxes full of indignant trolls, then I know we broke through our usual audience. 100s say they will complain on twitter and my Facebook Pages, so let's make it thousands.

Every time we make ourselves heard, every time we challenge mis-information with EVIDENCE, every time we find that last bit of strength to challenge smug, complacent, middle class men who think that starvation and homelessness are a price worth paying to keep CEOs in 55% pay rises, we DO make a difference.


One of the very few pieces of evidence Humphreys DID refer to was a poll by Ipsos-Mori. He did his best to smother it with some outrageously unrepresentative, follow-up scrounger questions, but the first question on the poll found that

"92% agree that we must have a benefits system that provides a safety net for everyone who needs it."


That is an extraordinarily high positive response - almost unheard of. People don't hate us, no matter how hard governments and newspapers try to make sure that they do. There is no appetite to send amputees to the job centre or take away the safety net that we will ALL rely on at times. 

The Hardest Hit Protest, Leeds

Last Saturday thousands of ill and disabled people, their carers and supporters took to the streets in cities across the UK to protest against the cuts that are unfairly targeting them. This unprecedented event was The Hardest Hit October Action.

It takes a lot to make the disabled community take to the streets, mainly because its so difficult for us. If you had eavesdropped my twitter feed last week you would have seen my conversations and musings dominated by The Hardest Hit as we all shared protest survival strategies. We knew there would be a price to pay in our health for attending but as one of my friends put it, "protesting will hurt me but not protesting will hurt me more".

For every one of us attending an event there were hundreds who were unable to go because they were too ill or disabled, too poor, too busy caring for someone or just couldn't use our inaccessible public transport. They sent messages of support, they were with us in spirit.

I'm not an activist or a disability campaigner, I'm just an ordinary person struggling with some pretty serious mental health problems. I am, like most other ill and disabled people, one of the hardest hit by the cuts.
I travelled to Leeds to join the Hardest Hit protest because this Government wants to stop my benefits, remove my services, call me a scrounger and force me from my home. For many of us this protest is personal, we're not just fighting for fairness - we're fighting for survival.

Over two hundred of us gathered in the sun in Leeds. We marched along The Headrow bringing the city centre to a standstill. Shoppers stood and watched as we marched with our wheelchairs, our Assistance Dogs, our mobility scooters, our carers, our children, our friends and our banners. Speeches were made by disability activists, charity sector workers, trade union members, NUS members, a local MP and ordinary people facing huge challenges. The message from all of them and the people listening was clear - these cuts are unfair, we are afraid and we are angry.

There is a 'perfect storm' facing ill and disabled people. We are already struggling to survive from day to day. Our NHS services are being cut and the voluntary sector agencies who would offer us support are losing their funding. The benefits of those of us who cannot work are being cut or removed and those of us who do work are losing the practical and financial support necessary to make working possible. The additional cuts proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill will leave us and our carers more impoverished, isolated and vulnerable. On top of this, ill and disabled people are being labelled as scroungers and benefit cheats, vilefied by the media and treated with suspicion by the public. Disability hate crime is increasing, people are facing abuse and harassment on a daily basis and many are afraid to leave their homes.

This Government has promised to support disabled people who are in genuine need - but only if THEY can define 'support', 'disabled', 'genuine' and 'need'. This is a cynical disability denying ploy to remove support from the people who need it. This Government is merely transferring funds from ill and disabled people and carers to private companies making millions from 'welfare reform'.

One of the most disturbing things is how badly informed most people still are about this. The public still think that disability benefits are a 'lifestyle choice' and believe we are all driving around in BMWs. Sadly many disabled people and their carers are still unaware of quite how badly the cuts will affect them. The media is not listening to the disabled community, some of the Hardest Hit events attracted over a thousand protesters but there was barely any BBC television or radio coverage. The future for society's most vulnerable is bleak. We are 'all in it together' its just that some of us are deeper in it than others.

Attending the protest left me with mixed feelings. I was proud to stand in solidarity with the hundreds on the streets of Leeds, the thousands in cities across the UK and the tens of thousands who were there in spirit.

But I was also sad and angry that this country should need an event like The Hardest Hit at all

Guest Post by Vanessa Teal.

Here's an irony....

All my life I wanted to work. I wanted to do something important.

I did everything society told me I should. I worked hard, I went to college despite being told I'd never pass due to sickness absence. I went to uni despite being told by concerned doctors not to go. I worked. For years, despite well meaning loved ones telling me I should stop.

When I became unable to "work" (in the traditional sense) I tried everything from classsy-bar-singer to teacher to saleswoman to trader. I tried self employed, part time and late shifts.

I worked. I got sick, I had surgery, I went back to work. I nearly died. Repeat.

In the end, family and friends launched "Campaign Save Suey" and nagged me at every dinner or party or wedding to STOP WORKING.

Eventually, I had to. It was without doubt, the very worst thing I ever had to come to terms with about being ill. "There's no such word as Can't" was the mantra in my house as I was growing up and realising that in fact, there WAS was very nearly impossible.

I wrote a book (no-one would publish) about NHS reform. I fed the homeless and took in waifs. I bought and sold properties, keeping us afloat for around ten years longer than we would have managed by sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves.

Through that whole period, my country accepted I was so unwell, that I needed support. I didn't feel like a "Scrounger" I felt very, very sad that my ambitions and dreams had been taken away. I marvelled at just how I'd managed to stay alive and blessed with a loving family. I thanked the NHS every day for saving me and I thanked the welfare state for giving me a little dignity.

Sometimes I thought "Well, my husband works, why should I get this money?"

Then when I spent £60 on petrol to get to the specialist bowel disease centre 130 miles from my home, or bought food that meant I wouldn't make myself more ill, I was grateful.

I claimed DLA, but in good periods, when my "fluctuating condition" allowed me a little respite, I would cancel it, secure in the knowledge that the next time I needed it, I would simply re-apply.

I didn't look at the ground every time I parked my car using a disabled badge. The nice lady at county hall had explained to me that "mobility" meant different things to every disabled person. I'd felt reassured and privileged.

All of that is now under threat. I feel like a burden on society. I feel that my voluntary contributions to many people in society are worth nothing. I feel that my life has been useless. Not to me or the people I cared for, but to "society"

I feel weak and pathetic, where I used to feel accepted and lucky. I cannot earn even a little money from the writing I do or my family will lose everything - much more than I could earn from the few articles I might be able to publish when I am (unreliably) able to write.

It really isn't about what I'll "lose" if welfare reform is steam-rollered through. It isn't about how I will survive - I would rather work myself to death than see my family suffer.

It's about how I feel now. Every day. It's about the articles full of lies I read every week in the Daily Mail. It's about the distortions and mis-truths I hear from politicians now. It's a society that is so convinced that a "something for something" society is fair, they never ask what becomes of those who need your support for nothing. Just because you care.

This is what you're doing. Not "taking away" or "sanctioning" or "getting tough".

You are making me feel invisible, unworthy and frightened. It's THAT that I despise you for.

Weekly Disability News Roundup

This weeks news roundup from the tireless John Pring. The first story is particularly good ;)

• The minister for disabled people and London’s mayor faced repeated, angry heckling from activists when they addressed a conference held to discuss disability issues in the capital.
• Disabled people have reacted angrily after they were told they will no longer be able to drive vehicles worth over £25,000 through the Motability car scheme.
• Comedian Ricky Gervais has sparked a storm of protest from disabled people and other campaigners after repeatedly using an offensive and disablist word in messages on the social media network Twitter.
• There has been a “significant increase” in the number of negative stories about disabled people in national newspapers over the last six years, according to new research.
• The announcement of a long-awaited strategy for promoting independent living in Wales has been welcomed by disabled campaigners.
• Labour’s new shadow minister for disabled people has accused the government of “talking up” the issue of disability benefit fraud as it attempts to push through its sweeping welfare reforms.
• A disability charity’s decision to close down a national advice organisation, just two years after they merged, has provoked anger among disabled people’s organisations (DPOs).
• The UK’s leading disabled people’s organisation (DPO) has raised serious concerns over the new name chosen by a trio of national disability charities that are set to merge.
• More than 100 disabled people have raised campaigning issues around disability rights and equality in face-to-face meetings with their local MP, thanks to a scheme that aims to build relationships between politicians and their disabled constituents.
• A disabled MP is attempting to introduce new legislation that would extend free travel concessions in England to disabled people who use community transport services.
• Campaigners have highlighted the dangers of controversial “shared space” street developments by blocking buses outside a railway station, as part of an international day of action.
• A disabled people’s organisation has secured £300,000 of National Lottery funding to support disabled young people into volunteer placements.

For links to the full stories, please visit Disability News Service

The Invisibility Cloak

What a week. In fact what a month. In fact, what a year.....

Sickness and Disability stories simply aren't newsworthy. No matter how many people are dying after being found "fit for work" no matter how many vulnerable people are being left without care or support, no matter how many of them march in protest or speak to journalists, the media choose not to report it and the politicians choose not to listen to it.

Charities are overwhelmingly opposed to the welfare reform bill. United as never before, you might think it would give government pause for thought, but no.

Noble Lords stand up one after one during committees to decry changes that will cause homelessness, suffering, poverty, increased burdens on the NHS, isolation and restrictions to treatment, but in response, we are simply told it will all be fine - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Campaigners nearly kill themselves trying to show the real face of these changes, but still they are invisible.

Legal groups warn of injustice over changes to tribunals but the coalition-steamroller advances regardless.

The EHRC, Mencap and ComRes warn of shocking rises in hate crime against the disabled, yet monthly, the coalition release the same inaccurate data that leads to "Scrounger" stories. Th Daily Mail use every last story of evil in society to blame disabled people and convince the public that we are all living the high life with free cars and houses, when the FACTS are that disabled people are more likely to live in poverty than any other group.

The Hardest Hit marches at the weekend saw thousands of sick and disabled people taking to the streets to highlight the shocking changes they are facing. Our media do not report it. Several interviews we'd arranged were cancelled in favour of the Occupy St Paul's story. I can't provide a link to this one, that's how poorly reported it was. More disabled people than ever in our history protest in the streets and I can't post a link.

When a disabled campaigner creates the most interesting moment in an otherwise bland Labour conference by putting Ed Miliband on the spot over attitudes towards the disabled, at a live event attended by thousands, reporters actually followed her to the toilet to get her story - but none of their editors wanted to run it. Surely the first and only time a damn good handbagging was ignored by the media?

Politicians tell you that they are "working with and listening to" disability groups, but it's just not true. They close consultations before the results are all in, refuse to respond to campaigners and have no hesitation at all in lying to the press to bolster support for their policies.

On Thursday, a documentary so riddled with inaccuracies (put together by John Humphreys no less) will air, presented as fact. No doubt unchallenged, with no right to reply given to those like me who disagree. I have evidence on my side, but that doesn't matter.

So today, I ask you to do something. Pick a "vested interest". It might be

-A newspaper editor
-A journalist
-Your MP
-A crossbench or coalition peer
-A TV station
-A political programme
-A favourite comedian or celebrity
-Your local paper

Tell them that soon it will be too late. We will have turned the clock back decades on disability rights. We will have all but abolished sickness benefits. "Hard working taxpayers" will need to find the money for yet another insurance policy, as the state simply won't protect you if you get sick or injured in a terrible accident.

Tell them that we need them. Now.

Tell them that a political consensus is not always in the national interest. Tell them your story or share one that has touched you. Build a relationship, don't be discouraged if you don't get anywhere at first. Be eloquent, not angry, be determined, not despondent. Tell them in your own words and keep telling them until they listen

Will you do this for me? Will you choose just one mind to change?

In a year or two, stories like the one's I write for this blog will be news. But by then it will be because people see the effects of these changes all around them, every day. Because they see people dying, or see them going hungry or left in their own filth for days at a time unable to get the care they need.

We can stop it before it gets to that stage. But not alone. Not against the enormous power and reach of a media, political class and corporate world who can't hear us.

Change a mind with me. Change an injustice. Change a world making the most vulnerable pay.

Wow, there are some sick puppies out there....

My dear, lovely, reasonable, intelligent, fellow campaigner, @mrsnickyclark has been making a stand.

Clearly as a woman, a disability activist AND a "person with opinions" that means that any jerk with a foul mouth and 6 very small brain cells feel they can abuse her.

It all started over the Ricky Gervais fiasco and his use of the word mong.

You see, Nicky has two disabled children and campaigns against the use of disablist language. She has been doing this for some time, not just in the last few weeks, since some pudgy 'sleb decided to make an utter prat of himself on twitter.

See, to all those people telling her "it's just a word" or to stop being such a bore or that she's just a PC lentil-muncher, I wonder how many are disabled themselves? How many have a disabled child? How many have had the word mong thrown at them in the street?

But the bit that REALLY gets me - how many would go up to a 6 foot black guy and call him a nigger? How many would go up to a boxer and call him a c***? I imagine the answer is precisely NONE. Because they might die. Or get beaten to a pulp. Disabled people, on the other hand, and those that love them, are nice, easy fodder for bullies.

Interestingly, Nicky chatted with Ricky and all is now harmonious,. Ricky emphatically rejected words like "mong" being used in violence and hate, apologised for the behaviour of his "followers" on twitter and we've all moved on. Except the haters. Nope, they're still abusing a Mum, woman and all round good lass because.....

Yep, they're fighting for the right to be bloody sickening about disabled people. Defending their "free speech" claiming their Bernard-Mannning-born right to be sick, nasty little knobbers.

If you doubt me, just take a look at Nik's timeline for the last week. If you ever wonder quite why I write the things I write, or fight as hard as I do, it's because there are lots of people like Nik's haters (most of them write for the Daily Mail) We are ignored until we decide to challenge people with a bit of clout. then look what happens.

And people wonder why disability hate crime is on the rise!!!

Corruption - A Modern Allegory

And the people were poor and frightened.

Verily they could not make the loaves and fishes stretch until payday. They could not afford to make sacrifice to the mighty money lenders. Corruption held mighty sway. Those who wrote the scriptures of tabloid were not true. Those who owned the machines of greed caused only harm and the Kings of the day were cruel.

And so the people went to the temple. In peace and love they formed a mighty crowd. Preaching to the people to open their weary eyes and share their vision.

For 5 days and 5 nights there was calm. The good priest offered comfort and welcomed the people unto him.

But lo! On the 6th day there was darkness. The owners of His Father's House, the guardians of His name did side with the money lenders. They did count the shekels of the daily trade and found them wanting. They did look out over the loving throng, yet saw only balance sheets.

And so, the men of God issued a decree : "Leave this place, and take your love and compassion to a less lucrative sanctuary.

But the people saw the eyes of men who were not true.

They looked into corruption and saw only empty souls.

They looked to their protectors and saw only violence.

And verily, they stayed.

Hardest Hit protests Today.

Today, up and down the country, sick and disabled people will be taking to the streets to raise awareness of the issues facing them in a series of "Hardest Hit" events.

After the brilliant success of the previous march in May, do please try to get along to your nearest rally. It was the largest protest of sick and disabled people in UK history.

Details of your local protest can be found here  http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com/octoberaction/

And if you can't actually attend physically, there are lots of tips and suggestions here  http://thehardesthit.wordpress.com/

Do please try to get along. Whether you are unwell, disabled or simply an able-bodied supporter, horrified by cuts that are leaving people terrified and desperate, please show your support.

For anyone who might be interested, I will be on Radio 5 Live tonight at 11pm discussing the events and the wider issues that make them necessary. It's a call-in show, so if you want to join the debate, I'd love to hear from you.

Why Labour are right - and always were - on the Economy

As an ordinary lass with a basic armchair grasp of economics, the biggest mystery to me is just how totally the coalition managed to take hold of the economic argument.

Let's backtrack. All going fairly well during the ten years before the credit crunch. Lower deficits, higher surpluses, steadier interest rates and inflation than under the previous Tory government.

2008 - Credit Crunch. Not just here, but all around the developed world. Starting with the sub-prime mortgage collapse in the US, we all know just how horribly our banks crashed and that America, the EU states and others were all just as badly affected as we were. Our dependence on the financial markets left us more exposed than some, but by the end of 2009, though a mixture of stimulus and all-time-low interest rates, the UK posted the following growth figures :

In the 3 months to February 2010 the U.K. economy grew by 0.4%.
In Q2 of 2010 the economy grew by 1.2% the fastest rate of growth in 9 years.
In Q3 of 2010 figures released showed the UK economy grew by 0.8%; this was the fastest Q3 growth in 10 years.

-The UK economy was growing at an annualised rate of 4.4% - the fastest rate of any EU country - when Osborne took over.
-The deficit fell by over 20 billion in the same period, largely because of this strong growth.

It wasn't coincidence. Schemes to support the property market and car industry kept the economy ticking over, while mortgage protection schemes kept home owners afloat and business schemes stopped businesses folding.

Then, by the end of 2010, we started to see the impact of Osborne at the treasury and his austerity disaster. As stimulus was stripped away, VAT hit ordinary people right in the pocket and cuts started to bite, growth drifted away.

There has been no growth at all for 9 months. Since the end of 2010 (Q4). This would be painful enough, but with inflation recently reaching 5.2%, and average yearly cuts to services of 6%, it feels disastrous to ordinary people trying to make ends meet.

Go back to the leaders debates in early 2010. Gordon Brown warns over and over again that cutting too soon, removing stimulus before the economy has recovered and raising VAT would be disastrous for our country and so it has proved.

Bravely, despite current perceived wisdom and Tory chants of "the mess Labour left" Ed Balls has stuck to the original message : Cuts this deep during a recession will only make things worse.

And so it proves. 

Both unemployment and inflation are at their highest levels since 1996 - the last time we had a Tory government. The deficit is NOT falling as Osborne tried to assure us it would and debt will rise by over 40 billion more than projected. The line "It's hurting but it's not working" get's truer by the day. Businesses are reporting disastrous growth figures, manufacturing is falling, retail figures are flat, and the welfare bill is rising - by over 12 billions - not going down. Nearly 1 million young people are out of work.

Osborne's powerful friends distance themselves more by the day. American newspapers report on "Cameron's failed austerity project", the IMF are calling for a plan B and growth forecasts have been downgraded over and over again by every major analyst. The figures originally suggested by the OBR look so embarrassing today that it's hard to see how they have any credibility at all.

So, for just how long are we going to let this carry on? Every quarter that passes consigns another swathe of voters to a future of worklessness and poverty.

Labour have a five point plan for growth. To say they have no alternative is simply more lies. It's worth listing them here :

-Abandon the disastrous rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20%. This would stimulate retail sales and put a little money back in people's pockets.

-A new levy on bankers bonuses to guarantee 100,000 jobs for young people and to build 25,000 affordable homes.

-Bring forward long-term investment projects covering schools, roads and transport. This would stimulate the construction industry

-Small businesses who take on extra staff to be given immediate tax cuts

-A one year, 5% VAT rate on home improvements. This would encourage spending on home improvements while the house sales market remains stagnant.

Conservatives will cry "You can't spend money in a debt crisis" but if that money pays for itself through tax flows and brings in extra cash, then we need to consider whether we can afford NOT to spend money in a debt crisis.

The Q3 growth figures are due out at any moment and don't look to hold any more cheer than the last 3 quarters. No doubt we will hear that they are "disappointing" from the coalition once again. They are way beyond disappointing, they are appalling.

Labour are right on the economy and Osborne is horribly, horribly wrong. We must continue to make our arguments for stimulus and support for the vulnerable as loudly and as clearly as we possibly can. The myth that "There is no alternative" gets more dangerous by the day.

The Middle Class Housing Crisis

As regular readers will know, our landlord gave us notice to leave a few weeks ago. He wants to sell our house and realise the profit he imagined when he developed the property. We have been paying his mortgage for him for nearly 4 years.

With two small children at school, the thought of finding somewhere else to live was daunting enough, but when we started looking for a new home, we soon realised just how daunting house hunting has become in the affluent Sussex towns and villages.

My husband works, earning just a little less than the national average, but that is not enough in places like Sussex. An average family home costs around £200,000 + to buy and a three bedroom property rents for between £900 and £1100 per month. That is around 60% of my husband's salary. Clearly I cannot work, however much I would like to, so we are limited to one wage.

No matter, two bedrooms would do, so we started to search the local property sites.

There was nothing. In the first week, just 6 properties were on the market and the good ones were let within seconds of an administrator pushing "send" on their databases.

After countless appointments to view depressing rabbit holes, we finally found a little cottage that would do us and put down our deposit.

Credit checks complete, all looked good until yesterday morning. The tenants currently renting the cottage could not find or afford anywhere else to live, and the council have advised them that they will have to be evicted before they can be found even temporary accommodation.

I had phoned the local council myself when we were unsure if we would be able to find anything in time and it was one of the most depressing phone calls I ever made. In the starkest of terms, I was told we would have to sit tight until our landlord evicted us (destroying any credit rating we might have) and even then, we would be placed in a B&B for up to two years until suitable accommodation could be found.

Like most people, we decided anything would be better than that and ploughed on through the private sector.

Yesterday saw a flurry of panic as my husband and I dragged the children round a succession of even nastier rabbit holes. With just 2 weeks left to find somewhere suitable to live, we didn't have the time or resources to be fussy.

Miraculously, the 4th property we saw was beautiful. A huge old Victorian mansion flat with stucco ceilings, wonderful gardens and a conservatory. We snapped it up in delight. For the first time in ages, we spent the evening excitedly planning where our furniture would go and how lovely it would be to live there.

When I called the agent this morning to put down a holding deposit, we were told that it would cost us £292 EACH for referencing and agency fees. Just £200 of that goes towards our overall deposit with a whopping £400 going to the agency. Well, we have no choice but to find £600 then do we? As you crawl through this process, you can see why so many families are finding themselves unable to afford a roof over their heads.

Having done a little digging, agents tell me that there is an explosion in tenants unable to move, forced into eviction and living in fear of what tomorrow will bring. Areas like mine are in the grip of a housing crisis - not enough homes, rents too high, mortgages too high. Remember, these are not necessarily families who rely on benefits, but working families who simply can't afford a home.

We will duck and dive, scrimp and borrow because we have found a beautiful home that we want to live in as a family and because a roof over our heads is kind of non-negotiable.

Whatever solutions politicians are currently considering to this crisis, it is clear that they need to act quickly. The South East - and other areas - simply do not have enough homes. The laws of supply and demand dictate that all the while that is the case, accommodation will move further out of reach for ordinary people.

A Couple of Awesome Links

First, this, on the new verb entering our vocabulary "To Gervais" - definition? Have a read.......   http://www.lapdesktravelbag.com/gervais-dirty-ugly-word/

Second, it's the first of my links to the tireless John Pring and his weekly roundup of stories written for the Disability News Service. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/ If John doesn't write about it, we all tend not to know about it......

Enjoy!

Diagnosis Challenge

My poor hubby Dave has been feeling very unwell.

Last January, he got swine flu, which turned into some kind of chest infection. Since then, every now and then he gets the following symptoms :

-Chills that make the bed shake
-Breathlessness/Difficulty breathing
-Chest Pains - across whole chest, worse on breathing in
-He is grey with huge black circles under his eyes
-Sweats so bad, the bed is drenched and has to be changed
-Exhaustion - like when you've just had surgery. He's been asleep for the best part of this week

His father had triple bypass surgery at 50, his cousin had his first heart attack at 32, he's had peri-carditis 7 times and when he was thirty, they discovered one of his aortic walls was missing entirely, resulting in major open heart surgery to repair it. He has high cholesterol and his heart rate keeps dropping from 80 to 55.

What do you think it could be?

Go on have a guess......

Ready??

Yep, depression (?!?!?!?!??!)

Because he has a history of depression, he can't possibly be physically unwell too. The first GP didn't even listen to his chest (during either appointment)

I've seen my husband severely depressed. He can't answer me or relate to our children. He can't answer the phone or think properly. He's like a lost little boy stuck behind glass. At the moment, thankfully, that is NOT how he is.

I've known GPs fob people off many, many times, with many, many conditions, but I honestly thought the list at the top of this article were worth investigating. Silly me eh?

It's a miracle! But look on the bright side...

A friend sent me this on twitter yesterday, and I thought it might make you smile. (The role of Jesus currently played by a large private IT company....)




Ex-Leper: Okay, sir, my final offer: half a shekel for an old ex-leper?
Brian: Did you say "ex-leper"?
Ex-Leper: That's right, sir, 16 years behind a veil and proud of it, sir.
Brian: Well, what happened?
Ex-Leper: Oh, cured, sir.
Brian: Cured?
Ex-Leper: Yes sir, bloody miracle, sir. Bless you!
Brian: Who cured you?
Ex-Leper: Jesus did, sir. I was hopping along, minding my own business, all of a sudden, up he comes, cures me! One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! "You're cured, mate." Bloody do-gooder. 
Brian: Well, why don't you go and tell him you want to be a leper again?
Ex-Leper: Uh, I could do that sir, yeah. Yeah, I could do that I suppose. What I was thinking was I was going to ask him if he could make me a bit lame in one leg during the middle of the week. You know, something beggable, but not leprosy, which is a pain in the ass to be blunt and excuse my French, sir.


Hat tip to @chocolatewig and of course Life of Brian, by Monty Python


It would be remiss of me not to leave you with this :

What EVERY MP should know about welfare refrorm

Since Employment and Support Allowance was introduced back in 2008, campaigners and those affected have warned that it is flawed. Not because people must face assessment to qualify for support but because the wrong people are declared "fit for work".

People clearly too disabled to work get harassed and pressurised into work programmes they clearly cannot comply with, while the number of "cheats" or "scroungers" caught, remains at exactly the same level it always did.

Throughout the last year, we have warned of a tipping point.  With over 110,000 decisions already found to be wrong and overturned, 11,000 people a week are being put through flawed assessments. It is only a matter of time before this becomes the toxic story of recent years. MP mailbags are already bursting with letters about this.

With the double-disaster of care cuts, horrific stories of neglect and want join the stories of war widows with cancer sent to the job centre and soldiers with their legs blown off told to get a job.

I live in a safe, Sussex, Conservative seat with a 17,000 majority. Our local press is just as conservative, though with a smaller "c". We are not given to emotional outbursts and certainly not generally in favour of the "feckless" or "workshy"

This week, the Headline splashed in maximum sized font across the Worthing Herald screams :

HOW CAN I GO TO WORK?

Wheelchair bound Mark Saunders is diabetic, has lost a leg, is partially sighted and needs dialysis three times a week, yet the government wants him to go to work - or risk losing his benefits. 

Meanwhile, the Bognor Regis Observer carries this starkest of headlines : 

I'LL BE LEFT TO DIE ALONE BECAUSE OF CUTBACKS

And goes on to explain how a local man with a progressive muscle-wasting disease, bedridden and unable even to draw up his own insulin has had his full time carer cut, left with just 5 hours a day and no night time care. To give one graphic example from the story, he explains how in he event of a fire, he would have to burn alive, unable to move independently. 

As campaigners like myself have tried to explain so many times, no one minds a fair assessment to see what work a person could do, but no-one, anywhere in the country has the appetite for sending people like Mark Saunders to the jobcentre. 

We all have ageing parents or face the threat of a minor condition worsening. No-one in the country wants to see severely disabled, bedridden citizens left lonely and lying in their own filth, unable to feed themselves or draw up life saving medicines. 

Stories like this become more and more common up and down the country, in every local paper, in every community centre. You may not see them in the Daily Mail yet, but soon, it is inevitable and it will be to our great, great shame. Once more, I urge the government to halt the roll-out of ESA to 1.9 million of our most vulnerable people until it can be made safe and "fit for purpose" 

I urge them to reconsider cuts to local councils so deep that they leave those we most have a duty to protect living in utter despair. 

Now. Before we make mistakes we will regret for decades. 

*************

From now on, if YOUR local paper has a similar story, please add links to the comment thread below. I will list them all by MP and constituency and we will start to build up a directory of stories from around the country. Just keep an eye on the front pages and send me the headlines. 

Many thanks. 

Politics : Meet the new lot, same as the old lot.

Do you feel like you're living in a military state? Do you feel like our country is racked by protest? Are there regularly hoards of disgruntled citizens with placards blocking the aisles at your local Tesco? At your bank? At your favourite fashion store?

No, mine neither. Mainly, my high street looks just as it always did (though with around 20% of the windows boarded up) People still mill around the town with glossy carrier bags, stopping for a coffee or a chat, though in fewer numbers.

Mum's up and down the country know they feel skint, but there is no focal point for anger or blame, just a kind of fiscal-trudgery-of-acceptance.

Should any of these Mum's (or of course Dad's) switch on the news, they will certainly hear that the economy is in a bit of a pickle. Times are tough, it's all their fault over there (Europe, US) but we'll pull through and phew! At least we've got the right plan in place eh? Yep, that's something..... (as the X-Factor theme tune fades in to soothe away the anxiety.

But will they hear about millions of people, all around the world, putting their lives on hold to register protest at a global political and financial system they see as defunct, corrupt and increasingly irrelevant? Unlikely.

How long did it take for Mr and Mrs Joe Public to hear that Wall Street was under occupation? Well it was certainly a good deal later than those of us on twitter. Just how serious do they feel the Arab Spring is? Unless they hold a stock portfolio of oil shares, then the answer is probably "What Arab Spring?"

Even if the Arab Spring has made it onto radars (for after it all, it's "good" when those living under oppressive regimes rise up as long as we don't really like their leaders) I'm fairly confident that Mr and Mrs P won't have a clue that protests have been raging all over Europe, Australia and America and that they grow by the day. Millions of people, united and committed all around the world, just as their Arab friends, though much more threatening to our own political and business elite.

Bridges blocked, piazza's occupied, town halls picketed, stock exchanges under occupation, wheelchairs rolling through Westminster, Libraries defended by shire-women with pitchforks - everyone's at it. Shhhh though, don't tell Mr and Mrs P.

And up there, on the main nightly bulletins, we see the same parade of arrogance and corruption. It is so breathtakingly apparent that it is corrupt, that we, Mr and Mrs P laugh at how very bad they are at hiding it. How foolish they must think we are.

"Liam Fox did what?" we splutter? (rage was put to rest years ago, now there's just mocking incredulity and weary head shaking) "He let his mate live in a house we paid for and paid to do up, (rent free) while his corporate mates sent him all around the world on Defence jollies? How many times? They went where? Who paid?

And that Letwin fella. He was doing what? Dumping state secrets in park bins? Is the man unwell? My 10 year old would realise that was a bad idea!!"

"Laws got charged with how many offences? Murdoch did what?"


**(I would add a sentence about the police, but Mr and Mrs P, in fact, are not surprised at all that they're corrupt - they see that for themselves every day)

And on and on and on. Arrogant, out-of-touch pillocks (excuse me but that's what real people think) fiddling while Rome burns.

The last gasp of an effete, degenerate class, seemingly unaware that their days are numbered, with their fingers in their ears shouting "la-la-la-la-la" Not a CLUE how to get us out of this mess and even if they do know, totally unwilling to do the heavy lifting required. Why? Cos it might mean fewer jollies in Sri Lanka or an end to the Caribbean "fact finding missions". It might jeopardise that ermine a few years down the line or the place on the board promised by grateful lobbyists.

And what do I hear from Mr and Mrs P?? Over and over again?

"They just don't get it do they?"


Well no, they still don't get it. Don't see how clearly we see through them now. And they keep on pulling the same old scams as though the internet and instant, global, information sharing never happened. They seem to believe they have a cloak of invisibility that plebs cannot penetrate.

Guys, you don't and the days of bullying laws through parliament and pilfering the state purse are coming to an end.

The first politicians to really work this out will be in power for a very long time.

New Shadow Minister for Disabled

Yesterday, Kaliya Franklin spoke to Ed Miliband while I suffered through a birthday party for my just-turned-7 year old. All morning, we rehearsed lines as I baked cocktail sausages and planned strategy while I stuffed plastic party bags with plastic rubbish.

I'm sure Kaliya will be writing up an article later today, so I won't go into details, but the conversation went very well and Ed did a lot of listening and asked a lot of questions.

Late yesterday evening, John Pring from the excellent http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/ ** heard from the new Shadow Minister for Disabled People. Anne McGuire was confirmed in the role and sent him this statement  :

“I’m delighted to have been appointed as Shadow Minister for Disabled People. There is a responsibility on all of us to care for those in need. However, many disabled people feel that they are unfairly being portrayed as scroungers and are feeling very vulnerable"

“Labour will be the voice for those in genuine need, who need extra help to live a full life. The introduction of the Universal Credit will see support for disabled children halved, while the Severe Disability Premium is to be scrapped with nothing appropriate put in its place. We believe there can be reforms made to the system, but this is the wrong way to do it, and we will do all we can to stop these changes.”

I'm sure sick and disabled people will be encouraged by this comment and very pleased that Labour appear to finally be listening to campaigners and most importantly, to them, the people affected by this government's eye-watering cuts to disability support.

** If you haven't bookmarked John's site, please do. He is the only investigative journalist focused solely on reporting disability issues and his weekly updates are invaluable.

Will we Save the NHS Today?

Today's a bit epic.

Left Foot Forward have posted this brilliant article on where the Health and Social Care Bill (NHS bill to normal people) is at and today it will face some of the most crucial votes in its history. Nye is spinning so fast in his grave that they're using him as a wind turbine. Beveridge is next on the list and even Churchill is shifting about uncomfortably.

In a world of rhetoric and hyperbole, us geeky types love to stretch adjectives to their very limit, but today, of all days, they are probably justified.

You may have all noticed that I'm a little preoccupied with the Welfare Reform Bill. When I started writing it was to reform the NHS. I mean really reform it and make it fit for this century. Not privatise it and develop a US style healthcare provision in Britain.

Then I saw that no-one cared about sick and disabled people. They had no glossy celebrities, no passionate politicians to advocate a better path, and little hope of being heard. The NHS on the other hand, had the RCN, the BMA, the media, the politicians and most importantly of all, the overwhelming support of the public. I figured it would just have to fight its own battles while I focused on an even greater injustice.

But today, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Labour Lords alike must decide whether we will allow a "Top-Down Reorganisation" of our NHS that no-one voted for no-one wants and that most experts claim will be destructive to a health service free at the point of use.

As Peers vote today, they must ask themselves whether a little discomfort over not toeing the party line is worth the unremitting fallout that will follow if this bill is passed. They must consider every headline that will lay blame at their door. Every hospital that will close. Every waiting list that will go up, every Nan or Brother or Mum who may not get the treatment they so desperately need.

So I ask the Noble Lords to do just one thing this morning. Find a quiet place and ask yourself what the politicians from the past would do? Ask your heroes, ask Nye and Beveridge and Churchill. Think for a moment not of today, but of next month, and next year and the legacy you want to leave. Do you want to be remembered as the group of representatives that went against a nation to erode the single greatest achievement of our past?

What you do today, will matter for every last person's future. A little conflict in cabinet is the smallest, most insignificant of repercussions. Politicians will come and go, political compasses will shift back and forth but the UK will always value and trust the NHS. Whether they value and trust you is irrelevant. You are there to do a job and today, millions of people will be watching and hoping and praying that you listen to them and act only for a future of health equality for all.

Even at this late hour, if you want to send this to any Lords, please feel free. Details, including email addresses can be found here : http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/

Did you know this about your ESA50 form?

We're all spoonies here. Or disabled. Or carers. Or families and friends of someone who is. Or just nice people who want to help put an injustice right.

With that in mind, we all know how it feels to fill in a DLA (Disability Living Allowance) claim form or an ESA50 form. (For Employment and Support Allowance )

On the whole, I think we see them as necessary evils. Yes, they could be shorter, but mostly, the people I speak to would rather lay their life bare on an impersonal form than face to face to a complete stranger.

If you're a scrounger, I imagine they are a chance for creative juices to flow freely, but if you're ill or disabled and you have a painful or difficult life, then chances are that the time you spend filling in those forms are the only time your really face all of your limitations.

It can be soul destroying. People who spend their lives painting on a smile, trying to offer a cheery "fine" when loved one's ask how they are; people who push themselves beyond "normal" limits; push through unimaginable challenges every day must face that paper day of reckoning when actually, they must write in painstaking detail how "not fine" they really are.

We must admit to every last aid we use (even the one's we pretend we don't.) We must list every last episode of incontinence, every time we forgot where we were or had a massive seizure in the middle of a crowded shopping centre, peeing ourselves in public. We must admit times when we may have been a danger to ourselves or others. We must admit just how much support our loved ones give us and just how little we can do for ourselves.

Has to be done.

Hurts just the same.

Well, I'm sure you're also aware how tricky it is to get a look at your own medical notes. Or how careful doctors always are not to share your personal information with anyone. Or how many checks are in place to guarantee our data is secure.

Now, it comes to light (FOI request) that once your ESA50 form speeds on it's way to the day of reckoning, it will be opened first in a royal mail sorting office, bundled into relevant piles and only then sent on to the correct department.


Yep, Fred the postman, spotty young Fred, 19 (interests : arse jokes and medieval platform games) gets to open your form, the form you agonised over, blushed as you wrote, perhaps cried tears over, smudging the words.

Perhaps he is a responsible young man who simply opens your private, medical evidence, looks at the address and bundles up the papers.

Or perhaps, he is a little thoughtless. Perhaps he shouts to Pete over the way and they guffaw at your bowel habits or mock your spasticity. Either way, surely the point is that no-one should see these forms but the person who wrote them and the decision maker who will consider them?

There is nothing on the form to say this happens, no disclaimer warning you. If it is legal (which I find incredibly hard to believe) then surely it is not moral? Surely it breaks every code that medical professionals try to follow as they safeguard our intimate medical secrets?

I imagine ministers will tell us that it is "standard procedure" that no-one reads the details. Is that the point?

If this is the line they take, then perhaps they would consider writing a 1000 word account of the most embarrassing or traumatic event of their entire lives and allowing me to pass them round my local pub? No-one will read them, honest, we'll just pas them round and leave them in a pile at the end.

No? Thought not.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

So today it is exactly one year since I started to write this blog.

Just over a year since George Osborne accused benefit claimants of "Mugging the state" and a few dark days more than a year since his thoughtless, short-sighted Comprehensive Spending Review.

A year since it became clear we had nothing to lose and everything to gain from opposing a government out of control, out of touch and all out of compassion.

And what a year it's been!!

In that year there have been high points, low points, despair, exhaustion and exhilaration. I've made wonderful friends, met fellow campaigners, written for the Guardian, Left Foot Forward, Labour List, Liberal Conspiracy, the BBC and I've filmed a short documentary for Channel 4.

At around the same time, The Broken Of Britain was also born, groups like Black Triangle and DPAC have gone from strength to strength and other bloggers have risen to prominence exposing the lies, mis-information and terror behind a campaign to ostracise and abandon sick and disabled people.

The little "15" on the right hand side of this article trumpets the astonishing fact that my blog is the 15th most popular political blog in the UK. It is the the number one political blog written by a woman. According to Total Politics, enough of you voted to make my blog the 7th most popular left wing blog.

Well, thank goodness you did, because despite tens of thousands of supporters, over 300,000 articles read and our articles regularly making into the top ten most read in the UK, most of the mainstream media still ignore us entirely. Politicians aren't interested in evidence or research, so without your support, without your tweets and shares and emails, we would still be unknown and unheard.

So what have I learnt?

I've learnt that democracy is dead. Policies and governments are for sale to the highest bidder. Elections are bought by those with the deepest pockets and lobby groups and vested interests control the direction of our country more successfully than ministers ever will.

Every vote has a loophole, every committee has a whipped majority to make sure that dissension and opposition goes unheard and no matter how wrong, cruel or pointless a policy might be, if politicians choose to stick doggedly to it, it will go through. No matter how many lives  are ruined, no matter how many people die, no matter how many people suffer, if a politician thinks he is right, you may as well whistle in the wind, you will never change his mind.

But I've also learnt that people can come together, fight, share information and oh-so-slowly start to turn the tide of ignorance. In the end, the only thing that will shift stubborn politicians is shame. In the end, it is people who make a difference.

When George Potter found my blog, he decided to act. After months of agony, false starts and hoops to jump through, he changed Liberal Democrat policy. By standing up for what is right, he found a platform in which he could show grassroots LibDems a little evidence, break down a few of the negative stereotypes and prove that good people will listen, even when politicians won't.

When the Hardest Hit march took to the streets of London, more sick and disabled people than ever before made the Herculean effort to get to the protest and make their voices heard.

When charities came together, the Disability Alliance threatened legal action against the government on behalf of 272 different groups. Since the challenge was mounted, many, many more charities have joined.

Over the course of this year, we have come together, worked together and battled great personal difficulties to oppose the 9.2 Billion of cuts sick and disabled people are facing.

As the welfare reform bill is debated in the Lords, there is now a real chance that we can win some changes. With the LibDems pledged to oppose a one year time limit for ESA and the indignities of Work Capability Assessments, we may just be able to break the whipped majority both in the Lords and in Parliament. With campaigners, supporters and charities lobbying both houses, sending information, evidence and testimonials almost daily, the Lords are well informed and articulate and there is cross-party opposition to the worst elements of the bill. We are now able to provide a counter argument, challenge lies and put our views across.

Researchers work daily to expose the futility of scrapping DLA, proving that the arguments used in defence of reform are wrong. We produce our own evidence, present our own facts and every time, we show that reform that ignores reality will only ever be fancy-dress for cuts.

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog. Thank you for supporting me, believing in me and listening when others choose to turn away. Every day there are more of you and every day we win a few more hearts and minds.

Keep fighting, keep tweeting, but most of all keep believing. When I started writing, the Gandhi quote at the bottom of  my blog seemed as overwhelming as it was inspirational.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

Well now, they are forced to fight us and if we keep fighting, together, we will win.

Search for the perfect Scrounger

Job Description :

Must have absolutely nothing wrong with them.

Must "claim" child has ADHD or similar when in fact we all know they are just "naughty" and it's really all down to "bad parenting".

Must drive BMW or better, all paid for under the motability scheme.

Must live in (at least 8 bed) mansion in Chelsea, paid for entirely with Housing Benefit.

Must have at least 5 children, all by different fathers. (Applicants with no partner only, sorry)

Must never have had any assessments at all for Incapacity Benefit or Disability Living Allowance, yet, must have been claiming for 10 years or more without ever working.

Must definitely not be of white, British origin.

Must smoke, drink, and generally spend any state monies on food with zero nutrition.

Must require a swimming pool for "joint therapy", a crate of champagne a week for "social interaction" and a pony for "exercise"

If you know anyone who fits any of these requirements, (in real life, not just a woman your neighbour knows) please send details to The Daily Mail, as they are having some difficulty finding anyone at all to actually quote in their "stories"

UPDATE : The Daily Mail "story" that inspired this post has been roundly proved to be utter bunkum by Full Fact here  . As usual. Because they always lie. Zzzzzzzzzzz

Bns Jane Campbell wants our views on PIP

Here is a copy of a mesage we just received from Baroness Campbell. I'm too tired to tweak and make this shiny, so if you can just leave your opinions in the comments thread, it would be much appreciated :

"As you will see from yesterday we talked about the importance of language. So I'm thinking of challenging the title PIP. I think it should remain Disability Living Allowance, after all that's what it's about, disabled People's extra cost of living. It shouldn't not based on independence (defined by professionals) conditionality. 


The condition that one should become "personally independent", which is likely to be defined in a medical model way, will not result in the independence disabled People have demanded over the years (i.e. independent living is about having choice and control over your life like that of non disabled people. 


It includes all things in your life like work, education, raising your family, leisure, personal mobility etc) If the government want to continue encouraging us take responsibility over our lives, then they must give us the right to make our own decisions as to how DLA money should be spent.


 It must not be measured by able-bodied people's assumptions as to what it is to be independent. Could you ask your networks what they think. I believe disabled people want to keep disability living allowance as a universal allowance. 


We want to continue the principle that once you become eligible it is left up to you (personal responsibility) as to how you spend it to minimising the extra costs of being a disabled person, therefore we shouldn't be constantly reassessed as to how our so called independence is going. I'm thinking of demanding we keep the language that means disability living. And as we know, living must be defined by the person whose life it is. (Disabled people are the experts in their own situation)


I could put this down as an amendment, but I need support from the outside world, to make it important and powerful.

Comments please ASAP please"

Lord Fraud - A Freud-ian Slip

We hereby give notice that the Lord previously known as "Freud" shall henceforth be known as "Fraud"

A million thanks to Doc Hackenbush (@DocHackenbush on twitter) for this wonderful image
**For blind supporters, it is a mosaic image of Lord Freud made entirely of the word "Fraud"

Lords fight against Time Limiting ESA

For the trawling-through-endless-clauses-subsets-and-amendments kind of genius, I'm really not your girl.

However, having just spent a miserable hour or two poring over the amendments tabled to the Welfare Reform Bill for today's committee stage, I believe that Time Limiting contributory ESA to one year is one of only two clauses that Lords are asking to be removed altogether.

Huge thanks to Lord Patel (Crossbench) Lord Crisp (Crossbench) and Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour) for calling for the clause (51) to be removed entirely from the bill, and I only hope there is broad support for the amendment.

For your information, here is a link from the Lords page on today's committee meeting. http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2011/october1/welfare-reform-bill-committee-stage/

A Plague on Both Your Houses

"And the Lord (Freud) said "Part a sea of sick and disabled people to move them unto the Moses Room". 

But we will plague you Lord Freud. 

We will watch the Committee stage today (Now confirmed in fact as committee room 4a)

3.30pm onwards on www.parliament.uk If you want to help with live tweeting the event, just show up on twitter and use #wrb with every tweet. (We believe that the welfare meeting follows an education meeting and therefore starts at 5pm)

Several Lords have contacted us to congratulate us. After making our opinions so strongly known, this committee WILL have plenty of room for wheelchair users (including an overspill room) and their WILL be a live feed to both rooms so that we can follow the meeting. A huge congratulations to all who wrote, emailed, tweeted and shared. 

To watch live, follow this link http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=9061

Or, if you have any problems, go to www.parliament.co.uk

Click on "MPs Lords and Offices" at the top

Scroll down and click on "Watch parliament TV" on the right hand side

Then, scroll down and click on "What's On"

Finally, scroll down to "Committees" and click on the link

Finally, if you can possibly be there physically today, please do try and go. Especially today as any access problems will need to be sorted out at this first reading.