As most of you will know, I am moving and have no broadband. This however, is vitally important. After months of work, Carer Watch have built an alliance of charities, campaigners and supporters AND managed to get the following petition agreed for the government website.
SIGN HERE : http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968
You probably know that there are lots of petitions trying to be heard, many just get a few hundred signatures. Ours however MUST get the 100,000 required for a debate in parliament. We are invisible and unheard, but there are millions of us. Once you have signed it, send it to your families, friends, carers and colleagues. Ask that when they sign it, they send it on too.
At the bottom of this post, you will see Twitter and Facebook buttons, please, please use them.
The media ignore us, politicians ignore us, but this is a real chance to be heard.
SIGN HERE : http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968
SIGN HERE : http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968
Pat Onions has submitted an e-petition to the government website. Pat is blind and Pat is also a carer. When we asked her why she submitted this petition she said -
We were determined to attend theHardest Hit rally in Edinburgh. Determined, in spite of disability, to stand with the others who had made the long and difficult journey. Determined to show we were united as one voice against the vicious cuts we are all enduring. We knew there were many thousands who couldn’t make it. Disability, ill health, providing care, or cost would prevent them coming. We made it.
To the many there and those who came in spirit……….this petition is for us all.
Pat’s petition reads –
Stop and review the cuts to benefits and services which are falling disproportionately on disabled people, their carers and families.
You can see the full petition on the Government website here
CarerWatch are supporting Pat’s petition. If Pat gets 100,000 signatures it could generate a debate in Parliament.
There is massive concern over the huge extent of both the welfare reforms and the cuts. Too often when people speak up, their voice is fragmented and discounted. This is an opportunity to get everyone together to speak with one voice, and to register in one place, how many people are asking the government to listen.
Firstly – obviously – we ask you to sign this petition and persuade all your family and friends to do the same. The name of the game is numbers ; so please ask friends, family and any organisations you belong to to sign and get others to sign.
When you sign the petition you will see buttons for twitter and facebook; so please share it with others on Twitter and Facebook. Let Pat know she has your support by leaving a comment here too.
The first signatures will be the hardest to get, while we get this juggernaut rolling, so please help now and make sure that this petition really takes off.
This petition will only succeed if everyone joins together to support it and CW are delighted that organisations are joining our ranks and offering support.
Organisations on board so far that have agreed to help raise awareness of Pat’s Petition are :
RADAR
Disability Alliance
CarerWatch
The Broken of Britain
CarersUK
DPAC
Benefits and Work
Pain Concern
Diary of a Benefit Scrounger
SIGN HERE : http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePretty much par for the course for Mensa memebers, Sue...
ReplyDeleteI signed it this week... but it's only got 50 names.
ReplyDeleteHave signed the Peition Sue.
ReplyDeleteWell done!
signed by myself and partner who is slowly realising the implications this will have on us, shame really as i have been banging on about it for some time now.
ReplyDeleteRobert - It only launched this morning!!
ReplyDeleteNow it has 247 signatures - at this rate, we'll be there in about 4 months!!
Cup half full guys!!
I smell a tangent coming on.
ReplyDeleteI'm a pessimist- the cup is half empty. My sister is an optimist- the cup is half full. My father is a realist- it's half a cup. My brother is a fantasist- it's the Holy Grail, he knows because he's been looking for it for a whole week.
And my mother? "This isn't my cup. My cup was FULL and it was a BIGGER cup. I want to speak to the manager. You're the manager? You look fourteen. I want to talk to the company director then, or someone old enough to have a mortgage. Bring me a new cup while you're at it."
My Cup Runneth Over :)
ReplyDeleteSigned and asking everyone I know to sign the petition too. Don't be downhearted spoonie troops :) this petition IS GONNA MAKE IT!
ReplyDelete[QUOTE]Mrs Pat Onions e-petition
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately since then the economy has gone in to crisis and the government has simultaneously embarked on a massive programme of cuts. This has created a perfect storm and left disabled people/those with ill health, and their carers reeling, confused and afraid.[/QUOTE]
pat should have followed on after afraid (WITH SOME ALREADY HAVING COMMITTED SUICIDE WITH SHATTERED FRIENDS AND FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND)
Remember that the devil is in the detail and i feel the e-petition should have had the above in it as that is the crucial message to get across more then anything else ??
It may just be me that feels this way but i doubt it a man of the church who is angry and for the first time in my life and for me that's the bottom line their is no other line to take
you either have a government DWP policy based on a medical assessment of you go down the death and destruction route of playing with words and for me they are the only two routes that the government can go down ??
Also another point the target will never be met for many reasons to hit that target you would need to have at least 20000 people involved who would then have to target there own friends and families and there will be many sick and disabled who would never be aware of this blog as there are over 1 million people affected and are completely unaware of both this blog and the hell that is to follow
ReplyDeleteIf they were aware of this blog which has been running for a year they would have made themselves known by now and they by a long shot haven't
The majority of mp's are not even aware of this blog and i work very hard to make them aware but still fail none the less
There would be many who would much prefer to stay completely silent on these reforms if nothing more then to not get stressed about them as it would be absolute madness for sick people to be involved anyhow as it is not a walk in the park it is not relaxing at all it is highly charged at the very least and to be involved would certainly kill off many people if they were to go reading blogs and having to sign petitions
Don't get me wrong pat has done her very best in the most difficult of circumstances but she needs to understand that ill people like myself cannot afford health wise to get involved I'm the exception with a few others who are prepared to put our lives on the line but you can't expect sane people no offence to anyone here to do the same
Even some disabled people who are not ill can find getting involved very difficult ?
100000 signatures that is a hell of a undertaking by pat and i wish her well of course but just feel i need to make a point albeit a negative one but feel it's important for some to know what's involved
someone once said silence is golden and for many sick and disabled that's the order of the day and we must remember that
I wasn't familiar with this blog, but I was sent the link to the petition from someone from an ME support group I'm a member of so I signed and shared in my turn. Fortunately, the power of email and social media enables this petition to get the attention of many more people than would have been possible in pre-internet days. Thanks for creating it, Pat.
ReplyDeleteFourbanks - Of course it won't be easy but of COURSE we can do it. We have to keep sending it out, run campaigns around it, tweet it, send it to celebrities, local papers, hand out leaflets at local disability groups and community centres.
ReplyDeleteThis petition ids supported by Disability Alliance, representing over 300 charities!! Benefits and Work have thousands of members.
50,000 people read my blog last month, without hte other artiicles I write for Left Foot Forward,Labour List, Liberal Conspiracy and the Guardian.
We can do it if we want to do it and we're committed enough to make it happen. Question is, do you all want to make it happen?
If so, get emailing, don't waste the characters telling me why it won't work ;)
Let's MAKE it work.
Well 50000 readers to this blog sue last month is now very possible i was unaware that we had got to that milestone which is very good i must say
ReplyDeleteAs to those that sign the petitions that could well be another story but 50000 readers to this blog is excellent irrespective of what i have to say
I just have to look at any fine detail that's missing from any policy i wish i could do more but that's not possible
My psychiatrist says I'm mental for getting involved in the first place i only do things that I'm passionate about so I'm involved and yes it may well kill me but that's the risk i have to take someone like me walking away is not an option
Off topic the DWP have told me after a one year investigation that i don't owe them the £5500 that they said i did it turns out after all of the paperwork has been looked at that they owe me £500 so i won this battle but it took over 50 letters in total from many sources and professional people getting involved and to them i say thank you
The DWP and i have always crossed swords over the past 30 years and will continue to do so over the next 30 years no doubt or until my death
It's an excellent idea. Hadn't thought of that! Well done Pat for making a stand. I was happy to sign it :)
ReplyDeleteWell done, Pat. I signed some days ago and have passed it onto everyone I know x
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should make a poster “This is what sickness and disability looks like” with a photo of two happy smiling normal healthy looking people?
ReplyDelete38 degrees has lost all credibility with the disabled.
ReplyDeleteThe supposedly accidental loss of a petition with over 5ooo signatures many months ago has never been properly explained or rectified. Yet he new one still has managed to get another 3056 and another for stopping the DLA cuts to children has 2198. They are 6th and 9th ranked respectively.
Until 38 degrees campaigns on this NOW, while the Welfare Reform Bill is still with the Lords, I will never pay any attention to them again. It is about the PUBLIC speaking out about what is being done to the disabled in THEIR name. And getting the real facts out there, not the deliberate misinformation in the media.
If the public truly knew what is being done to the disabled they would be horrified.
It is pathetic for them to say they have unfortunately made yet another "mistake" and not included the DLA campaign on the vote for "What we campaign on next" We don't believe you. Nor is is alright to say there are disabled groups fighting this. Yes, we are trying - but the government and media is paying NO attention. Also we are sick and this is making us sicker. We need healthy people who are ordinary members of the public to fight with us and for us.
My life was changed in an instant, through no fault of my own. What the currently healthy don't want to think about is that this could happen to them at any time. Don't complain then when you find out there will be no help for YOU and it is your turn to be labelled a scrounger and abused in the street.
Pleas sign the petition and writ to 38 degrees to let them know we are watching what they do.
http://38degrees.uservoice.com/forums/78585-campaign-suggestions/suggestions/1507287-a-campaign-to-stop-the-abolition-of-disability-liv?ref=title
The only blogs that have the right focus is this one along with the others that sue belongs to. sue is the most committed in my opinion and it would be much better if we focused just on one blog ?
ReplyDeletethe 100000 signatures is a tall order for that unknown petition from pat it doesn't matter how well meaning she is but i believe it will not hit the target
i said in a previous blog that it is the right person that will be paramount if we are to be successful as a whole group of people and pat is not that person and neither am i
somehow sue has to work much harder in order to get that 100000 signatures where had she started the partition someone well known it would have been a lot easier
i know how the DWP work better then anyone lets not make any mistake about that they over the past 30 years have reduced me both physically and mentally to breaking point and this is how i look today for those interested identical in body features as the late lord Gould being interviewed by Andrew marr from the bbc
i believe the end game between the DWP and the sick and disabled will be a bloody one that has always been my view and at this time 30 years on I'm still am convinced i will be proved right
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15615540
The government will not be able to track all of these blogs and petitions and the end result could well be in that in itself will be our downfall
ReplyDeleteI cant even keep up with all of these blogs and pititions and if i cant how the hell is IDS and co going to ?
The Strategery" from day one has not been right their should have been just one blog with one voice and thousands of members
that i believe would have had more impact linking all over the show is just not on for most people let alone the sick and disabled
remember my views are from a sick person who as you can see by the video clip above is very difficult
What exactly did Labour peer Philip Gould do that was "good" for “the people” or the sick and disabled?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 14.44
ReplyDeleteI think fourbanks was simply referring to the fact that after many years of being ill and fighting the DWP he LOOKED like Philip Gould in the BBC interview.
Fourbanks - Many, many congratulations on finally winning one of your battles with the DWP after all this time.
To be pursued for a year for supposedly owing them £5,500 when in fact they owed you £500 must have been a terrible ordeal on top of everything else.
It is ironic that the disabled have to somehow find a way to be stronger mentally than most people just to get through the day, nevermind deal with all the total gabage we are having to deal with from the DWP.
Good luck fourbanks. Whatever you look like,and I'm sure none of us exactly look as good as we once did,or would like, your fighting spirit is still intact!Never give up. We need you and everyone who can to keep fighting.
jan2 said...
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 14.44
I think fourbanks was simply referring to the fact that after many years of being ill and fighting the DWP he LOOKED like Philip Gould in the BBC interview.
That is indeed correct
quote jan2
- Many, many congratulations on finally winning one of your battles with the DWP after all this time.
To be pursued for a year for supposedly owing them £5,500 when in fact they owed you £500 must have been a terrible ordeal on top of everything else.
Thanks Jan
Politicians are All too Easily Out of Touch
ReplyDelete[QUOTE]Deptford Yard said...
ReplyDeletePoliticians are All too Easily Out of Touch[/QUOTE]
they are not out of touch at all they just choose to be so as not to found guilty in a court of law for wrong doing and in these cases of deaths of the sick and disabled you can be sure if found guilty at a latter date a heavy prison sentence will be forthcoming and i say thank god for that
IDS and co will have to box clever you can never tell when a death will cause their downfall it could come at any time just like we have seen Egypt/Tunisia/Libya/Syria for the UK government any death of a sick and disabled person could be the governments last so as they say watch this space
killing people by WHATEVER means by the government even when that person or persons commit suicide carries extreme risks the government may well get away with it in the short term but it's very unlikely that they could kill of thousands of people unless the public were for it also and the police turned a blind eye
we are not at that stage yet but we will be this time next year and beyond
what happened in Egypt/Tunisia/Libya/ was because the PUBLIC wonted change and change they got our situation in the UK is very different we as a group of sick and disabled cant come together we are all individuals and can be killed off one by one if the government so wished big difference you would never know that a death had happened you would need to read in a local newspaper and if that person lived alone the press and the public would be none the wiser
I had a neighbour die a few years back and as she lived alone i was the only person in her life who knew the full facts of her death she starved to death at the age of 35 weighing just 5 stone
The rule here is don't get on the wrong side of the DWP if you do you will end up like me and if you cant take it they'll kill you pure and simple end of story
Hi Pat
ReplyDeleteThe National Survivor User Network (NSUN) has distributed information about your petition.
Collective support and action...can & will make a difference!