Thursday 12 January 2012

OUR RESPONSE TO GOVERNMENT TODAY

Yesterday, Lords voted to overturn the one-year time limit to contributory Employment and Support Allowance proposed by the government. They were defeated by a staggering  224 votes to 186. We had lobbied on this issue more than any other. Yesterday, we posted a full briefing on why. You can read it here :

http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/2012/01/impact-of-time-limiting-esa.html

When we started campaigning, we had four very, very clear objectives. There are other things that urgently need to be changed in the Lords, and we thank them for their forensic attention to detail that means these other issues are not being ignored.

Today, the DWP and the very highest ministers in government will be everywhere trying to mitigate the damage of yesterday's defeat. You will hear their misrepresentation of us on every TV show, in every paper. You will cringe at every inaccuracy, burn at every line of spin. 


Mostly, I know that you will burn at the injustice of not being heard. You will wonder - as we have always wondered - why the mainstream media persist in ignoring truth and reason and evidence. Journalists will not be queueing to ask how the defeat came about, to ask the campaigners who almost certainly made it happen.


You might burn too, when you hear Labour claim this as their victory. 


None of that matters. The public were never ours to lose. We have come this far without them, by making reasonable, calm, evidence based arguments to the people who really matter, the people with all the power. We have come to this point by engaging with politicians of all colours, by owning social media and using it to make our own news.

Today, you have truth and justice on your side. The Government do not. No Government is defeated on the scale we saw last night, with the very strong majorities we saw, by accident. It was the undeniable injustice of the Government's plans that convinced the Lords. 

Do what we do best and make our case honestly. Re-post articles, write short statements, blog, contact friendly journalists and see if they will drop a little of the DWP spin angles. Contact supporters and let them know we won and what it means. Own the internet. It's all we have.

Perhaps a short note to some of the peers you lobbied thanking them? We have been insistent and a thank you is always nice.

Trust in our case, trust in the evidence we have presented, but most of all trust yourselves. Governments are not defeated often in the way ours was yesterday and you did it. Without the TV news, without much of the printed news, without an opposition, whatever Labour MPs claim today. The Labour Lords worked tirelessly for us however and they deserve a huge thank you.

The following briefing is one we posted months ago, that outlines our key concerns with the welfare reform bill and the measures affecting sick and disabled people today. Feel free to use it, share it in any way you like.

The Government - and media - might like to notice that we have already won the first one, The Spartacus Report directly addresses the 2nd one, and last night's vote casts huge doubt on the third.

We are not an aimless campaign group with no real goals, we are not unreasonable or aggressive.

We are the sick and disabled of the UK. We are Spartacus.


Briefing of our 4 main objectives :

Whilst some of the bill might be helpful, I want to be very clear today about which parts sick and disabled campaigners feel are unacceptable :

1) Removing Disability Living Allowance mobility payments from adults in residential care.
An adult who needs to live in residential care will have extensive needs and are often amongst the most severely disabled. The mobility component of DLA afforded them their only freedom, allowing them to choose to fund a power wheelchair otherwise unavailable on the NHS, or to pay for taxis or transport to get out now and then. Taking this away would leave the most vulnerable disabled people effectively housebound. There is no support for this change anywhere - charities, independent benefit reports and even the government's own advisers have called for this to be removed from the bill

2) Scrapping DLA entirely and replacing it with Personal Independent Payments (PIPs).
DLA is a very effective benefit with fraud rates of less than 1% (DWP own figures) It is already incredibly hard to claim and the qualification criteria are very narrow. The government have announced that DLA claimants will also soon face assessment and that the overall number of claimants will be reduced by at least 20%. The government's own advisory committee concluded that they could find no justification for this reform and have asked for clarification from the government.
If a benefit is already very efficient, yet a government announce a 20% cull before a single assessment has even taken place, we conclude it can only be a cost cutting measure that will ignore genuine need.

3) Time limiting contributory Employment Support Allowance (cESA, previously Incapacity Benefit) to 1 Year
Many people who need to claim ESA have "long term variable" or chronic illnesses such as MS, Parkinson's, Bowel Disease, Leukaemia or severe Mental Illness. These conditions often do not go away after a year and sadly, often get worse over time. A high percentage of those with these conditions are being found "capable of limited work" under ESA, and not qualifying for unconditional support (known as the Support group who are not affected by the time limit)  but after 1 year, if they have a working partner, they will receive no ESA whatsoever. All of their benefit will simply be stopped, a loss of just under £5000 a year.

4) ATOS assessments are "unfit for purpose" and a better way of assessing need must be implemented. ATOS are the private company charged with assessing over 1.5 million sick and disabled people during this parliament.
-The assessments are not necessarily carried out by a doctor.
-40% of rejected claims are going to appeal with up to 70% of those decisions being overturned.
-Assessments are humiliating and degrading causing great anxiety to those genuinely in need.
-Just 7% of claimants are being found unfit to work.
-Testimony from Consultants and GPs is often ignored entirely.
-People are dying before lengthy appeals can be heard.
-Even the professor who designed these assessments calls them a "complete mess"
-The descriptors exclude many serious, long term conditions or disabilities. This means that many serious conditions are simply unlikely to qualify.

There are other problems with the bill - capping housing benefit; re-classifying "mobility" so that those who use their wheelchairs too efficiently can be classed as "fully mobile"; removing an age related payment from ESA; scrapping the Independent Living Fund; cutting community care provision; cutting the Access to Work programme and many more - all of which will hurt sick and disabled people disproportionately, but the four points above MUST be addressed before the Welfare Reform Bill is passed.
They are causing or will cause real hardship.
They will not achieve savings as pressures will only be shifted to the NHS or social care provision.
They will increase homelessness, mental illness and poverty amongst this most vulnerable group of all
They will leave many in genuine need without support
They reduce the independence, standard of life and dignity of those we have a basic duty to protect.

Remember to tweet using #spartacusreport and when sharing links or emailing. Thanks, Sue My Facebook page is currently blocked, but you will find all the same articles at http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com/ Please use this slink to post to Facebook

Please also sign Pat's Petition http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968 calling for a pause to the reforms until they are safe.

84 comments:

  1. Re PIP: Plus, as the lovely Tanni G-T pointed out last night, they couldn't call it PIP anyway. Any time you Googled it, you'd just get loads of hits about boob implants!

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    1. I thought this as well everyone will assume you mean implants....horray didnt everyone voted to keep the name anyway? Changing it for sake of leaving a con/dem mark is petty.

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    2. I'm glad someone's pointed this out - I saw a headline on the BBC News ("PIP Misery" I think it was) and I thought - 'God it's ALREADY causing misery?'

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  2. Facebook are still blocking blogspot so cannot share via that media - very frustrating.
    Thank you for your and others amazing work

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  3. And please remind everyone to take a look at Pat's Petition - over 14,000 people agree that they need to pause ALL the changes and review the impact on disabled people and carers.

    Of itself, that is immense - this people's petition was set up by disabled people and carers.

    It now has the support of the TUC who say:
    "And please if you’ve not yet signed up, add your name to Pat Onions’ petition to Number 10 for a pause in these hurried reforms – it’s reached over 10,000 signatures now, but needs more to be recognised by government. Rushing this legislation through at a time of spending cuts and economic difficulties for vulnerable people is creating a perfect storm for many disabled people. A pause to ensure reform is carried out more fairly and effectively is desperately needed."

    TUC link - http://www.goingtowork.org.uk/call-for-a-pause-in-welfare-reform/

    SIGN Pat's Petition here - http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968

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  4. Well said, Sue. As well as publicity, time for more pressure on MPs. I have been through the ATOS process and appeal and had my DLA stopped even though I suffer well documented epilepsy, don't drive, have problems with balance and have been hospitalised due to bad falls following seizures.

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  5. Crystal ball time: Both the young people vote & the cancer vote will survive Commons.

    On time-limiting ESA and on PIPs/DLA, Govnt will spin the savings to be made from means-testing & re-assessments (because they are going to lose £££ on benefit cap vote) & will try & say that objections are to do with how assessment works in practice, rather than the principle of assessment per se. They might even thrown a bone & ask someone seen as hard-hitting to look into complaints about Atos.

    Totally agree on need to focus few key points + crib sheet for likely counter arguments to other stuff.

    Unlike some people I'm reasonably satisfied when LibDems don't vote. My heart sinks when they make good speeches in the House because I know they are going to stick it out and vote wrong.

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  6. This has just started to pop up when I attempt to post to Facebook The content you're trying to share includes a link that's been blocked for being spammy or unsafe: 2.bp.blogspot.com, is this happening to anyone else?

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    1. Reported to Facebook will keep you updated and in the meantime will just keep trying.

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  7. Keep the momemtum going, people cant argue with facts, its just that the govt facts dont quite add up do they. well do yo all of us

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  8. But the question is where people have got other means of income, they've got other money coming into the household, they've got thousands of pounds of savings in the bank

    Quote from grayling on the lords defeat, he just doesnt get it does he.

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  9. I thanks the Lords for giving me time to take a breath before moving forward with Spartacus,(and I'm an agnostic) .

    Thanks Sue and Co onwards we go

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  10. Britishrose, yes, it happened to me this morning. Perhaps we should report it to Facebook - there's a link on the message you get for that.

    One change to Housing Benefit that is causing a lot of distress to disabled people between the ages of 25 and 35 is that their entitlement is being reduced to the shared room rate when they used to be eligible for the one bedroom flat amount, and there is a lot of difficulty finding suitable shared accommodation. Moving is no fun at all, especially if you are sick or disabled.

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    1. Yes, this is very cruel and will be a nightmare, what happens say if you have bowel problems, you can't share a bathroom with strangers and there is less and less social housing..

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  11. Other means of income like Grayling's expenses? http://ldv.org.uk/11617

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  12. Thank you sue and everyone who contributed to last nights defeat. As one of those found fit for work by ATOS, who didn't even (by there own admission) look at my medical records.
    I became disabled by an accident at work that has left me 60% disabled for life (medico legal report) and I am continually fighting for every penny. Why are we being treated this way.
    And if they lower Housing benefit any further I will loose my home and were would I live??

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  13. So our message about Welfare Reform got through to the Lords DESPITE all the propaganda a spin and distraction generated by the government. That doesn't change the fact that the propaganda and obfuscation makes the job of 'getting through to people' much harder. Perhaps we should consider chipping together to employ people with marketing and copywriting skills to increase and sustain the visibility of Spartacus - marketing skills are not evil art when used correctly, it's simply the skill of communicating a message clearly, engaging people, and encouraging them to take some sort of action.

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    1. Good point. the comments posted last night about the huge and possibly life-threatening physical cost paid by Sue Kaliya and all Spartaci shows how hard it will be to carry on the momentum, especially as govt. will ramp up still further the negative propaganda. I've mentioned the name of Max Clifford before, and another commenter said MC had personal family experience of disability. Could we now have enough ammunition what with this Lord's defeat and Spartacus report exposing the lies govt. is prepared to use,to make it worthwhile to contact him? Just a thought.

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    2. Yes, marketing can be the devils work, but yes it is just communication by another name, MC would indeed be worth contacting, The nature of these reform, the media mispresentation and ommissions have to be oppossed and Freuds behaviour has to be challenged...

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    3. I wonder how much is still left in the fighting fund. Probably not enough to employ Max Clifford. I've lost count of how much is represented by 123%. But a fresh appeal might give it another boost.

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  14. I don't think many paid professionals could better what Sue and all the others have done. Government is powerful and to make the impact on media and opinions that has been made is an enormous thing. Huge lobbying 'thinktanks' get through because they spend vast sums on personal engagement with powerful people - that's the kind of resource we don't have.

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  15. The Lord I wrote to voted against the government. :) :)

    Thanks for all the work you're doing Sue, I never would have thought to write to a Lib Dem peer if you hadn't suggested it.

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  16. I still have worries because of this evil govt - That they would just overturn whatever the Lords say - They can do this and foce their rubbish bill through regardless :-(

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  17. Thank YOU Sue! Good Luck with your own appeal!

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  18. And it is already written - The government dug in, declaring that although it would "look carefully" at what peers had said, it would nonetheless overturn the amendments when the bill returns to the commons.

    http://masondixonautistic.blogspot.com/2012/01/us-and-them.html?spref=tw

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  19. But

    re-classifying "mobility" so that those who use their wheelchairs too efficiently can be classed as "fully mobile"

    Is part of point 2 on your list. Taking DLA from people like me is how they're planning to cut their 20%.

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  20. Congratulations and good luck! You have fought a brilliant, brave, honest campaign and I'll continue to support you in every way I can. Labour claiming credit for this is almost as nauseating as the coalitions proposals themselves.

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  21. thanks for this.....
    face book blocking me from sharing this for some reason
    regards.

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  22. For those who are having trouble posting links to FB, visit tinyurl.com - you can input the blogspot link, copy and paste the tinyurl link into your status and you can get around the block. :)

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  23. I emailed all the Lib Dem peers over time limiting. Only one replied and that was Baroness Hamwee (hamwees@parliament.uk).

    "This is to thank you for troubling to write. I am reading all the comments I am receiving (and am sorry my reply has to be in a rather impersonal form). The ESA is something that I know my colleagues who are closely involved in the Bill have identified as particularly difficult, and the proposals do trouble me – we will have to see how the Minister responds."

    I've emailed her to thank you for replying. But who else can I email or bug over WRB? Does anyone have a list of the Bishops (I see only a few voted) or crossbenchers in the Lords? Should I be emailing MPs as well now Grayling says they'll push it through in the Commons?

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  24. I have a long documented history of mental health issues, something that won't go away, anyway found out recently the Atos assessor that did my test, although report was entirely inaccurate about me was infact a Physio, amazing how a Physio can find someone with mental health issues fit for work.

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  25. I will believe this if and when the government are truly overruled and this time next year, I am not homeless and can afford to heat my flat, because they have stated they are ignoring those results and are carrying on with the the bill as it was.......I think you are giving false hope here, experience of this government tells me, this is just a glitch, and nothing has changed........we havent won anything yet.......

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  26. I can't believe this. The "noble" Lord, Lord Freud sneaked in an amendment to the Lords overturning the contributory related ESA to disabled children once all the Lords had gone home. What kind of country is this.?

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  27. it is a country ruled by Quisling Traitor

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    1. Sorry but has the Lords thrown out time limiting completely, ie you can stay in cont esa for as long a you need to thus maintaining the current rules, its just I have read so much conflicting stuff, from the Welfare Reform Bill has been thrown out completely, Or that it only applies to disabled children or cancer patients and no other disabled groups, to it is now a 2 year time limit. Does anyone know which is correct. If it is now a 2 year limit, them my wife has an extra year to recover from being virtually blind and chronic spinal problems. Don't think so somehow. At least we will have some money for a year longer before we become bankrupt. Separate to this, my deepest thanks goes out to Sue and all who were/are involved with all of this campaigning, you are miracle workers.

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  28. The amount that the Customs and Revenue agreed to let off the financial institutions in cosy backroonm deals with their Hoorray mates would dwarf the amounts saved by putting the disabled of this country into a virtual WORKHOUSE.

    LET ME MAKE THIS PERFECTLY CLEAR. WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THE WORKHOUSE.

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  29. My mp told me it makes no difference Cameron will destroy us anyhow the lords vote is worthless

    well we will have to wait and see i told him

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  30. Are you aware Facebook is blocking this? It will not allow you to share or post to your wall.. This is outrageous.

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    1. Facebook let me share it!

      Although I think this is good news in some ways I do agree with the limits because I really do believe almost everyone can do some work to support themselves. Look at stephen hawking. I was a little concerned with the year limit though because that is not really long enough to retrain or learn to cope with a long term disability. Two years whilst still a little annoying if you have paid contributions for a long time is more realistic.

      And YES I am disabled! And YES I am claiming contributory ESA and have just been put in the WRAG. I was working until July but found it too hard to carry on and have gone back to uni to retrain.

      Delete
    2. There are however quite a few who are not that able to work, and it is unlikely that they could earn enough to "support themselves" - that is rather the point. And, where are the jobs, and the employers keen to employ people with health problems/disabilities.

      None of us would quibble at rational reforms - these aren't.

      Delete
  31. '« I am proud to announce the extension of our popular New Deal programme for Job Seekers. While we recognise some of the problems the recently expired face in returning to the jobs market, we cannot allow the situation where the dead simply lie around all day doing nothing productive ».'


    http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/resistg8/press/new_deal_for_dead.htm


    just found this,
    next it will be the dead forced to work...

    It's satire , but good...

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  32. To anonymous@4.23am (something wrong with the timeline here)

    I am afraid the Lord's amendment means that it is only cancer patients receiving Contributory Related (CR ESA) who will not be subject to a time limit.

    For everyone else on CR ESA the amendment changed the government's proposal for time limiting it from one year to two. This is retrospective, so any already on CR ESA would have lost their payments from April. Now it will be a year from April. However, of course the Bill goes back to the Commons. The government has said it will overturn the amnedments there. It will then go back to the Lords. So this is winning a battle, not the war. If your savings fall below £16000 you may be able to claim some Income Related ESA depending on any other income you may have. Any savings above £6000 will be deducted at £1.00 for every £250 in savings you have. Of course, all this only aplies if your wife passes the ATOS medical to be placed in the ESA group, in the first place and is not found "fit for work", which is happening to the vast majority of people. In that case she will only be eligible for Jobseekers Allowance.

    The disabled children you mention is an amendement not to stop children, who are so severely disabled they will never be able to work, from claiming the Contributory rate of ESA instead of the Income Related ESA. The contributory rate is a few pounds a week higher and is dependant on having paid National Insurance contributions - which of course they will never be able to do.

    There are many, many parts to the Welfare Reform Bill.
    In 2013 ESA will disappear and be replaced with Universal Credit.
    There is no chance of the whole thing being thrown out.
    Next week the Lords will be voting on abolishing DLA and changing it to PIP - which will have much stricter eligibility critria. I hope this helps. Not surprising you are confused as the media is doing its utmost to cover all this up.

    I hope others on here will correct me if I've got anything wrong.

    If you are up to it join the fight and spread the word.
    We are not scroungers. We are chronically sick and disabled. But we are fighting for EVERYBODY, not just ourselves. This Bill will affect everyone in the country who is yet to become sick or disabled.

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    1. No matter what happens, we must keep fighting.

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  33. Yes, this is very cruel and will be a nightmare, what happens say if you have bowel problems, you can't share a bathroom with strangers and there is less and less social housing..

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  34. Which peers should we thank? (I think that is a bloody good idea). Lord Patel leaps to mind?

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    1. Wouldn't it also be useful to have the names of some Lib Dems who stayed "loyal" to this damned Government? They MIGHT be capable of shame.

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  35. Ideology cannot be changed, it cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be won over. The only way you get justice for disabled is to scream blue bloody murder with a message to remove the Tory led coalition. Cameron is practising a 'Thatcher+' agenda, out-thatching Maggie in every way he can think of. Being the most horrible of horrible PMs, so that he may go down in history as the 'iron man' to her 'iron lady'. I am in the process of wording a letter to Buckingham Palace, calling for the Queen of this democratic country to dissolve this very undemocratic parliament for the sake of the sanity, and well being of our country.

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  36. I watched the debates on my computer from 3.30 to 7.30 pm. Hard work, but interesting. Yes certainly thank Lord Patel, and also Baroness Meacher who proposed the amendment on Contributory ESA for those disabled as children. You can find out who voted for what if you go here:
    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/lords/lords-divisions/

    LibDems made a disappointing showing, only the following voting for the successful amendments: Lord Roberts of Llandudno, Lord Taylor of Goss Moor,Baroness Tonge, Baroness Doocey, Lord Avebury, Lord Clement-Jones, Lord Williams of Crosby. And they didn't all vote for all of them.

    There were some Bishops voting favourably too: Chester, Gloucester, Hereford, Ripon & Leeds,Bath & Wells. I haven't listed the Cross Bench peers because they voted for the amendments in force - 68 on the first vote, 57 on the second and 47 on the third.

    I don't know if this information is helpful, but it gives us some more names to lobby. The debate on DLA is next Wednesday.

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    1. thanks for useful info., Judith. Yes very disappointing show by the LibDems - I wrote to every single bloody one of them before the vote! real letters with stamps 1st class..
      Certainly Lord Patel and Baroness Meacher are the heroes, also Baroness Hollis who has rightly laid into Lord Fraud for his utterly outrageous skullduggery in trying to sneakily overtunrn amendments after the sitting had finished.

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  37. I've had to take a step back today as I was becoming, how shall I put it? A bit 'over excited'! So I have only just come on line. What is this about Lord Fraud trying something after the sitting had ended? What happened?

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    1. Anonymous - yes it's quite confusing, but try looking at the Guardian online coverage by Patrick Butler, who along with colleagues Amelia Gentleman and Tom Clark, is a hero.
      http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jan/12/welfare-benefits
      I hope this helps; I too am confused and brain-fried!

      Delete
    2. The sitting hadn't ended it had been adjourned for an hour, but a lot of people left not realising that Lord Fraud would submit an amendment.

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  38. You can read about it here:

    http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/2012/01/disability-campaigners-went-to-bed.html

    In fact it is being copied widely already it seems. You can google on the title: "Government filthy tricks subvert parliamentary process"

    And do you remember the way the Government finagled it so that the Bill would be heard in Grand Committee, ie in a smaller room than the Lords' House, thereby causing restrictions on accessibility and on the Lords powers to vote (if I remember correctly)?

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  39. Stop Press: Spartacus Report lead author Sue Marsh will be on Newsnight tonight (Thursday) head-to-head with employment minister Chris Grayling. Good luck Sue.

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  40. Welfare Bill: Changes to continue despite Lords defeats
    I TOLD YOU SO

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16523649

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    1. It always staggers me how you stay quiet when we have a victory but immediately jump on the misery train when we don't get a 100% victory. This is a long haul, it's going to take a while, and not overnight.

      Please stop blowing the defeatist trumpet.

      Delete
    2. its not about being defeatist, its about being realistic....this government is on a mission, and unless there is a train crash, it is not going to be put off getting there, despite the carnage that waits for them at the end of the line......and he is right to post that, as it actually happened......

      Delete
    3. ‡‡‡‡‡‡‡I AM SPARTACUS I STAND ON THE TRACK‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

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    4. oya
      i am doing my bit believe me and in very difficult circumstances
      My aim throughout is to tell everyone how i see it not how others see it
      If you think it's good that's fine but my contacts know these people more then you or i and it's only right that i voice my concerns albeit they are negative

      Otherwise we will end up all of us in queer street
      Sue and her team are outstanding and so is David Cameron and his team and it would be very foolish to ignore that fact

      The government have shown to the country what they thing of the sick and disabled and that's not a lot and to convince them long term to think different of us ain't going to happen and that's a fact

      Chris Grayling is a hard nut to crack but until you give the true facts live on air on those that have killed themselves through the stress of it all and those with very deep fears of doing likewise you will not move forward on these issues

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    5. Then we will crack him. If people gave up and rolled over during the 60's I'd still be required to sit at the back of the bus, and thank gods my family didn't give up so easily.

      And I sure won't. As Anon said above - fine, if they'll run over me, I'll stand in the road.

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  41. Just watched the lovely Sue being interviewed on newsnight, with the dreadful Chris Grayling...very well done Sue, but it seemed to us that Grayling was given much more opportunity to speak than you were. Will now email Newsnight to make that point.

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    1. I wish you luck with Contacting Newsnight, I contacted local station! Answer from them we right you (me) are wrong! The bbc, how many MPs are ex employees of the bbc ,and how many ex ( Tories MPs ) work for them. Such as Portillo Patten,Ken Clarke,and others.
      Bbc, have gone downhill big time!

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  42. Good to see Sue and you did well in the confines of the feature but as Irish mist says...

    Grayling was given the lion's share of the time available and questions asked of Sue were often unrelated to what was being discussed and Sue spent a lot of her time correcting what Emily Makeless was asking of her. Grayling was allowed to just talk away and was never challenged.

    An easy ride for him...

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  43. I've just discovered a fascinating snippet of information which places the whole Coalition policy on benefits into context. I've put it on my blog and the title says it all - Plus Ca Change: The More Times Change, The More Tories Stay The Same.
    It's here: http://wp.me/p262ZD-1C

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  44. I wish I could remember which Baroness was interviewed earlier in the day on Radio 4 but she said she had voted against the changes the Government want to bring in(she wanted to sting them further)because she said it is wrong that they are going after the poorest, the most vulnerable, the most disadvantaged and sickest people in the UK and they should be the last people to be targeted if at all especially when they did not cause the problems we now face.

    I still think that most changes will be passed and any victory will be small. Its not just for the people who are already affected but for all those who one day may find themselves in a similar situation unexpectedly.

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    1. It was Baroness Meacher. She's a very competent and easy-to-listen-to speaker. If you go to the website for the Radio 4 'Today' programme,you can listen to the interview again:
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9676000/9676207.stm

      Delete
  45. Just used WritetoThem to write to the crossbenching Lord and Ladies who put on a brilliant fight this week, as well as to encourage others to continue as well. My MP is pretty useless but still putting the pressure on.

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  46. Thes basis of the #SpartacusReport was an FoI request. Its no wonder then that the government seeks to limit the FoI laws now!

    Another FoI request is in progress for more information about Health Care Professionals (HCPs) that work for At-os but are not registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

    Some nurses in other employment have been found to have either bogus or non existent registrations.

    The question is if these non registered HCPs have done assessments for ESA and other benefits then will the DWP own up and agree that the assessments may be flawed?

    If more than a tiny percentage of At-os "assessments" are shown to be in doubt then it could pave the way for claimants to take legal action to discover the whereabouts of the HCP that did their assessment with a view to getting the DWP decision overturned if it went against them.

    A pretty good mess for the government I am sure you will agree, if it turns out to be true.

    You can follow the progress of this one here

    http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/audit_and_monitorting_of_hcps_em

    So far the DWP are very late answering this, they should have at least given a reason to not supply the info by 12th Dec 2011.

    We will see...

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  47. Thanks for that Judith...

    I know that people have concerns about the House Of Lords and there is always talk of reform but I am very happy that there is this kind of inbuilt buffer that can say to those in The House Of Commons "You've got this wrong, think again!"

    And as many new positions there are gifted by the political parties(The Conservatives have put more people into the Lord's than any other party)they may feel that they have to go along with the party that put them there.

    As with any such political system some haven't a clue but recently it has been proven that some are on the ball.

    If Sue is reading it would be interesting to know if Grayling just sat down in front of cameras and disappeared immediately afterwards or actually talked to Sue off camera(in the infamous green room we always hear of)and if so what was said. Not that he'll change is plans...

    Knowing the effort it would take Sue to be there to some extent they treated Sue badly as the interview was so one sided and ill thought out. I doubt anyone coming in as the second person to question a Government Minister wouldn't have had an easy time or the opportunity to get an alternative view across.

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    1. I also think Sue was treated badly, it was if she was the bad guy 'demonizing' the government for making cutbacks, but only the question of the means testing of ESA for disabled young people was addressed! As soon as Sue tried to put any form of argument for her cause she was immediately cut of by the presenter.

      Either the mainstream media are totally ignorant of whats going on here or are unwilling, for whatever reason, to report honestly on what the coalition are doing with welfare reform and the fear, confusion and often devastating consequences arising from it.

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    2. So, after 18 months of being told that welfare must be reformed because of the "deficit", when asked if the reforms would still be proposed if there were no deficit, Grayling said yes.

      It's not about the money then. It's idealogical. It's the coalition's hatred of the poor, the sick and the vulnerable (those they promised to protect before the election).

      The complete disregard of the views and opinions of all those involved in the campaign against the changes smacks of a staggering arrogance and contempt for those of us who will be affected by them. That is bad enough but to then reject the decision of the Lords and insist that the reforms will be put in place show that they are not listening to anyone. They know best. We are scum and will be treated as such.

      As for the performance by Emily Maitliss, I was disgusted that she was allowed to take such a biased stance in her questioning. Why was Sue given such a hard time by being constantly interrupted and why was Grayling allowed to talk unchallenged?

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  48. Perhaps Yoko Ono’s declaration that ‘woman is the nigger of the world’ should be recast. _The sick and disabled are the niggers of Britain_, in so far as a nigger is a person abused, disrespected and exploited by those in power, with power, or set upon doing evil.

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  49. There you are........news today, Osbourne is still going ahead with the changes regardless......what is the point of a second house and a vote if they are going to ignore it......smacks of President Tony Blair......all we can ope for is that somebody with a pot loads of cash comes along after a relative of theirs does and takes the government to court for premeditated neglect.......because unless that happens were are all screwed

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  50. I've been looking at the Lords in the 'Other' category who voted against the Government on Thursday. I'll list them, in case anyone wants some new names to lobby and hasn't found them for themselves:

    Lord Browne of Belmont - Democratic Unionist - no email
    Lord Laird - Ulster Unionist - lairdj@parliament.uk
    Lord Maginnis of Drumglass - Ulster Unionist - maginnisk@..
    Lord Rogan - Ulster Unionist - no email
    Lord Stoddart of Swindon - Independent Labour - no email
    Lord Watson of Invergowrie - Independent Labour - watsonm@..
    Lord Wigley - Plaid Cymru/Cross Bench - no email

    I'm not familiar with Irish and Welsh politics - could it be that these are labour sympathisers? If so, perhaps it would be wasted energy to lobby them.

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  51. I am so sad and angry.
    Needing a break from trying to be part of the pyjama army, I flicked on the TV.

    What I saw was on Real Rescues BBC2. A man with Multiple Sclerosis had his car totally burned out on purpose. He was well know in the area, according to his wife. It was clearly a disabled car with a sticker on. The back door was forced by the arsonists where it was obvious there was a wheelchair in the back, also clearly visible through the window.In a street lined with cars, obvious THIS was the one targeted. Without it, he is housebound.

    I wonder how much responsibility this government will take for so much propaganda against those on benefits and the disabled that they are now clearly hate targets.

    Those who did it, as so often expressed in comments, clearly resent the disabled having cars. They envy the car but never envy the disability.

    So sad. This is not my country anymore.

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  52. From day one the ConDems incited hatred against the welfare state......this country doesnt take much to refer back to its rasist, bigoted past......all its interested in creating a bigger divide between the poor and the rich a corporate run society.....Maggie Thatcher didnt give in in the 80's, these are rich kids, never been without.....they have the arrogance of the rich and the superiority of them as well......its never going to change......

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  53. As I predicted weeks ago, if/when Labour are voted in again I said they'll go along with the policies being brought in by the coalition(cuts in welfare)and leave them in place but say don't blame us we did not bring them in, they weren't our ideas so don't blame us...

    So today Ed Balls has admitted that if they come to power they'll have to continue to impliment what is/has been done.

    So basically more of the same.

    And no alternative thinking. Gloomy days/weeks/years ahead.

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  54. ஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩

    Lᴇsᴛ ᴡᴇ ғᴏʀɢᴇᴛ…
    "Fɪʀsᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɪɢɴᴏʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ʟᴀᴜɢʜ ᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ғɪɢʜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ, ᴛʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪɴ”. Mᴀʜᴀᴛᴍᴀ Gᴀɴᴅʜɪ

    ஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩ஜஜ۩۞۩

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  55. Liam Byrne, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary is speaking on 'Labour's case for welfare reform.'

    http://www2.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2012/01/20120123t1830vWT.aspx

    Another opportunity, the ex banker Liam Bryne shadow Works and Pensions Secetary (and uber Blairite) is speaking at a public meeting at the LSE in London 'renewing Beveridge' basically advocating even more delitorious and brutal reform, maybe people who are able to get to it could offer different opinions in this 'debate'

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  56. I have read most of these posts. I congratulate any attempts made by the government to reform the system. It is the poor tax payers who are the victims here paying for the waste and fraud. has anyone of you considered this whilst you are winging and defending people claiming benefits who should be clearly working. How much do you consider the average worker has left at the end of the month for getting up at six every morning and paying council tax , travel to work, dental and medical costs, rent on their property. I am so glad we help genuine cases but what annoys me if the way disabled people will defend anyone who is exploiting every loop hole. You are giving a very bad impression to the taxpayer who is funding this. you should be grateful that our society cares enough to provide all the support you get. It would be a different situation in many other countries.it really is about time that something was done about all the many people who should not be claiming benefits. I dont think genuinely disabled people should worry. the half of one percent figure is such a joke. so many of the amazingly high numbers who are claiming benefits could make a contribution and would gain satisfaction from this I'm sure. I know around 7 people who are claiming esa and dla. the 2 genuine cases i am aware of actually work and i am happy for these to have their dla as well of working and admire them very much.This speaks for itself. We all know there are cases where people simply could not work and very few people mind supporting these. Do disabled people a favour dont let the many idle work shy claim benefits in your name and actively help expose these.

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    1. Ah yes, benefit scroungers are bad people. I suffered severe head injury, Brain damage, so along with many people here I am no benefit scroungers! Get your facts straight. There is a very small percentage of people doing what you seem to think everybody is doing... Yes, I am mentally disabled and pissed at your stupidity!

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  57. Very interesting post, thanks you admin for this wonderful information.
    Braces

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