Fantasy Cabinet

Following a giggly evening on twitter, we all chose cabinet jobs - after all, we couldn't get it more wrong than this shower and the perks are quite good!

If I missed anyone off can you tweet to let me know?

@markmiwordsblog – Health

@MargoJMilne – Health

@suey2y – DWP

@BendyGirl – DWP

@latentexistence – SpAd

@allbigideas – Higher Ed

@narco-sam - HE & Science

@Rickysmum – Chief whip (Free ice cream for all!)

@Rani_kuk – Treasury

@sarahransley – Minister for Culture

@Dochackenbush – Minister for Propaganda

@Susanas4321 – Minister for Disability

@Jules_Clarke – Housing

@Fibro_girl  - Communities and Local Government

@WTBDavidG – Defence

@queerpup – Environment

@Alanmills405 - Education

@Rosiecosy – Transport

@corrisanne – Treasury

@fibro_girl – Communities
@LonAiteWalker - Asylum and Immigration
@StaceyUK - Technology
@Gilby3108 - DEFRA
@Becki_says - Families
@HarrymBarham - Deputy PM
@Ramalina - Welsh Secretary

There was originally a Minister for Cake too and Kaliya really wanted to be Mistress of the Universe, but I gave her Work and Pensions.

It just occurred to me that we still don't have a PM or Deputy PM.....

My Welfare CV

Yesterday, it was reported that Liam Byrne would be stepping down from the shadow cabinet to run for Mayor of Birmingham.

Welfare is a dodgy area for Labour - probably the dodgiest of all. Traditionally, it's a department for hawks, for hardliners and for attack dogs. I don't think anyone would argue that it has gone well for Labour under Mr Byrne. Or Mr Alexander for that matter. Or Purnell.Or Cooper.

Well, I want the job. I won't get it, but here's why I should :

1 - I actually understand Universal Credit. I know who will be winners and who will be losers. I know all the nasty little details that will hurt the "Squeezed Middle" way more than the "Undeserving Poor". I know whether Mr Duncan-Smith can actually deliver it on time and within budget.

2 - I know what the Independent Living Fund is and exactly how many profoundly disabled people are set to lose it or no longer qualify for it at all. Ditto the Severe Disability Premium, the Youth Premium (I must be one of only 4 or 5 who actually understand what this really means, surely?) the CSA changes and the death of the Social Fund

3 - I actually know the difference between the WRAG and Support Group. I know how many people qualify for each - both new and existing claimants. I understand the one year Time Limit and exactly who it will affect. I pointed out that it would only affect working families and that it encourages family breakdown and further benefit dependency.

4 - I know every little fib the Conservatives have used to push their Welfare Reform Bill through Parliament. I know exactly how many times David Cameron has "misled Parliament" at PMQs about welfare policies. I know which vast multinational companies stand to profit from "reforms" and I know very well that the balance of payments to these private companies is totally out of proportion to the "help" the claim to offer. I know that A4E were only 8.06% successful at finding work for disadvantaged jobseekers because I worked the figure out.

5 - I have lots of Lib Dem friends - grassroots and Westminster types - who would love to hear a different narrative from Labour on Welfare. I'm a pragmatist and I've built relationships with anyone willing to judge welfare on evidence rather than ideology.

6 - I know exactly how many "intergenerational workless families" there are (not many) exactly how many people are really "long term unemployed" (way less than you'd think) exactly how many families really get over 100k in benefits (a handful) and how many people stand to lose their homes through the benefit cap.

7 - I understand Personal Independence Payments. I know how many disabled people will lose all of their support and how this will tie into social care support, putting further strain on local authorities. I know what disabled people and their charities really think about PIP and how reform could actually be implemented so that it worked.

8 - OK, I'm a blogger, but I understand politics. I'm a strategist and a pragmatist. I have lived and breathed Labour politics since I was old enough to speak, I've run campaigns, always stood for local council, written election addresses, run voter ID campaigns and achieved swings of over 30% in an area so Conservative you could pin a blue rosette on a sheep and they'd still win. It's not my fault I live in Sussex, therefore never having any possibility of actually getting elected.

9 - I'm a left of centre Blairite! Yep, we exist. And frankly Ed needs as many as he can get. I understand the need for reform of welfare very well. But, I know the difference between "reforms" and "cuts". They are not the same thing. I grew up on a council estate, I went to a rough comprehensive, but I've been to university and, you know, actually had jobs, in the real world and stuff.

10. I have a narrative that could start to rehabilitate Labour on Welfare and a whole raft of policies that sick and disabled people and people living in poverty would actually like, would actually engage with and (whisper it) that might actually work. 


12. I am fluent in "human" (also French and Italian, but that's much less important) and have a whole range of sardonic eyebrows and sharp one liners just waiting to show Grayling, Miller and Duncan-Smith for the fools that they are. I'm dead good on the telly.

13. I scrub up OK in black tights and heels - which seems to be a pre-requisite for 21st Century female political advancement.

But I'll stop on 13. Unluckily for some, it would be unthinkable for a "no-one" like me to get the job. Ed would have to slip me some Ermine, but actually, there's no reason why he couldn't (If it's good enough for Glasman....) The Westminster bubble might actually pop with shock if someone with knowledge, experience, passion and ability got the job over career politicians who have "done their time" on local councils and endless hustings. Shadow Cabinet members have to have a First in compromise, an unshakeable loyalty to the whip and one eye firmly on their careers. I may be wrong about this last bit, but most of the country feels that  this is the case.

But if we really wanted to do politics differently, really wanted to engage with - and even solve - some of society's problems, really wanted to show the public that Westminster isn't some bloated old-boy's club incapable of change, then perhaps my idea isn't so silly after all.

Sadly, I fear we are some centuries away from such radical solutions.

Excellent News!

The Welfare Reform Bill may now be an Act, but the battle only just began.

Following on from the excellent news that Scottish GPs have called for an immediate end to Atos Work Capability Assessments - arguing that they are unsafe for patients - do open this link!!

I'm not going to spoil the surprise! Just click on the link here : http://www.parliament.uk/documents/joint-committees/human-rights/Maria_Miller_MP_on_IL.pdf

Happy Easter!!

I am Spartacus and I will see justice xx

A Not Very Mysterious Medical Mystery

Tricky times to write about abject NHS failures, but that's what I started writing for.

Last May, I posted this : http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/this-is-what-fight-costs-us.html I'd come down with a racking cough, I was exhausted, had fevers, night sweats and had started losing weight. We put it down to my dodgy immunity, arranged some anti-biotics and I carried on. But it came back. And back. And back. And back. The crisis came here http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/so-how-am-i.html when I got rushed into hospital with a raging fever, my face the size of a football and a cough that made me choke, unable to gasp for breath.

Last October, I posted this : http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/diagnosis-challenge.html
My hubby had :

-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

It's never really gone away. He's still getting chest pains, night sweats and has a permanent, racking cough. They said he was "just depressed"

Since New Year, my 7 year old has had a "chest infection" that just won't clear. He got paler and paler, skinnier and skinnier. I wash his bedding every other day as the sheets are often drenched. FINALLY, the local surgery listened to his chest AGAIN "Oh dear, that sounds rather dreadful" and sent him for an X-ray. Guess what? His lungs were badly infected everywhere. they're saying he's had pneumonia. Hubby didn't even get an X-Ray. My X-Rays wouldn't show anything much either way because of the cocophany of immuno-suppressants I take.

Here is the front page of my chemo-shot website : http://www.humira.com/ Please note, the following disclaimer is NOT just a standard part of a drug insert warning of every possible side effect under the sun. It is on the front page. In bold type :

"Serious infections have happened in people taking HUMIRA. These serious infections include tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that have spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. Your doctor should test you for TB before starting HUMIRA, and check you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with HUMIRA. If your doctor feels you are at risk, you may be treated with medicine for TB."


Here's some more info : " In HIV and other immunosuppressed persons, any abnormality may indicate TB or the chest X-ray may even appear entirely normal.^[1]"


But what did my local hospital do? Laughed at me, refused to test me for TB, sent me home and then sent me this follow up letter :


..."it may have been suggested while you were an in-patient that we would follow up on your care as an out-patient. We do not feel this is necessary."






So they wouldn't even see me again!!! I've had a persistent cough, weight loss, night sweats and low grade fevers for 10 MONTHS!!! Now, Addenbrookes must do their job instead and have started the drawn out process of trying to arrange tests, scans and specialists from 130 miles away. I weigh 6 stone 6 by the way which makes "weight loss" a little more scary than it would for most people. 


Last week, I started coughing again. Bringing up muck, bubbly little fevers. But hey, I'm fine. Nothing to see here, move along. 


So my question is, would someone please pay me 100k or so a year to be a doctor? Because I'm seriously beginning to wonder exactly what the point of our local lot IS. 

RIP Lord Newton (Con) 1937 -2012

In the last 18 months, it has been rare indeed for me to come across a politician of any party who was prepared to speak his or her mind. Truly speak their mind and speak for justice impervious to the Whip.

Lord Antony Harold "Tony" Newton, Baron Newton of Braintree, PC, OBE, DL did just that. 

One of the few Conservative peers to champion the vulnerable throughout the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill, he spoke out on plans to charge destitute mothers or fathers to use the Child Support Agency. Because of his determination, many thousands of parents, at their lowest ebb, facing the darkest of times, will now face a fee of £20 rather than £100 to get justice and security for their children.

He spoke out for disabled children, tried to save the social fund and opposed cutting legal aid for welfare cases. Very few others challenged their own government in this way. 

He leant on one arm when speaking - a technique I note David Cameron adopts at the despatch box. His wise words drew many a debate back into focus and whilst he by no means opposed the entire bill, that balance added integrity when he did. 

His rather sharp rebukes were offered with gentlemanly humour and decades of experience. As a previous Minister for Disabled people, he knew very well why Disability Living Allowance had been introduced and how it was designed to provide for the extra costs of disability -  regardless of means or employment status. 

He had a rather grumpy air, a dismissal of pomp and hypocrisy - from any party - that breathed life into the stuffy chamber. 

There were few in the House like "Tony" Newton. I am Spartacus, and I thank you. 

May your memory somehow influence today's inheritors of your legacy. They needed you more than they knew. 

RIP Lord Newton, (29 August 1937 – 25 March 2012

Scottish GPs call for Immediate end to "Fit for Work" tests

Some good news for us all to share! Please feel free to share this as widely as possible. If you'd like to take any action, and you live in England, Northern Ireland or Wales, do consider sending this to your own GP with a short request that he or she considers pressing for similar action.

You might also like to send the press release to the GMC here gmc@gmc-uk.org urging them to take similar measures.

If you use twitter, we'll be using the hashtags #Braveheart and #GPs as we Retweet articles about this.

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

BLACK TRIANGLE ANTI-DEFAMATION CAMPAIGN IN DEFENCE OF DISABILITY RIGHTS PRESS RELEASE

John McArdle                         0777 831 6875            

info@blacktrianglecampaign.org

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org

Scotland’s GP’s call for an end to controversial ‘fit for work’ tick-box tests carried out by French IT company ‘with immediate effect’

Scotland’s GP’s have today called to an end to the Government’s controversial computer-based ‘Work Capability Assessments’ carried out by French IT multinational Atos Origin for the DWP with ‘'immediate effect’:

http://www.bma.org.uk/images/slmc2011agenda_tcm41-212139.pdf
60 Lothian: That this conference, in respect of Work Capability Assessments (WCA) as performed by ATOS Healthcare, believes that:
i. the inadequate computer-based assessments that are used have little regard to the nature or complexity of the needs of long term sick and disabled persons
ii. the WCA should end with immediate effect and be replaced with a rigorous and safe system that does not cause avoidable harm to some of the weakest and most vulnerable in society

The Scottish-based disability rights and advocacy group Black Triangle was instrumental in getting the motion tabled at the Scottish Local Medical Committee’s (SLMC) conference at Clydebank.

Dr. Stephen Carty who works as a GP in the Leith area of Edinburgh and who is an active member of the campaign said:

“I welcome the support of the Scottish LMC conference on this matter.

This sends a ray of hope to some of the weakest and most vulnerable in society.

It also sends a clear message to other representative bodies including the General Medical Council (GMC) of the significant concerns shared by many GPs across the country.”

He said that “In my opinion the current contractual arrangements between the DWP and General Practice are unsustainable. The WCA as performed by ATOS is not an effective or safe method of determining "fitness to work" and this must be addressed.”

He continued: “All doctors are duty bound by the GMC to report any system or process that may be harmful to patients. The WCA is a harmful process. Scottish GPs have spoken: the GMC cannot remain silent on this matter any longer”

John McArdle, a founding member of Black Triangle said:

“The scandal of these assessments has gone on far too long. As a grassroots disabled people’s organisation we are over the moon that Scotland’s GP’s have spoken out so clearly and unequivocally in their condemnation. Our GP’s recognise the severe and avoidable damage that is being done to sick and disabled people through this brutal, draconian and profoundly unjust testing regime as they see it every single day. It must be halted now – ‘with immediate effect’.- before any further harm results and whilst the GMC launches a thorough investigation. They can no longer remain silent. They must act. ”

Just why DID Osborne cut pensions?

I was in that big London yesterday, so for the first time for as long as I can remember I didn't watch the budget.

I got back to my hotel , checked twitter and blow me down if George Gideon Osborne hadn't shafted pensioners! A #Grannypolltax according to twitter.

Now this is a sore point for disability campaigners. Kaliya and I often say "Damn their evil genius - as long as the pensioners are airbrushed from "welfare" no-one gives a damn".

The internet lit up with confused political editors "WHY?" They asked? Why did Gideon cut the 50p tax rate for millionaires and pay for it out of the pockets of "Decent Middle Class Pensioners"???"

Why indeed.

There is only one possible reason.

Gideon is in big trouble.

Many of us know this already and have been perplexed about why the media - so certain austerity would work - have given our baby chancellor such an easy ride. Debt is exploding (it will rise by over 150 billion MORE than he had predicted.)

Last month the deficit ROSE by 15 billion - compared to 8.8 Billion in the same month last year.

The welfare bill has RISEN by over 12 Billion since he took over at the Treasury. Yep, all this tough talk and eye-wateringly tough action crushing the very poorest and most disabled in our society has simply plugged the gap left by the rising unemployment benefits bill - youth unemployment for instance is now at the highest level since records began.

Growth, originally predicted to be over 2% came in at a pathetic 0.8%, whilst the Eurozone and US look well on the road to recovery.

I even spent most of last week asking Conservatives for signs that Osborne's plan was working. Not one replied.

So Gideon needs to find more money. And we all need to hurt more. Well, most of us. Not millionaires, obviously, they will get 40 thousand pounds a year, every year, MORE to spend.

Here's the key thing to remember : As you get older, you get more likely to vote Conservative. Every opinion poll since the dawn of time shows that a majority of over 60s will vote Tory. At the moment, they are the only age group saying that more will vote Conservative than Labour. This usually means one thing : Tories never, ever, shaft pensioners.

But he did. Because he's desperate.

As for the reaction today on all the front pages, something much, much more important has happened.

There is only one thing keeping polls close, only one thing separating the Tories from a 10 point clobbering : The economy. Gideon is seen as rather clever, a good strategist. He has set many a trap for the Labour front bench to walk into. He has saved the Tories at several key points. The public still overwhelmingly trusted them more than Labour on the economy.

He has consistently shown that despite howls of leftie rage, he understands his grassroots and can appeal to enough floating voters to keep the party ticking over.

Until yesterday.

This morning sees the Telegraph howling with disgust, the Mail and the Sun mocking his stupidity with dripping scorn. Will he recover? Will this simply be a minor budget blip, too far from the next election to make a difference? Or will today be the day the Conservatives lose their deadliest weapon?

It's too soon to tell, but surely, yesterday was as damaging for Gideon as Gordon Brown's 10p tax disaster? If it turns out to be Gideon's poll tax moment, then the outlook just got a lot brighter for those of us who don't believe in the growth fairy.

Click here for a montage of today's appalling front pages : http://twitpic.com/8zn92i

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As a final point, our trustafarian millionaire chancellor suggested that he will have to find a further 10 billion from the welfare budget. I have a message for him. "You can't, silly boy"

But then, there's no such word as can't is there? So here's another message "If you do George, tens of thousands of our most vulnerable children, pensioners and disabled people will die. That is not hyperbole. And I will make sure that you can never hide from it, every day, for the rest of your life."