I live in Tameside and this is my local area. It’s a very poor area with small pockets of the more wealthier individuals, and sometimes I view these vast differences much the same as Charles Dickens did when he wrote A tale of two cities. Those with the extra cash sometimes have no idea that so many are going without the very basics.
It’s not easy living in Tameside when you are poor, much the same as any other area in the country. Tameside is a name for an area which covers many small towns. Some of them quite rural, some of them urban.
There is a very high level of unemployment in Tameside combined with evil zero hour contracts, a very harsh DWP sanctioning regime and also universal credit which was piloted in Ashton Under Lyne.
We are hit from all angles. We have the bedroom tax to pay, the council tax supplement and combine this with the DWP sanctioning regeime it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Food banks aren’t everywhere and aren’t easily accessible for all. When you’ve got no money then you can’t even consider public transport, and the food that food banks provide are just meant to keep you going, mainly to stop you from starving. In my eyes it’s a travesty that food banks even have to exist. The government is quite proud of their existence when in reality they should be holding their heads in shame.
When people are constantly hungry they become ill. Your immune system becomes depressed and I’m sure there has been an increase in doctors surgeries and my local hospital which is Tameside hospital. I can bet that nurses and doctors couldn’t believe the amount of malnutrition in their hospital. It must be like stepping back into Victorian times and is truly shocking.
It’s a complete travesty that a hospital has to hand out food to patients to take home. It’s nothing short of a national disaster. But ask this government if they care and the answer will be no.
But it’s getting worse. The local authority has got to make more cuts and many of them are going to be targeted at the poorest in Tameside and the services that are offered to the poorest in Tameside. I urge Tameside council to think again. By doing this then the situation is only going to get worse. I realise that your budget is being cut but please don’t take the lifeline away from those in the most need.
Tell me Mr Cameron why are you doing this to the people of our country? This is nothing short of a national disaster and you Mr Cameron are breaching many basic human rights laws. Every human being should have access to food, water and a place to live.
I will write later about our regular weekly demonstration yesterday. And once again I want to thank you for your support.
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It’s almost like living in a third world country. The amount of homeless who can’t even claim benefits because they have no fixed address is ridiculous.
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We live in a really rich country. It is nonsense that children and their mother should be without food but after reading what Charlotte writes (and she does write sensibly) it shows the difficulty of making ends meet. The whole government and that includes local government should hang there heads in shame. None of the financiers or bankers ended up in jail and they should because after the city of London financial crash they are making twice as much and the poor are paying with their lives!! None of the parliaments promises to reign in with regulations
ever happened so the rich just get richer.
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Thank you! Yes they should be paying for their crisis and not the poor!
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just can’t find the words. Incandescent.
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Reblogged this on Same Difference.
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A friend’s relative is a [nursing] sister in A&E and she has seen many terrible [and amusing] things, however, this “battle-hardened & NO-nonsense” sister was reduced to tears when a mother & her two children came into A&E with malnutrition. Now this wasn’t neglect by the mother, it was denial of benefits!
So incensed by this, she said: “The MP’s that create these atrocities, need to come to ‘ground zero’ and see for themselves the fall out of their policies.”
Something I had never really thought of before: isn’t the fallout from the welfare “reforms” costing other authorities like the NHS etc – hence cancelling any savings on welfare?
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That is absolutely terrible and this should not be happening at all. I as you know campaign constantly against the DWPs harsh system and I am attending a conference tomorrow where I will be highlighting your comment. This is disgusting. I’m shaking with anger! Xxxx
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