Ok, I’ve been writing this blog for a long while now, but not as long as I have been holding demonstrations. It’s hard work, stressful and can seem like its never ending. For years it seemed few wanted to listen, we have an awful ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitude in this country, and it seemed that it was acceptable that vulnerable people were being targeted by a cruel and heartless system called Universal Credit.

Let’s get it right. Universal Credit doesn’t work, it’s purposely designed not to. What it is designed to do is to punish a person for being poor or disabled, even elderly. It is not designed to help. You can more or less take that thought out of your head, therefore taking away any expectation of having a system that supports you. It doesn’t, isn’t designed to and never will do for as long as it exists.

It’s ok when you arent caught up in the system or see the reality of the system to say ok, let’s pause it we can make it better. As long as this government is in power, and as long as this system exists this won’t happen, and it won’t be allowed to happen either.

Universal Credit is by default intended to be complicated to access because they don’t want people to access it. They want people off the unemployment register by any means possible, hence the difficulty applying. This also explains the extraordinarily long waiting time. It’s this long for a reason and that reason being is to put people off from applying. You’re telling me that they didn’t invest an extortionate amount of money creating this to create so called mistakes straight away. This leads me into telling you that there are no mistakes in the Universal Credit system. There never has been because it has all been created purposely and they only attempt to change something and call it a mistake because they’ve been caught out, they know that they’ve gone too far so have to appease the opposition.

Universal Credit is regarded a massive success by the government, because it is in their eyes. Remember this.

However this doesnt stop the cruelty. For over 4 years now I, and others have stood in cold weather talking to people, helping them, feeding them and even clothing them. Why? Because Universal Credit quite honestly has killed people, starved people and has driven people to suicide. The DWP staff often don’t have a clue about the rules, maybe some do and there are some good advisors out there, kudos to you if you are reading this and are one of them. Respect to you for keeping strong.

However the dark side of Universal Credit lurks behind any good advisor, because in the end the target driven, punishing system continues to put pressure on advisors to implement wrongful decisions towards claimants, and some don’t mind doing it.

I really don’t see how it would be possible to fix a system such as this, when it is designed by default to not work, to punish people for their poverty. The rules are impossible to keep, nevermind keep on top of because they are designed to fail people and the DWP changes the goalposts all the time.

Because the rules are so cruel and pernicious many vulnerable people have died. Every day, and every week I say both to myself and outside the Jobcentre ‘How many deaths will it take for anyone to take enough notice to make this a priority?’

And yes, I no longer see people because they have taken their own life’s. That will never leave me, a system so cruel that no one is punished when a life is lost, no one held really accountable. In the instances where there is a coroners report, the DWP and government just shrug their shoulders, put their fingers in their ears and more or less say ‘We can’t hear you’. They do this because they arent being held accountable.

I’m a member of the Labour Party, and I’m fully supportive of Jeremy Corbyn, he knows this, but I must ask him to rethink the pause and fix idea for Universal Credit. I have reasons for this.

Every pause so far has been ignored, our complaints about this have been ignored. When the government get the whiff of a suggestion of a pause being suggested by the opposition, they speed up the roll out and ensure that everything is done anyway.

We need a clear message to be sent to the government. We need to STOP the  Universal Credit roll out and reform it completely, even change the name and create a new system similar to the old one that has none of the cruel elements of Universal Credit. Because whilst Universal Credit exists then cruelty will exist. It’s doing the governments job perfectly for them.

Whilst you might not agree with me, please try to understand my reasons for my saying this. I’m very well versed on Universal Credit four years of experience have ensured this. I’m also well educated on the governments tactics, I study them because ultimately they’ve become my enemy, and I’m not stupid either. Campaigners like myself arent stupid. We often know legislation and how things work better  than some cabinet MPs.

I told the man that was told today that he wasn’t entitled to claim Universal Credit or any benefit by his so called advisor when he clearly is and will now be doing so, because the system wasn’t working for him.

I told the elderly couple, that they shouldnt have been called in for an appointment, that the system is cruel. one of which was disabled that had been called into the Jobcentre because someone had reported him for working whilst claiming ESA. He hadn’t of course, he’s unable to do so. This system has created a neighbourhood spy system, where a person is reported for no reason except that the government and the media have portrayed people like this gentleman to be a scrounger therefore undeserving,

I comforted the older people, who should be enjoying their retirement that they were being wrongfully treated because the system has been created to punish them.

I spoke to the young mothers with very young babies and told them that they shouldn’t have to be under the thumb of a cruel system that won’t allow them to  spend time with their young babies, instead they have to stick to the Jobcentres harsh regime.

We handed  out six food parcels to people to feed people, to basically keep them alive. People are dying a lot because of these reforms, but many aren’t being reported in the news.

Universal Credit represents everything that is wrong with this world. The government has been given full reign to target the poorest and most vulnerable, made them a target of hate for the media and some mainstream newspapers. No one has been held accountable and responsible for this and it is about time that they were.

We need to stop this system and stop it asap, because how many more deaths will it take? And lets get back a fair, non punishing system that actually helps people. Because help is what people need not punishment. Let the tax avoiding companies and people be punished not the innocent people that have been punished far too much.

I’m writing this blog from my winter office which is Ikea I can get free wifi and a free brew. Winter is an expensive time for many of us, thousands are making the choice of heating or eating. We can’t just put a sticking plaster over this and play platitudes. We need to challenge this as much as we can do.

 

 

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