Tag: audio riot

baby, benefit repayments,, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

New Cruel Universal Credit Sanction Traps Exposed

I’d like to say I was surprised upon hearing about a new sanction trap for Universal Credit (UC)) claimants but I’m not, afterall it’s not exactly the first time they’ve done this to unsuspecting claimants.

This time it’s been disguised as supposed help to move claimants into work.


The new scheme which has surprisingly been condemned by members of the DWP staff union PCS despite jobcentre workers are being offered a £250 ‘incentive’ to implement it.



The newly named Additional Jobcentre Support scheme requires UC claimants being forced by the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) to attend their allocated Jobcentre 10 times over a two week period.


Claimants that are unable to attend or failing to participate in one session will highly likely to lead to a sanction.



Undeterred however by the cruelty of this new scheme the DWP are being ‘trialed’ at 60 jobcentres across England and Scotland.

As already proven by myself and many other like-minded campaigners these so called trials are usually the start of a national roll out regardless if they’re successful or not.



To add incentive to roll out this terrible scheme the DWP are offering a £250 bonus in the form of a voucher “to recognise and reward jobcentre teams who furthest exceed their aspirational targets.”

These vouchers will be given to each member of staff in the best performing jobcentres.


No explanation has so far been given as to what the alleged “aspirational targets” consist of and if this involves taking people off benefitif claimants have failed to comply for whatever reason. Nor has the DWP commented if it involves sanctioning claimants or forcing claimants into unsuitable and insecure work.


The PCS union, which represents DWP staff commented saying that they have no doubt that the main purpose of the scheme is to make life harder for claimants, saying:

“Our members will see through this pilot for what it is – a government hellbent on making it more difficult for people to claim benefits and which will increase the risk of poverty for those customers who fall foul of this pilot. Asking more customers to travel more often into jobcentres does nothing to help our staff or their workloads and does nothing to help the customers find the work that they need.”

However as I have already stated this isn’t the first time that the DWP have issued financial targets to incentivise cruelty.

Previous examples of this are ‘Sandras Stars’ which consisted of a Jobcentre manager giving DWP employees a star on a leaderboard for every employee that ‘offloaded’ sanctioned a claimant.

https://wp.me/p1Awq-2cd Sandra’s Stars

And who could also forget this example back in 2015. Of course they denied that this happened but the truth was all too obvious.

If there’s one thing that the government likes doing the most is implementing cruelty to the poorest and most vulnerable the very people.

The government and their henchpeople the DWP target social security claimants the most because they’re less likely to fightback and demand they’re treated fairly.

Most are worn down with the constant compliance requests that they’re hounded with.

They know that people claiming any form of social security are already paying the highest price for the cost of living and energy bills prices.

Many are primarily focused upon trying to get by from day to day and are less likely to know their legal rights and how to appeal DWP decisions.

Let’s hope that the PCS DWP staff members rebel against the mandate given to them from the government and their managers. If they do they deserve our support.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

Please read, share, tweet and email this blog post. It’s vital that we raise awareness on this subject and many of the others that I have published previously.

Also a huge thanks for the support that you my subscribers and readers have shown me in the last week. I really can’t thank you enough, I couldn’t do this without you and I appreciate it.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

An Observation Of Life On The Streets Of Manchester

My ramblings.

First published a few years ago but nothing much has changed.

I notice a young homeless girl living on the street. She has her blankets and bags next to her ready for the night ahead.
She should be excited about life but instead she looks lost. She has a can of beer next to her, she says to numb the pain and cold.

She’s sat with a group of men, also homeless but seems detached from them. I ask her if she is ok, and she says that she is and that there’s safety in numbers.
She needs to keep safe. As a woman living on the streets life can be very dangerous. Even if you don’t like the people you are sitting next to you stay with them she says. They are her protection.

She wants to make enough money for a b&b for the night, but says she has given up all hope of finding a permanent home because she has addiction issues and feels unable to deal with them. She will one day she says.
After saying this her facial expression changes as worry weighs down heavily on her mind. A weight that she feels can’t be lifted at the moment.

Whilst we are talking a young man rushes past, earphones on looks anxious. Perhaps late for an appointment. He doesn’t notice the homeless girl sat near him. He’s self consumed with himself and his journey. She says that she sees this all the time.

Her wish, she says is that people would be nice to one another. She would like more people to say hello, but they don’t and she looks down again.

A lady walks past walking her dog. People stop and compliment her on her dog. They don’t notice the young girl, but they notice the dog. I feel that this is rather sad. A vulnerable human life appears to be less important.

A teenage boy stands next to the homeless girl. He says hello to her and asks her if she would mind if he plays some music and starts rapping. She welcomes it.

His rapping consists of the story of his life, that he has encountered prejudice, loss and also some lovely things.
People start to give him money, but instead of keeping it himself he gives it to the homeless girl. He tells her that she is important, that she is loved and not to give up.

He tells her that one day, life will get better because his did. She smiles and thanks him.
Maybe, just maybe that one act of kindness gave her the strength to carry on.
I’d like to think that she kept warm for that night.

Ashton Under lyne, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, cost of living, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, DLA, DPAC, DWP blog,, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, fuel poverty, government, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, liz truss, Mandatory reconsideration, poverty, sanctions, targets, Tax credits, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, Workfare

Disabled Woman Wins Court Battle With DWP
Site icon
Disabled Woman Wins Court Battle With DWP
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/sep/23/disabled-woman-wins-legal-challenge-against-dwp-over-automatic-benefit-deduction?CMP=share_btn_tw
Ashton Under lyne, baby, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, International Women's Day, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Energy Price Increases- How Are Pre-Payment Customers Going To Pay?

Annual energy bills are predicted to increase more £4,200 from January 2023. This will undoubtably cause extreme hardship on an enormous scale.

So far without a fully functioning government, Johnson, his ministers and prospective prime minister candidates are refusing to meet to discuss and implement a strategy and further government financial without government intervention.

No further government assistance offered.

Instead of meeting to discuss further plans and financial help conservative ministers are on holiday blissful in their knowledge that without intervention their actions will cause unseen suffering and worse.

Further price increases.

The consultancy Cornwall Insight have already predicted that energy price caps are expected to reach £4,266 a year for the first three months of 2023.

They also predict that energy bills could rise to £4,426 in April before eventually easing.

Also predicted a week ago by the consultancy the energy price cap was expected to rise to £3,600 a year from January 2023.

It is now predicted that the energy cap will increase to £3,582 from October, an increase of £200 on its last forecast. It expects bills to begin easing next summer, to £3,810 in the third quarter and then £3,781 in the final three months of next year.

Compared to the price cap in October 2021 which was£1,400 a year, these price increases are obscene and totally avoidable.

People can’t afford to pay.

The reality is that there are already thousands of people that were already unable to meet every day household expenses, many of which are living in substandard housing, are homeless and living in temporary accommodation or renting a room or property at already extortionate prices.

There’s absolutely no way that anyone living in this situation will be able to cut costs anywhere to be able to pay for energy on top of food costs.

Whilst the idea of the don’t pay campaigns that have been created is on paper a good idea in real life it’s more complicated than that.

The problem with pre-payment meters.

Most people forced to live on extremely low incomes are already tied into pre-payment meters provided by the energy companies.

As well as having to automatically pay a daily standing charge they don’t have the option not to pay or to default on payments.

To put it simply if they don’t pay their energy supplies are cut off leaving them unable to heat and light their homes and to have any quality of life at all.

For those that pay their bills by direct debit, defaulting on their payments could affect their credit rating even if they pay a reduced amount.

Energy companies could also class them as bad payers and this could result in obtaining credit extremely hard.

It’s going to be a cold winter.

What on earth are people reliant upon pre payment meters going to do? They can’t magic money out of nowhere like the government does when they want to give tax breaks to their pals.

Their only option will be to use coats, bedding and just about anything they can find to keep warm whilst putting their health at risk.

Not forgetting that most people claiming social security will already be receiving a reduced amount due to various debts being garnished from their payments and benefit sanctions.

The poorest cannot be ignored anymore.

Alongside other campaigns the plight of the poorest and most vulnerable needs to be prioritized and help needs to be offered to everyone that require assistance.

Warm banks aren’t the answer nor is finding a warm spot to sit all day. It’s totally unrealistic to believe that this is the answer. At the very best they’re a sticking plaster that keeps falling off.

Government payments.

Everyone dependent on a low income is already well aware that the payments promised by the government offer little help when compared to the actual increase in energy and cost of living increases.

For these payments to realistically help they now need to increase dramatically for it to even start to chip away at the damage caused by the ever increasing energy costs.

The poorest are already suffering.

Food Banks are already experiencing a downturn in donations, some of them having no food and unable to offer any help to people dependant upon them.

There is also an ever increasing amount of people unable to afford to travel to food banks. For various reasons including and exceeding disability, illness and public transport costs they’re unable to collect desperately needed food. At the same time charities and organisations are unable to offer any kind of delivery service.

Their plight will be ignored

I suspect that the plight of the poorest will be ignored by those in power. After all their more concerned with punishing the poor than helping everyone that needs their assistance and correcting their mistakes.

The UK is a broken country, a ticking time bomb ready to explode. The only thing we do know is that the government won’t be there to pick up the pieces.

They don’t care they never have.

We must continue to press the government to reduce the obscene energy increases.

Instead of settling for ideas such as warm banks we need to make our voices heard.

It’s totally unacceptable that people are going to be forced into such extreme poverty that many may not survive the cold, harsh winter.

It really doesn’t have to be this way.

Please share my blog it really helps to raise awareness and shows solidarity to those suffering at the hands of this cruel government.

I receive no payment for any of the work that I do and for my campaign.

If you can afford to and would like to donate to keep both going there’s a donation link at the top and side of this blog post.

Every penny helps me to continue with both.

A huge thank you to everyone that has and does support my campaign and blog. I really appreciate it and I couldn’t do it without you.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, International Women's Day, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

DPAC #AudioRiot Protest Week Of Action.

DPAC (Disabled People Again Cuts) are holding a series of rallies starting on Friday 24th September at 7.30 to 8.30pm to protest against the terrible treatment metered against disabled people by the government and their allies. They will not be silenced and will be heard.

Join these days of action to see how you can become involved in a full array of resistance demos taking place over the next few weeks including The World Transformed, Peoples Assembly,Manchester DPAC and the Campaign Against Empty Homes.

They will also hear from experts by Experience Commission on Social Security and the New Economics Foundations Living Income Coalition about building towards a better social security system.

The full details are here https://dpac.uk.net/2021/09/friday-24-september-stopandscrapuniversalcredit-online-rally/ Speakers include Paula Peters (DPAC and Unite Community, La Toya Grant (commission on Social Security, Ellen Clifford (Author of The War on Disabled People) with solidarity messages from Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Marsha De Cordova and Ken Loach.

Following this the next days of action are as follows;

Saturday 25th September is going to be a national day of local actions please see their Facebook pages for further details.

Continuing on Monday 27th September https://dpac.uk.net/2021/09/local-actions-cancelthecut-20more4all/

Tuesday 28th September at 9.00am there will be an online Twitter storm for everyone to join in online.

Audio riot protest will be taking place at 11.30 am meeting first at Kings Cross Station London and will be live-streamed for everyone to join in. Hashtags to be used are #AudioRiot #20More4All #CancelTheCut

https://dpac.uk.net/2021/09/28th-september-westminster-join-the-dpac-audioriot-protest-for-20moreforall-on-the-streets-and-online-plus-local-actions-on-25th-september/

Thursday 30th September day before the £20 Universal Credit cut will be implemented DPAC are going to be protesting opposite Number 10 Downing Street London at 5.30 pm

Details here https://dpac.uk.net/2021/09/cancelthecut-stopandscrpuniversalcredit-protest-30-september/

Hashtags to use are #AudioRiot #20More4All #CancelTheCut

It’s hugely important that as many of us attend these days of action as possible in any way that we can albeit online or in person. DPAC are long time friends and supporters of myself, my campaign and this blog. They want change, and they need to be heard by everyone.

DPAC have an amazing track record of holding effective online and physical demonstrations, they aren’t scared of making a noise and being heard.

Please support them if you can.

Photo credited to Vince Laws and I have full permission to share.

Please note, a normal blog post will be following this important post. I’ll be updating it with how I’m coping etc.

Please read, share and tweet my blog. Its very important that we continue to get the truth out there.

A massive thank you to everyone that reads, shares and supports my blog and campaign. I really couldn’t do this without you.

I don’t receive any funding for the work that I do and to say its a struggle is an understatement.

For anyone that would like to donate theres a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

Thank you.