Tag: audio riot

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Shoplifting Offences In England and Wales At Highest Level In 20 years

According to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shoplifting offences in England and Wales in 2023 have risen to the highest level since records began in 2003.

According to the data there has been more than 430,000 recorded cases last year which had increased by 37% in the year ending 2023 when compared to 2022. This makes it the highest levels recorded since records started being kept in 2003.

James Cleverly responded by saying that although the police record it as a ‘sub threshold crime’ and it has a so called ‘corrosive effect’ on peoples confidence in the police. Its not surprising that he appeared to have zero sympathy for those effectively forced to shoplift due to various circumstances.

Julian Heyes, criminal defence lawyer and partner at Berris Law LLP went on to say ” The release of the recent shoplifting figures simply demonstrate that the years of austerity and cuts in policing have meant that the investigation of these so called minor offences have long since been neglected and ignored”

“The police cannot be blamed for this as they, much like the rest of the criminal justice system are on their knees. The cost to the high street is immeasurable and causing shops and businesses to close or restrict access to customers, not to mention the horrendous risks that members of staff have to take when challenging shoplifters”

The truth is that shop lifting is rising for various reasons including and not excluding others: The increasing cost of living, high energy bills, low wages, less than adequate social security payments, increases in mortgage repayments, social security payments being too low and badly paid employment.

Whilst many people with addictions shoplift to fund their habits there’s very little support given to them to conquer their addictions thus the circle of offending continues.

Let’s be clear, very few people actually want to shoplift its a situation they find themselves in through desperation and is usually the last option that they can take after exhausting other avenues, they’re desperate and see this as a last resort.

We all appreciate and acknowledge that there are foodbanks that help people but not everyone can access them or can wait until the next time they’re open. People are driven by hunger and distress and we live in desperate times which is entirely the governments creation.

The UK has a government hell bent on lining their own pockets and their business and personal friends with money that has been taken from the public purse. There’s been a sharp decline in the physical and mental wellbeing of the working class and mortality levels are rising. The constant stripping of funding to local councils has also paid a huge part in this and town centres aren’t being cared for like they should be because theres no longer the financial means to do so. This has a direct impact upon the high street.

The solution to this is quite simple and to be honest basic economics. For a society to succeed and thrive there has to be financial investment into the public, the more money they have to spend undoubtably benefits their general health it also helps to transform the areas that they live.

It’s easy to blame a shoplifter for shoplifting, and I don’t condone violence towards retail staff. The blame lies totally at the governments feet. Society as we knew it has been broken by the current government, the amount of desperate and hungry people are at their highest in modern times, desperate people are forced to take measures that they would previously have never dreamt of doing.

Hurl your anger at the government and not Joe Public.

Photo by Marlene Leppu00e4nen on Pexels.com
Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, 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, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, 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 metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, 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, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Cruel Severe Disability Group Assessment System Exposed

At last the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) has revealed the details of their appalling new system that assess claimants that are in the severe disability group.

As we know every person’s circumstances are different depending upon their diagnosis and entry to this group may be based on and is not exclusively

Having medically precise definitions that are not connected with the benefits system :

Having information that only a claimant or carer will know however a specialist will still have to provide details:

Having availability of specialist services and access to said services  where the claimant lives

And unbelievably no clear criteria given  at all.

    There is also great concern that their distinct lack of clarity on the overlap between the Severe Disability Group and the light-touch review system for PIP will cause claimants to be wrongly assessed and treated.

    We can only imagine how disastrous this will be for severely disabled people which gives me great concern for their well-being.

    God help us they certainly have no regard for the lives and well-being of extremely vulnerable people.

    Many claimants and disability charities are sharing their concerns that the creation of their planned separate group of severely disabled claimants will be directed purely at reducing future payments for those that they allege are not as severely disabled.

    And there lies the real reason for the creation of this new group. It’s all about the money and how to take away as much as they can take away from vulnerable people to line their own greedy pockets.

    It’s vile and inhumane.

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
    Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, 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, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland budget 2024, 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, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, 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, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

    Sanctioned At Christmas

    It seems from years of experience in such matters that the DWP like nothing more than handing out sanctions during the festive period.

    If that isn’t bad enough their reasoning for sanctioning people is mostly totally unreasonable, giving claimants targets that they can’t reach.

    In my eyes sanctioning a person is the cruelest thing to do to a claimant. No regard is given as to the health and wellbeing of them either, once the decision is made by their DWP work coach and sent off for approval it’s down to the claimant to appeal the sanction.

    Appealing a decision to sanction isn’t easy, it’s difficult and directly impacts their mental and physical health and a direct correlation between the two can be found. Please see my previous blog posts.

    Here are some examples of the reasons why claimants have been sanctioned. It’s gaslighting at its worst but hey the DWP has targets to reach.

    I’ve helped many people with sanction decisions. You might think that these are made up but they aren’t they’re the real deal.

    Sanctioned because claimants father had just died.

    Sanctioned because a claimants father had just passed away half an hour before the signing on appointment.

    They phoned their advisor up and were told that they had to attend their appointment. The claimant was waiting for the doctor to certify the death.

    Sanctioned because their baby died.

    A claimant sanctioned because they couldn’t attend their appointment due to their baby dying. They asked their work coach if they could rearrange their appointment but was refused. Instead they were told to bring the death certificate in to prove it.

    Sanctioned because a work coach made a mistake.

    Sanctioned because a work coach made a mistake in their records for an upcoming appointment. Luckily the claimant had kept the proof on their appointment which was given on an appointment card showing the time and date that they were given to attend

    The case of the missing letters

    Here’s a very common reason for sanctioning people.

    Sanctioned for not attending an appointment that they had supposedly been sent a letter for.

    The letter was never sent.

    The onus is on them to prove that the claimant recieved it. They couldn’t because they didn’t.
    Watch out for this one folks

    Sanctioned for attending a job interview.

    Sanctioned for attending a a job interview at the same time as a signing on appointment.

    They requested that their appointment be changed so they could attend their interview but their advisor refused.

    Important to know that they’d also sanctioned for not attending their interview.

    It’s a catch22 a no win situation except for the DWP

    Any reputable organisation would not threaten to sanction or indeed sanction people for the above reasons. They’d actually care about the people that they help.

    The DWP do neither, they don’t even care for their staff and it’s scandalous that they’re allowed to get away with this.

    As I’ve previously posted sanctioned rates are rapidly increasing.

    It’s important to remember that sanction decisions can be appealed and you must do this.

    A huge thank you to everyone for reading and sharing my blog posts. You make a huge difference when you do this and I can’t thank you enough.

    Please share my blog posts it does help lots!

    Like you I’m struggling to manage everything, I was hoping to be able to turn my heating on for a few hours on Christmas day for my daughter but that’s impossible now. Nor will I be able to provide a decent Christmas dinner.

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

    Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, 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, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland budget 2024, 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, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

    DWP Threatens Powers Of Arrest Also Wanting To Monitor Claimant Spending

    Well it appears that the DWP have been busy conducting a survey about the concerning list of proposed new powers they’re wanting to implement.

    These include:

    Trained DWP investigators having arrest powers


    Trained DWP investigators having search and seizure powers


    Collecting information about where claimants are spending money


    Apparently the DWP research findings reveal that a majority of the public questioned were in favour of every one of these measures being introduced.

    Combine this with the constant failing of the DWP system, it’s dire incompetence, lack of any unaccountability and data leaks the very suggestion that staff could arrest claimants and seize their possessions is likely to worry and cause distress for thousands of people.



    The draconian suggestion that the DWP could start looking at how claimants spend their money is also going to cause distress.

    George Orwell wasn’t wrong was he.

    This week the first King’s Speech promised proposals to “reform welfare and support more people into work” whilst giving no details of how they’re going to do this.

    It makes me wonder if the above are included in these supposed reforms but I hope they aren’t.

    I’d like to question the legality of their proposed plans, is it within the law for the DWP to access claimants bank accounts without permission? Would that in itself be a serious data leak?

    If this is allowed will people be sanctioned for spending their money on what the DWP could regard as being ‘wrong’, will they have a list of items that claimants won’t be allowed to purchase?

    I’d like to see these proposals being challenged by those that can do this.

    It’s hard enough having to live whilst claiming social security, the cost of living and rising energy costs have made everyday living much harder.

    Every day more people are forced to access foodbanks for help because they can’t afford to eat.

    Winter is also on it’s way and it’s pretty cold where I live, this will result in more people forced to live in cold damp homes

    Having a decent quality of life has become a long forgotten thing, a dream of the past and we deserve so much more than this.

    The sooner this corrupt government is out of power the better because the public can’t take much more.

    Thanks to Benefit And Work for their original reporting of this.

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    Thanks to everyone that reads, shares and has supported my blog and campaign throughout the years.

    Unfortunately I might have to finish blogging because I can’t afford to pay my website fees this year.

    I need to use the web host and plan that I use because it includes everything that my readers and subscribers like.

    It’s simple to use and is stress free for myself and of course you.

    Any help towards keeping my blog going will be very welcome, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having sleepless nights worrying about this.

    Thank you.

    https://gofund.me/abea8764

    Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, 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, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland budget 2024, 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, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, 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, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

    DWP Work Coach Shortage Unable To Cope With Increasing Unemployment. Safestyle Goes Into Administration.



    The PCS union that represents DWP workers have recently warned that there’s a “staffing chaos” at the DWP, with work coach roles being particularly affected. Meanwhile the government apparently seeks to hire thousands of new staff despite having just made hundreds of workers redundant.

    As a result of this unmitigated staffing chaos, additional “support measures” are supposedly being put in place in Jobcentres to manage the workload of work coaches.


    The support measures include reducing the frequency of work coach contact with some claimants from fortnightly to monthly and shortening some meetings from 50 minutes to 30 minutes.

    This will be welcomed by claimants that might have to travel quite a distance to their nearest Jobcentre.

    However here’s the kickback which effectively wipes out any supposed help offered. The Chancellor has announced an end to civil service expansion, with an immediate cap on the civil service headcount, with a view to reducing it to pre-pandemic levels.

    Go figure, it’s a disaster something that the government is very familiar with. They’ve proven time and time again that they’re incapable of managing anything with efficiently.

    With the DWP failing to manage its current workload with no let up in the foreseeable future, the very idea that tens of thousands of additional claimants can be removed from the LCWRA group and given effective support to help them into work is rubbish, a bare faced lie that they will be reminded of in the future.

    Basically it’s very clear to see  that the sole purpose of making the WCA much harsher is to save money and not to help claimants.

    Think about it, they don’t care about claimants especially disabled ones that are already in an extremely vulnerable position.

    Let’s take for example, approximately 680 staff have recently been made redundant by the window and door manufacturer and seller Safestyle.

    The business has gone into administration with no warning to its employees and the GMB union  expects up to 600 job losses.


    However on Monday, administrators Interpath Advisory said the number of redundancies was about 680.

    Sadly only 70 of the roughly 750 staff have been retained.


    Appallingly saff were unexpectedly texted to “down tools” on Friday evening and received news of the appointment of administrators on Monday in the car park of the company’s headquarters in Bradford, GMB said.

    They’ve been made redundant with immediate effect and told they won’t get another penny from the company.”

    GMB organiser Bob McNeill added: “Bosses didn’t even have the decency to let them into the building out of the pouring rain”

    This will result in at least another 680 people being made unemployed due to no fault of their own. As pointed out above they aren’t going to receive any more payment from the company.

    This is another 680 people that will put increased pressure on an already failing system that can’t cope with the demand.

    It’s clear to see that despite the government’s denial, the UK is going through a recession which combined with the cost of living and energy cost crisis is very concerning for everyone that owns a business, big or small.

    Every day more companies and small local businesses are forced to shut their doors which will also put even more pressure on the DWP system.

    It’s a disaster, heartbreaking for everyone affected but the government is doing what they do best, causing chaos and even more suffering for the poorest and most vulnerable.

    They need to go as soon as possible. I fear that they aim to cause as much chaos and confusion as they can before being forced to leave number 10.

    The damage they’ve done to this country is irreparable, it’s hard to come back from this if not impossible.

    https://gofund.me/abea8764

    covid 19, Decision maker, disability, DLA, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, food poverty, Free, government, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland,, Ken Loach, liz truss, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, PIP claim, poverty, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights

    Life in a northern town.

    Hi there I hope you are all ok and are trying to cope in these godforsaken awful times. Just when you think it’s got as bad as it can be the government comes up with something else to torment us.

    I’ve decided to write a blog similar to the ones that I used to do when I started out all those years ago. Back in the day things were bad but it’s a whole lot worse now.

    Life has certainly changed beyond recognition, services that we had to support people and communities are long gone, working class labour controlled local  authorities have had their funding stripped and it’s now virtually impossible to heat and eat.

    I often find myself walking around my local town remembering how lovely it used to look compared to now.

    It’s run down in parts mainly because the funding that used to be available isn’t available any longer. The government has provided some funding but it can only be spent on designated projects and not urgently needed ones. 

    It’s the same in most working class towns. Shops are shutting because people no longer have any spare money and have to concentrate on essential things.

    A good economy can’t be created by not investing in communities something the government fails to realise

    It’s easy to be quick to blame local authorities for the decline of our town centres whilst forgetting that it’s essentially the governments fault for denying much needed funding. If they don’t have the money it can’t be done can it.

    Anger should be directed towards the government for their part in the destruction of local communities.

    It’s a class war for sure.

    Back in the day myself and fellow campaigners DPAC and Black Triangle predicted that things would get bad and we weren’t kidding. I remember being called an extremist and I was making it up.

    We weren’t wrong were we.

    One thing I do know is that we’re all struggling at the moment and with autumn quickly approaching the worry of keeping warm is upon us.

    How will we manage? God knows but I predict there’ll be many casualties this year. It’s soul destroying but I fear that this too is becoming normalised just like foodbank usage has been.

    Despite all of the above I like the town that I live in, I can escape to the countryside by walking up the road and I appreciate it now that I’m able to do this.

    Keep strong everyone we can get through this because we’ve got each other and they can’t take that away from us.

    My photo
    anti social behaviour,, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, 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, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, 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, prime minister, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

    Life in a northern town.

    Hi there I hope you are all ok and are trying to cope in these godforsaken awful times. Just when you think it’s got as bad as it can be the government comes up with something else to torment us.

    I’ve decided to write a blog similar to the ones that I used to do when I started out all those years ago. Back in the day things were bad but it’s a whole lot worse now.

    Life has certainly changed beyond recognition, services that we had to support people and communities are long gone, working class labour controlled local  authorities have had their funding stripped and it’s now virtually impossible to heat and eat.

    I often find myself walking around my local town remembering how lovely it used to look compared to now.

    It’s run down in parts mainly because the funding that used to be available isn’t available any longer. The government has provided some funding but it can only be spent on designated projects and not urgently needed ones. 

    It’s the same in most working class towns. Shops are shutting because people no longer have any spare money and have to concentrate on essential things.

    A good economy can’t be created by not investing in communities something the government fails to realise

    It’s easy to be quick to blame local authorities for the decline of our town centres whilst forgetting that it’s essentially the governments fault for denying much needed funding. If they don’t have the money it can’t be done can it.

    Anger should be directed towards the government for their part in the destruction of local communities.

    It’s a class war for sure.

    Back in the day myself and fellow campaigners DPAC and Black Triangle predicted that things would get bad and we weren’t kidding. I remember being called an extremist and I was making it up.

    We weren’t wrong were we.

    One thing I do know is that we’re all struggling at the moment and with autumn quickly approaching the worry of keeping warm is upon us.

    How will we manage? God knows but I predict there’ll be many casualties this year. It’s soul destroying but I fear that this too is becoming normalised just like foodbank usage has been.

    Despite all of the above I like the town that I live in, I can escape to the countryside by walking up the road and I appreciate it now that I’m able to do this.

    Keep strong everyone we can get through this because we’ve got each other and they can’t take that away from us.

    My photo
    Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, 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, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, 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, prime minister, public transport, Republic Ireland budget 2023, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, 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

    PIP Telephone Chaos Set To Continue Until End Of Summer

    It appears that a lot of people have been contacting their MPs to raise their concerns about not being able to get their calls to the PIP enquiry line.

    As a result of taking action like this an increasing number of questions from MPs to ministers about problems with the line.

    Bravo everyone!

    One of the questions recently asked was from Labour MP Kerry McCarthy, this then resulted in Tom Pursglove, minister for disabled people who actually actually admit that the waiting times for PIP and ESA enquiry lines have been too long.

    Who’d have thought this… We’ve known this for a long time but ministers and MPs had previously been ignored.

    This in my opinion is a result of the action that you’ve taken, well done everyone.



    However Pursglove claimed that ESA call waiting times have begun to improve. He went on to say that the delays and chaos is set to continue until the end of the summer.

    Keep in mind that the proposed 600 new staff to be employed by the DWP could well have no medical training at all which if not will cause distress and harm.

    If this is the case we will have to continue to campaign for fair treatment and understanding for all disabled and ill people.

    The blatant discrimination which is constantly metered towards disabled and ill people is in my eyes horrific. No one should be treated like this let alone vulnerable disabled people.

    It’s vitally important to continue to contact your local MPs it can make a huge difference.

    It’s vitally important that we continue campaigning against this though, it raises awareness and can in some cases result in change.

    Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

    Huge thanks go to the team over at Benefits and Work for their hard work for original reporting of this.

    Thanks goes to everyone that reads and shares my articles it raises much needed awareness.

    If you’d like to keep updated with new blog updates click the button and subscribe. It’s free!

    If you like my work, can afford to and would like to contribute towards keeping my blog going there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

    Currently I’m trying to obtain photo ID and it’s impossibly expensive.

    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.

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    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.