Tag: Conservative

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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.

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GPs Won’t Be Responsible For Issuing Sick Notes Under Rishi Sunaks New plans

Every now and then I get so angry when the government reveals new plans for disabled people I have to delay writing this blog. Today is one of those days.

I’ve been writing this blog for over 10 years now and since then it’s been an endless onslaught of changes to the social security system that willfully marganalises and causes an immense amount of suffering to those already struggling and in need.

No one chooses to be disabled and neither does anyone choose to become ill, it’s an awful situation to be in however the government clearly believes that they do.

The difference between the haves and have nots is becoming much bigger as each day progresses. For example if a Tory government minister or indeed a prime minister becomes ill they can afford to pay privately for the best care to recover or manage their situation. An everyday regular person cannot afford to do so.

Some people never fully recover from an illness because they can’t afford to access the care that they need and they manage the best that they can.

Imagine being such a vile, awful person that constantly attacks those in need whilst smiling at the same time… Well Rishi Sunak did just that in an interview on Radio 5 this morning  April 19th 2024.

Sunaks clearly is not happy with doctors and consultants rightfully declaring that people are unfit to work. They do this having extremely good medical knowledge. They want the best for their patients.

Sunak plans to stop this and has declared that if his ideas come into fruition GPs will no longer be in charge of issuing sick notes. So basically a person with zero medical training will do so, most likely a DWP sadist that has no qualms doing this.

In the interview Sunak declared that  claim Britain has a ‘sick note culture’ and  people are being ‘unnecessarily’ written off work.

Sunak announced that there would be a review of the fit note system to reduce the number of people being declared not fit for work and that doctors shouldn’t be ‘over medicalising everyday challenges and worries of life’.

Reading this you’d have thought that he  has had some medical training to come to this decision but he hasn’t. He probably sat in a meeting with colleagues discussing how they can continue to hurl more punishment to already marginalized people afterall they regard disabled and ill people as ‘useless eaters’

He most likely sees this as a vote winner and back in the day it probably would have been, but people have clearly had enough of this now. There’s only so many times you can kick a person whilst they’re down without some retaliation.

And people will definitely rebel against these evil plans. I can bet there’s more in disgust at these plans than think they’re a good idea.

The ‘scrounger against scrounger’ way to manipulate the public isn’t working as well as it was before. Many of those that had this view now find themselves at the recieving end of it now

A Lot more people can see right through it and thank god they can.

What Sunak needs to do is to acknowledge that nobody chooses to be disabled and ill, it can literally happen to anyone at any time. He won’t and he never will.

His kind hates working class people especially those that are disabled.

One thing that I do know is that if you think these plans are dreadful they’ll become a whole lot worse if they win the next general election. Let’s vote them out.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/gps-no-longer-charge-issuing-32617749

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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.

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    DWP DENIES BONUSES TO FRAUD STAFF WHILST STILL ALLOWING REWARDS OR BONUSES FOR DETECTING FRAUD

    How can you tell if the DWP lying? When they deny something but then also allow it at the same time….Here we have an example of their hypocrisy and they never fail to disappoint do they.

    The team over at Benefits and Work submitted a freedom of information request asking the DWP if they are paying bonuses for detecting benefit fraud and if staff have to reach targets for criminal prosecutions. Rather predictably they denied both in a statement given in response to the FOI;

    “The DWP does not operate any bonus or incentive schemes aimed specifically at staff who are involved in detecting and investigating benefit fraud and overpayment cases. There are also no targets for Investigators to achieve a prescribed number of criminal outcomes.”

    Adding:

    “I can confirm that DWP operates an in-year reward and recognition scheme for all DWP teams and Individuals to be recognised for displaying exemplary behaviours or making a significant contribution to team performance. This applies to all colleagues across DWP.”

    Their response does appear to rule out that there is a formal bonus system for detecting fraud or recovering money.
    But it does not rule out the possibility that teams or individuals can receive rewards for recovering large amounts of money for the DWP or prosecuting large numbers of claimants.

    We await further details of this.

    However we are wise to their lying ways, knowing that if they can get away with doing something by simply changing the wording they will.

    It is not acceptable in any way shape or form to issue bonuses or rewards for targets such as these. They create a system when a bonus or reward becomes more important than the wellbeing of already vulnerable claimants. They lead to false accusations, sanctions based upon lies knowing at the same time that many are unable to challenge their decision because they’re not strong enough to do so.

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    Thank you

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    No Blog This Week

    Hi folks sadly they won’t be a blog this week I’ve had a really stressful busy week

    I don’t like doing this but I do need a clear head because I don’t want to write a rubbish blog post.

    I’m struggling to pay my home internet bill which is essential for blogging, researching and helping people which I’ve been busy with this week.

    Thanks to all of my supporters every share helps to raise huge public awareness of how life is for so many of us. Believe it or not some people aren’t aware of how people are suffering under this Tory government.

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

    Thank you so much

    Charlotte x

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    Half A Million Universal Credit Recipients Sanctioned In Last Year



    According to the latest DWP statistics that have been released reveal that 522,690 UC claimants have been sanctioned in the previous year to July 2023.

    They show that in  July 2023  49,000 new sanctions were applied.

    These figures are very concerning with 6.48% of the claimants sanctioned is now almost reaching the peak rate in October 2022.

    According to the statistics 96.5% of sanctions were applied for failure to attend or participate in a mandatory interview.

    However these statistics don’t reveal the claimants reasons for not attending or participating in mandatory interviews.

    One of the most common reasons for the above is not receiving any communication from the DWP that would inform them of these appointments. For more information about this please see a previous blog post titled ‘The case of the missing letters’

    Other reasons for non attendance include illness, childcare commitments and not being able to physically attend an appointment.

    Of course claimants can appeal these decisions but it isn’t easy to do and many still don’t know that they can do this.

    It’s also important to know that sanction decisions are made by work coaches and are often based upon opinion not fact.

    For example if they explain to their work coach that they couldn’t attend because of illness, the work coach will decide if this is a good enough reason to do so.

    Also in the event that an appointment letter hasn’t been received by the claimant the onus is on the DWP to prove that it’s been delivered.

    Of course they can’t prove this, indeed I’ve helped in cases when the letters hadn’t been sent in the first place and I actually saw them still in a claimants paperwork.

    It’s especially concerning that we are going through a cost of living and energy cost crisis. The prices of everything appear to be rising daily and many essentials are no longer affordable.

    The cost of turning heating on is also impossible for many, and as we are heading towards what will be an extremely cold winter being sanctioned is unnecessarily cruel.

    Despite the right wing media portraying the amount of Universal Credit is too much in reality payments are already barely enough to survive on.

    It’s also vital to know that debts such as council tax debt repayments and suchlike are garnished from UC  payments before they receive them. This leaves claimants with barely enough to buy the very basics needed.

    As a result of this an ever increasing amount of people, working and not working are becoming dependent upon food banks. Food banks are also struggling to keep up with the increasing demand because of the cost of living crisis, leaving many that used to donate food unable to do so anymore.

    Sanctioning already vulnerable people in the midst of a very serious cost of living crisis and a cold winter is beyond cruel.

    Taking away a person’s very means of survival is totally unacceptable, with the ramifications of this lasting a long time, some never recover from it.

    We need to start campaigning against sanctioning again because there’s never been a more important time to do so.

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    Thanks to everyone that reads and shares my blog posts, without you this wouldn’t be possible.

    Please share this post because it raises awareness which is much needed at the moment.

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    Government Plans To Stop All Social Security Payments For Claimants If Seen Not Making Enough Effort To Find Employment

    It appears that the government is going full throttle with their let’s punish unemployed people as much as possible until they give up plans.

    They now plan to completely stop unemployed claimants of all of their social security payments if they appear to be refusing to look for employment.

    Not content with this if their plans come to fruition they will also be stripped of their right to free prescriptions and discounted bus travel, the Chancellor has announced.

    According to the Chancellor this will be the biggest welfare shake-up for a decade.

    If they appear to be making no effort to find work will be kicked out of the system after six months.

    Those who do engage but have still not found a job after 18 months will be forced to take on work or forfeit their benefits.

    According to Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, the reforms should be seen as a “huge investment” in employment, rather than a “savings exercise”.

    Yeah right it’s all about saving money and making the poorest and most in need pay the most financially.


    As part of the proposed reforms claimants that claim the basic rate of Universal Credit who are fit to work but refuse to engage for six months will have their claims closed completely.

    I repeat the government will also take away ALL of their monthly allowance and their rights to receive  free NHS prescriptions, dental care, legal aid and bus and rail discounts.

    I don’t need to say how much of a dangerous precedent this is setting. Many decisions made by DWP work coaches are based on their opinion and are not based on fact.

    So if in their opinion they aren’t making enough effort All and I repeat ALL of their payments will stop.

    If this goes ahead they will literally leave people to starve, live in cold damp properties and force thousands onto the streets.

    We already know Job Coaches aren’t always sympathetic towards claimants that are struggling even when they are ill or have other genuine reasons as to why they’re struggling.

    If in their opinion it’s not good enough every payment could be stopped. As we know there is a shortage of well paid suitable employment.

    People just can’t accept any job especially if their circumstances don’t allow them to.

    I know I’m repeating myself here but I do feel that this will push thousands of people over the edge, living in distress unable to cope.

    The government may as well just admit their massive hatred for unemployed, vulnerable and disabled people.

    The very fact that they want to take money away from people leaving them with absolutely nothing just to save them money is about as low as they can go.

    Under no circumstances should the public be punished for the shit decisions the government has made. The UK is in a mess, going through a recession, even though they won’t admit to this.

    Foreign countries no longer want to invest in the UK and who can blame them. The UK stock market is in a really bad shape and still the government refuses to do anything about this, hell they don’t even want to admit it.

    Unemployed people haven’t wrecked the UK and they certainly shouldn’t be punished for their mistakes either.

    It’s virtually a death sentence and this needs to be challenged by everyone right now and with the greatest urgency because people will die and this is no exaggeration.

    And yes I’m not just angry I’m furious.

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    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.

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    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, child poverty, conservative government, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, 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 budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, sanctions, 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

    Taking This Week Off

    Hi folks I hope you’re as ok as you can be.

    This week’s been pretty rough for me so I’ve made the decision to have a break from blogging this week.

    I don’t do this often but I feel that all things considered it’s the best decision for me.

    My thoughts and prayers are with Tony Husbands family who passed away unexpectedly this week.

    His work was amazing always funny and spot on and I’m sure he’ll be missed by his colleagues over at Private Eye.

    Here’s one of his cartoons.

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    Proposed Stricter Work Capability Plans Set To Cause Distress And Harm To Disabled People

    Rather unsurprisingly the government has recently announced their proposed plans to reform work capability assessments. Using the guise of their new so called “mission to “support people into work”.

    Why will these changes cause distress and harm?

    Putting even more pressure upon already vulnerable disabled people causes an anxiety like no other. Imagine having the fear that you could be sanctioned for being physically or mentally unable to comply to job search requirements constantly hanging over you.

    It’s already hard enough trying to cope with day to day life when disabled and putting more pressure upon them will, I fear push many into illness or worse.

    Disability charities and campaigners have been calling for reforms to work capability assessments for a long time now. These assessments cause huge distress for disabled people as a whole and those with mental health conditions.

    The DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) announced earlier this year that they planned to scrap said health assessments by 2028. Instead they’ve pushed forward these changes with gusto.

    According to prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “Work transforms lives – providing not just greater financial security, but also providing purpose that has the power to benefit individuals, their families and their communities.

    He went on to say “That’s why we’re doing everything we can to help more people thrive in work – by reflecting the complexity of people’s health needs, helping them take advantage of modern working environments, and connecting them to the best support available.

    He also forgot to mention the truth that work does not transform lives for disabled people, it’s not a cure for disabilities and these plans will make life as a whole worse because of the added pressure that will be put upon them to comply.

    Despite what Sunak claims minimum wage and zero hour employment do not give people financial security. They barely earn enough money for able bodied people to live on let alone disabled people who need more financial support to survive from day to day.

    Sunak talks about ‘modern work environments’ whatever they may be as if they’re the answer to everything but in reality it’s very different.

    I doubt he knows what these ‘modern work environments’ are after all he’s never had a real minimum wage job himself. He hasn’t got a clue.

    I suspect that once in operation the DWP will ram up the pressure for job search requirements for disabled people to a level unseen before.

    What support will the government supply for disabled people?

    From experience not much if any at all. The government and DWP like to spin proposals like these round using fancy words and language which is meaningless and nothing but word salad.

    To be honest I don’t know anyone that has a minimum wage or zero hour contract that can positively say that their work has provided them more financial security.

    Thousands of people that are forced to claim Universal Credit (UC) are dependent upon food banks and the kindness of family and friends to survive.

    The UK now has more children living in poverty than we have seen in modern times. We also have more disabled people having to go without meals or care that they desperately need.

    NHS hospitals and services are being run to the ground, we have schools at risk of collapsing because the government failed to fix the concrete problem years ago and they expect us to believe that they care about disabled people.

    Truth is as I’ve said many times before they don’t care. All the government cares about is saving money and not spending any on disabled people.

    The government also likes to throw around ‘benefit fraud’ especially when related to disabled people. It’s extremely hard to qualify for disability benefits in the first place and even more so trying to ‘fool’ the system.

    They need to concentrate on their tax dodging pals instead.

    Not all disabilities are visible and everyone with a disability should be treated with kindness and support both emotionally and financially.

    I know that this will never happen but I can dream can’t I.

    Anela Anwar, chief executive of the anti-poverty charity Z2K told the Big Issue “Disabled people are already disproportionately likely to be in poverty, and these proposals will only make this worse. The Health and Disability White Paper recognised that the work capability assessment is not fit for purpose – yet DWP is now consulting on plans to make it even stricter.

    “This will inevitably lead to seriously ill and disabled people losing vital income, and being forced to look for work they can’t do or be sanctioned. Government must think again and provide financial stability and support to seriously ill and disabled people on low incomes, not yet more cuts and threats.”

    The consultation’s proposals include reflecting “improved employer support in recent years for flexible and home working” – meaning a person with a disability is more likely to be approved as ‘fit to work’ during a work capability assessment.

    These proposed changes are due to come into force in 2025. Soon after the government will proceed with their plans to scrap the work capability assessments. People will instead be assessed for a new health element of universal credit during personal independence payment (PIP) assessments.

    Thanks to the Big Issue and DPAC and DNS for previously reporting upon this.

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