Whilst most of us are struggling to keep warm this winter because of the ever increasing energy costs Braverman has claimed £25K for energy bills for a house that she doesn’t use.
Scandalous isn’t it, completely brazen such is their attitude towards the cost of living and energy cost scandals.
Meanwhile, the energy bills support scheme which saw households getting around £66 taken off their bills each month has come to an end in March 2023.
This will undoubtedly result in vulnerable people unable to turn their heating on which is still very important because it’s still cold.
As stated in the above photo people have died or become ill from hypothermia and hypothermia related illnesses and will continue to do so.
Not everyone can travel to organised warm places, they’re not a solution because their homes will still be cold upon returning.
Thousands are dependent upon food banks to be able to eat a meal, many are unable to cook meals because of high energy costs.
Mortality rates are almost definitely going to increase and the government yet again want to force disabled people into work.
God help us, there’s no levels the government won’t go to to punish the working class for simply existing.
They’re monsters of the worst kind with not an ounce of dignity, compassion and honesty between them all.
Like all monsters they’ll continue to do so until they’re defeated and we must do this.
Everyone needs to remember their cruelty at the upcoming local elections. Not voting will enable them to continue as they are doing now.
It’s been predicted that the Tories could lose up to 1,000 seats. Let’s hope this happens..
Check on your friends and neighbours to see if they’re ok because at the moment we have only each other to rely on.
As reported by Benefits And Work the EHRC (Equality And Human Rights Commission) has broken its promise to investigate the role that the DWP (Department of Work And Pensions)have played in the deaths of vulnerable claimants. This has left the DWP not needing to answer any questions as to the role that they played in their deaths
Instead the EHRC are now asking the DWP to create new policies in relation to claimants with mental health issues and learning difficulties. This will replace the promised investigation.
This is despite promises made by the EHRC in 2019 that they would start an investigation into the deaths of vulnerable claimants.
The EHRC used the pandemic as an excuse to not start the investigation.
The Commission has now declared that it only intends to enter into a Section 23 agreement under the Equality Act 2006. This will oblige the DWP “to commit to an action plan to meet the needs of customers with mental health impairments and learning disabilities.”
Keep in mind that the DWP are a much larger organisation that receive more funding than the EHRC. This will no doubt result in the DWP will dragging their heels in creating so called policies that will be nothing more than good intentions that probably won’t be actioned upon.
Whilst I don’t have any details as to why the EHRC have changed their minds I can say that at best they’re very niave putting far too much trust in the DWP to do the right thing.
The DWP has an appalling track record of discrimination against vulnerable claimants, ignoring their basic human rights and making life extremely hard for them.
Despite my disappointment with the EHRC’s decision I’m not surprised. The DWP will do anything to avoid any actions taken against them making promises that they’ve got no intention of keeping whilst doing the bare minimum to comply.
Once again thanks go to Benefits And Work for their hard work and inspiring this article.
A huge thanks to everyone that likes, shares, reads and supports both my blog and campaign.
I don’t receive any payment for the work that I do and it’s a struggle to say the least.
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The DWP is effectively trying to block essential and possibly life-saving university research. This research undertaken by Glasgow University with it’s purpose is to find out whether there is a link between benefits sanctions, ill health and suicide.
The research involves Glasgow University linking anonymised DWP data with NHS records. This could and most likely reveal that people that have been sanctioned have been prescribed antidepressants and people that already have existing conditions have resulted in their health declining. The research will also reveal the figures for those attempting to take their own life and sadly for those that have taken their own life.
When Glasgow University informed the DWP that they were starting their research in 2019 the DWP suggested that they would support the project. However since the project began the DWP have continually placed barriers up to try and stop this research to continue.
This comes as no shock to campaigners like myself. The DWP know how badly sanctioning people affects both their physical and mental health..
The DWP have spent years giving excuses to Glasgow University demanding that the research needed tighter security which they complied with. After these measures were put in place the DWP moved the goal post again insisting that Glasgow University must apply for permission to do the research all over again.
This has caused huge delays for the project. Professor Nick Bailey stated that the research should have been completed in 2020, but it has yet to start.
The chair of the Commons work and pensions committee, Stephen Timms told the Guardian “This emerging pattern of obstruction suggests that a culture of secrecy is entrenched in DWP. It must wake up to the harm that it is doing and commit to a new spirit of openness.”
There’s little doubt that the government will either delay or prevent any project that reveals the reality of how people suffer when they’ve been sanctioned.
It will continue to be the case until politicians stop ignoring the immense suffering of thousands of people. Although there are some politicians that don’t ignore this such as Debbie Abrahams who regularly speaks and campaigns against the cruelty of the DWP and their policies.
Ignoring the suffering of thousands of people will result in thousands more deaths. What is needed is for the opposition to start actively opposing the government on DWP related issues.
This isn’t likely to happen in the near future and MPs like Debbie Abrahams are loan voices in parliament trying extremely hard to change things. In the absence of this sadly DWP related issues and problems are going to get worse.
What is needed is for the opposition instead of concentrating about the ‘world of work’ they need to also concentrate and campaign on behalf of those unable to work.
Something has to happen and soon. With energy bills set to rise again in April and people already struggling I fear that thousands will die as a result of being cold and hungry.
It’s impossible to budget money when you have none in the first place
The conservative government has blood on their hands and they’ll never be able to wash it away.
A massive thank you to everyone that subscribes, reads and shares my articles. This makes a massive difference and it raises awareness.
This week was the first aniversary of my sons death. I’ve found it very hard to cope with but I’m still here.
Thank you to Benefits And Work for uncovering this story and for the hard work that they do.
I don’t receive any payment for my work and to say it’s a struggle is massive understatement. I’m reliant upon donations to continue to blog and campaign.
If anyone would like to donate and can afford to there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
A huge thank you to everyone that has helped me. You’ve literally kept this going and I’m eternally grateful.
I have to apologise for the lack of a blog post this week. I woke up on Thursday morning feeling ill. This lasted a couple of days and today I woke up with a migraine.
I know that I should have published a blog this week but I wasn’t physically capable of doing so and I will catch up with my blog in the next few days.
As many of you will understand it’s virtually impossible to do much whilst having a migraine, theyre bloody awful.
I will be publishing a blog post about the cost of living crisis etc this week. Like you I’ve been very worried about how on earth I’ll manage once April arrives.
Dear subscribers and guests it’s been a tough year for so many of us, I know it, I feel it.
This year was probably the worst one of my whole life. My son was tragically taken away from me mid pandemic. It hurts more than anything else that I’ve experienced.
Whilst we were abiding to the social distancing rules, the Tory government were busy partying and carrying on as if nothing had happened.
This was a case of we’ll do whatever we want sod the public. They don’t care about us. My son had to have a very reduced socially distanced funeral whilst they were enjoying life.
To be honest this is a perfect example of how they treat us. They never spare a thought for us so don’t expect them to either.
Christmas is a tough time for so many reasons wether it be for financial reasons or bereavement. I’m with you, I feel it.
I haven’t put a Christmas tree up this year. My daughter and I decided that it doesn’t feel right so we put some extra lights on his memorial table.
So much pressure is put on society to have the big tree, the decorations and lots of good food. The truth is that so many of us can’t afford to buy the big tree, pay for the electric to light the Christmas lights and affording a big meal with all the trimmings is near impossible.
Poverty doesn’t end at Christmas, if anything it’s amplified for reasons that I’ve already stated.
You do Christmas how you want to do it. Try and ignore the pressure to comply to what everyone expects. If you want to turn the TV off and read a book instead then do it.
If you want to spend Christmas day doing nothing then do it. Be kind to yourself.
I used to put so much pressure upon myself to get everything right for others to see. Loosing my son has made me realise that none of this really matters.
Like many of you I’m going to find Christmas tough, but I will get through it.
So many families are going to be going without the Christmas that they were used to. The pandemic has caused thousands of people to loose their jobs and it’s also resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.
Thousands of families and individuals are newly dependant upon foodbanks to keep them going. It’s not easy asking for help and the food isn’t the best. Hopefully one day it will get better.
How do you explain to your children that Father Christmas can’t come this year? It’s heartbreaking.
What we can do is be there for each other, talk to friends on social media, text or face to face (socially distanced of course).
We will get through this. Lots of love to you all.
Please read, share and tweet my blog. This makes a massive difference and it raises so much awareness.
A huge thank you to everyone that supports and has supported my blog this year. I really couldn’t do it without you.
I don’t receive any payment for the work that I do and to say it’s tough is an understatement.
For anyone that would like to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
As we quickly approach Christmas and a cold hungry winter once again the DWP are going to bring back the cruel sanction system.
They never miss a chance to make Christmas even more harder do they.
Sanctions relating to the claimant commitment had been suspended due to the pandemic.
It is very clear that the DWP are now back to business including sanctioning sick and disabled claimants.
According to Touch base the DWP are quoted as saying“This week a change was made to bring the obligations in new style JSA and ESA benefits in line with those in Universal Credit”
“This will mean that, as is the case for Universal Credit claimants, if someone in receipt of new style JSA and ESA fails to do what they have agreed to in their Claimant Commitment without good reason – such as having or caring for a child, or a change to a health condition – their payments may be reduced for a set period. This is known as a sanction.”
“All Claimant Commitments are tailored to a person’s personal circumstances and local jobs market, and claimants affected by this change are being informed of the introduction of the new process. Sanctions are only applied as a last resort when a claimant is not engaging with the commitment they have made. If someone disagrees with a decision they can ask for it to be looked at again.”
This is all rather scary as the government have now passed on the onus of sanctioning decisions to the Job Coaches and not a decision maker.
Sanctions aren’t always a last resort decision and I’m speaking from years of experience helping people to appeal sanction decisions. Also since when have the DWP taken children into consideration… They haven’t.
I’m sure that many of you reading this have had so called Job Coaches that take an obvious dislike you you. I’ve also experienced this and I know exactly what it’s like. It’s soul destroying.
I’ve experienced having a Job Coach that clearly hated me. She would find holes in everything that I did and tried to sanction me at every opportunity that came her way.
Luckily I was able to make a complaint about her which involved my local MP.
I changed Job Coaches but she would glare at me every time that I walked past her. I have mentioned this in a previous blog post.
My question is this… How many innocent people are going to be wrongfully sanctioned because of this very reason?
It’s also worrying that there could well be even more sanction targets (offloads). Therefore the need to reach these targets will cause the suffering and distress of thousands of people.
Basically the whole sanctioning process could well be ramped up a whole lot more..
Opinion isn’t fact and there are many valid reasons why a claimant has not been able to to fulfill their claimant commitment.
Illness, lack of money for essentials such as no money to top up mobile phones or to have access to the internet at home.
Access to libraries is fast becoming a rarity these days. The DWP demands that claimants have access to the internet at all times.
Essentialy if an Job Coach decides in their opinion that a claimant hasn’t done enough then they’ll sanction them.
Remember once again opinion isn’t always fact and this is a very dangerous precept to use.
The whole sanction system should be abolished. There’s absolutely no reason why a person should have their very basics for survival to be snatched off them by the click of a button. Which is based upon the opinion of a Job Coach. Remember opinion isn’t always fact.
Whilst we are still in the midst of a pandemic the government and the DWP have now returned to normal. Don’t expect them to care because they obviously don’t.
Keep a good written and digital record (if you can) of everything that you’ve done to fulfill your claimant commitment.
If you’ve been ill or suchlike also try to keep a record of whatever you can to prove that you’ve been ill.
It’s important that you do all this because sanctioning you will be a whole lot harder if you keep a good record of everything.
If you are in the Greater Manchester area please have a look and even join in with Greater Manchester DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) activities. You can find them here at https:\\manchesterdpac.com
Please read, share, tweet and email my blog posts. It helps enormously to get the truth out there.
How am I? I’m ok apart from catching a sickness bug yesterday hence my blog being late. My apologies.
A huge thank you to everyone that has supported my campaign and blog. I really couldn’t have done it without you.
I don’t receive any payment for any of the work that I do. If anyone would like to donate there is a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
Yet again the Conservative party have showed their true colours. Anyone that previously didn’t think that this dreadful excuse for a political party must surely see it now.
How low will Tory Ministers stoop? My guess is as low as they can and then some more. They do it because they can and will continue to do so because no one will stop them.
It’s classic Tory though and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see that they’ve ripped up the rules to protect one of their own. It’s what they do when they get caught out and they expect every Conservative MP to do exactly as they’re told.
It also comes as no shock that they expected the Independent Commissioner to follow suit but she didn’t and sadly this has cost her her job. Their ‘reasoning’ being that they can’t see a future for her in her position.
Let’s compare this to the average person trying to get by on a day to day basis, if they decided to break a rule or even a law they’d be punished for it usually by loosing their job or in a court of law. This is what is expected when boundaries are breached.
Take for example a person claiming tax credits that fills in their details carefully and correctly. The tax credit system then decides how much their payments should be based on the details given to them.
Imagine the shock when they’re told at a later date that they’ve been paid too much and all of the overpayment will be recouped without any evidence of supposed overpayment and at a rate that would render them unable to pay their bills or indeed anything else.
Let’s also talk about the way that Universal Credit claimants are treated. From the moment of applying for Universal Credit they’re treated like criminals, without any respect and made to feel guilty for their existence. They’re also made to jump through seemingly impossible hoops to satisfy the DWP and when they complain they’re treated with disdain.
Many are sanctioned and have to try and survive on greatly reduced payments because they apparently failed to do as they were told, even though in many cases they don’t know why they were sanctioned.
To force a person to go without the very basics such as food, water, heating and a home should be in my eyes a criminal offence but the DWP and the Conservative party get away with doing this every single day of the year. These are good, honest people being punished because they’re poor.
Corruption is the lifeblood of the Conservative party, every decision that they make is backed up with a can they get away with it clause. They’re experts at it, giving handouts to their millionaire friends whilst the poor are hungry.
Not one thought about helping others is given unless they can benefit from it and don’t expect them to ever care about the public and their wellbeing. They’ll always support their own regardless of what they’ve done and to who they’ve done it.
They worship at the feet of money, corruption, sneeze and debauchery regardless of what’s happening in the real world and they’ve got no intention of stopping either. Our complaints about such behaviour will go unread and ignored, it’s what they do they’re masters of this.
The only way to stop them is to vote them out of office. We must do this even though it’s becoming increasingly harder to do so. Remember this at election times, remember how they ignored you and trampled over your rights and well-being. Use this anger to remove them from their comfortable positions] because it’s the only thing that can work.
Please join my friends over at Manchester Disabled People Against Cuts https:\\manchesterdpac.com They do amazing work!
Please read, share tweet and email my blog. This makes a massive difference, it raises awareness hugely and helps to uncover the governments wrongdoings.
Quick update on myself. I had my covid booster jab last Friday and I’ve been battling tiredness ever since. This is to be expected and it shows that my immune system is working as it should be.
I’m still struggling like millions of people are doing. This time of the year causes immense financial pressure due to my daughters birthday and Christmas coming up. This is the reality of life for so many of us.
I don’t get paid for anything that I do but if anyone would like to donate theres a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
A huge thank you to everyone that has supported my blog and campaign. I really couldn’t do it without you.
The poor side of life 