Tag: devious

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, 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, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Unpaid Carers Forced To Pay Back Thousands

And so the DWP cruelty continues and we shouldn’t be surprised.

Unpaid carers have been told by the DWP (Department Of Work And Pensions) to repay thousands of pounds of benefits after unknowingly earning too much money years ago.

Not only is this cruel it was entirely preventable if the DWP had done their jobs correctly. But forcing unpaid to pay back thousands is unbelievable especially when they save the government millions every year.

The DWP system shows when carers have gone over the earnings limit but they failed to inform claimants instead allowing their claims to continue for months or even years before recovering the full amount owed.

This has also been highlighted in a series of articles by Patrick Butler in The Guardian which shows exposing the cruelty in how they treat unpaid carers

Along with this the folks over at Benefits And Work have raised the reasons why the DWP should never get the police powers they desperately want.

This also proves why the DWP should never be given police powers.

This has resulted in the DWP given free reign to threaten  carers with jail terms.
They have also used laws that were  designed to strip drug dealers of their property to take  money from carers.


The DEP have unlawfully ignored judges legal directions in order to increase the amount they can take back from carers.


The DWP have been shown to misleed MPs for years by promising that new technology meant large overpayments would no longer happen.


Alongside this they are refusing to publish a report on the effects of overpayment recovery on carers which was completed years ago.


Take for example the heart breaking  case of Vivienne Groom who cared for her elderly mother who had dementia and suffered from a stroke is a disturbing example of how the DWP treat carers.

Vivienne was given incorrect advice from a  social worker that she didn’t need to declare her part-time minimum wage at the  Co-Op job to the DWP whilst still receiving carers allowance.

When her hours increased she did inform the DWP, who said they would get back to her.

Unsurprisingly they never did reply to her.

Years later she was threatened with prosecution and began repaying the overpayment at £30 a month.

This is a large amount of money for her to replay each month but she did so.

Her mother sadly died and left her a £16,000 inheritance. The DWP went on to  prosecute  Vivienne using the Proceeds of Crime Act.

This was created to take expensive cars and large houses from drug dealers, not people who have cared for loved ones

They also threatened her with up to seven years in prison in order to steal her inheritance.

Vivienne decided to take legal action and was refused legal aid because she had £16,000 in capital even though she couldn’t access it because the DWP had her account frozen the day the money went into her bank account.

The case ended with the DWP legal team ignoring judges directions on three separate occasions to make calculations that may have reduced the amount Vivienne owed and, instead, getting the whole of her inheritance.

It’s extremely disturbing that the possibility that  a vengeful organisation as is the DWP could be given the power to search claimants homes, seize their possessions and prosecute them or impose fines upon them must be challenged whenever it is raised.

As proven time after time the DWP will ignore a judges ruling and will appeal any decisions made in a court of law.

It’s wrong, beyond cruel . The government should be thanking unpaid carers for the work that they do because ultimately they save the government millions of pounds each year.

It’s our job to challenge this whenever possible and share articles to raise awareness because believe it or not there are people that aren’t aware that this does and will continue to happen.

A huge thank you to Patrick Butler for his hard work in producing these interviews

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/07/unpaid-carers-allowance-payment-prosecution-earnings-rules

Also thanks to the folk over at Benefit And Work for the hard work that they do to help people.

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

Thanks to my partner for sending me the article as soon as it was published.

This time of the year is especially hard for me because of the anniversary of my son’s passing and everything that went along with that.

This is why I’ve been absent from social media because it’s tough for me to handle but I will be back to normal soon

Thank you for your patience

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
    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, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, coronavirus, cost of living, dignity pre paid funerals,, DPAC, DWP blog,, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, Food, Food bank, food poverty, frugal, fuel poverty, government, Housing, hunger, liz truss, PIP, poverty, sanctions, targets, Tax credits, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Universal credit, Workfare, Workprogramme

    British Pound Drops To All Time Low Against The Dollar
    Site icon
    British Pound Drops To All Time Low Against The Dollar
    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, 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, loose women, 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

    Where Are The Missing Long Covid PIP Claimants ?



    As reported by Benefits And Work there are possibly thousands of missing Long Covid PIP claimants that appear to be missing from both the Office for National Statistics. They are also missing from the DWP latest published statistics.



    New figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate that 506,000 people have now had Long Covid for over a year. This number is increasing every day yet they’re missing, nowhere to be found.



    247,000 Long Covid sufferers say that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities has been “limited a lot” as a result of Long Covid.



    Yet according to the latest DWP statistics on Stat-Xplore record there are just 480 claims regarding Long Covid where it is the the main condition for claiming PIP. This figure has risen from 143 claims three months earlier.


    However the success rate for PIP Long Covid claims has fallen from 76%, but is still high, at almost 60%.

    A quarter of those who were successful in claiming PIP received the enhanced rate of both the daily living and the mobility components.



    It appears that PIP claims for Long Covid do have a better than average chance of success. Despite this hundreds of thousands of people who could be making a PIP claim appear to not be doing so.


    Long Covid is exhausting to live with and is likely to hinder any employment prospects. Living with Long Covid also increases everyday living costs.

    The reality of having to make a choice between eating or heating, or not being able to afford either is something that Long Covid sufferers and others have to make daily.

    The reason for the missing PIP claimants could be because of a distinct lack of information regarding claiming PIP for Long Covid sufferers. This is abhorrent. Everyone that is suffering from this disabling condition should be informed of their right to claim PIP to help with their everyday living costs.

    Please read, share, tweet and email this blog post. Sharing makes a huge difference in raising awareness to the public.

    A huge thank to Benefits And Work for providing this information. They’re amazing and work so hard.

    A huge thank you to everyone that supports my blog and campaign. I really couldn’t do this without you and your support.

    For anyone that likes my blog and campaign and would like to donate towards keeping both going there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

    Financially I’m struggling and every penny is appreciated. Thank 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, Ian Brady, International Women's Day, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, moors Murders, Myra Hindley, 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

    Poverty doesn’t end at Christmas

    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.

    Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, 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, 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

    Merry Christmas one and all.

    Dear readers I write this blog on Christmas Day, a day when people are expected to celebrate and be happy.

    Sadly because of the government’s cruel Universal Credit system and the torturous PIP and ESA DWP ‘medical’ assessments thousands of people won’t be able to celebrate, cook a Christmas dinner and exchange gifts.

    This year is tougher than normal because we are still in the middle of a pandemic that the government is trying it’s best to ignore.

    Today the UK’s official Covid death toll has surpassed 70,000 on as 570 more people died today.

    Let that sink in 570 people have died from Covid 19 on Christmas day. Also a total of 70,000 people have died as a result of Covid 19.

    Meanwhile the government continues to ignore this, they just don’t want to know and they certainly don’t want to help.

    70,000 families will be grieving as will their friends. But hey let’s ignore them and continue to put the public at risk.

    Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the government actually tool some positive action, set an example to the rest of the world and protected people. This won’t happen though.

    It appears that the government is in some sick competition with America about how many people will die from Covid 19.

    Then we have the thousands of people now unemployed as a result of the pandemic. Now facing the inhumane universal Credit system, many can’t understand how they’re expected to survive on so little money.

    Thousands of people won’t be able to give anyone presents this year, heat their home and have a Christmas dinner.

    This year the queues for food banks and suchlike places have more than doubled. Families are queuing for hot meals in city centres and children and their parents are hungry because they don’t have the money to survive on.

    How sickening it is that I have to use the world surviving… People shouldn’t be surviving they should be able to live, be happy and have enough money to be able to feed themselves and their children.

    I want to be positive I really do but it’s extremely hard to find the good in all of this. We shouldn’t be celebrating the fact that food banks are opening and organisations and charities are working extremely hard to find food to give to hungry people.

    Theres a reason why the government likes foodbanks. If given the opportunity one of their Tory MPs will see this as a photo opportunity.

    Foodbanks save the government thousands of pounds every year. They also take the responsibility of feeding people away from them and moves it to the foodbanks and organisations to do this.

    No wonder Tories smile so much at the thought of another foodbank opening.

    Basically what I’m saying is yes please support your local foodbank but please remind the government of their duty of care towards the people of this country.

    Normally we would see the government’s opposition making a speech or statement about the terrible neglect of the poorest and most vulnerable of this country. This year it’s virtually silent.

    Sir Kier Starmer quite rightly made a speech about Brexit, but he failed to address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable of this country.

    As a result thousands of people are feeling neglected and unimportant and totally pissed off with the political system in general.

    So what do we do now? We support each other in whatever way that we are able to.

    A friendly word, a smile can sometimes be enough.

    We have to be there for each other because this damned government will never never care.

    A huge thank you to everyone that reads and supports my campaign and blog. Your kind words and support have kept me going throughout my own covid 19 nightmare.

    Sadly I’ve got pleurisy again, thanks to long covid. Hopefully I’ll be better soon.

    For anyone that would like to donate towards my campaign and blog there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post. Thank you!

    Please read, share, tweet and email my blog.

    Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, 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, 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

    Sanctioned during lockdown and Covid 19 diary update.

    Dear readers I hope that you are OK and keeping safe.

    The government is yet again relaxing the social distancing rules whilst the mortality and R rates are rising.

    Whilst I know that its so tempting to go out and meet people I urge you to use caution. Covid 19 is still here as much as it was when lockdown started.

    There’s probably a few reasons why the government is easing lockdown. The main one being that they want people to start working again, for the wheels of commerce to roll as before.

    Don’t be fooled into thinking that they care about you, that they want you to be safe. They don’t, they don’t care one bit.

    Now let’s look at the real person that’s advising Johnson. Dominic Cummings is the person behind each and every decision that Johnson makes.

    At the beginning of the pandemic he put forward his herd immunity plans, stating that if the weakest die it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

    Of course Johnson was forced to officially stop the herd immunity plans but its obvious that they’re still implementing this. They aren’t even bothering to hide it either.

    It’s herd immunity by stealth and in plain sight.

    Please keep to the social distancing rules if you value your health.

    Of course if you’re forced back into work you won’t have a choice. My thoughts are with you all.

    Take it from me Covid 19 is an awful virus, my experience has been awful.

    You see whilst some people can get an extremely mild dose many of us don’t.

    The side effects of contracting Covid 19 can and often do last for months after.

    Please read my previous blogs to catch up with my personal battle against Covid 19.

    As I write this blog I’m still not feeling 100%. After finishing my third lot of antibiotics I’ve been feeling the pains that I had before returning.

    I’m keeping my eye on it and if I get any worse I’ll have to attend either the Covid clinic or hospital.

    I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t have to.

    The harsh DWP system and some of their operatives have no sympathy for anyone that were sanctioned before the lockdown started.

    If a person was sanctioned before the lockdown started they are expected to continue with the sanction.

    The DWP don’t give a stuff if you can’t afford to buy food and if you’re ill with Covid 19.

    All sanctions must be completed. No leniency will be given.

    However the DWP aren’t supposed to be issuing new sanctions during the lockdown period but you can bet that they’ll still try to do this

    If you find yourself sanctioned for not being able to find work during the pandemic you must appeal this decision.

    Here is a report of a man that found himself in this exact position. He contacted a newspaper and appealed their decision.

    The result was that he won because it’s totally unreasonable to sanction anyone for not being able to find work during the pandemic.

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/dwp-sanctioned-during-coronavrius-left-21906845

    Like I always say its your legal right to appeal these decisions. Help is out there for you to do this.

    One more thing, something else that has really annoyed me this week is that some people still don’t recognise the fact that not everyone has access to the Internet.

    Thousands of people don’t have smart phones, computers or tablets and Internet access at home.

    Earlier this week I was having a discussion about being isolated at home and being totally alone if you catch Covid 19.

    Whilst there are some really good Facebook groups and some amazing community groups they aren’t accessible to all people.

    Being alone and being extremely ill with covid 19 is a massive problem. People are being found dead in their homes because they haven’t had the means to contact anyone for help.

    If I didn’t have my daughter, my friends and a phone to use it might have been a very different outcome for me.

    Not everyone wants to join in with local community groups. This can be for various reasons and we need to respect them.

    Please keep an eye out for your neighbours and if you are worried about them ask the police to do a welfare check.

    Once again I hope that you are all keeping safe and each and every one of you are in my thoughts.

    I’m still plodding on trying to get better.

    I’ve come to the conclusion that if I relapse so be it but I hope that I don’t. If I do I’ll get help once again but I do know that many can’t.

    Please keep safe and I’ll be back next week, maybe earlier.

    Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. We need to continue to get the truth out there.

    A huge thank you to everyone that has and does support my blog and campaign.

    I write this blog and continue with my campaign on next to nothing. It’s a struggle but I’m never going to give up fighting for what is right.

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

    Thank you so much xx.

    Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, 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

    You’ve got to wait a month for another food parcel. Universal Credit is literally starving people.

    Dear readers, it’s freezing cold out there and the wind chill certainly isn’t helping. Today I woke up to snow but it quickly melted and at the moment the sun is shining. We’ve had endless rain so it’s so good to see it.

    As usual we handed out all the food parcels and we gave everyone help and advice to everyone that required it. We gave everyone a copy of our survival guide as well.

    It was a strange morning, quiet at first, most likely because of the snow. Needless to say we still spoke to lots of people. Some needed help, others needed someone to talk to. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t see anyone to speak to from week to week.

    The first conversation that I had was with a woman struggling with her housing benefit and the council. She was patiently waiting for her son to arrive to give her support.

    Asking for help sometimes takes a whole lot of courage and having to put your pride to one side can hurt like hell. The realisation that you need help can be very depressing. Most of the people that we speak to feel this pain. Please keep this in mind when you’re trying to persuade someone to accept help.

    I had a conversation with a man that I’ve spoken to on quite a few occasions. He’s struggling with homelessness and is finding it hard to accept that he needs to accept help from the bed every night scheme.

    Life is very complicated for many, and I hope that he does access this help. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s a roof, shelter and a warmer place to stay. Let’s hope that he changes his mind.

    I had a chat with a man who was in need of a food parcel. He’s waiting for his universal credit claim to be processed.

    Earlier this week he asked his local food bank if he could have another food parcel, they refused saying that he’d had his quota and has to wait another month to get another one.

    I handed him a food parcel and a copy of our survival guide which has all the links for most of the local organisations that will offer him help.

    Thanking me he said that he’s been forced to live off plain pasta with salt and pepper on it to give it some taste. Feeling very relieved that he now had some food he couldn’t thank us enough.

    It beggers believe that people that are desperate for food are refused extra food parcels. Many food banks do let people take extra parcels but its important to remember that many don’t either.

    Let’s not forget the medical implications for people trying to survive like this. Their bodies will be trying to survive on zero vitamins and very few nutrients.

    How on earth can people be expected to live like this? They have to fulfil the requirements that the DWP pile on them with little or no energy.

    I’ve asked if food banks could hand out vitamin tablets with their food parcels and I was told no, no they don’t.

    It’s very worrying that with mortality rates increasing every year and I doubt that anyone that I’ve spoken to over the years will live as long as the generation before them. It’s very reminiscent of victorian times in more ways than one.

    We had a conversation with a man that was being messed about by the DWP.

    The DWP had forgotten to send out an important email for him and as a result he hadn’t been issued a payment. Having no credit on his phone meant that he couldn’t phone them either.

    This resulted in a series of conversations with the DWP and lots of messing around all of which should have been prevented.

    I just hope that he’s OK and that it’s now sorted out for him.

    I asked a man how things were going for him and he said ‘crap’. Yep that just about sums things up doesn’t it.

    We spoke to a woman that has been waiting for her universal credit claim to be processed. She’s been waiting five weeks now and she’s struggling.

    I offered her some advice and I’m hoping that she gets her payment ASAP.

    We spoke to a woman that was told by her advisor that £900 had been paid into her bank account only she certainly hasn’t received the money yet. Let’s hope that it’s with the bank and is being processed, otherwise that’s a whole new battle that she’ll have to fight.

    We asked a man how he was and if everything was OK with his claim. He told us that its shit, it’s all shit but he has no choice but to go through this week in week out.

    It’s very clear that universal credit isn’t fit for purpose. Most people aren’t given enough money to survive on. Combine this with a rise in council tax, the bedroom tax and repayments of DWP and its a hellish nightmare.

    Many people, in fact most people become depressed not only because of the stress that the DWP piles on top of them, but also because of the lack of nutrients in their diets.

    Once again I’m positive that this is going to have serious ramifications later on in life. I worry so much about everyone trying to survive this cruel and inhumane system.

    We aren’t just a number to be thrown on the floor like yesterday’s paper. We are people with dreams, hopes, ambition and everything else that comes along with that.

    Be kind to each other, help each other and be thoughtful of others. Everyone’s path in life might be different but that doesn’t make them a lesser person than you or I.

    We will be returning again next week as usual.

    Please read, share, tweet, email my blog.

    If you can please donate. I run this campaign on a very low budget and the blog also. Every penny makes a difference.

    Thank you to everyone that does and has supported the campaign and blog. It means the world to me.