Tag: disgust

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, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, Green Party, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, International Women's Day, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets

Happy New Year.HMRC To Investigate Accounts Of People Selling On Vinted And Ebay

I approached the new year with great trepidation thinking about what horrors the government could inflict on us. I didn’t have to wait long.

It has been officially announced that HMRC are going to look into the accounts of people that sell their old clothing and belongings on Vinted and EBay.

HMRC are also going to investigate Air B&B hosts and people that work for Uber, Deliveroo and suchlike.

The majority of people that sell on platforms such as Vinted and EBay are just ordinary folk struggling to pay bills etc and are doing this as a last resort.

Whilst I accept that there are some that make a fair bit of money doing this and they should pay tax on what they earn the majority don’t.

For example they might be selling things to pay for a funeral of a loved one, to buy the basics such as food and energy and just to get by.

As the cost of living crisis continues to worsen the amount of people forced to sell their much loved things and aren’t doing this with joy.

Let’s look at it another way, it’s easier for the government to financially attack poorer people because it’s easier for them to squeeze money from them. They like to kick a working class person whilst they are down and not give them any help I mean how dare they.

This will undoubtedly scare people from selling their unwanted clothing etc on these sites not because they want to avoid paying tax but because of the massive invasion of privacy granted to HMRC.

I’m not a paranoid person, far from it but I’m extremely worried about the amount of powers given to HMRC and the DWP. At the touch of a button they can learn everything about us and this does make me very concerned.

At the same time they don’t investigate their tax evading millionaire and billionaire friends though, they don’t intend to either.

This comes at a great cost to the country as a whole and our economy isn’t going to improve until this is tackled.

Money makes money something they still fail to recognize.

So why are they doing this?

It’s classic Tory handbook stuff, distracting the public from their wrongs by attacking the poorest in society. They do it time and time again it’s what they do best.

We need to stop this rot from the top and the constant attacking of working class people. Investigations of the governments involvement with their tax avoiding multi million pound business pals.

Can you imagine how much better off the UK would be if they actually paid their taxes.

One thing for sure, Tory corruption won’t stop any time soon but we need to take away their governmental power and start rebuilding the mess that they’re going to leave behind.

I truly hope that this year treats you better than the previous one, you deserve better, we all do

Ashton Under lyne, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, child poverty, conservative government, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, 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, Green Party, 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, prepaid energy, prime minister, Republic Ireland budget 2023, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence fines, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

No Legal Safeguards For Proposed WCA Abolition

As I’ve previously mentioned under the proposed DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) the WCA (Work Capability Assessment) will be abolished by 2026.

To replace this it is to be replaced by one assessment which will be the PIP (Personal Independence Payment) assessment. This will decide if a claimant will be eligible for PIP and if they are also eligible for the new UC (Universal Credit) health element.

Rather unsurprisingly the DWP plans to employ unqualified UC work coaches to make these decisions rather than qualified health professionals.

It will be those unqualified UC work coaches that will decide whether a claimant must undertake work-related activities

I strongly suspect, as we have seen in the past that disabled claimants will be judged upon the mood and attitude of their work coach. If their work coach is ok and in a good mood they might be judged fairly. If not then they could be treated harshly.

Basically their quality of life will therefore be dependent upon an unqualified DWP work coach.

At a recent debate at parliament Labour MP Karen Buck asked Tom Pursglove (who is the present DWP minister for disabled people) several questions about how the proposed abolition of the WCA will work in practice.

Buck asked Pursglove if there would be a substantial risk test which would be similar to the one already used in WCA assessments.

At the time of writing the WCA rules say that Claimants do not have to undertake work-related activities if there is a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if you did so.

Needless to say thousands of appeals against WCA decisions have been successful on the basis that there would be a substantial risk to either the claimant or those around them.

Of course the DWP aren’t going to let this continue. How dare disabled people win their appeals and receive the payments that they’re entitled to.

Under the new proposed system the legal safeguards will no longer exist and all decisions will be made by unqualified work coaches, most of which might not have any or very little knowledge of  physical or mental health issues. These issues if ignored will put claimants at risk.

Basically unqualified DWP work coaches  will have sole power to make these life changing decisions.

God help us.

Buck  asked Pursglove if  there are  any plans to introduce a mandatory reconsideration and appeal route against these decisions made by work coaches.

Pursglove’s answer was to totally ignored the question No surprise there.

He went on to make outlandish claims that work coaches would adopt a tailored approach that will allow work coaches to build a relationship with Claimants which will determine if any work related activities that Claimants can or can’t do.

I struggle to believe that this will actually happen given the fast staff turnover due to the stressful conditions that they work under. Not to forget work coaches having to take sick leave or indeed leave their jobs altogether.

So basically, cutting away the word salad from Pursglove as I’ve said above,  decisions will be based upon attitudes and beliefs of any  work coach, without any legal safeguards to prevent dangerous or clearly prejudiced decisions.

But Pursglove didn’t finish there. He went on to say that Claimants might be asked to volunteer in the first place building it up to mandatory placements with requirements added at a pace to suit individual claimants.

So voluntary work is now supposed to cure a claimant of all disabilities and illnesses? It’s not the first time that they’ve claimed this.

So going off Purseglove’s statements  work coaches will decide the pace at which a claimant must increase their level of activity. As said above this will happen without any protection in place for claimants who are struggling to keep up therefore putting them at risk of being sanctioned.


When questioned about an appeal process, Pursglove would not answer, saying only that the DWP “will take time to carefully consider how best to implement these changes” and “ensure it provides the taxpayer with value for money and is accessible and effective in delivering for our service users.”

So if there won’t be any  legal tests to decide who is or isn’t capable of work based upon the opinions of a work coach how can any decisions be challenged via a social security appeal tribunal?

Buck also asked “whether a benefit sanction that reduced a Claimants UC standard allowance to zero would remove a claimants entitlement to their entitlement to the Health Element of UC”

Pursglove’s initial response seemed positive stating ‘Entitlement to the new UC health element will only end when the functional impact of a person’s health condition improves and they are no longer eligible for PIP or as claimants earn more money resulting in their UC claim tapered away making them financially better off in work’

However this changed when he went on to say that ‘ As we develop our reform proposals we will consider how some interactions with the UC system will be reflected in the reformed system’ 

In my opinion this suggests that the DWP have not yet worked out many things about the new system, as is often the case.

Sadly this is par for the course for the government and the DWP. They’re always in a big rush to implement more draconian ideas upon the most vulnerable that they forget to actually make important decisions within their plans.

Whether this is done purposely or not is up to debate but I suspect they do.

I’ll keep my eye on this so expect more blogs upon this important subject.

Huge thanks to Benefits and Work for their hard work and original source of information about this subject..

Massive thanks to everyone that likes, shares and tweets my blog posts. This makes a massive difference in raising awareness of subjects such as this.

I don’t receive any payment for the work that I do and I really am struggling to keep going.

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

I’m sorry.

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.

Lot’s of love and solidarity to you xx.

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, Black Isle Media, 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, 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

Remembering all women. International Women’s Day.

“Happy International Women’s day!
Today I’m thinking about all the women who are suffering as a result of the government’s austerity measures.

Women unable to leave abusive relationships because there isn’t a women’s refuge that they can escape to.

Remembering all the women that have died as a result of domestic violence and the governments austerity measures, we’ll never forget you.

We love you.

Women struggling to survive the discrimitory universal credit system.

Disabled women who are struggling to survive because their ESA and/ or PIP has been taken away from them.

To all the 1950s women unable to claim their rightful pensions.

Homeless women stuck in flea ridden, unsafe temporary accommodation, one day things will get better for you.

Please have them in your thoughts, the battle for equality is far from over.”

Please read, share and tweet my blog. This makes a huge difference and it helps to get the truth out there.

I don’t receive any funding for both my campaign and blog. If you would like to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.

A huge thank you to everyone that has and does support my blog and campaign. It really means the worl to me and your help makes a massive difference.

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, 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

I’m struggling…

Dear readers this week’s blog is going to be rather short and I apologize for this.

The other week my daughter brought a virus home from school. This in itself wouldn’t be problematic but combine this with my long covid and respitory problems because of this it’s been a nightmare.

I was prescribed some meds which have worked to an extent but I still feel terrible. As a result it’s impacted my life dramatically this week and all that I’ve been able to do is nothing. A flat nothing except essential tasks.

I know that I should probably go back to the hospital but I’m putting it off because they’ve got much sicker people than me to deal with.

The reality is that long covid sufferers like myself are left to it with very little or no support. If you haven’t been admitted to hospital then it’s extremely hard to get someone to listen and to help you.

Unluckily I was admitted to hospital so I have been able to access some very basic tests and have been allocated a respiratory specialist that I’m still waiting to see.

I’ve tried all of the alternative remedies out there and none of them work. Some slightly ease the symptoms but the only things that really work are time, antibiotics for any infection lurking and a nebuliser on bad days.

To access any of these you either have to have access to a decent doctor and a local hospital. By decent I mean a doctor that actually recognises that long covid and related problems are an actual thing.

This sadly isn’t as easy as you might think. Often when you get covid 19 you also can get some really strange symptoms that there’s no explanation for.

My strange symptoms have been high temperature but not skyrocketing high, hallucinations in the early stages, really strange aches and pains, fatigue, breathlessness and a crappy immune system that can be set off by the slightest thing.

When the decision to have another so called lockdown not once were people with illnesses, disabilities and long covid taken into account.

The government shuts pubs, restaurants, gyms etc but they refuse to shut the schools, colleges and universities.

It’s a total misconception that children are being adequately socially distanced. The covid 19 and other viruses are running through these establishments at a high rate. This then returns home with the pupils, teachers, teaching staff and school staff and is passed onto any person living with them.

It’s extremely dangerous but so many people are failing to see this. We aren’t even an afterthought we aren’t thought of at all.

It’s also extremely frustrating to see that so many people in my area at least don’t believe that this virus exists or if it does it’s not harmful.

It’s all a conspiracy they say, wearing a mask takes away our freedom! They fail to see that wearing a mask actually does help to give them the freedom that they crave.

Then we have the news of a vaccine that’s on the way. It’s supposedly around 90% effective and it should be welcomed. But it isn’t by many.

Like anything new it’s ok to be suspicious but this vaccination has been tested adequately. I can’t however comment on any side effects but to be honest I’d give anything to feel well again.

Whilst the schools etc are still open the virus will still be spread amongst our communities. Add into this the people that refuse to wear a mask etc and so many more people are going to become ill or much worse die.

This week saw the death total for UK hit 50 thousand. Yes these people died from Covid 19 related illnesses but people still insult the dead and their families by saying that its all a lie.

It isn’t a lie, people are dying and they need to take this seriously.

I’m sorry for repeating myself again but people do need to hear this. It’s extremely important.

As for me, I’ve not been able to go out anywhere except for my local post office which isn’t far.

I struggle walking there and back, breathing isn’t easy when your mobile but it is what it is.

I wear a mask whenever I do go to the post office and I’m very strict about using anti bacterial hand creams etc.

I stay away from any crowds of people because I realize the risk of catching something else.

I’m not contagious anymore but so many people are vulnerable and we all need to look after each other.

What I do want is a proper lockdown with the full support of the government for workers and self employed people.

I want people to realise that long covid is a serious thing as is having a weakened immune system thanks to covid 19.

I want people to realise that we don’t get well overnight. It takes a long time and its a struggle to do so.

For some catching covid 19 is the only way that they’ll start to realise how awful it is.

As for the vaccine. It’s going to take quite a while for it to be rolled out to the general public. It’s being offered to vulnerable groups of people first and quiet rightly so.

Please don’t become complacent because a vaccine is on the way.

Please keep safe. I know that as a single parent it’s doubly hard to do so but it’s so important.

Continue to look out for each other, help and support each other.

I’m going to end this blog here but please know that you’re all in my thoughts.

Please read, share and tweet my blog.

A huge thank you to all of you that do this already.

There’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog. I receive no funding for anything that I do. Every penny helps me to continue with my blog and campaign.

A massive thank you to everyone that has and does support my blog and campaign. Your support means the world to me.

Ashton Under lyne, 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

I’m still here. My continued battle with Long Covid and good memories.

Dear readers an extra blog post from me, I hope that you don’t mind.

I’ve been a tad quiet recently because my recovery has been set right back.

My daughter unknowingly brought home a nasty virus with her when she returned home from school about two weeks ago.

What would normally would have been a slight cold etc completely floored me. I was forced to retreat back to bed.

I really hated having to retreat to bed because I wanted to be out and about and I had plans to do ‘stuff’.

I’m now out of bed but I’m coughing a lot and I can’t get my stats above 94 to 96. I’m also experiencing the return of the stabbing pains.

Yes I know that I should go back to the hospital and I will do when I’m financially able to do so. Shite happens and I’ve got to learn to deal with it.

I was looking at my Facebook memories today and I was reminded of the email that I wrote to The Scum (Sun) after the requested my help for them.

I’ll paste the letter below, it really made me chuckle.

How dare they have the nerve to request help from me after I had just published a petition against them that went viral.

I was advised to take it down, but hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it. I should have kept it up and fought them. I’m quite sure that I could have found legal advice.

I will not make the same mistake again.

Anyway here it is.

My reply to The Sun On Sundays request yesterday.

Hi Gareth,
Thank you for your email.
Primarily I need to correct you on your referral to Universal Credit as being Universal Credits. These are different things, and although I don’t want to argue about semantics, it is about conveying the correct message across. Therefore using the correct benefit title is very important isn’t it.

I’m sure that you will agree with me.
As you can tell, I’m rather fussy about the getting the correct message out to the public. After all the public deserve to be correctly and reliably informed about important issues, especially in newspapers and the media. However this is something that The Sun Newspaper has regretfully been doing a terrible job of.

Headlines such as ‘Benefit scrounger mum of 8 says £500 a week handouts aren’t enough for her four bed council house’ Dan Sales 18th February 2017.

Other headlines such as ‘Takers dozen. Sponging mum of 13 who rakes in £30,00 a year in benefits is branded a scrounger by her own daughter’ Alex West 30th December 2016. ‘Family planning. Scrounging mum of 12 Cheryl Prudham who pockets £40,00 a year in benefits flashes her tummy outside medical centre days before announcing shes expecting baby 13.’
I could continue sharing these headlines with you, however you get the gist don’t you.

Not only were these headlines not based on fact, not researched correctly they were damaging to the people concerned and to the most vulnerable people of this country and were created specifically to cause prejudice and division towards the poorest of this country, the very people that your newspaper is now reaching out to.

These headlines were so hard hitting, a phrase that you like to use, that as a result of the ongoing campaign of hatred against the poor, led by The Sun newspaper, other newspapers and television channels, I, myself have been shouted at, called a scrounger, told to get a job, and spat at. Luckily it didn’t touch me, but you can see how this works out right?

The people that I help have also experienced prejudice as a result of this ongoing campaign and do so on a daily basis.
I can never forget the “Scrounger Awards’ that The Sun newspaper published, also ‘The Welfies’ and the ‘Job Dodger’ awards.

Sympathetic also isn’t something that I associate with The Sun newspaper, after all we can never forget Hillsborough can we.

A point to note, lying has 5 letters, but so does truth. Hurt has 4 letters but so does heal. Everyday I try and rectify the harmful and malicious lies set about by The Sun newspaper.

Maybe the newspaper could do the same.
You also might like to read this, because if you had researched my name correctly you would have found this article about myself.

https://thetab.com/uk/manchester/2017/05/26/spoke-woman-petitioning-manchester-boycott-sun-28665

I therefore would like to decline your offer of a chat, nor will I be referring any vulnerable people to your newspaper to talk. You see, I simply cannot trust the newspaper not to twist their words and to turn them into figures of hatred.

However, we would like an apology from The Sun newspaper for all the hurt, damage and discrimination caused by the words printed in your newspaper.

Wouldn’t it be nice if that was a front page headline instead of a Benefit Scrounger headline.

Respectfully
Charlotte Hughes.

I’d really like to thank all of my friends and readers for all the support that you are giving me at this moment in time.

Knowing that I can speak to a friend on the phone whenever I need to is and will continue to be a massive help to me.

Also a massive thanks to my friend Alex Tiffin, you know why.

Also huge thanks to Keith also.

How am I doing otherwise?

Trying to cope is an adequate description atm. It’s the same old fed up of being ill and sick to death of being skint. I’m sure that you can relate to this.

I’d love to be able to do a good supermarket shop instead of having to buy essentials online because it’s so expensive.

I just want to be normal again.

It’s so bloody depressing but it is what it is. But I have got good memories to look back on and I’m grateful for that.

One thing to look forward to is Halloween, my favourite time of the year.

My daughter has found the Halloween decorations so when I’m up to it I’ll be able to transform the front garden.

Please read, share and tweet my blog.

Thank you to everyone that supports my campaign and blog.

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, 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

Still ill. My battle with Covid 19. Should schools be closed?

Dear readers I’m writing this blog post from my bed, I’m trying to put off the inevitable hospital visit that will have to happen if I get any worse.

I thought that I was getting better but sadly my daughter unknowingly has brought home a virus from school. The said virus is now having a good time rampaging through my body whilst making me feel dreadful.

I haven’t stopped coughing for two days now, my whole body hurts and I’m not capable of doing much. But I am trying to get better.

Covid 19 and other viruses are rife in my daughters school, children have tested positive and the school remains open.

There’s no way that any type of virus can be controlled in a school environment. It’s impossible, an endless task of trying to make the best out of a very bad situation.

I realise that all children need and deserve an education but it comes with a huge risk to other family members.

For anyone with a weakened immune system like mine and a compromised immune system regardless of the cause are being put at a huge risk of becoming ill with Covid 19 and other viruses.

It’s not a case of if we catch it, it’s more like when we will catch it.

I’m knackered, fed up and my body feels like it’s been in battle for a long time now.

I can’t stop coughing, my temperature is high again and I have to admit that I’m a tad scared.

You see I don’t know if I’ve caught covid again or if this is another evil virus piggy backing on top of my weakened immune system. I don’t want to be admitted to hospital again either. I just can’t win.

I have sent off another covid test and I should get the results soon. Sadly the tests aren’t reliable and have only a 70% rate of accuracy.

The area where I live will be being put in the level three category later today. Whilst I agree that this is needed it isn’t enough.

The government have so far offered no support to any of the businesses that will be affected by this. There’s zero real life support.

I agree that health comes before business, but people have to survive.

I also agree that the whole country should be put into an at least two week lockdown and real life working track and trace systems put in place locally to monitor the situation.

We can’t rely upon the government to devise any system that would work properly in the best interests of the public. All that they’re interested in are making their friends rich.

I also believe that schools should be shut for a short period of time and all schools should be given a deep clean to get rid of any viruses etc.

When our children return stricter measures should be put in place and more home schooling implemented temporarily.

We need to keep out teachers safe as well.

None of what I say is easy but we can’t continue like we have been doing. I’m ill because of a virus brought home from school.. Can you imagine how many people could die as a result of this?

Not one decision is going to make everyone happy but we need to control this virus. It’s the government’s lack of taking correct action is why we are in this situation now.

Please keep safe, I’ll update my blog and social media as soon as I get my results or if I have to go to hospital.

It’s been a struggle for me and thousands of other people but we need to get rid of this virus.

Please read, share and tweet my blog.

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

I don’t get paid for anything that I do and every penny really helps both myself and the campaign.

I’m not able to get out so everything is so much more expensive.

A huge thank you to everyone that supports my campaign and blog. I really do appreciate it. It means the world to me

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

Thousands of people that lost their jobs due to Covid 19 refused Universal Credit and any other help.

Dear readers its Thursday and I’ve just returned home from the hospital. I managed to get a cancellation appointment for a CT scan for my lungs.

Anyway you can imagine my disgust when I saw this article in The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/hundreds-of-thousands-who-lost-jobs-in-pandemic-denied-universal-credit

I don’t need to tell you that the DWP and government are disgustingly selfish people that care nothing about the working classes health and wellbeing.

This was no surprise to me.

I knew that the government would try and shaft these people for having the nerve to lose their jobs. In their eyes a pandemic is no excuse for not working and is certainly not an excuse for not looking for none existent jobs.

We’ve seen this before and no matter how much we tell people that this could happen to them we were still ignored.

Their futures are looking very different from last years. No one could plan for the pandemic because we didn’t know that this was coming.

Some of us knew that this was going to happen way back in December but theres no way that we could save up just incase. We have no spare money.

No savings allowed.

The DWP and the government’s reasoning for this is because these people ‘they have savings’.

They don’t care that it takes around six weeks for a universal credit claim to be processed. By then their savings will have gone to pay their rent, mortgage and food.

They could become homeless.

It’s extremely unreasonable to believe that these people lost their jobs through any fault of their own. But still the government will punish them because its what they do best.

The DWP has forgotten that there’s a pandemic.

Hello DWP, we are in the middle of a pandemic.

There are very few jobs out there so stop putting people under pressure to find work.

Lets not forget that thousands of people, probably many of those that lost their jobs are recovering from Covid 19. They’re unable to work.

There are very few jobs to find and there’s certainly not enough to look for work for 35 hours a week.

If you refuse to do this then they’ll sanction you. It’s all about punishing innocent people.

Their aim is to bully us until we give up altogether.

Where’s the safety net?

There is hardly any safety net left to help people. It’s extremely hard to make a claim for any type of social security.

When you manage it the DWP lie and make it extremely hard to continue to do so.

Claimants are given unrealistic goals that they have to attain and are spoken to like shit.

The sad fact is that many of these newly unemployed people that have been refused help believed that the government would help them.

They didn’t realise how cruel and callous the system can be.

The DWP certainly aren’t there to help anymore.

How very dare anyone make a claim for the help that they’re entitled to.

My heart does go out to them though. They’ve been thrown very abruptly into the lions den. I hope that none of them vote for the Tories again.

There are no jobs.

I’m certain that many of these people that have been refused help thought that they could find a job. I’ve heard this thousands of times when talking to people outside the Jobcentre.

In the first few weeks people have hope for a better future but that soon wears off.

The reality that there are no jobs kicks in pretty soon. People sell or pawn their possessions and many loose their homes because they can’t afford to pay their rent or mortgage.

Don’t expect local councils to be sympathetic either. It’s all bloody wrong.

We aren’t criminals and shouldn’t be treated like this. But we are.

You are left on your own to cope and this is very scary for many that thought that the safety net would be there for them.

A foodbank reliant society.

We are quickly becoming a food bank reliant society. Most of the people that have lost their jobs will become reliant on them.

Talking from experience I know just how humiliating it is.

Some foodbanks have reintroduced the three bag limit. So people are only allowed to eat three times a year?

Thanks for that.

I’m a firm believer that anyone that needs the help from a foodbank should be able to do so freely without judgement and for as long as they need them.

More and more people are becoming reliant upon food parcels to survive and many food banks are already struggling to cope with the demand.

I do what I can to help but its only a drop in the ocean.

Support your local independent foodbank.

Fuel poverty.

Winter is on its way and thousands of people are going to be extremely cold this year. Heat or eat will be a choice that they will have to make.

Fuel poverty is very real.

No one should be forced to live in a cold house without hot water. But hey, the government doesn’t care about this either.

Having to live in the cold like this is very dangerous for both body and spirit.

Does the government realise this?

Yes they do but they don’t give it a thought. They’re resentful of us being here, alive.

The pandemic is still here.

So many organisations and supermarkets are returning back to normal. Very soon they’ll be very little support for anyone shielding or recovering from Covid 19.

It’s not as if there was a lot of help out there in the first place.

What are we supposed to do? Risk catching covid to go for appointments and to run errands?

This is exactly what we are having to do. It’s shocking.

Unemployment.

As we face more people becoming unemployed since the 1980s don’t expect the government to help.

The government are still intent on taking the extra £20 a week extra payment away from Universal Credit and Tax Credit claimants in April.

I bet they’ve got a countdown click counting down the days until so many of us are thrown into even worse poverty than we are now.

So many people are relying on this money to survive. But once again the government doesn’t give a stuff.

£20 is a lot of money to us. For the Tories it doesn’t even cover the cost of their breakfast.

They don’t want us to survive.

They don’t want the working class person to have any decent quality of life. Its even worse for people with disabilities and illnesses. They’ve been suffering for many years now.

Their actions say that they don’t care, will never care so stuff you.

What can we do?

Like I said last week we need to continue to support each other because no one else will.

A kind word can make such a big difference.

As for myself it’s been a bad long covid week for me. I haven’t been able to do much except advise people and signpost them for help.

I’m also one of those people that doesn’t qualify for any help from the government even though I badly need lt.

So many of us are struggling to get through this and your not on your own.

We can and will get through this. We need to.