Tag: humiliation

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

It’s official the government wants children to be hungry.

Well yesterday the government hit an all time low. Not only have they purposely neglected to protect the public from Covid 19, they’re now allowing our children to become hungry.

As a covid 19 sufferer I know exactly how vicious this virus can be. Thousands have does from it and the secondary infections that follow.

Thousands of people have also lost their jobs as a direct result of Covid 19.

The government have been woefully neglectant in the so called support that they’re giving the public. They even plan to take away the extra £20 top up money for universal credit and tax credit claimants in April.

It might not sound like a lot to many, and it isn’t but it is helping people to survive this covid 19 nightmare.

This week Andy Burnham and the other metro mayor’s took a stand against the governments covid phase strategy.

I live in the Greater Manchester area and the monies offered to our local councils weren’t enough to help anyone.

Thankfully Andy won his fight in parliament this week, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

It’s not enough to compensate people, nor will it make a big difference in the R rates. I’m a big believer in a full lockdown for at least two weeks, and everyone should be adequately compensated.

Yesterday a motion was put forward in parliament to ensure that all children would receive free school meals in the autumn and Christmas holidays.

Despite putting up a good fight, Tory MPs voted it down. They don’t care if our children are hungry, not do they care if we die from Covid 19.

Boris Johnson’s cruel, evil Government voted down a motion which would have prevented a million kids going hungry over the half term & Christmas holidays.

This is proof that they don’t care and will never care. Some Tory MPs are disgusted in their behaviour as are some ex Tory MPs.

The fact is that the Tory party has always been cruel and judgemental. They believe that the working class person is responsible for their own poverty, and they fail to acknowledge that they are the ones responsible for this.

If they could they’d round us all up and throw us in workhouses again like they did in the old days. Maybe this is why they always hark on about the good old days.

They now claim that eating is a choice that we have to make and it isn’t a necessity. They claim that all working class parents are bad parents because they can no longer afford to feed their children and themselves.

The truth is that the majority of parents living in poverty are bloody good parents. They feed their children before themselves and often go without meals to do so.

I honestly was waiting for the day that the government would stoop as low to suggest that eating food is a choice. That our children don’t deserve to eat, that they must go hungry at any cost.

They actually want our children to be hungry.

The ramifications of child hunger don’t just end when a child grows up. Not only does it hinder development it also causes health problems that continue throughout their lifetime. It also can cut their lifespan short.

We’ve already seen the return of Victorian illnesses and this is going to become a whole lot worse.

Combine hunger and the covid 19 and you create the perfect storm. The covid 19 virus loves to target a person with a weakened immune system, so I expect the child and adult mortality rates concerning covid 19 to rise substantially.

Being poor is no joke, I know because I’m in this situation myself, and the lack of care and consideration from the government never fails to anger me. Some high poverty areas voted for the Tory party because they were more concerned about Brexit than their well-being. This has bit them on the bum big time and hopefully they regret their actions now.

It’s going to be a struggle for many to donate food to food banks as more and more people are plunged into poverty yet the need for them will be greater than ever.

The Tory party actually like the fact that we are literally begging for food to survive. They love it, it brings back memories of the deserving and undeserving poor, only now no one’s deserving.

God help you if you’re northern and working class. They don’t even hide their hatred of us.

We all need to be angry about this, we need to remind them that we won’t be walked over like this. That every human being deserves a good quality of life. This isn’t an extremists views it’s a basic necessity.

So what will happen to the odious, lazy prime minister Johnson?

Johnson has been a failure since day one and I’m certain that he only got the job because of what he’s got on everyone else.

There is a time though that the Tory party will have to do some damage limitation. They’ve now lost thousands of supporters and if there was a general election in the near future they could well loose.

Will they do the dirty on him and get rid? Who knows but what I do care about is the future of our children.

I’m a Thatcher’s child, I grew up in a time where the working class was hated and poverty was everywhere.

I grew up with a lot of anger about this and a determination to try and help others and to try and change things.

I’m positive that our children will never, ever forget the cruelty inflicted upon them. They will fight back like I have I just hope that they’re more successful than I’ve been.

Health-wise I’m still not 100%, I’m struggling to stop coughing and to get my breathing back to normal. Yesterday I had to go out to do some errands and I felt awful, trying to breathe and beat exhaustion.

Please keep safe everyone and let’s continue to fight the heartless Tories. We can’t allow them to continue their cruelty towards the working class and also northern England.

It’s not the desolate north it’s beautiful with amazing people living there.

My thoughts go to other areas entering phase three of the so called governments covid strategy and also to the areas entering phase two.

We were in phase two for ages and you can get through this.

Now is the time to ignore the conspiracy theorists and to follow the hygiene and mask rules.

We need to beat this virus and every precaution helps.

Please read, share and tweet my blog.

Thank you to everyone that supports and reads my blog and campaign. Thank you so much!!!

I don’t receive any payment for any of the work that I do. If anyone would like to donate this would really help me. There’s a donation button at the top and side of this blog post. Thank you!

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.

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

Laughed at for wearing a face mask.

Dear readers it’s Thursday once again. I hope that you are all as safe as you can be.

Good news! So far I haven’t rebounded again and I’m praying that I’ve seen the end of my Covid 19 battle. However I am aware that I can potentially catch it again.

My daughter came home from school last Friday with a virus. Thankfully it wasn’t Covid-19 but it quite easily could have been.

Viruses are free to travel around the school corridors and classrooms. There’s no way that schools can contain it.

Yesterday I spoke to one of my daughters teachers and she was very worried about working in this environment. It’s hard getting the balance right.

Children need to be educated, they need that contact with their friends at school but they shouldn’t be at risk of catching covid 19 and passing it on to family members and friends.

There’s no ideal solution, I wish that there was. So many people are at risk of catching covid 19 and I’m sure that I’m not the only person to be concerned about this.

Yesterday I had to go to my local town to do some errands. It exhausts me, but needs must so off I went.

I would do online shops but I can’t afford to do this.

I was happy to see more people wearing masks, but so many wernt. It’s so frustrating.

A friend of mine said that it’s good manners to wear a mask and it also shows consideration for others.

I have to agree, it is and more need to wear them.

As I was walking towards a shop that I had to go into a man looked at me, laughed and said that I was an idiot for wearing a mask because they do nothing.

I didn’t get the chance to reply because he walked off pretty quickly and I’m not exactly going to go chasing him down the street. I don’t have the energy.

This persons attitude isn’t unusual though. So many people are saying that covid 19 is a conspiracy, that masks don’t work etc.

I’m sure that you’ve all heard and seen comments like this.

I wear a mask because I’m bloody petrified of catching covid 19 again. It’s taken me months of struggling to get over it and my long covid battle isn’t over yet.

I also wear a mask because I don’t want anyone else to catch any viruses that might be walking around with me. I want to be responsible and help as much as I can.

I also wear a mask because Tameside is now in the double red zone and is heading for another lockdown.

Now going back and to the man that laughed at me for wearing a mask. I’m certain that he will change his mind about wearing one of he catches it.

It’s impossible to get a covid 19 test at the moment. The government has completely failed everyone. The testing process is a shambles and don’t get me started on their rubbish track and trace scheme.

We have all been failed by the government, I and others expected this though.

In other news, my local hospital Tameside Hospital has been in the news again.

Sadly its a hotbed for covid 19 and patients on non covid wards have died from it.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/16/tameside-hospital-covid-deaths-are-canary-in-the-mine

Maybe this was caused by people not adhering by the government guidance for wearing masks and keeping hands clean. Who knows but I’m sure that they’ve played a part in this.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has died from covid 19 and their families. It’s heartbreaking especially when so much of this was completely preventable.

Yesterday I cut my hand on a tin in my rubbish bin. It was totally my own fault, I wasn’t paying attention.

It looks like it could do with a couple of stitches but there’s no way that I was going to go to the hospital after this weeks covid 19 news.

I cleaned it and have bandaged it and I’m sure that it’ll be ok.

This did get me thinking though.

How many people are choosing to stay at home rather than seeing a doctor when they need to?

It’s a scary thought.

How many people have absolutely no support and are trying their best to get through this nightmare which is covid 19?

The government has been extremely negligent in providing support for people. They don’t care and it appears that they’re quite proud of their attitude regarding covid 19.

This leaves us living in some kind of limbo waiting for covid 19 to catch us.

All I can suggest is to keep yourself as safe as you can do. You know yourself better than anyone else.

Don’t let anyone else judge you for the decisions that you have been forced to make to keep yourself safe.

I really hope that you all manage to keep safe and as well as you can be.

Please read, share and tweet my blog.

A massive thank you to everyone that supports my blog and my campaign.

I couldn’t do this without you. Your support means the world to me.

I receive no funding for anything that I do and it’s a struggle to say the least.

This week I helped four families.

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

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

Too soon to re open schools? I have concerns.

It’s Thursday yet again, it appears to creep up on me far too quickly. I really hope that you are OK, well and safe.

This week has been a mixed bag for me, some good days mixed with some awful ones. I bet that you can relate to this.

Being poor and recovering from Covid 19 is no joke. Suffering from long covid is no joke either, especially when the highlight of the day is beans on toast when you can muster up the strength to make it.

We struggle on though. There are some fantastic Long Covid groups on Facebook and we support each other. It’s a good job that we do because not many other organisations do.

I am worried about a second wave coming in September when we have been told that we have to send our children back to school.

So many people still believe that children can’t catch Covid 19. They can and they do. Many unknowingly will be symptom free and will be at risk of passing the virus onto their loved ones.

Are our children going to be used as some type of sick experiment by the government?

My daughter attends a secondary school, her school has decided to keep lesson time to the very basics therfore her hours at school will now be from 10 until 2.40pm.

This won’t stop the spread of covid 19 though. Her school is a new school but they don’t turn the air conditioning on and many of the teachers don’t open the windows either.

Children will be stuck in this hot, sweaty environment at a very close proximity to their friends.

The school hasn’t suggested that children should wear a mask, but I’d challenge anyone to get all of the pupils to wear a mask all day. It’d be a challenge to say the least.

I am very concerned though. I don’t think that the government has thought this through, just like they didn’t put enough thought into pubs reopening.

As we’ve seen in the news lots of people have contracted Covid 19 from a visit to a pub. I’ve no doubt that it’ll be the same when our schools reopen.

I, like most parents want the best for my daughter. I want her to be able to have all of her lessons, to he educated and to do well in life.

Sadly, it looks like she doesn’t stand a chance of that the way that things are planned at the moment.

Educating children online isn’t the answer either. Thousands of families don’t have the Internet or don’t have a device to watch the online lessons on.

So what’s the solution then?

I do think that having a dedicated television channel for lessons would be beneficial. Children can often learn more visualy and some good results could come from this.

We could also learn alot from the parents of home educated children. They’ve been doing it for years, and so many home educated children go to college and university.

They rock this!

But I’m aware that I’m missing one important point.

I’m sure that my daughters school isn’t the only one that will be reducing their teaching hours and lessons.

What will the parents of these children do when they have to go to work? You can’t just leave children to their own devices, to rely on them to go to school without prompting.

I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have gone into school if my parents weren’t there to make sure that I did.

This puts parents in a very difficult situation. Childcare is expensive and not everyone has family members that they can ask to help.

People are desperately trying to hold onto their jobs if they’re lucky enough to still be employed. They can’t rely upon their employers to be sympathetic either.

What I do know is that if their children are absent from school, their school will soon be chasing them up and threatening them with legal action.

This isn’t at all fair though. Those making these decisions have absolutely no idea about what life is really like.

Then we have school uniforms to buy.

School uniforms are very expensive,

I know that I can’t afford to buy my daughter a new uniform this year. Thousands of parents will be in the same position as me.

My daughter has sensory issues so buying her school uniform is difficult at best.

To say that it’s humiliating and depressing to not being able to provide necessities for our children is an understatement.

Hopefully my daughter will never experience this when she has children.

When you’re left with no choice but to have beans on toast once a day how on earth can they demand that you buy a school uniform as well?

In my area there are no school uniform grants available which is shocking.

My daughters school, and most secondary schools send home pupils that aren’t wearing the correct uniform.

Once again discriminating against children living in poverty.

We will try but it’s not going to be easy.

So whilst it’s easy to congratulate the fact that schools are re opening on September, please consider the above.

I don’t want my daughter to catch Covid 19, I don’t want her friends to either. I also don’t want to catch it again.

I want my daughter to have a good education, but the very idea of that is seemingly impossible at the moment.

Will the government give out children time to catch up with what they’ve missed? I doubt it. Working class children aren’t high on their priority list, if at all.

Will the government give parents free access to online and in print learning materials?

Will the government push to dedicate a TV channel in the daytime for the visual education of children?

I doubt this very much.

Once again it’s left to us, as parents and carers to do the best that we can under very tough circumstances.

I do think that schools are re opening too early.

It’s easier to distance primary school age children from each other than it is a group of teenagers.

This is also going to be very tough and challenging for teachers.

Teachers in America have been advised to make a will just incase they catch covid 19 and die.

I’m certain that many teachers here in the uk will be doing the same thing.

I can’t imagine what could be worse than stuck in a hot, sweaty classroom with children for hours knowing that viruses, germs and bacteria thrive in environments like this.

How many teachers and children will become ill or worse because of the government’s decision to re open schools?

Will the government make the decision to shut the schools again if mortality rates from Covid 19 increase?

I doubt it, once that open they’ll be expected to stay open.

We have a government incapable of putting any positive plans into action. They blatently show their hatred of the working classes by the actions that they’ve taken and not taken.

The government has blood on its hands for more than one reason. They’re up to their necks in it.

It’s up to us to keep reminding them that we are important, that our life’s do matter and our children are valuable.

Don’t get me started on this idea. Covid 19 tests are very unreliable and weekly tests are just not doable. No doubt they’ll expect already hugely burdoned teachers to do this as well.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. I really do appreciate everyone that does this for me.

I don’t get paid for anything that I do and it is a struggle. For anyone wanting to donate there is a donate button at the side and top of this blog.

Thank you so much to everyone that does support my work and campaign. I really can’t thank you enough xx.

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

Surviving is an act of civil disobedience. My Covid 19 journey and recovery.

Dear readers I hope that you are OK and well as is possible. I apologise for rambling on about my covid 19 experience but it’s been my reality for what seems like a long time now.

I had contracted bacterial pneumonia after starting with my covid symptoms and I’m now on my third lot of antibiotics because it just wasn’t shifting.

Last week I ended up having to go back to the covid clinic near me. It’s a strange place to have to go to and you have to attend by car which rules out anyone that doesn’t drive. Luckily I could ask my friend to take me.

After following all the instructions I eventually managed to see a doctor. She was very nice and she was very patient with me because I really didn’t feel well at all.
After examining me she told me that my lungs were still crackling, especially my right lung.
She prescribed some different antibiotics and they hopefully appear to be working.

Whilst the covid 19 clinic system does work its not without its faults.

To obtain an appointment at the clinics you have to phone 111 and then go through a couple of phone calls with their telephone operatives.

The first person that I spoke to wanted an ambulance to attend but luckily after speaking to a paramedic I was then directed to the covid clinic.

If you don’t have access to a telephone or you don’t have credit you can’t do this.

I then spoke to someone from the covid clinic who then informed me that they would be phoning me back with an appointment time.

They did phone me back after a hour to give me an appointment in twenty minutes time.
Luckily my friend lives nearby and could do this.

If you don’t have access to a car you can’t attend.
My recommendation if you don’t have a car to attend a covid 19 clinic would be to go to hospital if you feel really ill. Don’t mess around I wish that I had done this in the first place.

Upon attending you have to buzz in at the door. You are then answered and told to go and wait in the car for a phone call from them to go to the door to be seen.

I waited, received the phone call and was let in by a lovely nurse wearing full PPE. She asked me to put one of their masks on which I did.

I was then ushered into a room to wait for the doctor. Once she arrived she examined me and told me that my lungs were crackling, my heart was racing and my temperature as up again.

I explained to her what had happened and she told me to go and wait in the car for another phone call to discuss my treatment etc.

I then went to wait in the car and was prescribed a different course of antibiotics. She told me that if I become worse to either attend again or go to the hospital. Whilst this service is brilliant it’s not the easiest to access if you don’t drive. I doubt that a taxi driver would want to put themselves at risk from catching it and who can blame them.

It’s been a very long journey for me and thousands of others. Our stories are being largely ignored.

Recovering from covid 19 symptoms is extremely hard and it’s a very long journey.

I’ve been asked by lovely people if I was better after a few days of becoming ill. Of course I wasn’t but there is a distinct lack of education regarding covid 19 recovery and the complications that often occur.

Whilst everyone is saying that you must get a test these tests are very unreliable. So many people are getting false negative results.

Please don’t rely on these tests. If you have symptoms then self isolate yourself and everyone that lives with you. This is extremely important, it can save life’s.

Yesterday 324 people died as a result of contracting covid 19 and still the government is relaxing the quarantine restrictions.

The only reason that they’re doing this is to enable their friends to make money.
They worship at the feet or commerce and profit and care nothing about the risk to life.

Like my friend Keith Ordinary Guy says ‘Survival is an act of civil disobedience’.


When I say that they don’t care if we survive they really don’t. As long as some people remain for them to profit from their happy.
The irony is that alot of people that would have voted for them have died or are extremely ill.
You’d think that they’d care about this wouldn’t you.

I’ve been ill for that long that I’ve lost count of the days.
I’ve gone from a fairly active person, always out walking and doing something to being stuck at home reliant upon the kindness of friends and the delivery of a weekly food parcel.

Whilst food parcel food is keeping me going it is by no means really good for you and full of vitamins.
Maybe this is why I keep rebounding. Who knows?

I really don’t want this blog to turn into my weekly moan, but so many people are going through the same as I am.
I’ve tried to carry on and be productive. Yesterday I cut a few weeds down in the garden and today I’m exhausted.

It is what it is and I have to accept that.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone dying and suffering from covid 19 and their families.
Please can we all continue to talk about them, to remember their names and not forget them.

The reason why so many people are dying is because the government has totally and knowingly neglected to protect the public.

Their social distancing rules are extremely unclear and hard to follow.

Remember that they’re still practicing herd immunity by stealth in plain sight.


I can bet that you’ve all seen the queues for IKEA reopening the other day.

When I went to Asda to get my prescription dispensed I was the only person wearing a mask.

It’s sickening to see so many people gathering together like this wearing no face masks etc.
Maybe they think that they’re invincible and aren’t going to catch it.
It’s now become not of they catch it but when they catch it.

So many people are going to become very ill or die as a result of this. It worries me deeply.

Remember that the government is relaxing the rules not because its for our own good but because they want to profit from us.

Each and every person has a price over their heads and the government loves to exploit this.


Whilst the government has left a trail of death, distruction and failure behind them let us leave a trail of love, kindness and solidarity.

They can’t keep their power for forever and we must remember this.

Please keep safe, I think about you all each and every day.

Love to you all xxx.


Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. A huge thank you to everyone that has and does this xx.


I run this blog and campaign on next to no money at all, especially since I’ve been ill.

For anyone wanting to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog. For anyone needing my PayPal ad it’s seercharlotte@gmail.com

A huge thank you to everyone that has supported the blog and myself. I really can’t thank you enough 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

Not a merry Christmas for the victims of the cruel DWP regime.

Dear readers the blogs late. I apologise for this once again.

As many of us have dreaded Christmas has arrived again, this is a stark reminder of how poor we are, what we don’t have whilst we watch those that can afford to buy lots of things that they don’t need on TV and YouTube.

Many of you will be spending your first Christmas without a loved one, being alone for the first time is a scary thing.

I hear you, I’m with you. Hang on in there it will get easier.

For everyone dependant upon food banks for food over the Christmas period. I’m with you, I’m doing the same. It’s hard to piece a meal together from the contents of a food parcel, I hear you, I’m doing the same.

Hang on in there, I’m here for you, we’re here for each other.

Yesterday was our annual Christmas Demo and it was a huge success despite Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre and the building manager of the Tameside One building being rather disgruntled at our being there. We had to agree to take our banners down but we marched around the market grounds with them, making more people aware of our campaign and our advice service.

We also laid a wreath in memory of everyone that has died as a result of the government’s cruel austerity measures and their inhumane DWP regime. We do this every year, it’s important to remember everyone that has died, hoping that one day we will get justice for each and every person and their families.

A huge thank you to everyone that came to support us yesterday.

0ust last week we lost our only chance for at least five years of ending this cruelty.

Working class voters were tricked into lending their votes to the Tory party, believing the lies that Brexit will ‘be done’ straight away.

Brexit won’t happen overnight like they thought though, more fool them.

The Tory party has already broken some of their promises made in their election campaign. They’ve got absolutely no intention of keeping them either.

As a result things are going to get a whole lot worse than they are now.

Unemployment will rise, homelessness will increase, the DWP regime will become a whole lot worse, communities will become even more divided.

I could go on for forever but remember this.

If you voted for the Tories then you voted for more poverty, a decrease in your wages etc. Own it.

If you have children and they find out that you effectively voted to ruin their futures they’re going to be extremely angry.

Good luck with that.

We’ve handed out possibly hundreds of food parcels out this year, I personally have bought shopping for people, sourced prams, baby clothes and household basics for others.

As I was handing a food parcel to a young woman yesterday she turned round and shouted to the public “This woman has helped me when no one else would. She got a pram for my baby, she fed us, she’s helped me so much. I can’t thank her enough for this, I don’t know what would have happened to me if she hadn’t done this”

This nearly brought tears to my eyes. She’s wonderful, a survivor currently battling her awful social housing landlord.

Yesterday all of our special Christmas food parcels were taken as soon as they arrived.

We put two pasting tables outside the Jobcentre and filled them with free coffee and tea, biscuits, mince pies, cakes and leaflets.

A

s usual Ashton Jobcentre staff didn’t like us doing this, maybe they took offence to the Christmas music that we were playing. After all the DWP doesn’t believe in Christmas.

It’s hard to say what has been the most heartbreaking story that I’ve heard, they are all equally heartbreaking. Please read through my blog you’ll definitely agree with me.

I’d like to say Merry Christmas to all my readers and supporters. Your support has kept me and the campaign going this year.

For anyone struggling to celebrate Christmas please take solace that it will soon be over, the reminders of opulence will soon be gone and life will continue as normal.

For everyone suffering under the torturous DWP regime remember that you’re not alone. We care, lots of people care. Keep strong and don’t let the b######s grind you down.

We shall return after Christmas stronger than ever ready to continue our fight against the government and the DWP.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. A huge thank you to everyone that has already.

Please donate if you can. I live on an extremely low income and am having to collect food parcels myself.

Thank you so much to everyone that has already this year.

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

Forced to attend DWP course dispite having multiple disabilities.

Dear readers and supporters once again I have to apologise for publishing this blog late. I’ve been out campaigning for my local Labour Party.

Anyway today was pretty dire, it was raining, in fact it still hasn’t stopped.

It was also cold, deadly weather for street homeless people and anyone that can’t afford to heat their homes.

Once their clothes become wet, they can’t dry them so they become very cold and hypothermia can set in. This can be deadly so please spare a

thought for people in this situation.

As usual all the food parcels were gone as soon as I handed them out. Most of them were needed by people having problems paying their council tax and extra top up rent. If they can’t pay the council will take the money directly from their universal credit payments. Their social housing landlord will also threaten to evict them even though the person that I spoke to owed less than £100.

New Charter housing certainly don’t give a toss about their tenants but that’s another story.

We spoke to lots of people today but sadly we had to end the demo early because we were drenched and cold.

I had a conversation with a man that has several disabilities which prevents him from applying for many of the jobs on offer.

Dispite this his job coach has told him that it would be in his best interests to attend a so called wellbeing course.

Wellbeing is the latest buzzword being used by the DWP. They like to pretend that these rubbish courses will help people, especially disabled people.

They don’t however tell the person being forced onto these courses that they (the DWP) gain financially from sending people on these courses as do the course providers.

We are seen as a pound sign, a number of which they can profit from.

What they forget is that most people have enough commonsense to realise that no one can ever be cured by attending a course. They’re another reason to harass a person more, to sanction them if the course provider advises them to.

The whole system is crooked, people are being harassed so much by the DWP that they can’t see a future for themselves and they take their own life. Meanwhile the DWP will still send letters out to the families of the deceased.

It’s Orwellian in nature, they control a person’s life to the extent that they can cut off their very means of survival with the click of a button on a computer.

I spoke to three people that are having problems with their housing benefit claims. Our local housing benefit department at Tameside Council aren’t the best.

Please can they start talking to people as if they’re human beings, with respect and not disdain? It’s not too much to ask is it.

I spoke to a single parent that had been asked to attend their first back to work interview because their child is now two years old.

They were understandably nervous and had no idea of their rights regarding job searching etc. Thankfully we were able to help them and we handed them a copy of our survival guide.

Call me old fashioned but I’m a firm believer that a parent or carer should be able to stay at home with their child until their child reaches school age or older. Obviously parents that want to work should do so but the option should be there.

Children need their parents, it’s vital for their development.

Children also need to be able to eat good, healthy food and live in a warm house. These very basic things are denied by this cruel government.

I write this on the eve of the general election, the most important General election in many years. Let’s hope that we get a good result. If we don’t many of us won’t survive another 5 years of this cruelty. I can’t stress this enough.

We will be back next week for our annual Christmas Demo. I will be making a wreath unless I can get a volunteer to help me. I’m also needing to buy non alcoholic mince pies and other Christmas foods to hand out to the public.

We will also be handing out extra Christmas food parcels so if you need one please contact me so that I can save one for you. If you don’t it’s a first come first served basis.

Also please come and join us it’s at the same time 10-12 outside Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre. Please come and say hello and maybe sing an appropriate Christmas Carol or two.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, 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

I’ve got £3 to last me for a week. Universal Credit strikes again

Wow I can’t believe that it’s Thursday again. It’s definitely a lot cooler out there so wrap up if your going out.

The cooler weather also highlights the inability for thousands of people to choose between heating and eating. Of course the government don’t want to rectify this, I’m convinced that they’re trying to kill us off.

Today was a mix of differing problems and as usual I will not be naming anyone. I hope that you understand why.

The first thing that I did today was to hand out the food parcels. We had six and within five minutes there was only one left.

The remaining food parcel was taken by a woman struggling to get by. She was claiming Universal Credit and unbeknownst to her the DWP had shut her claim down without telling her.

The DWP claim that she hadn’t signed her claimant commitment but she was adamant that she had done. This resulted in zero consultation with her and now she’s having to appeal this.

The DWP however have told her that she has to make a new claim for universal credit which means that she’s going to have to wait at least five weeks for her first payment.

She also has children and is understandably concerned about how she’s going to feed them.

Don’t expect any sympathy from the DWP though. They’ve got a cast iron weight instead of a heart.

It never get better hearing people’s DWP stories. But thank goodness we were there to help her. She’s going to appeal the DWPs decision.

I then had a conversation with a chap that I usually speak to every week. He told me that he had waited for over a hour for the bus to get to Ashton.

I can confirm that this is the norm in Tameside at the moment. Lots of our bus routes have been taken off and the ones that remain cost a lot more.

I’ve spoken to elderly and disabled people who have been housebound as a result of this. The bus used to stop right outside their houses and they can’t manage the walk to the nearest bus stop. It’s too far for them to walk etc.

If anyone from the Tameside area is reading this please join in with the Better Bus campaign.

I then spotted a woman leaving the Jobcentre. I offered her a leaflet and immediately she told me that she hates universal credit. I asked her why and she went into her pocket and got out some coins amounting to approximately £3. She said “This is all that I have until the end of next week. How on earth am I going to manage on this amount of money. ‘

Of course I advised her and signposted her to local organisations etc where she can get a food parcel from because we had ran out of them.

This is the reality of life whilst claiming Universal credit and its the same for thousands of people.

Far too many people have become accepting of this though. Many are resigned to their fate, they know that they’re going to be hungry and they think that no one cares about them.

Lots of us do care though, this shouldn’t be happening but we all to our best to help people.

We signposted quite a few people to CAB for advice and once again people having trouble with their council tax payments was mentioned. The poorest shouldn’t be made to bear the brunt of this.

We then spoke to a person that had recently been declared fit for work. They’ve got numerous disabilities and illnesses but don’t expect the DWP to care. They’re going to appeal this decision but in the meantime he was told by his DWP advisor that he’s no longer allowed to hand fit notes in.

Apparently the DWP know better than a doctor and a specialist doctor. They want everyone to look for none existent jobs despite the fact that many aren’t able to work.

As regular readers will know this is far from unusual but it never gets easier does it.

I advised a woman who’s son is being moved over from DLA to PIP.

We had a lovely conversation with a man who’s being sent on what feels like constant courses ran by and on behalf of the DWP. The latest course that they’ve been told to attend or be sanctioned is supposed to motivate people.

It’s a bit hard motivating people who are hungry and who’ve got the threat of being sanctioned hanging over their head. But hey every person that attends these courses are worth a fortune to the DWP. Not only does the DWP receive funding for these courses they also pay the providers quite a lot of money per person attending.

Wonderful isn’t it… Not. We can never forget that we’re just a number to them and we can and are exploited by the DWP at their whim.

We then had a conversation with a man that’s been having problems with his employer.

His employer is totally abusing the fact that there’s so many people looking for work. He pays people less than their long term staff. When people complain they tell them that they can walk, it doesn’t matter because they can fill the position straight away.

There’s far too many awful employers like this and it’s about time that something was done about this isn’t it.

Today we helped lots of people, provided support and gave out food parcels. We’ve been doing this for around six years now and it’s getting worse.

Please read and share my blog. Tweet it as well, email it to your local Tory MP.

I’d like to thank Gordon for all of his help today. I’d also like to thank you all for supporting the campaign and my blog.

This has become a full time job and every penny helps me to continue with both the campaign and the blog.

We’ll be returning next week and I’ll be blogging as usual.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, 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

Five year aniversary of blogging and the suffering continues.

Dear readers it’s been five years almost to the day since I started writing this blog although I’ve been campaigning for much longer.

A friend encouraged me to write it but I honestly didn’t think that anyone would read it. I was proved wrong though, it took off straight away.

Back then we were chosen to be a trial area for universal credit along with Oldham and Wigan.

Hardly anyone else was documenting the day to day cruelty that universal credit and the benefit reforms.Most likely because it wasn’t happening everywhere and lots of people weren’t aware of this

We were ignored and called liars and suchlike.

Myself and other groups continued to fight against it even though every door was being slammed in our faces. No one wanted to know.

Through perseverance and determination we continued, we weren’t letting this go. People were and are dying as a result and that was and is unacceptable.

DPAC have been consistently supportive and they’re amazing. The work that they have done and are doing is outstanding. I can’t thank them enough.

When I started this blog almost everyone that I spoke to outside Ashton Jobcentre was or had been sanctioned.

Pregnant women were being sanctioned for three years, suicides of people that we had spoken to were a constant worry. I’ve lost count of the people that we have lost.

It breaks my heart and I’ve always got them in my thoughts. Thanks to Black Triangle for their work collecting this info and publishing it.

At the the time the DWP were a law unto themselves, they still are. I’m certain that they were given orders to sanction as many people as possible (remember Sandra’s stars anyone?).

I’m certain that they still have these targets but they’re not so open and brazen at displaying them. People are still being sanctioned and it’s abbhorant that this is continuing to happen. Being sanctioned can and does kill people.

The suffering continues and every week I’m told yet more awful stories from claimants about their experiences whilst on universal credit and other benefits.

Today a man told me that he’d been barred from the Jobcentre for loosing his temper when he was told that he’d been sanctioned.

When he was allowed back into the Jobcentre he had a G4S guard to escort him to his appointment and to take him out again.

The stress of this took its toll on him and he started to pull his hair out. He can’t believe how horrible this system is. Thanks to the DWP he’s mentally scarred for life.

The system hasn’t got better the DWP and government have become more devious, constantly putting unrealistic demands upon people that they know won’t be able to keep up with it.

We’ve handed hundreds of food parcels out because people were and are literally starving. I’ve watched a family open the tins of food and eat it because they were so hungry.

It’s hard to tell you what the worst thing that I’ve seen is. Everything about this system is awful. It persecutes children, women, men, women who should be receiving their pensions but were conned out of them. The DWP won’t leave anyone alone.

The fight continues though. The Labour Party have at last commited to stopping, scrapping universal credit. They’re going to replace it with a caring system and I know that they’re going to do this. The Labour Party have been working very hard on creating the new system for quite a while now.

But the changes won’t happen overnight and until they’ve been elected nothing will change its going to become a whole lot worse.

Every week we speak to disabled people who have been found fit for work. They aren’t fit for work though and we help them to start the appeal process.

We’ve handed out thousands of copies of of our survival guides. They’ve proved to be invaluable and have helped a lot of people. Thanks to Roy for your help with this.

The blog doesn’t end after I’ve published the blog on Thursdays though. It’s become a full time job. Myself or members of the team don’t get paid by anyone either. We do it because we care.

The fight continues week after week. We’ve had abuse from G4S, I’ve been spat on called a scrounger and worse.

The DWP have unsuccessfully tried to move us from outside the Jobcentre. We aren’t going anywhere, we aren’t stopping until the suffering ends.

Whilst the suffering continues we will continue. I made this commitment all those years ago.

I want to thank you all for reading and supporting the blog for these last five years. Its been a massive comfort to know that you all support this blog and the campaign.

I’ll end the blog here this week. I know that it’s a bit different than my usual blog style but I really wanted to thank everyone that’s helped along the way whether it’s on foot at the demos or online. Both are equally as important.

To everyone that does come and help though thank you so, so much. We’ve had a lot of physical support from Stockport Against Austerity and I can’t thank them enough as well as Gordon, Roy, Carol and everyone else who I’ve met along the way.

My local Labour Party and my MP Angela Rayner have also been hugely supportive even though I’ve been a pain sometimes.

Can I ask you to continue to read, share, tweet and email my blog. Thank you to those that already do.

There’s also a donate button at the top and side of this blog. Every penny donated ensures that the campaign and blog can continue. A massive thanks to those that have.

I’ll be back next week with my usual blog. Thank you for the five years of support and thanks to Mike for persuading me to start this blog.

Don’t worry I’ll be writing next weeks blog in my usual style.