Tag: #notinmyname

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Shoplifting Offences In England and Wales At Highest Level In 20 years

According to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shoplifting offences in England and Wales in 2023 have risen to the highest level since records began in 2003.

According to the data there has been more than 430,000 recorded cases last year which had increased by 37% in the year ending 2023 when compared to 2022. This makes it the highest levels recorded since records started being kept in 2003.

James Cleverly responded by saying that although the police record it as a ‘sub threshold crime’ and it has a so called ‘corrosive effect’ on peoples confidence in the police. Its not surprising that he appeared to have zero sympathy for those effectively forced to shoplift due to various circumstances.

Julian Heyes, criminal defence lawyer and partner at Berris Law LLP went on to say ” The release of the recent shoplifting figures simply demonstrate that the years of austerity and cuts in policing have meant that the investigation of these so called minor offences have long since been neglected and ignored”

“The police cannot be blamed for this as they, much like the rest of the criminal justice system are on their knees. The cost to the high street is immeasurable and causing shops and businesses to close or restrict access to customers, not to mention the horrendous risks that members of staff have to take when challenging shoplifters”

The truth is that shop lifting is rising for various reasons including and not excluding others: The increasing cost of living, high energy bills, low wages, less than adequate social security payments, increases in mortgage repayments, social security payments being too low and badly paid employment.

Whilst many people with addictions shoplift to fund their habits there’s very little support given to them to conquer their addictions thus the circle of offending continues.

Let’s be clear, very few people actually want to shoplift its a situation they find themselves in through desperation and is usually the last option that they can take after exhausting other avenues, they’re desperate and see this as a last resort.

We all appreciate and acknowledge that there are foodbanks that help people but not everyone can access them or can wait until the next time they’re open. People are driven by hunger and distress and we live in desperate times which is entirely the governments creation.

The UK has a government hell bent on lining their own pockets and their business and personal friends with money that has been taken from the public purse. There’s been a sharp decline in the physical and mental wellbeing of the working class and mortality levels are rising. The constant stripping of funding to local councils has also paid a huge part in this and town centres aren’t being cared for like they should be because theres no longer the financial means to do so. This has a direct impact upon the high street.

The solution to this is quite simple and to be honest basic economics. For a society to succeed and thrive there has to be financial investment into the public, the more money they have to spend undoubtably benefits their general health it also helps to transform the areas that they live.

It’s easy to blame a shoplifter for shoplifting, and I don’t condone violence towards retail staff. The blame lies totally at the governments feet. Society as we knew it has been broken by the current government, the amount of desperate and hungry people are at their highest in modern times, desperate people are forced to take measures that they would previously have never dreamt of doing.

Hurl your anger at the government and not Joe Public.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Unpaid Carers Forced To Pay Back Thousands

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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


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


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

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

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

Unsurprisingly they never did reply to her.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com

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

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

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

Thank you for your patience

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Cruel Universal Credit Sanction Rates Continue To Increase


It’s no surprise that the DWP (Department Of Work And Pensions) is continuing to punish universal credit (UC) claimants with their harsh sanction regime afterall it’s their favorite and easiest method of punishment that they use.



The latest official figures show that sanctions rate had remained to above 7% from August through to November of 2023 which are the most recent months of which figures are available.

However in in March 2020, just before the pandemic began, UC sanctions rates were at just 2.5% having fallen steadily since January 2017.

The DWP have unsurprisingly given no explanation for this almost threefold increase in sanctions.

I mean how on earth could this happen?

Sanctions are imposed for various reasons but the most common are for failing to attend or take part in mandatory interviews, indeed 95% are given for this reason.

What we do know from past experience is that sanctions are given for wrongful reasons.

These reasons vary but are often and not excluding others claimant not receiving notification of having to attend a meeting,  being ill and notifying the DWP that they were not able to attend or already working at the time given and their employer won’t allow them to leave for their DWP appointment.

We know that sanctions can and should be appealed however many aren’t aware that they can do so and have the energy to fight it.

Sanctions are particularly cruel because not only does the claimant get sanctioned it also affects any dependants that live with them.

Combine this with the cruel benefit caps and this with the three child limit which directly impacts a child’s health and well being.

Are incentives being given for Job Coaches to refer people for sanctions?

I can’t say for sure but we do know that they’ve been using these methods for years now and it’d be very out of character to stop doing this.

I do know that sanctioning people like this is cruel, inhumane and needs to be stopped now before more people fall victim to the DWPs cruel regime of punishment and blame.

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Jobcentres Told To Stop Referring Claimants To Food banks


Jobcentres have given claimants referrals  food banks for many years and on the whole it’s worked quite well. It’s helped possibly millions of people throughout the years.

This referral comes in the form of a referral slip which contains some personal details about the claimants for example if they have children and any other essential details.

Some food banks will only accept people if they’ve been referred by outside organisations such as the DWP, social services and so on.

For no apparent reason the DWP aren’t happy with handing out food bank referrals stating that it’s and have decided that it’s now an  “inappropriate use of personal claimant data” and referrals need to be stopped.

Thousands of claimants rely upon these referrals and often request them when they’ve had their benefits sanctioned or are  waiting weeks for their first benefit payment, they’ve literally kept people alive as they are unable to buy food.

The DWP have decided that claimants now have to approach another agency, such as their doctor, housing association, social worker to obtain a food bank referral.

This then automatically puts another barrier to receiving much needed food from a food bank.



I dont for one minute believe the DWP’s data protection argument is valid,  after all they don’t have a problem with sharing claimants details to other organisations and agencies that work alongside them. Nor do they respect a claimants privacy when they’re looking up a claimants details and activities on social media etc.

That’s apparently ok.

Contrary to the DWPS depiction of  claimants they are intelligent enough to read the contents of the slip and realise that they will be handing over their personal details. to food banks, it’s ridiculous to think otherwise.

However the real reason that the DWP don’t want food banks to be able to publish their statistics showing that massive amounts of claimants are being forced to access food banks 

This is as a direct  result of the benefits system completely failing claimants and pushing them further into poverty.

Unbelievable aren’t they willing to put a claimants basic human rights at risk  in order to save themselves and hide essential details.

Their benefits systems were created to make people suffer afterall how dare they ask for help.

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A huge thank you to everyone that reads and shares my blog it is appreciated.

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

Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Cruel Severe Disability Group Assessment System Exposed

At last the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) has revealed the details of their appalling new system that assess claimants that are in the severe disability group.

As we know every person’s circumstances are different depending upon their diagnosis and entry to this group may be based on and is not exclusively

Having medically precise definitions that are not connected with the benefits system :

Having information that only a claimant or carer will know however a specialist will still have to provide details:

Having availability of specialist services and access to said services  where the claimant lives

And unbelievably no clear criteria given  at all.

    There is also great concern that their distinct lack of clarity on the overlap between the Severe Disability Group and the light-touch review system for PIP will cause claimants to be wrongly assessed and treated.

    We can only imagine how disastrous this will be for severely disabled people which gives me great concern for their well-being.

    God help us they certainly have no regard for the lives and well-being of extremely vulnerable people.

    Many claimants and disability charities are sharing their concerns that the creation of their planned separate group of severely disabled claimants will be directed purely at reducing future payments for those that they allege are not as severely disabled.

    And there lies the real reason for the creation of this new group. It’s all about the money and how to take away as much as they can take away from vulnerable people to line their own greedy pockets.

    It’s vile and inhumane.

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    Seasons Greetings To All…. Except The Tories.

    I hope you all enjoy the festive period even though I know it’s tough for so many of us.

    Here over at The Poor Side Of Life HQ it’s going to be a quiet one, to be honest I’m not really celebrating it.

    Of course I’ll make sure that my daughter enjoys Christmas but as a single parent and having no family etc to celebrate with it’ll be quiet.

    I’m going to take the time to reflect and maybe get some rest, it’ll be a welcome change.

    Don’t feel pressured into celebrating Christmas if you don’t want to. Christmas is a tough time for so many of us, remembering times past and people long gone.

    I’m here if you’re on your own and want to chat.

    A huge thanks to everyone that reads and shares my blog posts it really does mean the world to me.

    And as for the Tories they can get to feck. I have zero time for them.

    Lots of love

    Charlotte xx

    Uncategorized

    Goodbye Christine

    I’m so sorry to have to tell you that our good friend and comrade Christine Clarke passed away earlier this week.

    Christine was a huge supporter of my blog and our campaign and was a constant support not only to me but to others.

    She had a very kind heart and was a long time protector of our planet having been a long term member of the green party. Christine was also a campaigner at Greenham Common and other campaigns.

    Her kindness knew no bounds and this radiated to others always there to comfort people especially at Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre demos. Always there to help and advise others in their time of need.

    Christine, you will be sadly missed by so many thanks for the memories and good times. I shall miss you dearly.

    My photo that was taken on one of our Universal Credit demonstrations.

    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, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

    Autumn Budget Social Murder By Design

    After writing last week’s blog their cruel plans were confirmed and I fear it’ll be worse than I initially thought.

    Please read my previous blog post for more details.

    I’m angry, well I’m beyond angry and I’m scared for every single person that will be affected by these proposed changes myself included.

    I wrote this on X, formally known as Twitter, #autumnbudget #budget social murder by design.

    Honestly I don’t believe I’m wrong about this I wish I was. I couldn’t publish my blog yesterday because I was finding the enormity of this too much. I went from anger to worry and back to anger.

    I can imagine you doing the same.

    Let’s be honest it’s already horrendously difficult for disabled and unemployed people. If they don’t appear to satisfy their overlords the DWP potentially could be sanctioned or worse.

    Disabled people being diagnosed as ‘fit’ for work by medical professionals not qualified to do so which causes immense distress and often a decline in their health.

    The government’s proposal to take claimant’s ability to access medication and other benefits will undoubtedly cause many deaths. No one takes medication when it isn’t needed and it’s essential to their well- being.

    It’s horrifically cruel but I don’t need to tell you that.

    They shouldn’t be forced into jobs when they’re not fit for work and employers shouldn’t be expected to employ people that can’t do the work in the first place.

    They also proposed that disabled people can work from home for telephone work and suchlike.

    Not every disability is visible and not everyone can do this work. It would cause them great distress and physically and mentally they can’t do it.

    Of course they suggest this under the assumption that everyone has access to the internet at home already having everything they need to do this work. You can bet the DWP won’t offer them any support either.

    It’s important to remember that these changes will not affect existing claims and will only affect new claims. However they will be moved to the new regime in 2025.

    Am I still angry? Yes I am because they’re literally handing a death sentence to the most vulnerable people and they can never be forgiven for this.

    Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.co

    Sorry for the change in blog post style today, I had previously blogged about these changes last week and felt that I didn’t need to repeat myself.

    A huge thanks to everyone that reads, shares and has supported my campaign and blog for all these years.

    For those that called myself and other campaigners liars that we were scaremongering we weren’t wrong were we. It pains me to say this.

    Take care everyone, try and keep warm. We need to look out for each other because the government won’t.

    https://gofund.me/6745fbc7

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    3.8 Million People And One Million Children Living In Destitution New Report Reveals

    3.8 Million people in the UK have experienced destitution In 2022 including One Million Children new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds.

    This is almost two and a half times the number of people in 2017, and nearly triple the number of children. There is a desperately urgent need for action to tackle destitution in the UK.

     The legal definition of destitution is ‘the inability to afford the absolute basics required to maintain a healthy life: food, shelter and warmth’. Let this sink in… 3.8 million people and 1 million children are forced to live like this through no fault of their own and I expect these figures to rise every year until a politician, maybe even a future prime minister is actually brave enough and committed to tackle this and do something about it.

    I say brave because from where I’m sitting save but a few opposition politicians that are brave and committed enough to challenge and to stand up and speak about it, many of the others continue to drone on about ‘working people’ whilst ignoring those most in need.


    It’s totally shameful, a true reflection of how the government regard the people living in the UK, you know the ones that don’t have huge trust funds, have friends in high places and the ability to avoid paying tax. Instead theres an ever increasing number of people struggling to afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed.

    Not only does this have deep and profound impacts on health, mental health and people’s prospects, indeed mortality, it also puts strain on already overstretched services.
    Nearly three-quarters of people experiencing destitution are in receipt of social security payments, further evidence of benefit inadequacy. Ad-hoc and totally unrealistic support from the Government, first during the pandemic and now to help with the cost of living, hasn’t halted the rising level of destitution, namely because this help doesn’t even touch the sides. What is needed is to actually admit that this is happening and an outstanding ambitious programme of action to address destitution and its corrosive impacts that doesn’t pander to those that have caused these increasing figures.
    It comes as no surprise that Rishi Sunack has decided to give bankers another a massive windfall for Bankers.

    The Joseph Rowntree Foundation that conducted this report have several recommendations that would help to take people out of destitution and they are as follows;

    Universal Credit should have an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ to ensure everyone has a protected minimum amount of support to afford essentials such as food and household bills. An independent process should determine the Essentials Guarantee level, based on the cost of essentials. Universal Credit’s basic rate would need to at least meet this minimum amount, and deductions would not be allowed to reduce support below that level.


    Undertake wider reforms to social security, including: lowering the limit on deductions from benefits to repay debts; reforming sanctions so people are not left with zero or extremely low income; and ensure people can access disability benefits they are entitled to.


    Ensuring cash-first emergency financial assistance is available in all areas, along with free and impartial advice services to address the crushing debt, benefits and housing issues that keep people destitute.


    Enable everyone in our communities to access help in an emergency whether they have ‘no recourse to public funds’ or not – and resource local authorities to meet this additional need. Local authorities, charities, independent funders and housing providers should also work together to prevent destitution and homelessness for people with restricted entitlement.

    Of course more than this is needed but it’s a start, sad to say that unless theres a change of government and the future labour government actually putting those in most need first because at the moment people aren’t living they’re existing until they die.

    Photo by Keira Burton on Pexels.com