I post this article as an example of torture by council.
I want to show those who don’t generally have the pleasure how evasive and uhelpful councils are when approached for information on topics such as homelessness and intentional homelessness. They drag non-answers and the silent treatment out FOREVER.
It’s a miracle I haven’t kicked in a town hall door yet.
With that in mind, let’s go to Barking and Dagenham:
As readers of this site will know, I’ve written recently about a woman who was evicted from her Barking and Dagenham flat last year. She had rent arrears of several thousand pounds.
She has three children under 12.
The woman says her housing benefit stopped and rent arrears grew, because she had trouble registering a JSA application.
She, the council and I have spent ages arguing about whose “fault” this was. Fact is it hardly matters. Pretty much EVERYONE I talk to these days is in serious rent arrears. That’s the part that matters – the fact that so many people have housing, rent and eviction problems. I’ve got an inbox full of emails from people who can’t afford housing, or who’ve crashed into debt and conflict when rent problems have arisen. I inevitably find that a council’s primary concern is to make sure that it is not blamed for such problems. A council’s main aim is to rush to prove that the fault is entirely the tenant’s. I’m sick of this. Why even bother to sift through a small corner of the wreckage at this point in the national housing disaster? Council fingerpointing doesn’t solve the core issues (I get to these core issues as i see them later in this post).
By the time the woman in the story and I talked in January, the family had serious problems.
The woman and her kids were homeless. They were sofa-surfing between her mother’s flat (which itself was temporary accommodation) and a friend’s place. Eight people were living in the mother’s temporary accommodation when I visited in February. The eight people shared one toilet and one bathroom. Two of the kids slept on airbeds in their grandmother’s room. The third child slept on a rollout mattress on the floor in another room with two adults. The kids commuted to Barking and Dagenham to school. I need hardly mention the effect that these arrangements will ultimately have on the kids’ schooling and life chances, etc.
There was more.
In a letter to Barking MP Margaret Hodge, the council said it would likely decide that this woman had made herself intentionally homeless.
The council also said that if it found the woman intentionally homeless, it wouldn’t house her. It would, however, refer the kids to Children’s Services (you can see that paragraph here). The woman took this to mean that Children’s Services might separate her from her children. Everyone who reads such sentences thinks that. Needless to say, this sort of text makes people even more reluctant to contact a council to discuss housing problems. A threat of referral to Children’s Services works as a form of gatekeeping. It is disgusting. I see it time and time again these days. Councils insist they’ve tried to contact people to help sort problems out. They also send letters which guarantee people will do anything BUT get in touch.
Which brings me to the core reasons for rent arrears which I mentioned above.
I find there are two main reasons why so many people end up with serious rent arrears. Both need addressing on a national scale.
The first is very simple. People don’t have enough money. They can’t afford rent, LHA shortfalls and/or rent arrears. They don’t have £2000 (or £200 for that matter) to throw at problems such as stopped, delayed, or sanctioned benefits, or to bridge gaps while benefit problems are fixed. They’re already in debt to the public sector for council tax arrears, court fines and DWP loans. God knows I’ve written about that. Let’s not forget either that benefit problems can take MONTHS to fix, because DWP and council bureaucracies are so often outrageously dysfunctional. Arrears grow and grow as problems drift.
The second reason for rent arrears is that people panic as arrears increase. They find themselves under siege and so they hide. This is hardly surprising. I’d do a runner myself. Threatening letters from councils, HAs, letting agents, landlords and, ultimately, the courts, pour through people’s doors. Public and private sector creditors phone to demand payments that people simply cannot make (see the above point re: having no money). People can’t keep up with demands or instructions. The under-resourced public sector bureaucracies that people must negotiate to address problems are often defective and punitive. Hatred and terror of authority is rife.
The upshot is people don’t open post, or answer calls. Councils, HAs and landlords insist they’ve attempted to contact people about rent problems. People, understandably, ignore that contact – particularly when letters and conversations contain references to Children’s Services. Councils always act as though this reluctance to respond to non-stop harassment by authorities proves that tenants are feckless and irresponsible. They get very personal about individuals. I’m putting another view.
Anyway.
Trying to get sense out of Barking and Dagenham council on any of these issues has been excruciating. Tell you what.
I wanted the council to answer several questions. Some were specific to the case, but some pertained to general issues around homelessness. These included asking if:
1) The council had actually found the woman intentionally homeless.
2) Whether the council thought it should find accommodation for the woman and her young children regardless of the eviction history (I was interested in this in a general sense – I wanted to know how this went down for everyone in the same situation)
3) Who the council thought could/should fix things when housing benefit stopped.
That sort of thing.
I may as well not have bothered.
I first rang and emailed the council’s press office for comment in late January.
The press office rang me – and said my questions were confusing. I was surprised by this. My questions were not remotely confusing. They couldn’t have been more straightforward.
Nonetheless, I went through the questions again on the phone. The officer said that the council would get back to me with answers.
It did not. More than a week went by. I heard absolutely nothing.
So – I emailed again. I decided to up the ante a bit. Why not. I copied in the Barking and Dagenham council leader and member for housing.
I waited for something – anything – to happen.
Something did happen, although I can’t say I was thrilled with it. The press office rang me – and insinuated that I was the one doing the avoiding. The press office tried to claim that someone from the council had attempted to contact me the previous week, but hadn’t been able to – for all the world as though I was in the (weird) habit of ringing press offices for statements, then running away.
This was such bollocks that I said something like Bollocks. I think I even yelled it. Nobody from Barking council had so much as looked in my direction. You know when people have tried to contact you these days. Records of missed calls show up on your phone. Your inbox fills with emails. Mentions arrive in your twitter account. It’s actually impossible to fail to contact people such as myself these days, but Barking and Dagenham council told me that they’d managed it. I couldn’t handle that politely, so I didn’t.
So, there was that.
Then – on the phone – the officer told me that the council had decided that it would probably NOT find the woman in the story intentionally homelessness. This was despite telling Margaret Hodge that it probably would.
Then – AMAZINGLY – the council implied that I should tell the woman this, or something to that effect. Me. The officer said that I should tell the woman to contact Barking and Dagenham’s housing advice centre to sort out her housing problems.
This instruction struck me as absolutely OUTRAGEOUS.
For one thing – the council was passing the buck, in a way that I’m not entirely sure was legal. I’m a journalist, not a messenger for Barking and Dagenham council. I wanted comment from the council, not a job with it.
For another – I was not going to pass on claims made by an officer in a phone call. The comments the officer made were completely unsubstantiated in my view. If the council had decided against an intentional homelessness finding – and let’s not forget that intentional homelessness is a major decision, with far-reaching implications for individuals – it needed to say so in writing to someone.
For another thing – as discussed above, the woman in this story was reluctant to contact the council, because of her concerns about the reference to Children’s Services in the council letter to Margaret Hodge. That needed addressing. The officer said on the phone that the council was unlikely to house the children separately, because commonsense usually prevailed. I said What? I did not feel that commonsense had featured strongly enough in discussions thus far to be relied on. I also felt that the council needed to put such a guarantee in writing. I certainly wasn’t going to take such serious topics as written from some bloke over the phone.
I went back to the start.
I asked the press office to supply me with answers to the questions I’d originally sent.
The officer said that the council would get back to me.
Nothing happened.
I wrote again to the press office and the council leader requesting responses. I also asked about the paragraph in the letter to Margaret Hodge which talked about the referral to Children’s Services.
I wrote:
“I can’t understand why it’s taking so long to get any sort of written response to these serious issues. It’s not enough – or indeed appropriate – for a press officer to ring me up and simply instruct me to tell my contact to call the council if she wants answers, and then to fall silent on my requests for information. Is that standard practice at Barking council?”
I got another call from the press office.
I repeated my request for answers to my questions.
I’d largely abandoned hope by this point, but thought I might as well ask.
Then late one Friday afternoon, the council guffed this tiny, and useless, piece of text into my inbox:
“We can confirm that a decision has not been on [sic] the homeless application.
“We want to help and are willing to work with the family but in order to do this they will need to get in touch with the council.”
What a circus. There was nothing about the referral to Children’s Services. There was nothing about the way that people who were threatened with intentional homelessness should interpret references to Children’s Services.
There was nothing about the ways to handle stopped housing benefit. There was nothing there at all.
It took nearly three weeks to get those two sentences. I swear to god this shit is taking years off me.
Your move, B&D. Let’s fight.
And this is the level of difficulty in getting any answers by an experienced journalist. What chance does the average claimant have, or someone with disabilities ? Very little I should say. This official reluctance, the cold-shoulder treatment runs right through the DWP, and now many of the councils as well.
They have become infected with this anti-claimant hostility, made worse by the continual cuts to thier budgets. Now any excuse, and they turn away.
Too right Jeff. It’s all the same rotten system. The jobcentre, the councils all of it.
And they have cut out all the advice centres that used to be available. So people don’t know what their rights are in these situations. Keeps them in the dark and the councils & DWP get a free hand.
The internet is good for information about your rights, though. Google these things. There are loads of sites out there run by people who care. They have discussion forums and answer questions.
True, but a lot of people don’t have internet access (can use libraries, if their area still has them), or, more problematically, don’t know how to use the internet.
That’s true, Heather. I didn’t mean to suggest that the internet should REPLACE face-to-face advice. It was a suggestion for people already reading this.
This is how they wear people down. Then they stop trying, stop claiming…
All part and parcel of it. Just what they want.
Wrong all of this. Very wrong. But to listen to the official mouthpieces you would think there were safeguards in place. But there is nothing, just space.
Now we are seeing the true face of these Tory so-called ‘reforms’.
You are trying to get some sense out of these officials, and they might as well be standing there with their fingers in their ears, going la-la-la as loud as they can.
Keen enough when they want their council tax though. Soon got their ears flapping then.
Just got my new Council Tax bill & it’s gone up 6%. My JSA hasn’t gone up though.
Shameful. They should bring back Council Tax Benefit. Imagine taxing someone with no income! How are you supposed to pay it?
Well I do get a reduction & what i pay is not much compared to those who are working but even so it takes some paying out of an Income of 7//0…. Seventy….quid a week (damn phone!), & it’s a Bill i didn’t used to have (thanks Tories). In effect it means I have to make three weeks worth of food last for four weeks.
In my area, you’d pay a third of the regular council tax. Yet you’re receiving so little in benefit and the government said you needed £73 to live on before you paid any council tax at all. I think they should tax the rich instead.
Under Universal Credit, you could be getting £50 and the rest would be deducted to pay back your hardship loan. Imagine paying council tax from £50.
The councils know that huge further cuts are in the pipeline. So they start getting disinterested whenever they can. There will be virtually nothing left of housing or social services at this rate.
Nasty to threaten a mother with the loss of her children. And the cost of this is far more than keeping the family together.
Not to mention the stress and upset for the children. After all what have they done ?
Seeking help from housing/welfare is treated like a crime these days.
Got to say it. This is another area where it would be good to see some action from Labour. Housing policy and the whole DWP / council thing.
You said it brother. One things for sure it’s no good waiting for the Tories or the Libdems.
A real leader would have done something about this by now. #StayInLabour
A real leader like whom? would have done what, precisely?
A leader that leads from the front that is. #StayInLabour
Well that’s what leaders generally do, unless you mean ones likeTheresa May.
A lead from the back is a balloon in your trousers when you need to get home after a drink and a curry.
Or when the cat swallows a string and you have to pull it out at the other end.
Or on the Cleveland Show, when Cleveland ate healthy food and farted so much that he put a hose up his backside and lit a flame at the other end!
Haha! Or being dictated to by bottom-burps like Jacob Rees-Mogg, amounts to the same thing really. But why on earth these Progress people are inferring that applies to Corbyn I have no idea. They don’t say WHO they would have as leader or what it is that this person might do, just basically that *someone* would do *something*, but they don’t know who or what, so long as it’s not a Socialist, because that would never do, I mean who would have thought it, an actual Socialist leading the Labour Party, deary me no we can’t have that, we want a nice capitalist stooge in charge. LOL. 🙂
We had a vote and we chose Jeremy Corbyn over 3 Blairites. We had another vote and we chose Corbyn over one Blairite. Now they want to change the rules so that MPs elect their own leader. We could vote on that idea. Guess what the outcome would be?
The obvious answer is to go elsewhere. But no. They’re now quoting #stayinlabour.
So I guess they plan to agitate against Corbyn till Kingdom Come.
Some people can’t be reasoned with. Best not to try.
It’s types like these that keep Speakers’ Corner in business.
Moral of the story: let your wind blow free – it might turn into Jeremy Corbyn!
All from one tiny bean…
This is the real intellectual level of Momentum, and why they must be stopped. #StayInLabour
Edgar, what are you going to do to “stop me”? And “stop me” from what? All I did was vote!
Chaz, I agree with you, Corbyn supporters certainly ought to stay in Labour.
Here we go again.
I’m done with the Corbyn debate.
Progress/Stay in Labour, we’ve elected Corbyn twice now. Don’t believe in democratic decision-making? Tough. Our vote is just as worthy as yours.
One person, one vote. It’s fair.
This is democracy. This is how it works.
Alison, who would vote for Jeremy Corbyn twice ?
Got to be something wrong there.
Now they after the unions. And they call this democracy. Ha !
#StayInLabour
Who would vote twice for Corbyn? We all did. That’s how he won.
Labour members wrong? You’re free to go elsewhere.
Determined to stay? Suit yourself.
What about the MP’s, they have to work with him. They seem to have just been ignored.
What do you think would happen if there was a ballot of the MP’s on who should be leader ?
On that basis, we’d all elect our own boss. Then no one would get any work done.
Not sure what thats got to do with the Tories cutting Council funding.Surely Corbyn would restore Council funding.I don’t know why you think a differentLabour leader would do any different.
Everyone is a Blairite if they don’t agree with Momentum.
This is what’s wrong with their thinking.
OK Barry, what would you like the right of the Labour Party to be called?
How about The Real Labour Party ?
And Momentum can have their own Momentum Party.
Barry, it’s interesting that you want people to leave our party, even though you’re the one objecting to the way things are.
I believe in the broad church philosophy and I think it’s the sort of principle you’d need to agree with to agree with the values of the Labour Party.
If you’re looking to take over and chuck people out, that sounds rather dangerous to me.
So no, I won’t be referring to you as “the real Labour Party”.
Momentum should leave & form their own Party? I thought the advice (plea?) is that everyone should “stay in Labour”. I’m confused :/
Blairbour?
As a fox, can I say how important it is to have a nice warm den to go home to at the end of a long day. That wonderful earthy smell, the old bones and feathers scattered about. Footprints in the soft earth, the odd earthworm passing through.
It’s that sense of home, when you can poke the tip of your nose out and smell the night air, before setting off for another evening of adventure.
Yep, a home is vital for all sorts of species for all sorts of reasons.
What an entirely ludicrous situation, like something from Alice in Wonderland. You’d get more sense from the Mad Hatter!
It’s a Barking mad council.
‘And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity ‘. Matthew 7 v.23
Or are they simply aliens ? According to British theorist David Icke, tall, blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system, now hiding in underground bases, are the force behind a worldwide conspiracy against humanity. He contends that most of the world’s ancient and modern leaders are related to these reptilians.
Yes, but if you were a tall, blood-drinking alien from Alpha Draconis, why would you want to come to Earth in order to pretend to be a member of Barking Council ? Or Dagenham ?
Or have to sit in some boring council meeting about traffic bollards ?
Yeah but that’s how they take over Ken. Little by little. Taking the menial jobs no-one else wants to do.
It’s 300 light years to Alpha Draconis. So even with their highly-advanced spaceships it’s a long flight. Probably being reptiles they use cryogenic freezing. They are cold-blooded so this is easier for them.
Some people in Canada decided his aliens were an anti-semitic reference to Jews.
Personally, I think he was just crazy.
Well you know why Alison don’t you ?
I’ll bet some of them are reptilians too.
That’s an old trick pretending not to believe when they really are aliens themselves.
You said it, Trev. It’s a wonder I’m as civil as I am.
There used to be a form called NIL-INCOME which meant if you got sanctioned or had no income at all you just asked your council for this form. I was in regular arguments with my local council after they sent me letters saying that I owed them £250 to £350 in rent arrears after a couple of these I asked for a copy of any letter or email stating my benefit had been stopped and to supply a NIL-INCOME form in the meantime.
Councils been as stupid as they are asked me to sign a form so I just emailed back a copy of the latest regs stating that a signature on an email is to be regarded as a person’s signature they gave in and sent a copy of an email that basically said there had been a change in this person’s circumstances! without trying to ascertain why they stopped housing benefit. which I got reinstated without any loss to myself.
It’s the MP that needs to get into this straight away. No messing, make a formal complaint of it.
Yeah – get the MP. What they are paid for.
77 grand per year + expenses. Nice work if you can get it. JSA = 3.5 grand per year, less Council Tax.
The solution ? Make the MPs take long-term unemployed people on as parliamentary assistants for a year. Lot better than the Work & Health Programme.
Oh no,I’ve been told I’mgoing on the Workand Health Programme . Havent been given a date yetbut I knowit becomes compulsorysometime inApril. I’mddreading it.
Not to mention the Aston Martin, fine wines, beautiful women ( sorry that’s James Bond). But good anyway.
As George Orwell said in Animal Farm:
‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’
The MP’s should work one year out of four on a free basis, unpaid. A sort of real-life sabbatical.
Testing out for themselves Modern Apprenticeships, workfare in the local charity shop etc.
And they could be paid Parliamentary Credit.
Where they are put under exactly the same conditions as Universal Credit.
A Parliamentary Commitment, 35 Hours a week jobsearch, workfare and sanctions if they don’t do it.
There you go, Trev. Stand for MP. That’s a job sorted for you!
A great many government departments are no longer directly accessible to the general public and are thus no longer accountable to us. For example Trading Standards have to be contacted by email – you can no longer ring them. If they choose to ignore your email we, the general public, have no further recourse. It is no longer possible to contact Social Services directly – a screening process is in place and they will not contact you if, for example, you have raised a concern – you have no way of knowing if they have followed up on the said concern. These government departments are no longer working for us.
This secret state stuff is crap, and shouldn’t be allowed in what are public services.
Defunded services with limited budgets and limited interest.
If they keep cutting the council funding what else can you expect ? Social services, housing. Some of the councils have cut street-lighting now to save money.
Yes, plus all the rest of it – closuresof amenities, Museums, Art galleries, Libraries, swimming baths, and no coppers on the streets. We have just one community constable , a wpc, who has to patrol 3 adjoining districtson her own. It’s bloody ridiculous. The Tories are criminally negligent.
One lady on her own? Versus any number of big male crooks.
Yes and quite a big area for one person to cover on foot, including areas where shootings are not infrequent,just this week a takeaway was robbed & the owner shot 3 times, I went passed on the bus only hours later, cop vans everwhere & I wondered what had happend. I often walk past there too.
The Tories’ money won’t be safe any more, unless they start paying for police.
That sounds ridiculous Trev. On that basis what are people paying taxes for ?
It’s going to a long haul until the election that’s for sure.
The councils need to go on strike one by one.
Just stop doing everything and say to the Tories you can get on with it yourself or do the other. We are not getting enough money.
You can say that again Trev. They are beyond caring. Look at the destruction they have caused. But then as Thatcher said ,’There is no such thing as society.’
Well, we’ve had From Russia With Love, now it’s Palestine Live. #StayInLabour
Des, I looked at #stayinlabour and it didn’t say anything about Palestine. So I don’t know what you are referring to.
Cruel Tory benefit shake-up has forced 75,000 disabled people to give up their adapted cars, while Motability charity bosses get bumper pay of up to £1.7million .
Bet he votes Tory.
10 years later and we are in a welfare wasteland of cuts and homelessness.
With Brexit still to come, and look at the reports on that.
The Tories don’t do things by halves.
It’s going to take years to put things back again.
They’ve put us back a Century.
But where is the real sense of outrage from the British People over all this ?
Good point Darren. There is a bit more comeback now, but nothing like you’d imagine after all these years. Just general can’t be bothered I suppose, people expecting the worst. Trouble is this is exactly what the Tories want. They can easily put up with not much protest, and just carry on.
Is Corbyn going to do anything at all about Universal Credit ?
Particularly now that the official reports have been reluctantly published.
Is Corbyn going to do anything about Universal Credit? I don’t know, but when he’s in Government he might.
Yes but surely he could say something now about what he intends to do about it ?
Well, he’s said they’ll “pause & fix” it, which I think is political talk for ‘halt & abandon’, as we all know it can’t be fixed.
Barry, now I’ve read the news report about the UC Review details being released I can see your point. The Tories are on the back-foot & Labour should definitely take Political advantage over this. From what the Commitee has said it sounds like the death knell for UC. Tories won’t want to admit it but ttheyre in a corner with this. The only reason they can’t scrap UC is because it would blow a hole in their Deficit Reduction obsession, and their only other option would be to cut Tax Credit, which Osborne already had to do U turn on. Theyre up the creek without a paddle & if Labour Can’t turn this to their (and our) advantage It’s a poor do.
Absolutely Trev. You can see from the reports that Universal Credit was and is, a nasty system forced through by the Tories for ideological reasons. It has cost a fortune and saves nothing. But it puts claimants under the strictest benefit conditions, with the worst sanctions in Europe. It just can’t be ignored. Now is the time, on the back of the DWP reports, for Labour to start a vigorous attack on Universal Credit. God knows there are enough examples of death and cruelty to draw on.
I don’t know, Barry. You’ll have to ask the man himself.
The Tories always start getting worried about a situation where no-one is making a profit. Seems unnatural to them.
If they can’t see a group of well-paid directors and shareholders, then they start to get worried.
Not sure how many volunteers you’ll get to take a journalist in with them when they sign-on for Universal Credit. Unless they are going to pretend to be their Aunty Cathy or similar.
Yeah – I can see how people won’t want to start off on the wrong foot with the DWP by introducing their journalist.
I certainly would. I tell the bastards straight. Show no fear. Fuck the DWP.
Indeed. I’ve attended many jobcentre meetings with different people – that’s where a lot of the covert recordings posted on this site from meetings came from. Etc.
Yes, I’d be tempted to record meetings as well. Thing is, I’m not that good with the technology. I have a journalist friend who recorded a telephone call with DWP, but I wouldn’t know how to do that myself. I’ve got no loudspeaker on my phone. My mobile doesn’t pick up sound very well. It failed to record my NOISY neighbours!
I suppose you can use disguises. Wigs and stuff, and hidden cameras.
I have the perfect disguise. I am a middle aged woman, which means that nobody sees me. When I accompany people to their jobcentre meetings, advisors usually think I’m the other person’s Mum. Or aunt. Or whatever. Works very well. Nobody ever thinks I’m a journalist.
Good answer, Kate.
Women power. We’re usually underestimated. Works a treat.
Good for you, Trev! Do you live in the area covered by the journalists? I’m sure they’d like to observe the Health and Work Programme in action.
I’m sure we’re paying £millions to a bunch of billionaires to bully you senseless. I don’t agree with it. I’d rather pay you £73 per week to sit at home and smoke those cigarette-ends out of the bin. Getting a new allotment for you would be a good use of taxpayers’ money, too.
I don’t have to attend the Jobcentre, but I would have thought most people would rather have a witness at their meetings, so their Work Coach doesn’t get tempted to be unfair to them. I’ve heard of people with learning disabilities being told they CAN’T bring anyone with them. So good luck, journalists!
I’ve been to the Housing Dept. a few times and I know I’d love the journalists to come with me. They’re AWFUL at the Housing Dept. Even listening to their telephone advice would be newsworthy!
By the way, I have nothing but praise for the journalists who want to go out and expose the evils of Universal Credit. I hope their investigation is a success. I look forward to seeing it on TV!
( Explanation of . UK Wide Homeless Issues ) CLICK . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5xdDTNJk8Y
Universal Credit is an open goal for Labour. Either they get something into the net, or they stand back and watch.
Agree that saying anything about Universal Credit is difficult for Labour. They let a lot of it through, and the Tories will use this against them if they start criticising it.
Welfare is a bit of a minefield for Labour. They don’t want to give the Tories the chance to start in on them as the ‘welfare party’ etc. This was effective for the Tories, and did Labour some damage. But now so many are suffering so badly under Universal Credit that stopping this has got to take priority. Even if it is politically uncomfortable for the Labour leadership. As Trev has said, the Tories are on the back foot with Universal Credit, now is the time for Labour to get in there and stop it.
Labour now have an opportunity to stick the boot in as it were in the House of Commons and also in the media in interviews/press releases etc. Previously the Tories would have spun their usual lies in response; we’ve helped people back to work, we’ve made work pay, etc. but now the evidence exists to the contrary. It is now proven and apparent that Universal credit is a catastrophic failure and the only reason for the Tories to persist with it is to carry out out spending cuts undercover without a massive outcry from the majority of the public. They couldn’t get away with Tax Credit cuts so their only other option was to carry out cuts under the guise of Welfare Reforms. Mind you, even if Labour don’t have a go at them over this issue, the Tories policies will eventually inevitably coming crashing down around their ears anyway – give ’em enough rope….it’s just how many more people have to continue to suffer in the meantime. It’s got to stop.
They must do Trev, it’s now or never. The longer this Universal credit thing goes on the worse it is going to get.
I think more coverage of Universal Credit in the media would help. A scandal in the media is often what it takes to get politicians to speak out. So hopefully this investigation in the North will be a success.
100% with you on this Trev. Labour need to attack and attack again on Universal Credit. The Tories are slipping in the polls. people have had enough of the rich getting tax cuts, while ordinary people just get cuts. Labour must show that they don’t accept Universal Credit at all.
Jeremy Corbyn seems to have had greater electoral success than Ed Miliband. On that basis, I would say the British electorate DO want Labour to speak up on issues like Universal Credit.
This all takes second place to Brexit though at the moment. And while it does Universal Credit just keeps going down the tracks like some out of control train.
Some strong criticism of UC would be good.
Keep up the pressure from Labour’s front-bench.
The Tories will use Brexit to blanket everything else if they can.
Yes, there are other political distractions that take attention away from Benefit horrors – Brexit of course, & chemical weapons being used in Salisbury & the possible ensuing political fall out with the Russians, but when you look at how many people have died so far as a result of Tory ‘Welfare Reforms’ it’s worse than any terrorist attack, the death tollw
People are beginning to be fed up with all this austerity stuff.
They don’t believe it any more. And they don’t like disabled people being treated with cruelty either.
Labour need to be questioning all the time on this whole Universal Credit thing.
Not letting the Tories think they can just ignore it.
There’s a Commons debate tomorrow morning (Tues.) on removal of free school dinners due to changes to UC earnings threshold. Huddersfield Colne Valley MP Thelma Walker is to give a speech describing UC a s a failure. Let’s see how the Tories respond.
It’s like cage-fighting. Jeremy’s in the cage and he’s got to get a submission out of Theresa May.
I think you might be conflating cage-fighting with 1970s wrestling. Perhaps he should get her in a Boston Crab.
The Illuminati is a secretive global elite which runs world governments from behind the scenes and is planning to introduce a New World Order (NWO) to control the globe through one sinister organisation.
The Tories are sinister enough and they couldn’t organize a piss-up in a brewery.
Unless of course the Tories are just a front for the Illuminati.
Well they’ve certainly done their bit for population reduction so you might be on to something there. But they don’t seem to be very “Illumined”.
And then there is the Deep State, they are so secret they don’t even have an organisation.
Wow ! That really is secret. But how do they know who is in it then ?
Well they just know. They meet each other at secret meetings so they get to know some of the other members, but never everybody.
They don’t do any secret handshakes like the freemasons. No mallets and aprons. Just ordinary suit and tie. But they can always recognise each other. If you are in Deep State you know without needing to be told.
There are all sorts of shadowy organizations secretly working away behind the scenes chiefly to promote Capitalism and line their own pockets – The Freemasons, The Bilderberg Group etc. and in America there is something known as the “Secret Shadow Government”, which is probably the Military-Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned against in 1961 – “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
[ http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp ]
[Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBNmecVtdU ]
A leading British Communist has said that her party’s members should be working “full tilt” to get Jeremy Corbyn in 10 Downing Street.
Glad to hear it Thomas, let’s hope they succeed.
It would be nice to see the TUC doing something really. Other than buying expensive Saville Row suits.
Made a quick FOI after reading this, got the results now. Somewhat interesting. Especially that they claim to have never referenced the possibility of referring someone to childrens services without actually having done so, and the sad number of cases where it refused to house under 16s.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/housing_claimants#incoming-1146366