Update 27 June:
New mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz has emailed Sara to say that she will look into Sara’s housing problems asap. I will post any updates.
There’s a bigger issue here for Labour, though. When are Labour councils going to start telling government that they simply refuse to house people away from jobs and support networks? How are Labour councils going to stand up to LHA caps and prohibitive market rents? What’s the strategy? Where’s the militancy? When will Labour councils get stuck in?
—————
Original post:
I want to show you the sort of letter that councils send to homeless people who are desperate for local housing. I want you to see where things are at.
The excerpts below are taken from a letter sent by Newham Council to Sara Abdalla, 30.
Sara is homeless. She has two children. The eldest is six and the youngest is just 18 months. The family lives in temporary accommodation in a Newham hostel.
The letter is from an officer who reviewed Sara’s decision to decline a council offer of accommodation in Birmingham. The officer upheld the council’s decision to send Sara to Birmingham.
Sara turned down the Birmingham flat, because she was and is desperate to stay in London.
She has good reason for that. Her son is settled in school in Newham. She has a local job. The review letter was written before she got that job – but Sara says the council won’t factor her employment into her case. She has vital support in Newham – the friends and contacts that women with young children rely on.
This whole situation is the usual poisonous mess. I’d ask Newham council to comment on it, but the press office has blacklisted me. Nothing doing there.
This letter gives some insight into council justifications for sending homeless people away – insight, if you like, into council interpretations of homelessness guidance in this era of intolerable pressure on housing. You’ll see where some of the bars are set.
Here’s the first excerpt. This stuff really is cold-blooded.
The excerpt says that Sara’s support networks of family and friends Newham are not key to the family’s wellbeing.
The officer writes:
“I accept that it would be disruptive for any family to have to move away from an area where they have established social links over a number of years and away from their family, and that this may be more disruptive for a family with young children like yours. However, I do not accept that the support of your family, friends or local community is essential to your household’s welfare.” (My emphasis).
There’s more.
The council concedes the move to Birmingham would be a wrench, but says that Sara’s family and friends could visit – for all the world as though occasional sightings of friends make up for the loss of daily contact and support. No mention is made of prohibitive travel costs, or the difficulties that some people would have travelling that distance:
“Google maps has confirmed that the distance from the Housing Needs Service in Newham to the accommodation… is 136 miles, clearly a distance likely to prevent you travelling back to Newham on a frequent basis. However, you can always commute by train to London and your relatives and friends could also in turn come to visit.” (My emphasis).
The state as we have it really is vile.
Here’s an excerpt on schooling: the council’s comments on moving Sara’s son from the school where he is happy and settled to an area and school he does not know.
The council claims that Sara’s son is unlikely to be adversely affected by a move to a new town and school – he’s not at a critical point in his education. Councils are supposed to be mindful of guidance to minimise disruption to a child’s education, especially at critical points such as GCSE exams. Councils can exercise discretion at other points in a child’s education, but we’re at a point where they don’t.
Says the letter:
“The disruption that might likely be caused to your child’s education is not likely to have a long term adverse impact on his education. Your son is not at a critical stage of his education.”
Sara begs to differ. Her son is settled at his Newham school. Moving him to an area where he is not settled, where he is miles from friends and family, and where his mother is unemployed could indeed have an adverse impact on his education and life. A sentence such as “not likely to have a long term adverse effect,” is a guess, not a fact.
You see my point.
I understand perfectly well that officers make these decisions using guidance criteria. That does not mean that the criteria are correct, or should be accepted by the rest of us. Nor does it mean that councils interpret those criteria in a homeless family’s favour. The bottom line is that we have come to accept that people with no money should be uprooted from schools, job opportunities and support networks because they can’t afford housing. The whole scene is a disaster.
I know what some readers will say.
They will say Tough Shit. They will say that people who can’t afford to live in London shouldn’t expect to live in London. They’ll say that they can’t afford to live in London, so why should others expect to?
I say bullshit to that. I left London myself because I couldn’t really afford it. So what. We should all be fighting this enforced banishment rubbish. The point is we’ve come to accept that people on low incomes (Sara earns about £7 an hour) can be shoved out and excluded on spurious, inhumane grounds. We’re saying that a big city’s opportunities should be reserved solely for people who can afford to live near.
I have written before about women with little kids who’ve had to give up jobs, because they couldn’t afford London, or to commute to London to work.
Here’s Alicia Phillips, who had to give up her nursery nurse job, because she couldn’t afford to travel to London from the Welwyn Garden City hostel she was placed in by Waltham Forest Council.
Poverty excludes people. People are dumped. We’ve reached a point where a family’s support networks and a child’s contentment at school are considered optional extras – luxuries, even.
I wonder when some of these Labour councils will start saying That’s It. That’s Enough.
Kate.
I was gonna put, I don’t believe this but, the thing is I do believe it, this poor woman and her kids!!!
I won’t waffle on as I usually do but, just to say that this government want us all to fail, apart from the very rich who support them!!!!
The whole government is so very very corrupt, this country is very corrupt & it’s all about greed & politicians & this corrupt government are the worst of the lot!!!
I long to see the day that this corrupt government & every single one of these greedy Bastard’s are behind bars for their EVIL crimes against humanity. Will that day ever come?? I very much doubt it but, I very much hope so!!!!!
#Evilscumgovernment
#initfortheirownpersonalgains
#CorruptevilBastards
In this case Ritchie it’s the Council not the Government, but I do blame the Govt for not building enough housing and for creating the Political atmosphere where this can happen. The Establishment want to kick all the poor people & foreigners out of London, it’s a form of social & ethnic cleansing, or social engineering, except for rich foreigners that is. If you’re a wealthy Russian Oligarch you can come here & launder your money, buy a multi-million £ house in Mayfair and that’s ok, we don’t mind that, but for anyone else it’s “on yer bike”.
Trev, it’s not the foreigners they want to kick out, it’s British people! I know someone who has Polish neighbours from hell in housing association housing, yet British people get moved to Birmingham!
Yet people wonder why some of us voted to leave the EU! London is filling up fast, but there is nowhere for anybody to live, unless they have money. It’s social cleansing. We need to house our own people in our own city before we let everybody else in!
Yes, there are many faults with the whole issue of so-called multi-culturalism. The realities have been very different from the ideals. Religious and cultural beliefs have so often led to the split communities that we see today.
Lawrence,the social divide is between rich & poor not race or ethnicity.
Hi all, I’ve been practising my school Spanish with a very nice Spanish lady I met today, so I’m not really so uptight about people speaking foreign languages.
Trev, that is a nice idea, but I’m not sure that it is entirely true. There are issues here regarding the loss of a native culture. Of religious intolerance.
There’s religious intolerance popping up on this forum from time to time. Many people don’t recognise it in themselves.
I agree with you, Gordon.
Blind people can’t get a taxi because the driver won’t take the dog.
I’m surprised so many shops and cafes ban the hijab (simple scarf round the hair).
Trev mate, government, council, the council work for the government, they’re all the same my mate, this whole bloody country is Corrupt!!!!
Every single one who we elect are in it for themselves and not what the people elected them for, to speak for us!!!
I was always told to vote so I could have a say, but why should I vote anymore as every single one of the scum are in it for shear greed, they’re all the same mate, evil, corrupt Bastard’s & until we get a government other than conservative or Labour, I’ll never vote again mate.
If you don’t vote, politicians will do what they want to us, on the basis that “poor people don’t vote”.
I used to have some Polish neighbours & they were lovely people, kind, friendly hard working.I also had English neighbours from hell, loud, noisy, drunkensmack heads who wanted to get into my flat to nick my stuff, constantly harassing me. I lived in a big house with neighbours from all over; Jamaican, Indian, Pakistani, Hungarian, Yugoslavian Serb, Nigerian, Spanish, Welsh, all nice people.
I have loads of foreign neighbours too, some good, some not so good. But I live in private rental. My point is that housing association and council properties should go to British people first. If we fill our social housing with foreigners, it’s no wonder we run out of space for our own people this side of Birmingham!
Besides,London like most cosmopolitan capital cities has always had foreigners ever since it was founded. Wasn’t it the Romans who built Londinium? Cockney culture came from French Hugenots (if that’s how you spell it).
Did the Romans take over the local housing and scatter the natives as far as Birmingham? I don’t think so.
Ritchie – Of course you are right, but it’s the Tories, so in this year where we celebrate 70 years of the NHS we need also to remember the words of its founder, Aneurin Bevan on the subject of Tories, who he described as ‘lower than vermin’. However, perhaps our ire needs to be directed in a different direction, as it’s the complete and utter failure of the Labour Party to call the Tories out on their callousness.
Kate is right to question Labour’s lack of response, even to acknowledge the huge levels of disruption, the pain and dislocation experienced by people uprooted from their families and social networks, places where their lives made sense.
Kate. I think you know that you’ll never convince the died in the wool Daily Mail brigade and those who think like them who are those who, without a thought, let alone empathy or compassion, dismiss the concerns of mother’s like Sara. I suspect that these are the kind of people for whom these things only happen to other people, and are only of any concern once they start happening to them.
They are ostriches
So in effect the Council is turning a deaf ear to this woman’s concerns and refusing to listen. Sounds like you might as well talk to a brick wall – a wall of denial. I’ve heard of people being “sent to Coventry” but Birmingham is just as bad.
Sent to Coventry – good one!
Sent to Coventry, I think I’d rather go there than Birmingham!!
Nothing against those who live there but, when I was a manager, I had a trip to see where our stuff was made. I landed back in Birmingham & it took me bloody ages to get out the place, I hated it!!!
I once got a bit lost in Central London, trying to get from Portsmouth to Yorkshire on a motorbike. I knew it had all gone a bit wrong when I found myself going past Wimbledon Common on the Kingston bypass. I shouldn’t have even been in London! Took ages to find the M25, and I let out a cheer when I finally saw a big sign saying M1 North. 🙂
Ha-ha! Wimbledon Common is on the old “Portsmouth Road”, so you would’ve been in the right place a few centuries ago!
Wimbledon Common is a lovely neck of the woods. You should’ve stopped and had a look round. There’s Cannizaro Park, Wimbledon Windmill (with a museum, where I ground my own flour with a pestle and mortar as a child), Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club, where Wimbledon Tennis is held every year… You can walk down the roads leading off Parkside and you feel on top of the world! You can see into Centre Court from a few spots (from afar – don’t attempt to follow Murray this way!) and there’s a huge Budhist temple as well.
Look out for the Wombles!
It was late at night though and I was desperate to get bback home & had a long way to go.
There’s a good Asda off the Kingston Bypass and a gate into Richmond Park. You could’ve gone round the park on your motorbike, admiring the view and the herds of deer. There are some fabulous azaleas in Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park in May. There are colourful mandarin ducks with ducklings, swans with cygnets and geese with goslings. It’s full of green ring-necked parakeets, as well.
Well it’s clearly not the Ritz or the councils wouldn’t find so many cheap flats up there!
This just shows how much official attitudes to people on benefits & needing housing have hardened over the last few years. It is a fixed part of the system now.
Official disdain and official reluctance. Topped off with the attitude ‘you are poor so what else do you expect ?’
It is piss poor. I think Labour councils need to get into a bit of non co-operation. Somehow, government has to be told to fuck off.
Got to say where is Labour on housing ? More to the point than music festivals and getting-down with the yoof.
Yeah, well we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the election.
I wouldn’t want to do their job. Splitting up families and sending people miles from anywhere.
Makes you wonder how much more of this crap people can take. But they do, and still no sign of any real public anger.
Yet they can get 100,000 to march about Brexit.
But the whole benefits issue now just raises a yawn from Joe Public.
Yeah, until they are on the dole themselves !
Selfish is as selfish does.
The beeb seldom covers anti-austerity demos, nor the pro-Brexit ones.
I marched against austerity with 100,000, but we got no mention whatsoever from the beeb. They’re selective about reporting demos.
What is the message from Labour on their policies on welfare, social housing
and homelessness ? There doesn’t seem to be any sort of plan about these things.
It’s all far too low-key from Labour. It’s not a done deal, they haven’t won the election yet. But they just seem to be cruising along as if it’s all in the bag.
All low key!? Labour are constantly banging on about building more houses, on welfare and homelessness – in case nobody has noticed the Tories have effectively been in government for 8 years so blame them not Labour. We have a cruel vindictive Tory government who don’t give a damn about the disabled, the poor and homeless. Central government policy is adopted by local councils who don’t have any affordable housing so they want to send people miles away to cheaper areas than London and don’t give a damn about the consequences to the people involved.
To be fair Nicholas I haven’t heard them say a right lot about Welfare (or Social Security to use a better term) lately. Apart from that Universal Credit should be “paused”, and then “fixed” (whatever that means). Under Miliband Labour were a bit more specific, telling me in an email that they believed that unemploymentwas a greater source of poverty than Benefit Sanctions, adding that they thought Sanctions were a vital tool in helping people back to work. I’m hoping and assuming all that has changed now under Corbyn.
See, even Trev knows Labour’s position is “pause and fix”!
On sanctions, vaguely positive is better than decidedly negative…
Politicians lie anyway.
Nicholas, Corbyn has said and done nothing to help people on welfare. Labour are still operating at half-power.
No-one really knows what the Labour position is on Universal Credit, except to wish it would all go away.
I know Corbyn has said and done lots of things to help people on welfare. I also know that the Labour position on Universal Credit is “pause and fix”, even though I don’t even follow these things that closely.
Yet some people are determined to hold their own views. That’s fine.
It’s a bit like saying the Met Office did nothing to predict the weather and you’re not sure if there’s a heatwave. You’re entitled to your opinions, but most people know there’s a heatwave and knew it was coming.
Is it really too late for Tony ? #StayInLabour
Yes, it’s too late for Tony…
Unless he’s standing against Padi or Sourchimp.
Tony who?
What is happening to this young family and indeed many others is appalling. A few years back our local council Luton proposed sending my daughter’s friends family to Birmingham. As they were a large family (8 kids it was proposed to house some in one house and the rest in another thus splitting up the family! They stood firm and eventually got housed here.
But I really think that in maybe 10 years perhaps sooner we’ll have a new generation of disaffected young adults who have suffered under all these policies .who’s parents had to use foodbanks. Who huddled under blankets because there was no money for heating. Really I can see more riots looming. And our rulers won’t even notice….or care..
More riots looming? If only!
500,000 young people already off the radar that are not engaging with the system so do not show up in the statistics, and the numbers are set to rise.
Like your suppliers of your “medicine”? Hm. I wonder why they don’t want to be on a database…
What do you mean by this?
That is an amazing figure when you think about it.
And a sad reflection on society.
A very very sad reflection on society!!!
My partner does work for the homeless in night shelters etc.
Xmas Eve last year we did loads of food and took it to the local homeless shelter, soup kitchen in Derby. I came away from there being unable to speak as if I did, I would’ve burst into tears, and I’m a grown man aged 50.
I cannot believe what this country is now & the fact this corrupt useless government are denying it, makes me hate them even more!!!
I’m actually ashamed & totally embarrassed to say I am English!!!!
This country & this pathetic government have turned this once great country, into a complete Joke!!!! And I long for the day, May and her cronies are sent down to serve many years behind bars for her & there crimes against humanity!!
It is a shocking statistic. A failure of Governmen t.
Surely there must be a way to appeal this decision? What is written down in the letter tells you exactly why the council should keep her in London: Google Maps says it’s too far to commute and she has a job here, which is new evidence they should consider not ignore. It seems to my untrained eye that she’s got a very powerful case for a further appeal. It might have been easier to ignore her when she was out of work, but the fact she has a job to go to really ought to swing it in her favour.
Some people commute from Birmingham to London, but the costs are extortionate, the journey time is about 2 hours each way and it is completely impractical. If there is a problem on the railway line, YOU’RE STRANDED! Her baby can’t spend the night with the 6-year-old, while mum sleeps by the railway track!
People who live far from work can arrange for family and friends to pick them up in a car and watch the children if there’s a problem on the trains. Why can’t she? Oh, that’s right. All her family and friends are in London.
I expect the travelcard costs more than her wages bring in, anyway. So she’d have to give up her job. It’s not acceptable that a council would do someone out of a job because of the offer of housing.
The Bald Man went to Scotland,
To taste the Northern Air,
And a sudden inspiration,
Came while he was there.
He dreamt he saw a working-class,
Who really all were workers,
Not dole-living idlers,
And three-generation shirkers.
Conditionality ! He thought, that’s the key,
This is the inspirational part for me !
No more skiving on your council estate,
A month without money,
If you’re five minutes late.
Wife in hospital ?, we don’t care,
A sanction for you on signing-day,
If you should dare to stay away.
Bury your child ?
Not a chance !
You’ve given the state a merry dance.
Do what we say or we’ll cut your money,
And I tell you chum,
You won’t find it funny !
You’ll work and work,
And we’ll say when,
And then by God,
You’ll work again !
We run the state,
And the DWP too,
And we don’t like work-shy skivers like you !
Very good! And no mention of Russian hats for a change.
It was the end of a winter’s day,
White snow lay all around,
Upon the cottage roof,
And outside on the ground.
A warm fire blazed within,
The curtains were drawn tight,
We had ranged far and wide that day,
And were settled in for the night.
We sat before the flickering glow,
The warmth of curling flame,
Enjoying the simple pleasure,
Of being together again.
I looked across at you my love,
Seated in your favourite chair,
And for a moment thought,
An Angel was sitting there.
My heavenly guide upon this earth,
My heart, my hope, my life.
No less dear to me,
Than had I called you wife.
What does it matter how love comes ?
Into each separate life ?
A hat, a cat, beloved dog,
Or even a human wife ?
It matters not the journey,
If the path be understood,
To have such love within our lives,
Must be the greatest good.
Beautiful Norman, and very moving. You are a true romantic.
How sweet Norman, I can just imagine the two of you together in your cottage xx.
Wonderful Norman ! It takes me back to my younger days. There is so little true romance in this modern world.
Too many worries about benefits. 35 hours of job search every week leaves too little time for romance. The men are out all night driving for Uber and cycling for Deliveroo anyway.
Norman, you are a philosopher. Here in this poem answering the question, not only what is love ?
But also seeking to widen the debate. To look for an answer beyond the conventional. Unconfined by the limited expectations of society.
Not bad, Norman, not bad.
I wonder if you do any summer poetry, or if your speciality is winter?
Without wishing to be pedantic, what is a poem without a Russian Hat ?
anti-Tory perhaps,rather than anti-Socialist?
Yes, Russian hats were getting a bit OLD HAT…ha-ha?
Ha-ha! What an apt poem we have this time!
The rise in gated communities with private armies is spreading we will soon have our first gated city.
Divide and conquer seems very much on the agenda while the country is split on many issues, nothing more effective than destroying communities to prevent the masses from rising.
True. They did that in Manningham, Bradford when the old Lister’s Mill was converted into luxury flats behind gates with private parking, bang opposite a fortress of a Police station, and out on the streets in that area it’s a riot zone, drug wars, shootings, robberies, you name it!
Yep probably the same people no doubt who like to travel abroad to experience new cultures and spend the time in gated hotels restaurants and beeches while the population starve looking in.
If they went out & walked the streets of Manningham like I often did they would shit themselves.
The bobby on the beat is now an endangered species, if not extinct.
Anagram of Migration Day is : Again Dim Tory
Too right Fred !
‘We are not the party of people on benefits. We don’t want to be seen, and we’re not, the party to represent those who are out of work,” she said’.
Rachel Reeves MP – 2015
Good old Ruthless.
So Labour don’t represent the Rights & well-being of unemployed workers. Appalling state of affairs.
The Tories don’t represent the Working Class either:
“Theresa May has had an awful time defending her party’s relationship with British businesses since her Foreign Secretary decided to say “fuck business” in response to the concerns that a shambolic Tory “no deal” flounce out of the EU would leave them with no choice to quit the UK and relocate to the continent.
Jeremy Corbyn raised these concerns at Prime Minister’s questions, emphasising the risk Theresa May’s chaotic Brexit floundering represents to hundreds of thousands of skilled British workers.
The Tory benches laughed and jeered when Corbyn read out a letter from a worker in the car industry with concerns that his job could disappear if Theresa May allows Jacob Rees-Mogg and the ERG extremists to deliver the ruinous “no deal” catastrophe they’re craving (so that they can make a killing buying up distressed British assets on the cheap).
The sound of dozens of privileged Tory MPs laughing and jeering at the concerns of a British worker who is worried about the future of his job is a perfect encapsulation of the absolute contempt that these people have towards ordinary working people.”
http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2018/06/theresa-may-is-openly-taking-tory.html
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dpFsZklzZbE/WQeMIkiDsrI/AAAAAAAAD_E/grN7nMFWgtYCfvFV-SoWgvOVFPt1KmuygCLcB/s1600/Workers%2Bwages%2BUK%2Bgreece%2B2.png
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2017/11/what-do-britain-and-greece-have-in.html
It’s dreadful the way the Tories laugh and jeer at ordinary people’s concerns. I want to leave the EU, but I wouldn’t laugh at a concerned worker or immigrant/EU citizen. I do recognise there are drawbacks and people caught in the middle.
To be honest Alison, the Tories are & always have been very Corrupt!!!
Theresa May is an evil cow & is in it for her own needs.
Did you know her husband has business interests in sugar & if they legalise cannabis he stands to lose £millions which is why she’s never gonna legalise cannabis.
I don’t use it but loads of people are calling for it to be legalized due to the health properties.
She wont legalise it because her hubby will lose millions & she also doesn’t want us to be healthy for obvious reasons.
As I’ve said before many times, this whole country is Corrupt & May is one of the biggest culprits!!!
Business interests in sugar? Ha-ha! No wonder Liz Truss says the government should keep out of people’s food “choices”. (How can it be a choice really? “Mum, I want a drink!” “OK. What do they have that doesn’t cost the earth?…Ribena…Capri Sun…Fanta…”)
I wonder why people use “cow” as a term of abuse? I think cows are better than us humans and the Hindus even worship them! Surely it’s an honour to be compared with a cow? Same with a female dog…
Trouble is Trev, what about the Sun reading right-wing working-class ? And there are a lot of them. They can’t stand the Labour Party. Or Corbyn.
Indeed Andy, it goes on to say that at the end of ThomasClarke’s article.
And you particularly see this Trev, when Jeremy Corbyn mentions someone who has written to him. If they have what the Tories see as an obvious working-class name, there are howls of laughter.
But Corbyn does seem to ask for this sometimes. The way he says the name, half-expecting some sort of comeback. It might be better if he didn’t say the first name. And just say ‘one of my constituents, Mr/ Mrs Whatever has written to me.
Yes that might be better.
I disagree with that, Alan. If I sent in a good question, damn right I’d want a mention! It sounds more authentic anyway.
Where I live there’s a local eccentric called Jake Manglewurzel, good job he doesn’t write to Corbyn!
Do you remember the guy on Blackadder who thought his name was Sod Off?
You think it’s about the sound of the name? I think it’s just the fact it’s about welfare or the NHS.
It plays to the stereotypes surrounding names. Gender, race,
culture. Winston ? Other than Churchill, probably a black male. Sandra – working-class woman, cultural stereotype hairdresser / shop assistant. And so on.
That’s probably true David, and to prove them wrong I can say that I once did know a Winstonwho was a young white Working Class Englishman.
You cannot argue with the logic that family and friends are not considered essential elements to our welfare, we can and many do get along without any.
But taking the same logic limbs are also not an essential element to our survival and many can and do get along without them.
This though is maybe be a poor analogy but I would argue it is an amputation of healthy limbs to solve a shoe shortage.
If I were moved away from my partners, all my friends, my counsellor, and my medical team, I’d quickly end up isolated, spiral into a deep depression, and likely kill myself.
Same here. But I have no children, so I’d probably get no housing offer anyway.
I never see anyone. Hardly ever see family, not in touch with any old friends (some are now dead). Don’t socialize in any way shape or form, apart from when I volunteer at the foodbank where I see/meet people to talk to or interact with. I probably spend 99.9% of the time alone (apart from the company of a couple of cats!)
Sorry to hear you seldom see anyone. I went through a phase like that after my mum died. My only friend was a neighbour’s cat. I loved him very much, but I’m glad I started going to church because I’ve made lots of friends now and I go to social activities with them. It improves my mood.
They have asked for mercy Esther,
But you have not heard the call.
Instead you’ve sat in Caxton House,
And not done much at all.
Universal Credit costs too much,
It’s cruel and harmful too.
As the Work & Pensions Secretary,
Stopping this is down to you.
There is record use of foodbanks,
Claimants in the street,
Homeless, sunk in misery,
No proper food to eat.
You know what the committees have said,
The Audit Office too,
The families sick with worry,
Over what you are going to do.
For God’s sake stop the roll-out !
Don’t bring chaos to this land.
Esther you can stop it,
If only you’d understand.
Can you not find pity there,
Deep in your woman’s heart ?
For the poor, the lost, the children,
Don’t let the cruelty start.
Instead be the one to stand up
In parliament and say,
Let’s scrap Universal Credit,
And find a better way !
Very well said Political Norm. But I doubt Fester McVile even has a heart.
Good one!
They should print this and paste it on the door of Caxton House. Brilliant !
Agreed!
And the age of the homeless is rising too all the time. Which is another disgraceful factor. We are getting more and more like America, who also have a big problem with older homeless. Apparently there are now more than 2500 over 60’s homeless in the UK !
All very wrong Jeff. But you do get some who reach a certain age and just give it up. Rather be homeless than have anything more to do with the system.
It is about time we saw some Militancy from the Labour Councils in the face of this never-ending onslaught of Tory vendetta against the poor. The Parliamentary Labour Party too. And the Unions. Enough is enough. Bollocks to Austerity. Let’s have some Strike action, Pickets, and widespread civil disobedience. Stand up to the Tories and tell them to fuck off.
The unions, Hah ! The bosses on £140 K salaries, Saville Row suits. Real ‘working-class’. After you with the champagne, Len.
They did nothing about The Welfare Reform Act, were quite happy to support workfare. Toadied to Tony Blair, sucked-up to Miliband. In all they have been useless since Thatcher cut their nuts off.
Sadly that’s very true. The last great Union leader was Arthur Scargill. We need more like him.
One thing you can say about Thatcher she was determined to destroy the Unions and succeeded.
Thatcher destroyed Unions so labour destroyed fox hunting and so the conservatives destroyed social security.
Tit for tat. But at least back in the day Scargill had a go at taking a stand against Thatcher and was often to been seen on the frontline getting dragged off by the police.
Hello again all,
It is Kate here, your friendly journalist/moderator.
There is someone sockpuppeting in the comments – multiple comments coming in from one place. That person will know who they are.
Let’s not do that please. I’ll have to ban that IP if it continues.
Everyone else – as you were.
Cheers, Kate.
That is always the danger with these comment sections.
I was aware it was happening and mentioned it in an earlier post.
Not much you can do about it really, obviously it is a trivial matter to change IP and some users have dynamic IPS.
Makes me wonder how many names they were posting under or impersonating as it has gone awfully quiet on here since you brought it up.
It is a balancing act, obviously having comments can add to the value of your site and bring engagement but then there is the danger of spammers and those who enjoy disruption.
I was surprised that you moderate comments as I presumed that this could open you up to any legal action should a post cross a boundary whereas not having any editorial role protects you to some degree.
There is no ideal solution but if your moderating mainly to prevent spammers then captchas can help.
And you always have the ability to delete comments at a later point should they get through.
Might be less work than moderating.
Ah, the modern age.
Spam goes in the bucket so that’s not normally an issue.
Think one of the issues all round is that proper moderation is actually a proper job that takes time, care and attention and if you can’t do that really and keep track of things for resource reasons or whatever, then that can be a problem.
Thing is, you get some really insightful and important comments which is definitely the case here. I don’t really want to turn comments off for that reason as there are people who come here to post comments which are important and describe their firsthand experiences of austerity.
The internet, eh.
A blessing and a curse.
🙂
I have 2 IP addresses: a computer and a phone. Trev also has 2: his phone and the computer in the library.
Thing is, you don’t need multiple IP addresses to make repeat comments. All you need to do is copy and paste.
People who post on this forum are identified by their email address. Kate can block the account. Someone could create multiple email addresses, but they probably wouldn’t bother. We’re not that important.
I expect some people make duplicate posts in error. Perhaps they’re not sure if they’re still connected to the internet.
No, I wasn’t the culprit.
Nope, weren’t me neither. Probably Progress trolls trying to look like a bigger group of people as if it’s a large ‘Movement’ that we should all take very seriously or bow down to.
I think the only way to clear up the mystery is to put in a FOI request.
I thought I saw the same comment with a different time on it. (One of the very long ones.)
I never heard that expression before – “sockpuppeting” haha
Neither have I! I always thought a sock puppet was a sock over your hand…
I suppose these comments do sound a bit like Punch and Judy sometimes…
“That’s the way to do it…”
Kate, I hope you are not going to let a few of these comedians put you off.
Sourchimp is right about some of these posts. I remember a few months ago,
there were a large number apparently by upper-class Conservatives.
Whoever it was, they obviously had some genuine knowledge of fox-hunting .
I don’t mean to be tactless Kate, but would they be likely to read a left-wing
blog like this ?
Ha ha – you can’t be saying this blog isn’t a big thing in fox hunting circles?!! OUTRAGEOUS.
Nah, few things put me off.
If they cared about our problems, our country would be a very different place…
People who hunt foxes are twats.
lol always used the word twat myself and would get a slap round me head of my mam, never really understood why until got older.
Danny dyers word of the week at the moment.
Agreed.
We’ve had a few animals posting as well! I liked them, though. I wonder where they’ve gone…
Mr Wolf was the last one I saw posting.
Still at least the chimps still here bashing away at the keys.
Your name and photo are “chimp”, but you post as a human. The animals would talk about life outside the den/mouse hole. I confess I found it rather cute.
Humans are animals, ?
Shock horror was Jesus a stoner ?
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/713292/jesus-christ-cannabis-oil-miracle-weed-bible
Those are your thoughts for the day.
1) I meant “the other animals”.
2) We sip wine at the Eucharist, as Jesus broke bread and sipped wine with the Disciples. I don’t think wine or cannabis can make you walk on water, though.
What like dynamo ?
I’m sure Cannabis has been used by people in many different ways for millennia, but I don’t think it has anything to do with Jesus’ miracles, that’s more of an Occult/Alchemical thing, once you truly become Master of Self you become Master over matter.
I know where you are coming from trev I have pondered and dabbled in many things over the years mainly in my youth, tried both black and white magic I sorted answered all my own questions by 21 and pretty much cracked the meaning of it all as far I was concerned fast forward 35 odds years still feel the same.
I gave up on both in the end and found nothing there.
Then turned to science and physics for the answer.
I am comfortable about dying because I agree with the theory that energy cannot be destroyed only transformed (The Conservation of energy) so death is just a transformation and does not really hold no fear for me at all.
It also sort of guides my minimalist approach to life, and I am always looking for the path of least resistance to make the journey as bearable as possible.
Although not everything works out the way you plan.
I would not be here if it did or I would be like those mystics sat in a darkened cave mummified :))
Quantum mechanics is mind blowing if you accept the theories that are holding up against peer review and scrutiny be amazing to go forward in time another 1000 years see how far we do advance.
I love star trek and the concept behind the replicator that it can produce anything even an exact copy of itself simply by altering matter.
Then I think what the world would be like if such a s device actually existed and in theory it is actually possible to build such a device.
End to poverty and inequality as friends families and neighbours can simple replicate another device for others it would soon spread, it would crash the whole system as gold would be as common as the air we breath as so would other precious metals, money would become obsolete.
No one need ever toil again to survive and would devote energies to art, music learning and enlightenment.
As you will probably note my medicine has kicked in :))
Beam me up snotty !
Perhaps not directly related to Housing issues but obviously the Universal Credit fiasco has far reaching consequences:
It’s even come to the attention of Money week ( as mentioned on Ipswich Unemployed blog: https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2018/07/01/iain-duncan-smith-rumoured-to-seek-cognitive-therapy-as-his-universal-credit-system-worsens/ )
“Universal credit and the Tories’ stumbling welfare reforms”
https://moneyweek.com/universal-credit-and-the-tories-stumbling-welfare-reforms/
Universal Credit is causing me mental health issues and I am not even on it yet.
Well…believe half of what you see, a third of what you read and a quarter of what you hear. The IDS rumour probably fits what not to believe.
Well I’m not a doctor but I’m convinced IDS at least has some sort of Personality Disorders, probably either Narcisstic, Psychopathic or Sociopathic.
Most people in a position of power are almost certainly psychotic.
Perhaps Toryism itself is a form of mental illness. I t’s certainly defective thinkin g.
They say we’re all somewhere on a spectrum. Who knows what labels would be given to Jesus if he came back today?
If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He’d be gunned down cold by the C.I.A.
-The The Armageddon Days
Sociopath, maybe. Personality disorder can’t be the full explanation, though. My friend has a personality disorder and she cares very much. I think IDS has a heart of stone.
There are several differen t types of Personali ty Disorders, Sociopaths, Psychopaths & Narcissists do have a ‘heart of stone’ because they are unable to feel empathy.
Hm. Could be a personality disorder, but I suspect he’s just plain MEAN.
…but they learn how to fake it. IDS shed a crocodile tear in tha t IanHislop interview, a dead giveaway.
I’m sorry but I thought this was a post Kate did to raise awareness of a poor mother with 2 kids that was soon to be homeless & discuss what this pathetically useless government was, if anything doing about it!?
Don’t you think this has now gone off topic??
The best way to sort out arseholes trying to spam the site is to just totally ignore them, not to discuss them!???
Not sure what to say Ritchie no ones spammed anything Kate says they go straight in to teh bin.
Guilty as charged for going of the topic though but welfare is a broad brush and I personally see no harm, obviously hats and animals I am not keen on but the poet got better.
But I get your point.
Yes, the poet got better. Perhaps the next poem could be on topic.
Hey! We’re not arseholes and we’re not posting spam! We’re discussing Iain Duncan Smith, who has brought misery upon the very people Kate is writing about. I’d say it’s relevant.
Alison, where in my post did I say you were an arsehole & where did I say you were posting spam???
I merely said the post had gone off topic from what Kate had originally posted on a poor woman with 2 kids, that’s all!!
The reason why I said it went off topic was because I got fed up with seeing posts discussing people with animal names who no longer post etc etc, when the best way to react to them was to ignore them as they’re obviously Spamming Kate’s site & the great work she does.
If you took my post the wrong way which you obviously have done, I make no apologies.
There are more serious issues to discuss than spammers, such as, in my post, this ARSEHOLE Government & what they are not doing to help the homeless on their doorsteps!!!!
Ritchie
Only just noticed you mentioned Derby earlier.
Derby centre is falling to bits, the town is full of empty boarded up shops, loan shops, charity shops and rough sleepers then your plagued by mamba zombies near the church who have recently been pushed elsewhere.
They are restarting UC July 11th in Derby and it was proposed the council set aside some money help those who may face difficulties and the tory councillor blocked it saying,
“We will just have to wait and see what happens it may not be all the bad as some say it is !”
Sourchimp.
Believe me mate, it’s as bad & worse than you mentioned my friend! So very very sad!!!!
You only have to walk around Derby city centre on a Saturday afternoon to see all the Zombies so very high on Mamba, the homeless shelters at night tell the story also.
I took some food last Sunday to the “Padly centre” with at least 8 waiting outside for it to open.
My partner who also gives her time up to help the homeless during the cold winter months was with me.
They were so very thankful for what we bought them. 3 got talking to me about the watch I was wearing & we had some discussion regarding Tissot watches etc.
My partner was called “Miss” & I was called “Sir”
What bought a lump to my throat as it always does, is that these people are human beings FFS, with the very best manners I’ve heard for a long time!!
They never ever asked to live on the streets, they never ever asked if they would rather have a well paid job & a family & home to go back too at night. They had no choice. It’s the hand life & more importantly Society & this totally Shite government dealt them!!!
To see so many that are so very
greatful for a pork pie or a sausage roll just really breaks my heart.
They never asked for this, circumstances have put them in this position with NO help at all from this Corrupt government. That’s what hurts!!!
That’s why I said what I said earlier as Kate does this for the right reasons god bless her. I hate it when it goes off topic & people just talk about total shit that doesn’t matter.
What does matter & which is why Kate does this, is the very many being discriminated against by this fucking corrupt EVIL Government, who are about to lose their homes & most importantly, their children.
In this day and age in this country, albeit so very very corrupt, how the fuck can this happen & how the hell does Theresa May, the evil cow sleep at night, knowing what’s going on under her watch!!
The Bitch needs taking from power, the sooner the better!!!!
What worries me though is, if Labour get in, it could be even worse, though I very much doubt it could get any worse but, I just think we need a fresh outlook & a new party to give Tory scum & Labour a run for their money!!! Just my opinion my friend, thank you for your comment sourchimp!!
Take care my friend!
Ritchie
Ritchie your spot on, if you have been homeless for any amount of time you become part of a sub culture and most in that culture help each out, provide their own support networks by various ways and means to survive, they are decent people. Just the media and ignorance that paints them all as scroungers,criminals and wastrels.
Of course there are some bad apples but in my experience most are great people.
Getting from homeless into a home is only part of the battle, then more often than not you have to deal with the benefits system trying to get you to lose it again and back to square one.
So it is no wonder some do not even bother trying and just give up they know they will fail.
Hats off to you helping out, Derby lacks very little in the way of support, I can sense the genuine empathy in your posts.
2022 cannot come soon enough.if not before, if the conservatives get in again and that would be taking the piss I cannot see how, then it has to be more than a war of words to uproot them.
Sourchimp.
I just prey that the people of this once great country will rise up & realise what is going on & just vote these total scumbags out once & for all & as I’ve said time & time again, May & her cronies should spend time behind bars for their crimes against humanity, but we all know they won’t!
I just prey the whole of the UK wakes up & gets rid of the Tory scum once & for all & we for once, actually have a government that care!!
Can you imagine,,,,,, an actual government that care, that would be a first!!!
I know it will never happen in my life time but, I just hope one day, this once great country that is now a complete Joke, has a government that, for once, actually cares about those that put them there to speak for us. Instead of doing what they do for their own gains, perverted scum & corrupt Bastard’s as they all are!!
But I very much doubt it mate!!
But, we can but hope eh!!
Ritchie
Well I share your despondency to the choice of parties that are out there and I do not trust most of them, Jeremy Corbyn does seem a decent honest guy but power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
But time will tell he seems to talk the talk and will hopefully walks the walk if he is put to the test to lead the country.
3 things I do support Corby supports,
The removal of sanctions from the welfare system, legalisation of cannabis for not only medicinal but recreational use which I think if they embraced now would bring in an extra million votes in labours favour and the end to wca assessments and leave it to the doctor/patient.
My thoughts exactly & agree on those points also!
There are too many health properties in Cannabis for the Tories to ever legalise it, they dont want us healthy do they!!!
The reason May will never legalise Cannabis is down to her husband’s business. He would stand to lose £milliins!! As I said, they’re all Corrupt & evil, greedy Bastard’s!!
OK then. I’m glad you didn’t mean WE were the “spamming arseholes”!
Most of the time he’s just oh so certain he’s always right. No empathy, I agree.
Maybe he’s really a robot.
Sorry Ritchie. I wasn’t really discussing spammers, but I won’t say another word.
If someone commits murder, are they always a victim of a mental illness? Or do some of them act with an evil motive?
That’s an age old debate.
Yep a massive question I think tackle this first then go on to the meaning of life…….
My thoughts,
Mental health issues were considered possession at one point in our history can you imagine the suffering they would have endured having devil driven out of them.
This is basically the argument between left and right does our environment shape us or our genes.
Going back to Oscar Wild A quote I thought was attributed him but cannot find the reference so not even sure if this correct or I have made it up somewhere but when asked why America was so violent compared to England he said,
“The wallpaper”
And I would agree, People are not born Evil they are made Evil by circumstances and the environment they grow up in.
We only use mental health as an excuse for heinous crimes like we once did for the good v evil debate to fool ourselves that we are not all capable of such acts under the right circumstances.
I prefer to hold IDS fully responsible for knowingly doing everything he did.
I would say no. Most I suspect are spur of the moment, and people suffering from mental health disorders or going through a period of ‘diminished responsibility’. Perhaps killings in that kind of situation need to be called manslaughter rather than murder, as murder is premeditated killing. Even then, there is the question of how much premeditation there is, whether that is seconds or minutes, or at the other end of the scale, calculated and planned to the nth degree months in advance by someone who is stone cold sane.
As you know, in the USA it’s referred to as ‘homicide’ and there are degrees, first degree being premeditated and second degree equating to manslaughter. Interestingly, victims of capital punishment have their deaths recorded, I believe, as manslaughter, which kind of confirms what those of us who are against capital punishment believe, that capital punishment is state sanctioned murder.
My cop out is to say that killing is always wrong, (like stealiing) but sometimes it is justified
Kate not sure if you aware of the full details of this case but before they were homeless what area did they live in previously ?
Basically was they using the family connection to be rehoused in that area or was they already living the area?
Not sure if it makes much difference to the case, just curios, it is still a mindless heartless decision I hope common sense, discretion or the law wins out for them.
Hope this isn’t wandering too far off topic.
Jeremy Corbyn has publically said that “Austerity is killing people” (speaking at the Aneurin Bevan Day in Tredegar), but some Political commentators think this is too little too late and doesn’t go far enough:
“Austerity IS killing people and Corbyn must man up about it”
“He said: “There is clear and mounting evidence that austerity and inequality are killing people.
“For years people were living longer and life expectancy was increasing. That has now ground to a halt and in some parts of the country life expectancy is falling. This is unprecedented.”
Mounting evidence? We’re eight years into Tory austerity and the evidence is all around us!
We know that Tory changes to benefit eligibility have killed thousands because This Site forced the government to admit it after a two-year Freedom of Information battle.
We know that Tory changes to health and social care have killed more than 120,000 people because, again, the Conservative government has admitted it.
We don’t need more proof that Tory austerity is lowering life expectancy.
We do need a Labour government that will launch an investigation into the number of avoidable deaths that were caused by Tory policies – immediately upon taking office.
We need a government that will seize all relevant papers from all relevant goverment departments immediately, and that will follow all evidence trails without fear or favour, no matter where they lead.
The dead demand it.
Corbyn’s words are not strong enough.
He needs to man up and take the Tories to task over the mass deaths they have caused. ”
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2018/07/01/austerity-is-killing-people-and-corbyn-must-man-up-about-it/
I’m glad Jeremy Corbyn said these things. It’s a step in the right direction.
As usual, he’ll be condemned saying too much and condemned for not saying enough.
We wait with baited breath for a string of #StayinLabour posts and a long poem about a Russian hat.
It was about time he had said something though. Thousands have died already because of Tory policies. Labour did nothing under Miliband, he wouldn’t even back Strike action, and they let the Welfare reforms go through unopposed. Let’s face it, Labour have been pretty hopeless throughout this brutal evil Tory regime. All the deaths, suffering & misery the Tories have inflicted upon us, the poverty,destitution, debt, arrears, hunger, foodbanks, homelessnes, all for what? Because the Vulture Capitalists screwed the Banks? We don’t deserve any of this, it’s not our fault. Enough is enough. Fuck the Tories, and the Banks, and Capitalism.
This isn’t the first time Corbyn has condemned austerity.
THen he didn’t do it loud enough.
I agree that Labour slipped too far to the right and acquiesced with Tory policies that have now caused serious harm to ordinary people. In the Labour Party, the majority of the membership would like to see a return to a more traditionally socialist outlook. There have been changes in the right direction in recent years, especially since Jeremy Corbyn became leader.
Don’t get me wrong, I support Corbyn, I like the guy persoynally & I like what he stands for, I want to get rid of the Tories & I’d like to see a proper leftwingSoucialist government …phones gon3 onblnk…..it’s jus so exasperaing, no urgency, no mili rancy….
*militancy* Over the last few yrs Labour could havebeen much more outspoken & proactive.
Dummies guide to remaining in power.
To remain power kill you rival demographic.
Sourchimp, I thought you were in favour of peace?
I was commenting on the conservatives modus operandi.
CON: 42% (-) LAB: 37% (-3) LDEM: 9% (-) GRN: 3% (+1) UKIP: 3% (-) via
YouGov, 25 – 26 Jun
Not really encouraging and polls are not very reliable but to me it beggars belief they are even on double figures.
It beggars belief that anyone still listens to opinion polls!
Unbelievable. These people who support the Tories, they want picking up and shaking to shake some sense into them – WAKE THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID FUCKERS!!!
Maybe we should should start a crowd funded campaign to buy the top legal brains to bring about law suit and take the government to court and charging those responsible for wilful neglect and dereliction of duty leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
But I suspect there is clause somewhere that does not make this possible.
Chargesof Corporate Manslaughter should be brought against the DWP.
Agreed.
Ever so slightly off-topic (apologies)….
So McVey has been forced to apologize for misleading Parliament about Universal Credit, which means one of 3 things; either she didn’t bother to read the NAO Report, or she read it but was too thick to understand it, or she deliberately lied. Either way she has shown herself to be incompetent and should now resign, and Universal Credit should be scrapped. Over to you Jeremy….
Agreed there is no excuse she should go, but really whoever is going to replace her will just tow the same line no doubt.
Just been looking at her Sunday breakfast she proudly tweeted that costs the same as my weekly budget for food.
My Council Tax is due today, when I’ve paid that I’m left with £3 to last a whole week. Fuck. 🙁
Your lucky I only got £2.75 to last 8 days, I have to walk 8 miles to the jobcentre and only have shoes with nails sticking out the soles for penance.
Next the dead parrot sketch.
You’re lucky that it’s so warm you could probably do some of the walk barefoot.
I had a colleague once who said she left her boots on her doorstep. I said they could get stolen. She replied, “If anyone’s that desperate for a pair of old boots, they can have them.” Very generous.
I had a neighbour who put a pair of perfectly good men’s running shoes in the bin! I hummed and hawed about keeping them, but I gave them to a charity shop in the end.
I used to enjoy rummaging around jumble sales, charity shops and car boot sales flea markets etc but even they have now become to expensive.
I split my budgeting loan £350 up into 2 halves so every 20 odd weeks or so I can recoup with roughly £175 to buy clothes shoes and have a stock up on food for the next 6 months ahead.
Just used the online application rather than paper version and it has taken 4 weeks to receive the offer and yet it is now online and they promised to make it faster system years ago.
Be another 21 days now until they receive my acceptance letter and make the payment no doubt.
And it’s about time these scumbags joined the rest of us struggling in the Real world instead of living in their ivory towers, totally blind to what’s Actually going on around them!!
How the hell did this once great country get to this. I feel so very very sorry for those who fought & gave their lives in WW1 & 2 who will no doubt now be turning in their graves, wondering why they gave their very brave young lives for this now joke of a totally useless country!! I hope they all R.I.P
Lets just hope they implode tomorrow.
It’s wrong that they require people to pay council tax out of their £72 per week.
I agree. I also think that 73 pounds 10 pence is a lot less tha is actually needed, especiallly, as those who take note of these things will have noticed, that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has recently revised the figure they say a single person needs as a base line annual income. That figure now stands at 18 thousand 400 pounds (apols for writing this out, keyboard on this tablet is US, so only $ symbol), The sharp eyed will have noticed that this figure is considerably more than an annual income would be were someone fortunate (?) enough to have a full-time job on the minimum wage, This figure is 15 thousand 300 pounds a year. Even if we consider the so called Living Wage we end up with a figure of 17 thousand and 60 pounds, better, but still 20 pounds plus per week short of the JRF figure. And let’s remind ourselves, the JRF figure isn’t about lolling about in luxury, just about having living life decently covering all basic need
Even if the benefit rate for unemployed workers was set at a rate of 50% of the national minimum wage it would, at 146 pounds a week, be double it’s current rate. This just goes to show how poor people claiming benefits really are. If the UK were some poor country the derisory sums paid out to those on benefits might be excusable, but the UK is far from being anywhere near poor, despite what the government and the idiots who believe what they’re told by the Daily Mail would have us believe,
To then expect claimants to pay even a proportion of theeir council tax is iniquitous. Ditto Bedroom Tax.
It’s deliberate punishment of the unemployed. Part of Duncan Smith’s master plan to make claimants think twice about claiming benefits.
It takes the piss, especially considering the fact that UK Benefits are already being underpaid by 40% to begin with:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/29/uk-benefits-inadequate-council-of-europe
I managed to get a ‘stay of execution’ on my Tax bill after phoning the Council and telling them I was too skint to pay on time, so they’ve granted me an extension to pay it when I get my next JSA on 13th. That provides a temporary short-term solution but it still has to be paid obviously.
Well done for getting some leeway from the council!
I’ve been picking some of the first ripe blackberries here in London. In this weather, they should ripen up North any day now, so at least you’ll have something to eat.
Calls for McVey to resign continue:
“Esther McVey has to go. Her downright lies are dangerous”
Polly Toynbee.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/05/esther-mcvey-lies-work-pensions-universal-credit
https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2018/07/05/esther-mcvey-on-the-way-out/
We have the following pledge from Jeremy Corbyn:
“Jeremy Corbyn has promised that under Labour 5% of the national income will go to the NHS – almost £2bn more than it has from the Conservatives. ” – from Momentum
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