…or something.
I wrote recently about Alice (name changed). Alice got a job as a security guard for a G4S supplier BUT must wait two months for her first pay.
Alice has been out of work for several years. She’s been claiming Universal Credit.
She was relying on Universal Credit for rent and some income until she received that first wage packet (she won’t be paid until the end of July).
But on Monday morning, a note appeared in Alice’s Universal Credit journal which said her Universal Credit had been stopped that day. Alice had no warning. She just got the note in her journal:
As you can see, the note says Alice’s Universal Credit was stopped, because Alice had told Universal Credit that she had a job, but not how much she was earning.
Alice is, of course, not earning anything for two months. That’s why she has not submitted any information about her earnings. She has nothing to submit.
She did, however, tell Universal Credit that she wouldn’t get any wages for two months. Universal Credit noted that.
There can be no doubt that Universal Credit noted that, because Universal Credit agreed to reduce Alice’s advance loan repayment amounts for the two months without wages to leave her with more money for that time.
Now, Universal Credit has stopped all Alice’s money and left her with nothing.
She rang Universal Credit and was hung up on, because the officer on the phone felt that Alice was angry.
I’d be angry myself if I was working for nothing and being punished for it by the DWP, but you know how it is. People who don’t have a penny to spare are supposed to take all this on the chin.
So.
This is the sort of garbage that people have to put up with – working for nothing and then being punished by the DWP and pushed into rent arrears and all the rest for not getting paid.
Meanwhile, the Tories tear themselves to pieces over Europe and Labour tears itself to pieces over anti semitism.
And people wonder why I say that I hope that the whole of Westminster is sucked down a sewer.
Blogging will be light over the next month or two as am finishing up a transcription project. Still available for contact here.
Jesus. What a complete and utter bloody shambles. Lord Freud must be over the moon. How the fuck can people live on fresh air?
Nobody’s even running this shitshow any more, assuming they ever were. I think it suits the Tories in particular to concentrate on Brexit and Johnson and to pretend none of this other crap is even happening. Nobody can fix it, so best to direct attention elsewhere.
Well yeah, it was Freud who was the main instigator of this shit to begin with (with his sidekick IDS as the public face of Welfare reform) but now it’s just a runaway train (wreck) with no driver and none of them give a shit.
What happened to Freud? I could google to find out but literally can’t be arsed. Hopefully he’s somewhere under a landfill
Fuck knows. He’s probably looking after his Banking interests in the Middle East, or chillin in his 11 bedroom mansion in Kent (he’s exempt from Bedroom Tax).
You can still claim universal credit up till the day you get your first pay cheque and also put in for a little grant so you can. Jy. Lots. Trousers. Shirts everything you need to start your job e en a pair of socks to go with bootts and a rucksack to put you work gear in and your lun h box hit them. For all you can get so you ain’t left with no money till you get paid an any special clothing ofmr fooy. Wait your gob. Will prob give you shirts with there log on it but you xwill have to buy the rest yousdlff so phone universal credit tell them your situation and you also need to buy sat two pairs of bla ck trousers working boots got the job and take them for as much as you get coz they never help anyone else that needs it and you are proving you are going back. To work not just sitting on your arse and deserve some help to get you off and running in your new job so they can’t say you just sit taking hand outs coz you don’t want to work you have took proved after a while off work that you still want to. Support yourself not realiy on there penny’s to live on even with your wage and paying full rent and stuff again and you might not come out much better it shows those arsholes. Who is who.
The Labour Party should be shouting from the rooftops about the mass cruelty and suffering of Universal Credit. But what do we get ? Who is, or isn’t an anti-semite, and whether Jeremy Corbyn is under some kind of mind-control by his advisers. Plus the latest chapter in the Brexit ‘strategy’ for Labour, which seems to be as flexible as any old rope, and just about as much use.
It’s no wonder that members are deserting the party in droves. Labour need to worry less about Hamas and trendy Islington socialism, and get in there and do something to defend the people they should be fighting for. Here in this country. Right now.
Well said
Absolute disgusting way people are being treated by this cruel system introduced by dimwits in goverment who are paid note paid they do not earn it but receive £88000.00 per annum plus a £2000.00 pay increase nearly every year for sitting in the house of commons.doing nothing but falling a sleep.and only wakiing up when its time to go home or fill in there expense sheet not very honestly either. Let them live on £317.00 a month and pay bills at try and eat out of that else well.I have worked. Over forty years and not once claimed benefits untill just for months ago i have arthritus ashma and depression and took an overdose once. All.i want is to get back on my feet i am a honest kind gent and never been in trouble with the police .I once used to love socialising now only go out to the shops when i can afford to buy food.i think more and more people will come to the end of there tether and do something stupid. This goverment should put there hands in the air and admit universal credit is a sham and change it before its to late after all its supposed to help people not torture them.
Just acknowledging your post Ian. You’ve come to the right place to express total disgust and contempt for the scum currently dragging the country along.
There is little I can say here that can alleviate what you and so many others are going through. What you will get is solidarity about your view which is accurate.
My only hope is that things will become so completely bad (which of course is what you all are showing), that there is such increasing pressure that will eventually force change.
Until people start to unify and there is far wider exposure of what is happening; it won’t occur, though I believe in time change will occur.
One of the best reasons I was given because of a very dark period in my life, was to stay alive to spite them!
People with no moral integrity have little interest in the demise of those who suffer as a result of their policies; I suspect they quietly see that as ‘one less to to deal with’.
Spite the scum; keep on keeping on even though I’m sure it is a daily struggle.
Don’t let such venal filth win.
The whole antisemitism smear thing is a drag. Meanwhile, Lord Freud who started all this Welfare reform vandalism (at the request of Blair), is lording it over some organization he founded (ostensibly a Charity, but sounds a bit iffy) the purpose of which is to bring peace between Israel and Palestine through Trade deals, apparently. Whilst back in the UK society falls apart at the seams.
I’ve been reading all your posts Trev, and now I read this.
I cannot believe things could get any worse, and then I’m proved wrong.
They do this to ‘Alice’, and if she has any reaction to it; the filth at the DWP terminate the call!
It is a type of enslavement. it is nothing more than ‘I’m going to beat you, and if you complain, I’ll beat you ever harder’.
May they bloody well rot, and frankly I hope those they hold dear rot too. Let those who are responsible for this experience just a fraction of the stress they impose on others.
I’m an athiest but I’ll still say this: ”Father never forgive them, for they know exactly what they do”.
I try to imagine a politician who could clean this up and I can’t.
The only ones who could have are all dead; Bevan, Benn, Foot? Or Dennis Skinner if he was 50 years younger.
Linda, these twats actually think they are doing God’s work by brutally enforcing the PWE for our own good to save our souls through experiencing suffering or something. And yes, things CAN get worse! To think they all stood there years ago singing (or miming) to that song “things, can only get better…” Haha 😆 what a load of crap.
I’m sorry but I find some of these posts unbelievable. I was claiming JSA in May 2018 and providing Fit Notes. After 13 weeks I had to move to ESA, by which time Universal Credit had been rolled out in my area. Having been told I needed to sign on for UC I did so and continued to provide Fit Notes which were verified by a non-medical trained ‘Work Coach.’ The Job Centre knew nothing about UC so I researched answers myself and found I should be claiming NSESA. I switched to NSESA and as soon as I did so my UC Journal was closed. The DWP couldn’t message me and I couldn’t message them (Use my journal) So if someone starts work they would also close their UC account Journal, someone isn’t telling the truth here and I don’t believe the Journal remains open. Experience tells me it won’t be!
I thought that was the whole point of UC, that people can claim in-work Benefits such as Working Tax Credits or possibly some Housing Benefit on low earnings, and also be able to be in and out of temporary/part-time work without having to make new claims every time. Well, in theory at least. I don’t have personal experience of this as I’m sill on JSA and doing my best to cling on to it!
I’ve now been told that my NSESA will run out on 29 July and so I must apply for UC. Now, when you apply for UC you are not paid for 5 weeks (If I got a job the longest I’d wait for wages would be 4 weeks) I assume this is because, when applying for UC you lose the first 7 days. However, having lost the first 7 days on my initial claim before moving over to NSESA, why should I again be penalised by losing another 7 days because the DWP are making me move back to UC from NSESA? As far as I’m concerned it is simply changing the name of one benefit to another, they have all of my details. Yet they (NSESA and UC) tell me they cannot look at (share?) each others files. If the DWP can tell me that from that date in July I will no longer be ‘sick’ why doesn’t the Government put these people (with their obvious wonder cure) into doctors surgeries? My illness is mental health, they’ve just made it worse by telling me I’m not going to be sick!
It’s a bloody farce Mike that’s what it is, a monumental shambolic mess. And all deliberately designed to stop people from claiming Benefits because a bunch of multi millionaires say so.
I’m so very sorry kiddo.This situation is going from bad to worse, to worse still.
Stay as strong as you possibly can be, because essentially this is a war against the Conservative Far Right, who enjoy the control that they have.
Ultimately buckling to them in terms of self ham gives these inhuman scum what they want. Please don’t be one of their casualties. Good luck to you.
actually that’s a lie because when i started my new job UC clearly said the claim remains active for six months which it actually did all my earnings are automatically reported to them and the take off the deductions for it illness or injury are totally different to starting a job a getting screwed over.
It’s no lie. Shortly before switching from UC to NSESA I was sanctioned (the dole clerk refused to verify my Fit Note) i asked for a Mandatory Reconsideration and was told I would hear back within 28 days. However, I switched with that period and I heard no more about my MR, but when I phoned about another matter some weeks later I was told that because I had closed my UC account (I didn’t, they did because I was now on NSESA) they could not contact me regarding my MR. I reminded them that letters and post still exist and I was told, ‘I’ll mention that to my Supervisor.’ End result? I lost £80+
We are a relatively new group – 11 weeks old with 5000 members and are here to share news, share stories, get information and advice and combat issues with the Universal Credit system In exciting developments this week we have our first FUCA Food Heroes project under development – still looking for food collection volunteers if anyone is interested and a Feed the FUCA’s page has been set up too, A resources area is under development .and we network nationwide to resolve immediate issues for the vulnerable as seen this weekend when together with Newcastle Street Friends we managed to sort food, clothing and other items for a young mum with 3 children who had lost everything in a fire at her home. Come join us and vent if you wish whether on benefits or not we are open to all but politeness is requested at all times. …Issues with Universal Credit, news, views, information, support or just a rant.or offer help for a few hours volunteers areneeded too https://www.facebook.com/groups/557907344617657/?ref=group_header
She should use ceomail.com and email the head of the DWP/ universal credit and complain that they claim she is working without pay when she has to work a month in hand with no money compared to the week in hand when payment was weekly, telling him that she is considering taking the DWP to court for forcing her into poverty and possibly losing her home. Say if she takes it to court she will be asking for £200 for every week, or part of up to the court date and £100 after the date until it is paid.
Far easier said than done. The DWP and ATOSsers are doing what they are allowed to do by the New Age Nazi’s (can we cut the crap that Hitler was a Socialist. Utter shite!).
Court action costs money. The public system is swamped. Funding on Legal Aid slashed. Public lawyers are now as rare as hen’s teeth.
A civil court action will take scads of cash…..when lack of any cash is the problem.
It can’t be done, and the NAN’s know it.
If this continues, the only hope IS a political shift to the true Left, and /or a class action.
Good luck with both. The latter will not happen because Thatcher successfully instilled the control of ‘divide—and rule’. Blair managed to convince the voting public that Labour Conservativism was the way to go. That has never changed.
I note the opinion here that Labour must return to the so-called centre Left to get elected. Bollocks to that!
All these Universal Credit problems were built-in from the start.
It’s a very reluctant benefit, reluctantly paid by the DWP.
Hence the delays, underpayments, non-payments etc.
YES!
The Labour Party under Corbyn can be won to pledging to stop and scrap Universal Credit. Already the TUC and big unions such as Unite and indeed, the civil servants union, PCS have that policy. There is no prospect of any of the other mainstream parties scrapping UC, except perhaps in order to leave us with literally nothing!
If Jeff Smith is right that voters are deserting the Labour Party in droves (and I very much doubt that he is right) then any of those voters who are affected by UC are acting against their own interests.
We are far better placed if we vote in a Government that is responsive to pressure from unions and working class voters than one that is pledged to making the lot of working class people much, much worse.
I agree John, and I think Labour are actually in a better position than is being portrayed in the biased mainstream media. The rot set in under Blair’s New Labour, and got a lot worse under the Tories, and I think most of us are just clinging to the hope that things will change for the good under a Corbyn /McDonnell Labour government. It’s the only hope we’ve got.
But Trev, with all due respect Labour are polling well below the Tories. Even with the fiasco of Brexit, and all the suffering caused by their cruel austerity policies
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party is a public joke. And again his ratings reflect this.
So who is going to lead this great Labour revival and carry the red flag to Downing Street ? I know the media are biased, but even so Labour have been really, disastrously bad in these recent years. The great risk of this hard-left approach is that it alienates a huge section of the general public. Unless Labour can capture the political centre-ground they are not going to win the next election, or any election.
You’re right there Jeff mate. Its not going to work the way things are. And Corbyn doesn’t seem too bothered about it.
It depends which poll you believe, some put Labour ahead.
I don’t think they are ‘Hard Left’, just Socialist, I think of Corbyn as a true Centrist.
As opposed to the post-Blairites who are essentially Right wing neoliberals masquerading as ‘Centrists’. If they were to succeed in ousting Corbyn and McDonnell I certainly wouldn’t vote Labour again, not for some Tory-Lite version of Labour like Miliband was offering with Rachel Reeves promising to be tougher on Welfare than the Tories. Fuck that.
Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour is NOT a public joke1
The man has been undermined from the getgo by those so-called ‘Labour’ MP’s and a sleazy media, that Labour was unelectable because of his leadership.
He damn near got elected, and a goodly number of MP’s owe the man their jobs. Notably the scummy Blairite MP’s were strangely silent when that result was achieved.
The last thing; – the very last thing we need is the centre Left bullshit. That can remain the domain of the ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ Liberal Damnocrats.
God forbid that those we are reading about here should EVER be subjected to Labour’s sell out under Blair.
What is REALLY happening is a continuing ‘disinformation’ propagandist campaign against the man and his principles. (Propaganda btw is vastly higher today than it was during the war).
He is being undermined at every turn, and frankly is not doing a great deal to use the opportunity he now has, with the impending election of an odvious little fuckwit to be PM.
The elephant in the room is the ‘anti-Semitism’. I’ll bet it exists in the party, but there are two things:
It and Islamaphobia is higher in the Conservative party, but little is being said about that.
The second thing; and I’ll grasp the nettle here (with the permission of my friend Miriam), is that NOTHING can be said about Israel and its appalling behaviour, because that is anti Semitism. NO it isn’t. That’s bullshit.
We HAVE to go back to a party for the ‘working class’. And vitally, the low income/unwaged/the disaffected have got to realise that the Right has successfully steered them from such a thing in order to have greater control over them.
Look what’s bloody happened as a result!!
I got so ticked off writing the above that I made a number of typo’s.
Sorry and all that!
Amber Rudd doing a U Turn ?
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/uk-news/universal-credit-changes-amber-rudd-16603515
https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/07/18/make-universal-credit-great-the-last-days-of-amber-rudd/
She needs to do a u turn into a ditch
That’s unfair. A ditch is survivable. A cliff on the other hand…….
Joking apart. A mate of mine drove into a ditch head first when his motorbike went out of control whilst riding over a country road over the Pennines, one of the old pack horse routes from Huddersfield to Saddleworth, he was dead on arrival at Oldham Hospital. That was 10 yrs ago. He was 44.
So sorry to hear that Trev. In 1986, I had to swerve at speed and lost control. I knew if I braked I would probably die, so I took my foot off the accelerator. I went into a ditch and the car imbalanced and rolled onto its side. It was an isolated country road, but there was a military firing range in vision. I SOS’d beeping the horn, and ended up with an army truck and an astonished driver because I crawled out and sat on the driver side door waiting for him (I could see the truck).
I was lucky of course to survive…..hence the comment.
Wow, lucky indeed, maybe you have a guardian angel 😇
The Poor Side of Life:
http://thepoorsideof.life/2019/07/18/they-keep-trying-to-trip-us-up-at-every-step/
I’m no good at links, but a poster on the Guardian had put one up:
http://www.cradle2grave.co.uk/roll-call
Try reading that roll call dry eyed. I failed.
(Ah OK; it comes up as a link).
THIS is what they’ve done to our fellow human beings.
Yeah that speaks volumes doesn’t it. An old friend of mine who I had known since childhood died last Christmas just short of his 57th birthday. He had a heart condition and was on medication for life, 4 pills per day, but the DWP had declared him ‘fit for work ‘.
Scum.They are utter scum.
”And while I’m at it, and it doesn’t happen in Ashfield, but when I hear people being called right-wing in the Labour Party I find it utterly offensive.
We are all left-wingers in this party – that is why we joined the Labour Party.”
Gloria De Piero MP
And another one leaves Project Corbyn.
How many more is it going to take before Labour get out of the marxist bunker ?
Good riddance to her
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/07/20/labour-re-selection-de-piero-quits-with-one-last-jab-at-jeremy-corbyn/
Marxist? Or true Centrist?
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2017/07/centrism-is-bust.html
With due respect to Gloria del Piero, Labour most definitely does have a right wing. Tom Watson MP’s keynote speech to the Party Conference in Liverpool in September 2016 was on the theme, “Capitalism is not the enemy”. It most certainly is. All of the attacks we are suffering are generated by capitalism’s drive to snatch back workers’ previous gains. Watson’s view is pro-capitalist, i.e. right wing. That’s what the hysteria against Corbyn is all about. Actually, contra Piero, I find that hysteria offensive but so what! The battle is about class interest not hierarchies of offense taking.
That’ll do nicely!
The problem with this woman and like thinkers was the belief that if they joined the Labour party even though they ARE philosophically conservative, they could wear the pious cloak of politician for the ‘ordinary’ people.
I have a lovely picture of a pig dressed in pearls and a feather boa. Its trotters have been painted pink. It looks lovely!
………………..but it’s still a pig……
Talking of resignations and conflict with leadership, looks like that is a problem for the Tories now, like rats leaving the sinking ship….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49069880
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/07/22/tory-backlash-against-boris-johnson-as-ministers-line-up-to-resign/
Very true Jeff. I’m not a party member but I’ve got to say the whole Corbyn show puts me right off Labour. It’s not going to work all this communist stuff. And Corbyn looks like a man who has had his day.
Plus this business about the Jews. Not sure why they had to do this.
Why go over to the hard left again after all this time ?
What “Communist stuff” ??? They haven’t gone over to the Hard Left, Corbyn is Centre Left, essentially a Centrist in the truest way, unlike the Right wing neoliberals who masquerade as ‘Centrists’.
P.S.
“This business about the Jews” largely consists of false allegations made by Right wing supporters of Israel, there are many more Jews who support Corbyn and have signed open letters to that effect, but you won’t hear so much about that in the biased mainstream media. Basically it’s a smear campaign to undermine Corbyn, when in fact antisemitism within the Labour party as actually declined under his leadership and statistically there is more antisemitism in the Conservative party and in Society as a whole than in Labour!
There is also more racism and bigotry among the Tories than in Labour; Theresa May’s “Go Home” vans, the attempts to deport people from the Caribbean, Boris comparing Muslim women to letter boxes, Boris insulting the Irish (“why isn’t he called Murphy like all the rest of them”), Boris referring to homosexual men as “bum boys in tank tops”….the list goes on, but of course you’re not interested in that because you have some weird grudge against Jeremy Corbyn.
Interesting isn’t it? I knew about the McCarthy era, when the whole focus was the witch hunt for the Communist ‘reds under the bed’. Then we got some balance for a few years with an actual Labour Party and an actual Conservative Party.
Then the shift to the Right started, not just in the UK. It was not the Communist anymore. Now it was the Socialist that was in the Rightist gun sights.
To be a Socialist (as I am) is now being seen as akin to being a paedophile!
It has nothing to do with Socialism. It is to do with a shift further and further to making the Far Right an acceptable and principled group, from which vantage point gives the political view that anyone embracing a political philosophy that does not sit respectfully next to the coat tails of the Right is obviously a radical!!
I note you mention Communist!
The Left is the damn Left! WHY should it wrap itself in pseudo conservatism to be acceptable?
WHY is there such an obsessive need to take away anything that will represent the downtrodden in society?
With all due respect; have you been reading this thread? Take a look at some of the horrendous abuses of people who have nothing left to fight back with. Just on this blog.
There are any amount of links to show the utter system brutality inflicted on one poor bugger after the other!
So many have obliged this vile Government (and its conservative pretenders previously), – by killing themselves.
It isn’t the ‘hard Left’ that is the problem. It is the Hard Right. And it is the Hard Right with no effective Opposition.
This so called communist has my fury because he hasn’t provided ANY opposition!
For a Leftie, the bastard is doing little to nothing.
To replace him with a so called Moderate or ‘Centrist’ (read cheap plastic substitute conservative) would be disastrous, but by God there is an almighty effort to undermine a Left Labour party isn’t there? Every attempt is being made to smear Corbyn.
What are you worrying about? The man has done sweet FA with the opportunity handed to him by many thousands of members.
I could punch his lights out.
Better than Miliband though, and he has formulated some decent policies, other than that there’s not a whole lot he CAN do until elected, admittedly could have performed better in PMQT but that’s just not his style.
I’m no advocate of Universal Credit as I hate it as much as the next guy in the Job Centre but let’s look at a couple of facts.
The Government knew the controversy, anger, etc. that UC would create and so introduced the ‘Journal’ to avoid confrontation, angry jobseekers, written proof of any abuse, etc. and to make it easier to apply sanctions. I was sanctioned for one week when my ‘Work Coach’ refused to verify my Fit Note. (I did ask for a mandatory reconsideration but, as I moved to NSESA less than 28 days later that was ‘forgotten’ by the DWP. When I later phoned them I pointed out that, despite my UC Journal being closed due to my claiming NSESA that they could have written to me. The person on the phone said he would raise that point with his Supervisor, still I wait)
Universal Credit is (allegedly) paid one month in arrears, so how can this woman claim she must wait two months before she receives any money?
Why do the DWP have such stupid, nonsensical titles such as ‘Work Coach?’ Not one of them has ever coached me (be like teaching granny how to suck eggs) and I’ve found that whenever I ask anything they either don’t know or I have to ring round the houses for an answer. Why are these useless people employed?
I hate the term “Work Coach” too, they are just bloody Dole Clerks as far as I’m concerned, and yes most of them are useless.
Regarding this woman having to wait 2 months for payment, I think that is referring to her wages isn’t it? Because the job pays a monthly salary but she has to work a month in hand, meaning that it would be 2 months before she gets her first wage.
I understand what is being said about waiting two months, however I’m wondering ‘Is it two months?’
Looking at what I assume is the ‘Journal message’ (blue panel) it states that ‘payment was stopped on the 15 July.’ The original article is dated 18 June so from there to the end of July is around six weeks, as UC is (allegedly) paid four weeks in arrears that leaves only two weeks.
However, if the date of the article is four weeks after the commencement of her employment then it again only means a four week wait, but signing on for UC means a five week wait.
Is it legal for a Company to make Employees wait two months for a first salary, why can’t it pay employees (perhaps) two weeks salary after the first month, that way they would be working ‘two weeks in hand.’
Oh I see, though it is a complicated thing (for me) to understand. It appears that she will have several weeks without any income, or as you say at least two weeks. Maybe Kate can shed more light on this. I agree it is unreasonable to make someone wait two months for their first wage. Personally I prefer to be paid weekly, or even daily in the case of casual work (as I have done in the past), even the dole was better when it was paid weekly years ago , though you had to sign weekly as well.
Hi both,
Story is this:
Alice started work before the story appeared on my site (she started in the first week of June). We spent 10 days or so working through HR emails and UC journal entries etc and trying to get sense out of G4S (the company Alice works for is a supplier).
The HR emails are clear. The company pays wages at the end of the month. Staff get paid for their first month’s wages at the end of the following month. If, say, someone starts work on April 3, they’d get their first wages which would just be for April on May 31. You both say this is appalling. It is.
Regarding the Universal Credit claim – Alice was not making a new UC claim. She had been claiming UC for about 3 years and then got the job. She spoke to UC about the lag-time before her first wages. UC agreed to stop taking money from her UC payments for an advance loan that Alice already had to make things easier before those first wages arrived and continued her UC payments for the time being. Then last week on Monday, Alice received the note you see on this post to say that her UC payment was stopped on that day because she’d told UC she’d found a job, but hadn’t reported earnings. Alice had reported to UC that she wouldn’t have any earnings until the end of this month. Last week was spent arguing the toss about the stopped UC payment with UC who ended up agreeing at the end of the week that Alice’s UC should not have been stopped on the Monday and that she would be paid her UC. I’ll update the post with the final details of that when I have confirmed them.
You are right to say that this is a mess. I couldn’t afford to go two months without pay and don’t know too many who could. Having to re-explain an employment situation to UC is common. There are stories on this site with people who’ve literally never been paid the right amount of UC on time and have to ask UC to sort it out each month even though they get their wage documentation in to UC on time each time. There is a gap between the way things are meant to work and the way that they do work. Too many people fall in it. Cheers, Kate
Gawd help us, what a complicated mess, hardly conducive or an easy transition into work. Unfortunately Freud seems to have now Retired and IDS long since washed his hands of the whole sorry mess, so that leaves Ms. Rudd, perhaps Alice’s MP could enquire on her behalf as to what precisely she is supposed to live on in the meantime. Someone should have to answer to these problems, that’s if anyone cared.
Yep. It’s really difficult. This is the point that I’m keen to get across with a lot of articles here. The information people get and the responses they have from the DWP or councils etc often just don’t make sense. I’ve written about PIP applicants who’ve had their mandatory reconsiderations done before they’ve even asked for an MR. I’ve written about people who’ve attended meetings with social workers who’ve had the wrong files. Sick notes go missing. Appointments are cancelled but people are still sanctioned for not attending them. People give the DWP information which is apparently not recorded. People have their ESA claims closed for spurious reasons and then are forced to open a UC claim. They can’t go back to ESA. This issue of moving into work while claiming UC is really problematic. The DWP seems to struggle to calculate incomes and UC entitlements correctly, especially if someone’s income and hours etc fluctuate. This story is just another example. It’s complicated all right – there are all sorts of journal messages and HR emails. I agree that one of the big problems now is that parliament as a whole has washed its hands of this. The issue is partly Brexit, but I think it’s also partly that nobody really has the stomach to tackle UC or social security now. I doubt that the Tories are going to roll UC back. They couldn’t admit that sort of defeat. I suppose that Labour might, but they’re imploding. The upshot has to be dysfunction really. Nobody is on top of this stuff.
I’m waiting to see if I encounter any difficulty this coming Tuesday when I have to sign on. My original appointment is for 10.50am but I am beginning Forklift truck training at 9.00am at the foodbank where I volunteer. So I visited the Jobcentre on Friday, spoke to the floor staff and showed them a letter I have confirming the training course. I asked if I am permitted to do this training (it’s 3 full days) and could I arrange a different signing time because it clashes. The woman went off to speak to a Manager and came back saying that yes I can do the training and I can either come in to sign beforehand when the Jobcentre first opens at 8.30am or after the training finishes. I don’t know what time it finishes so I will have to go sign at 8.30 which is cutting it a bit fine but if they are expecting me and I’m straight in & out I can just make it to the training on time. She said that a Manager would ring me later on that day (Friday) to confirm, but no one rang. So it’s all a bit uncertain from my point of view. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens Tuesday morning. But if I fail to sign that day my payment will be delayed, or if the right message hasn’t got through to the right person my claim could be shut down, and then even when the mistake has been rectified they might put me on to UC, anything is possible with these idiots and I can’t afford to take any chances.
Bloody, bloody hell!
Universal Credit claimed another life:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/single-dad-just-461-took-18457364
Trev, Re: your FLT training, I would have had the person in the Job Centre annotate and sign your letter stating exactly what they told you along with their signature. (By the way, Job Centres can provide FLT training and some training places cover both CB and Reach licences at the same time)
I’ve never experienced weekly signing but, the couple of months I spent on UC before moving to NSESA they had me down the JC at least three times a week.
I feel another problem is the way a claimants UC Journal is closed immediately they stop their claim. They then have no way of seeking help or advice from the JC/DWP though in some cases (such as my own) they are not entering work.
Far too much information just doesn’t seem to be available and the Staff are not forthcoming when you ask (Almost everything I found out I did so by making phone calls) I made several complaints about the JC I use and three members of the Staff. As I expected they ‘closed ranks’ and it came back as all appearing to be my fault. This is why you can’t (or people don’t) fight these people and complain when they should.
Governments (all of them) have a lot to answer for regarding the unemployed. Having ‘paid my dues’ which includes many years serving this God forsaken country I thought I was worth more than this!
Yeah often the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing with the Jobcentre or DWP in general. I didn’t get anything in writing from them but I have the letter about the training so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping everything goes smoothly in the morning, which is not an ideal position to be in when you’re dealing with that lot. The training has cost £450 and the foodbank charity are paying for it so it was too good an opportunity to miss. I just hate having any element of uncertainty regarding my JSA and signing on, but maybe I’m worrying too much and it’ll be ok. I don’t think you qualify for any more training via the Jobcentre at the moment as the funding allows you to do courses etc. every 2 years as I understand it, and I’ve been on the Right Steps to Work scheme for almost a year, technically still am until August but have just finished doing an IT course with them and haven’t been given another appointment to attend so not sure what’s happening with that. 2 years before that I did another IT course and Manual Handling certificate with an organization called Dip (formerly Learn Direct), and 2 years prior to that did Skills Conditionality course (inc. a 4 weeks unpaid work placement) and that was mandatory. In between Dip and Right Steps I got talked into doing Work Experience at Oxfam though technically that wasn’t mandatory. On top of all that I have been doing part time voluntary work of my own accord at the foodbank for nearly 2 years. Along with constant jobsearch. And the Jobcentre are still never happy and the Adviser (Dole Clerk) is always having a go at me. I wish to God I could Retire but have still years to go and they ve shifted the goalposts.
Many of the goalposts have been shifted, Trev. That’s how they keep us down, and to avoid paying benefits they have no qualms about us taking our own lives. I see the basic JSA has been £73.10p a week since 2015 (and will remain so until at least 2020) I will never forget hearing on the radio (1 April this year) that people will have to find an extra £241 this year due to increases in Gas, Electricity, Water, Council Tax, and all the other increases that came into effect around that time. Where do the unemployed find it? I may be wrong but I view those people living in Council Housing or private landlords as receiving extra benefits in the form of most of their rent being paid for them. I have a mortgage for which I receive no help whatsoever (all I receive is the basic £73.10p per week) I do not have mortgage insurance (can’t afford it or home and contents insurance) but I have known people who, because they have mortgage insurance do not get benefits because the insurance is seen as ‘money coming in.’ (Income)
I don’t know how on earth you manage to pay a mortgage on the dole. I’m in a private rented one bedroom flat with dodgy plumbing, mouldy walls, stained carpets, an absolutely crap electric cooker, and virtually no heating , for which the rent is £80 p/w , all paid by Housing Benefit, which is good, but it’s in an undesirable area where drug wars and shootings are the norm.
Dole here is a pathetic £73 p/w as you say, but in Eire for example they get the equivalent of £168 p/w. I do have to pay some Council Tax too, at the reduced rate of £18 p/m over 10 months, still takes some finding though. A few years ago, before the Brexit referendum, the Council of Europe were in the process of taking the UK Government to Court for paying insufficient Unemployment Benefits, they said it was supposed to be 45% higher so that would make it just over £100 p/w, but the rest is history.
trev, I certainly pay a mortgage! As well as the usual gas, electricity (accounts for around £50 a month) broadband and mobile phone (both f which I view as ‘forced economies’ as the Job Centre say you MUST have them for job seeking) I also pay water rates (though they are reduced because of low income) but Council/private tenants have a small water rates charge included in their rent (again this can be viewed as another cost covered by the DWP) My mortgage is £140 per month so that is almost two weeks of benefit gone. When all these necessities are paid I’m left with less than a fiver a week to feed myself. It’s a wonderful life I lead, ask any MP, they’ll tell you.
Yes I pay Water too, it’s not included in my rent and I ve never heard of anyone else who had it included in the rent or covered by the landlord, I was in housing association flats for years and always had to pay water. I currently pay about a tenner a fortnight for water, reduced from £15 because I requested a meter but they couldn’t fit one.
I remember when I was a Council tenant trev my rent card showed me how my rent was made up. A part of it was simply under two headings showing ‘rates’ one of which included water. I don’t know if things have changed since those days. However, I have found out over the last week that, even when you buy your Council house that the local Council can rule you. Seemingly there is a ‘covenant’ attached (Whatever that is!)
A little more on the ‘mortgage’ point trev. Today (25 July) I had to phone and make a claim for Universal Credit as they tell me I have had 12 months ESA and I can’t claim that anymore. I was told it was a new claim so I asked why (if ‘Universal Credit’ was the ‘umbrella’ for a number of benefits) it wasn’t a simple change of ‘title’ on my benefit claim. I was told I should ask my local MP and that it had to be a new claim. Enquiring about Council Tax benefit I was told, ‘Universal Credit doesn’t pay Council Tax benefit.’ I made the point about the difference received in benefit between a tenant and a homeowner (The tenant receives a payment for rent which should be seen as extra benefit) I was told that after 39 weeks I could claim ‘Mortgage Interest Payment’ something I’d never heard of. I asked if I could claim it now as I have been on UC or ESA for more than 39 weeks. I was told that, ‘Your initial claim for UC would be a new claim and commence the 39 week period, moving to ESA would then be another ‘new claim’ so the 39 week period would be invalidated but start again from that date. If I was in receipt of Mortgage Interest Payment it would cease today as my new UC claim would start the 39 week period from today.’ It seems homeowners are certainly discriminated against. I was also under the impression that UC was paid 4 weekly but, if it is paid on the same day every month (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc) that is not 4 weekly. Obviously the unemployed are missing out and losing even more money.
DWP spent £4 Million on Universal Credit advertising propaganda :
https://welfareweekly.com/dwp-advertising-bill-soars-700-in-two-years/
Looks like the LibDems have lunged further to the Right with the appointment of Jo Swinson if her track record is anything to go by (certainly seems very anti-Welfare):
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/07/22/jo-swinson-becomes-first-female-lib-dem-leader-and-intends-to-drag-the-party-into-obscurity/
I got to the Jobcentre for 8.20am and went in as soon as they opened the doors at 8.30, headed straight upstairs to sign as arranged and as instructed by the floor staff on Friday. The staircase was unlit which I thought odd, then upon entering the signing floor I was met with surprised and puzzled looks by the staff who were just coming in from the back and taking up seats at their desks, one of whom asked me what I was doing and what I wanted saying “we’re not open in here yet”. I explained to her that I had been told to come at 8.30 by the floor staff that I had spoken to downstairs on Friday and told her the situation. They knew nothing about it, just as I expected. I knew it. Anyway she showed me to someone else who I had to explain everything to all over again, and she is the worst one in there, very clever attitude. She asked who I had spoken to on Friday and said I should have got her name. Anyway she signed me on and I got to my training on time. But it’s bloody typical that the people downstairs had never communicated the message to the signing staff on the floor above, even though I had spoken to them on Friday, showed them a letter about the training, and they had spoken to a Manager, after all that nothing got done and it was left to chance.
They treat you and others that way because they can; because they bloody well can!
…………….and now we have a PM who loves that kind of control on people who struggle simply to survive.
Oh you mean the very same new PM who is bullshiting everyone about hiring an extra 20,000 cops:
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/boris-johnsons-plan-to-recruit-20000-police-officers-has-already-been-debunked-heres-why/26/07/?fbclid=IwAR2JsxOzAieNaeUgO9BGcTp5XgN1soXZ2c3s0iaGBgX_6UhBdhTkCjOJ7OQ
As I said previously trev, get it annotated, get them to put everything in writing. It may mean sometimes acting the idiot but the thing is you’d have whatever instructions they give you in writing. They treat the unemployed as idiots so we should play them at their own game. As we all say, without us they would be out of a job. As we used to say when I was wearing a uniform, ‘Are the men happy Sergeant Major?’ reply ‘Yes Sir,’ then comes the instruction, ‘Then let’s F*** them about a bit!’
More criticism of Universal Credit:
https://www.politicshome.com/news/news/105492/universal-credit-lobster-pot-leaving-claimants-out-pocket-without-warning-mps-warn
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmworpen/1884/188403.htm
Universal Credit should come with a health warning:
https://welfareweekly.com/universal-credit-so-deeply-flawed-it-should-come-with-a-health-warning-say-mps/
In-work poverty and homelessness…
https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/steve-billy-homeless-broke-beach-hastings_uk_5d371743e4b0419fd33359fc?utm_hp_ref=uk-news&ncid=other_homepage_tiwdkz83gze&utm_campaign=mw_entry_recirc
(weird looking link, hope it works)
Universal Credit has complicated the Appeals process:
https://welfareweekly.com/universal-credit-claimants-blocked-from-challenging-dwp-decisions/
Nudge Theory: modifying behaviour
https://politicsandinsights.org/2015/11/14/nudging-benefit-sanctions/
The Invisible Prison:
https://recoveryinthebin.org/2019/07/27/the-invisible-prison/
‘The Conservatives now stand on 30%, a survey by Deltapoll for the Mail on Sunday showed – five points ahead of Labour at 25%, with the Liberal Democrats on 18% and the Brexit Party on 14%.
The findings pile pressure on Boris Johnson to call a general election to make the most of his honeymoon period as PM – especially as polling shows if Labour were to drop Jeremy Corbyn the Tories would trail by six points.
With a different leader the poll says Labour would shoot into the lead at 34%, with the Tories on 28%, the Brexit Party on 14% and the Lib Dems on 13%.’
Even Neil Kinnock realised in the end that nobody wanted him to be Prime Minister. Now Corbyn needs to do the same.
Replace him with John McDonnell you mean? Personally I like both of them. Wouldn’t want to see a Rightwing Blairite take over Labour, if that were to happen I’d vote Green instead.
This is more like it, perhaps it’s Boris who should be worried:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-corbyn-boris-johnson-no-deal-brexit-no-confidence-motion-election-a9023941.html
In any case, I don’t think Labour can remove Corbyn, he’s already won two leadership elections. Time now to get behind Corbyn and get the Tories out.
I’m damned if I can figure WHY there are those who believe that returning to a bland conservative shadow will make the Labour party more electable. When I returned home I picked up an intense dislike nationally for the covert Tory: Blair. The man copped contempt to hatred from everyone (I do mean everyone), I talked to.
All I can figure is that this society has been without a Left-yes Left, – (for that IS what a Labour party was/is supposed to be), -Opposition for so long now that they see the only solution for election success is to turn that Opposition into a variation of the Right!
GOD FORBID!! Corbyn and his second need to be FAR more vocally assertive I agree, because I believe there is ample evidence (driven by most of the media), of a campaign of disinformation to ensure a Labour-LABOUR government is never elected.
The Right have dismantled all the gains of the industrial revolution. Under the Tories and Right Labour, we have returned to the master/servant ethic.
I am highly sceptical of the real motive to want a pseudo Lefty to take the leadership.
Perish the thought that those on the arse end of this Tory Brave New World should have any effective representation.
Can’t have that can we? Anyone would think that ordinary people should have rights. The bloody check of it!!!
I think there are a lot of people who at one time would have been traditional Labour voters, but who have allowed themselves to be taken in by Rightwing propaganda and have become quite Reactionary, having fallen for the old trick of Divide and Rule, blame all their problems on immigrants or unemployed people, failing to see that it is the Rich elite who are screwing this country and hoarding the wealth in off-shore accounts and dodgy Russian banks. Hence there is support for the Right, the Tories, Ukip, Brexit Party, EDL etc. and by the same token a suspicion of the demonized Left, all aided and abetted by much of the mainstream media. It’s like reality is being turned on its head, the same thing is happening in America too, though in the UK it might be decades of Tory/Blue Labour neoliberalism that has resulted in a politically illiterate Proletariat. We’re right back where we started when (in pre-war Germany for example) the likes of Brecht, Herzfeld, and Weil were attempting to awaken the masses through avant garde Leftwing theatre against a rising tide of Nationalism and Fascism.
I’m not being facetious when I respond: That’ll do nicely.
I wish I would still be around to see a change, but I believe it will take possibly decades.
I was away for a goodly time, but I think Thatcher was the one who was the instigator of what we have today.
The perpetrators are bad enough, but for me the enablers are insufferable.
To read what the woman who is the object of this article is going through; to read of Mike’s struggles re the crime of owning a house on low income; to read about your almost comedic visits to these name tagged nasties; and to read the links you have put up………….
……………….I’m ashamed to say that sometimes I avoid ‘Belgravia’ (as my folder is named!), because the abuse of human rights/human dignity is too much to bear.
Too much to bear. Then how much much worse can it be for those of you actually going through this?
I looked at one of your links ‘In the bin’??? this morning. It’s so eloquently written;-and so horrific. Most people ‘out there’ don’t bloody care. So many will attempt to justify.
Only a precious-very precious few, will speak out, defend, and continue to do so.
I have just finished watching a film about Georgio Palasco, an Oskar Schindler of WW11. It is very clear that he did risk his life to save many Jews-the now old man was interviewed at the end of the film and said softly that it was impossible to just stand by and watch.
That though is not my point. What struck me is how individuals become bullying and empowered when they are part of a mass; a gang. Neighbour turned on neighbour; if they were Jewish,-when they had formerly been friends. What was so clear is how ordinary people…bureaucrats, WILL turn on those weaker; because they are empowered to do so.
I would like to think that some DWP staff are decent (a few in my HA are decent), but both are nasty dominating bullies simply because they are allowed to be so.
Bluntly I actually do hope this planet burns up. We need an Armageddon so that we might start again. So many humans are nice/pleasant, but there are countless billions of people who delight in the misery of others.
_____________________________________________________
Bugger! All I meant to say was….’that’ll do nicely’…..!
I agree with you that it all started to go down hill with Thatcher, from then on we have had a couple of generations of de-politicized people immersed in the ‘me first’ culture, continued by Blair. I remember some young students at Art college who just interested in getting a well paid job and owning the latest BMW etc. At friggin Art college of all places! I also recall seeing a tv documentary about Class a few years ago and one man thought he was not Working Class because he owned a car! As for the world going up in flames, maybe it will, with global warming getting worse and all those forest fires every year (now even in Alaska, Greenland and Siberia), and the end of the world by fire is what the Alchemist Fulcanelli predicted in his controversial final chapter about the Cross of Hendaye.
I had a monthly review appointment with my “key worker” on the Right Steps to Work programme this afternoon. At these one-to-one appointments we just sit down and have a chat that turns into a general natter about everything. The subject got around to Politics and he told me that he supports Boris Johnson and thinks he is “the man for the job”. That admission spoke volumes to me as I see Boris as the enemy who typifies all that is wrong with this country, and I think he is completely unfit for any public office, but I chose to keep it to myself. My Key Worker then went on to say that Corbyn (“that man”, whilst shaking his head) is under investigation by M15 who he says have orders to prevent him (Corbyn) from ever becoming PM. Now there is no way this guy could ever know that, and he’s probably just repeating some conspiracy theory or stupid rumour, but on the other hand it could well be true, after all it did emerge several years after the fact that MI5 had a file on Harold Wilson whilst he was serving PM, and whom they suspected of being a Soviet spy, so it’s not that much of a stretch of the imagination to think they might also be keeping an eye on Jeremy Corbyn too. I wonder if the Intelligence community share similar concerns about Right wing extremists such as Jacob Rees Mogg who manages an investment fund with £90 Million stashed in dodgy Russian banks? If not, then why not? Why is being a Leftie seen as such a threat to National security? We can’t have people standing up for the poor and for the Rights of workers, those who would create a fairer more equitable society and redistribute the wealth, oh no, that would never do!
That’s an interesting point about the support for Johnson. Aditya Chakrabortty had a good piece about the threat that Johnson poses today: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/31/labour-total-wipeout-boris-johnson and yeah – the “man for the job” perception could be a real problem, especially if Johnson is splashing cash all over the place to convince people to buy into his act.
It never ceases to amaze me how people can be taken in by these shit heads, charlatans, and windbags.
The Guardian article is on the money.
Topple the Tory Toff
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/48720/Boris+Johnson+is+poisonous+topple+the+Tory+toff
Ah but you see Trev, you are a ‘conspiracy theorist’!
It is purely coincidence that Left Wing/leaning politicians are the ones who have the attention of intellligence services. Purely coincidence.
This is how far things have gone. The culture we have so readily accepted from our lords and masters is that we musn’t question anything. And again, it’s the bloody enablers who will have a go at anyone who does. Those in control are just dismissive and contemptous of anyone who questions the accepted view (by the mainstream/sheeple) or the accepted system.
I’ll concede though that I have to be going a bit potty, because I read this ‘system’ in the Palosco film. I have a ready source of DVD supply to borrow as well as my own stuff. My latest borrow is Les Miserables; I had never seen it before. Again I am reading into it. It is at the point where poverty has been pushed to such a point, that rebellion/revolution breaks out.
This will never happen here, because Thatcher taught-and had excepted, the principle of survival of the fittest. ‘If it’s not a problem for me, it’s not a problem at all’. Ergo: divide and rule.
Until people unite nothing will change, it will get worse. Any they won’t unite, because so many working/low income people actually find a way to justify the current system.
They’ve got us cold. Currently.
Unite I think? have organized demo’s outside DWP’s all over the country on Friday. Only those affected will turn up of course, though so many might be just to system stressed- and afraid of repercussions to do so.
We haven’t got one in this area or I would be there.
Big surprise that one of these bureau-rats is supportive of the biggest one of all.
Any bullying scumbag will support anyone who gives them a green light to bully.
Survation poll puts Labour ahead at 29%, with the Conservatives at 23%
https://t.co/yH12s5qPWv
https://twitter.com/Survation
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Holiday hunger:
https://www.bigissue.com/latest/these-are-the-organisations-that-are-tackling-holiday-hunger/
This is yet another example of the state of this country. What are Boris, Raab, Patel et al going to do about it? Sweet FA probably.
Millions of people in poverty:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/29/uk-deep-poverty-study-austerity
Government wasted EU money intended to alleviate poverty:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-49131685
Unite day of action against Universal Credit:
https://nothingiseverlost.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/unite-day-of-action-against-universal-credit-thursday-1st-august/
And this from Ipswich Unemployed Action:
https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/universal-credit-claimants-punished-for-not-having-mobile-phones/
UC Managed Migration pilot ‘slipped through’ Parliament – how? Were Labour asleep?
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3981-universal-managed-migration-has-begun
DWP accused of lying over PIP recordings. Somehow I don’t think this should be news, but expected behaviour when we’re talking about the DWP. If the DWP were a human being, they’d be described as a pathological liar.
I think Corbyn has got to go
It’s just one thing after another with him . He is a weak perfomer in parliament. Not good at argument or debate.
He ‘doesn’t do personal’, yet he doesn’t seem to have any real conviction about anything very much. There is no drive, no level of attack . It just looks disorganised and useless. And then Labour look disorganised and useless.
My concern on this, is that his unpopularity with the voters is going to allow the Tories to win again. Either on their own, or in coalition with the LibDems. I think there are people in Camp Corbyn who don’t care if they lose. As long as they go down clutching the red flag.
I don’t think that it’s even the red flag that bothers most people, as the polices seem to be pretty much universally popular, (apart from with Tories and their bootlicker support, of course). It’s the sheer apparent incompetence of the Labout leadership that is doing the damage. It’s staggering to think that two years ago Corbyn had much of the youth of Britain in the palm of his hands, and Labour became the biggest political party in Europe, only to let it all slip though his fingers and now Labour is haemorrhaging membership in the thousands.
We know the Tories are complete bastards, and most of us wouldn’t be surprised if they turned any nastier than they already are, but Labour are rapidly becoming class traitors, and if anything, in their present stance are just emboldening the Tories to do their worst. But, perhaps that’s just what Momentum wants. like some Trot cult of the past? Whatever, if that is one of their planned machinations, then it can only be described as a despicable stunt. Once again it seems that the far left are underestimating the Tories as they did with Thatcher.
One would think that the political class would have learned from the whole Brexit fiasco that they need to start listening to the marginalised, and the desperate, but no, the ordinary people can go and rot.
“he’s a weak performer in Parliament” – Corbyn asked Boris 10 questions in PMQ, Boris didn’t answer one single question.
As for going down clutching the red flag, what’s the point in winning an election if you have to sell out and abandon your principles to do so? That’s not winning, you just end up with the same sort of government that you want to replace. I certainly wouldn’t vote Labour if it weren’t for Corbyn and McDonnell, they have made it possible for people like me to vote Labour again after decades in the Political wilderness with no one to vote for. And, in any case, the trial roll-out of UC in Harrogate is nothing that Corbyn can do anything to prevent. True, Labour could have voted against the Tory Welfare Reform Bill instead of abstaining under Miliband, but it was Corbyn who led the revolt against that and defied the whip, not your beloved Blaireites.
Agree.
Yes. What I find so appalling it that he and his support seem to be totally oblivious to the millions of people they are letting down big time, all in pursuit of some kind of ideological purity trip, which is partially the old 70s railing against Europe, (which is antediluvian, and to be blunt, irresponsible, as well as indicating some very questionable internationalist credentials) and a quest for a really bizarre take on a very peculiarly warped notion of ‘socialism’.
That is exactly right Padi. Labour are as you say, ‘totally oblivious to the millions of people they are letting down.’ The important thing is that Labour win the next election, and stop the Tories. Nothing else comes close. Not Corbyn’s ideological purity, inept leadership or damaging, hopeless diversions into who is an anti-semite. Corbyn spent years scheming in backrooms with this crap. And playing the great political contrarian. Who always does the opposite. But it not a substitute for being a real leader, which is what Labour so desperately needs. But as far as the apostles of Jeremy Corbyn go, you might as well criticise Jesus Christ.
Hmmmmm! This is getting interesting….
Why is it necessary to take things to extremes?
I am not an ‘apostle’ of anyone and have spent my adult life making enemies of the sheep like mentality of so many because I refused to be an ‘apostle’.
(And btw I HAVE criticized the absurd notion of Jesus Christ being the son of God-and even the great G him/herself).
I have been arrested and handcuffed with one hand twisted upward and one down to maximise the pain of the cuffs. I refused before and refused after arrest to retract a statement of police corruption; so they sent in their bully boys. It was only the intervention of a psych-who knew they had done this before, that got me released. Try going through that.
(They finally got one of those sadistic bastards when he was filmed beating a homeless man. The female colleague with him had the guts to refuse to work with him again. I’ll bet SHE’S the one who is out of policing now).
Apostle my arse!
Corbyn has not maximised the golden opportunity handed him when he got the leadership, I agree. But I’m left to wonder just how much of anything positive is actually getting media coverage for Corbyn.
A Labour win at all costs? God! I wish I could agree. But if it means a Labour that has to move to the Right (excuse me-I meant the centre), then be damned to it!
Perhaps the only common ground here is that the working class have not been represented for bloody years; and still aren’t.
Turning into a small c conservative party is not the answer; surely that has already been proven?
………I wonder how ‘Alice’ is doing?…….
I’m not sure what you mean by that Padi, “questionable internationalist credentials”?
It’s the Tories who are selling arms to Saudi Arabia, and it’s the Labour Rightwing and the Tories who support Israel, Priti Patel was even holding her own private foreign policy meetings with them! Corbyn seems to support the disadvantaged underdogs.
Sorry Trev, I could have been a little more clear. The reference to “questionable internationalist credentials” was more related to the Lexit tendencies undermining the wider European socialist cause, which really needs Corbyn’s Labour rather than Corbyn’s commitment to arms sales and policies over Israel. I think that most of us would be aware that Corbyn would, (one would hope) be unlikely to sanction warms sales to Saudi Arabia, or anywhere else, come to that, and to be a harsh and vocal critic, as PM, of Israel’s disgusting treatment of the Palestinians, notwithstanding Israel’s right to defend itself – which is a completely different issue.
But we have to be wary, as once in power things like ‘pragmatism’ often seem taker over, and thus, like under New Labour we had Robin Cook’s notion of ‘ethical’ arms sales, which is surely an oxymoron if ever there was one, especially as it allowed the sale of Hawk jets to Indonesia, who used them to oppress the people of East Timor who were agitating for independence at the time.
Got to agree with you there Padi. They don’t seem to realise the important thing is to get into power. It’s like Militant and Red Robbo all over again. I thought we had done with all this in the Labour Party ?
“the important thing is to get into power”, yes Tom, I want to see Corbyn get into power, that’s why it’s important to support him rather than constantly seek to undermine him. You can’t replace him, he’s already won TWO leadership elections! If Corbyn goes down then Labour goes down with him. Who’s side are you on, Labour or Tory? That’s the choice you have.
It was in the news several weeks ago (I posted links about it) , they chose Harrogate for the trial of full UC roll-out to see how it goes in a relatively small area with a fairly affluent demograph and not the massive unemployment and social problems of somewhere like nearby Bradford for example where it would be guaranteed to fail big style.
Bugger! Helps if I actually include the link to the story about PIP recordings.
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3982-dwp-lied-about-pip-recordings
Poverty, evictions and homelessness in Kirklees, West Yorkshire:
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/five-households-day-needed-help-16628243
I found this interesting article. It’r from a couple of years ago, and I’m sure that most of us have got the gist of it anyway, and it’s still relevant.
https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployment-in-the-uk-is-now-so-low-its-in-danger-of-exposing-the-lie-used-to-create-the-numbers-2017-7?r=US&IR=T
That’s a very good article Padi, well worth repeating. It makes one wonder why the mainstream media don’t report this instead of obediently trotting out the Tory propaganda, and it has to be said (even as someone who supports Corbyn & McDonnell) why haven’t the Opposition made more of this? Perhaps because they don’t want to be seen as the ‘party of welfare’, given the highly successful hatchet job the Tories & media have done to deliberately demonize the unemployed. It’s alright publishing this on websites like Business Insider or posting it on blogs like Kate’s, but your average Sun reader isn’t going to see that.
That’s very true Trev, but I think there is a large demographic who are affected by Tory policies that need to see this kind of article, and crucially, need to hear Labour and other left leaning political groups championing the cause of the unemployed and the underemployed. It obviously wouldn’t go down well with Sun readers, but what of the Mirror. which often champions causes that would be negatively portrayed by the Daily Mail/Sun et al?
People like the subject of this article need to feel that they are being heard by the likes of Corbyn, as they are rapidly losing hope, though this individual seems to be quite upbeat and thinking of getting organised with others:
https://www.voice.wales/#/i-raise-2-kids-on-5-a-day-the-rich-dont-care-about-us/
But it could so easily result in the kind of despair outlined in this earlier article from the same website, which I’ve linked to before, but will do so again for ease of access:
https://spark.adobe.com/page/dWohRL7pOJO20/
We know that the Sun et al’s approach follows Goebbels’ dictum that a lie repeated becomes a truth, and really the only way of countering that is to continually remind people that it is a lie.
Yes you’re right of course, it’s just that I become despondent because sometimes it feels like we’re just preaching to the converted when discussing and pointing out that lies of this evil Regime. There are so many people I meet in real life who don’t have a clue, people at the Jobcentre and on employment schemes, one young man thought Boris was going to be good for the unemployed, another man (a 65 yr old) was telling everyone to vote for Farage and Brexit Party, saying that Labour and the Tories are all the same and in it together. There’s a volunteer at the foodbank who admirers Boris for speaking his mind. I can’t believe how Politically illiterate many people are. I met a local woman recently, a fairly affluent Asian lady, very nice person, but she didn’t know what a foodbank was. I regularly leave copies of the Socialist Worker in the Jobcentre, or central Library, or on tables outside Wetherspoons, in the hope of raising awareness (I get them given from another volunteer at the foodbank who is a member of the SWP).
More than half a million children adversely affected by Benefit cap:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/breaking-dwp-two-child-benefits-18803918
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/08/01/more-than-half-a-million-children-have-been-harmed-by-cruel-tory-benefit-cap/
Also covered by the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/31/government-urged-to-scrap-nasty-two-child-limit-on-benefits
The Poor Side of Life:
http://thepoorsideof.life/2019/08/01/i-dont-know-how-long-im-sanctioned-for-more-tales-from-ashton-under-lyne-jobcentre/
So in other words Trev, your main justification for Jeremy Corbyn is not his ability as leader, but the fact that he won two leadership elections ?
And so party members and the MP’s should just put up with him no matter how bad things get ? Look at what he’s doing now….nothing basically.
The Tories are revitalised under Johnson, and are powering ahead with their Brexit plans.
Labour are left trailing in the wake of the Conservatives, once again.
I think its asking rather a lot of potential Labour voters, that they should just accept this, as if it were a test of religious faith. That somehow a Corbyn miracle is going to occur, at some undefined point in the future. In politics, the meek never inherit the earth. They just get pushed aside.
‘Powering ahead’? It is yet to be seen whether the conservatives are a unified force. I think he might encounter some problems in his ‘powering ahead’.
I suggest that to put the conservative situation up to show the disunity of Labour is a bad example.
I’m saying that you can’t get rid of him because he has already won two leadership elections. Corbyn is the leader of the Labour party and you have to accept it, or go join another political party instead if you’re not happy. I’m not saying he’s perfect but in terms of his politics, policies, and personal ethics, he is the best Labour leader I’ve seen since Michael Foot or Harold Wilson. A proper Leftwing Socialist, just what we need in these times of Rightwing extremism and wanton Tory vandalism. Yes, I’d like him to be more aggressive, but that’s not his style. I’d like him to be more Leftwing than he is, but you can’t expect perfection when you know that you’re an Idealist (my character flaw). Ideally I’d like to see a full scale Revolution, but I realize that will never happen in my lifetime. So Corbyn it is. The Labour party has been controlled by neoliberal infiltrators for far too long.
This is a brilliant piece. This shows why you need to support Jeremy Corbyn.
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2019/07/this-super-viral-corbyn-tweet.html
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gTCrUaJxgAA/XUFl375Rb9I/AAAAAAAAIOA/vIi3REtEdtoYdLhqnT8ylQcarT6kPP2LQCLcBGAs/s1600/Corbyn%2BBranson%2BTweet.png
Trev, I got quite absorbed in that article, and went on to the Jo Swinson farce, and some very interesting (and provable ) facts, disputing a fair slab of the ‘documentary’ put out by the Beeb on Labour antisemitism.
I watched that so called doco at the time and was struck by the lack of ‘right to reply’.
I always chuckle when the BBC is accused of being Leftwing!
Someone replying to the tweet article I think, mentioned the ‘minute scrutiny’ the Labour Party has been under since Corbyn took the helm. Exactly right.
How the hell he has sustained his position under this is beyond me.
To clarify; it has nothing to do with accountability. All of them inclusive should be subject to that. I’m talking about something else. The most vindictive and unsupportive were is own party!:
He gets elected by members of the Labour party as leader; the membership of the party dramatically increases. A conservative friend of mine said it was all students, -because he wanted to abolish fees. A lot of students needed I would think…. ,-I read somewhere that the UK Labour Party is now the largest in Europe.Under Corbyn.
Anyway….what occurs then is the pants wetting angst of the Blairite MP’s. I remember Angela Eagles (that the name?) throwing a hissy fit during a speech because of this horror. I read that during a Labour Christmas party these scumbags were singing songs ridiculing Corbyn.
Then the election. All? the print/electronic media had Labour consigned to oblivion, it was to be a wipeout. There was much vexing and wringing of hands by this same group of ‘Labour’ MP’s.
The guy damn near got into Government! What he achieved was get many more MP’s elected. The Blairite mob went very quiet. The media also rubbed itself down.
Sound like an apostle don’t I? I actually don’t like him. But it wasn’t what HE achieved; it was what Labour members had been wanting for a bloody long time.
Tin foil hat time: Those that have a vested interest in maintaining the master/servant ethic that has got so out of control demolishing all the gains of the industral revolution and all hard working sods over the years who fought damned hard for the rights of the working class, –have to ensure that nothing that threatens their elitist status quo can succeed. What could they find to discredit the Labour Party Corbyn style?
It is an overt and covert undermining battle. The battle is to convince the people that we have to make the Labour Party a centrist party. It is NOT, and neither should it be. But inexorably people are buying it.
Anything that disputes or even shows up the lies gets little coverage.
Under Blair Labour (was he buggery Labour), ordinary people were left to struggle. How much more evidence—evidence of Blair’s behaviour at the time and since, do people need to show that this man and his ilk did not give a monkey’s testicles for the disaffected, struggling mass of this populace.
To get elected Labour must go back to this?
How much more evidence do people need that Conservative/BlairLab and LieDems are what has led to the current situation!
Nobody, NOBODY, has given one damn for those who struggle.
We have what we have now because they were complicit in this foul disgusting outcome.
Nowt wrong with being an idealist Trev, all decent socialists are idealists.
I’m a bit wary of revolutions as they have a nasty tendency to simply become revolting, with lots of blood being split, usually predominantly that of people who disagree with the clique that has managed to take control of the social institutions.
@Trev, as a socialist myself I would have to disagree comrade. Labour need to capture the middle-ground or they are not going to win the election. As Padi says, it’s good to be an idealist in a way. But you have got to be realistic too. Jeremy is not going to be elected by Momentum and a few millenials. I’m not sure if he hasn’t been misled in this by certain people. There is a nasty reflex in the party at the moment and a lot of shouting about Blair. It used to be the case that the Labour Party was a broad church, with many different views on policy. This was our strength. Blair had his faults, but he did win 3 elections. It should be possible for Labour to appeal to the vast mass of middle-ground voters, without going to extremes either of the left-wing or the right. Everyone knows this, but somehow Jeremy is presenting himself as not being willing to listen to anyone. To an outsider it must look as if a small hard-left group has taken him hostage.
Jeremy needs to do more, and be seen to do more. And people within the party should be able to make their views known . That is what the Labour Party should be about.
But John, Corbyn is portrayed as being ‘Hard Left’ by his enemies and much of the mainstream media but is in fact a Centrist in the truest sense. The problem within the Labour party is that those presenting themselves as “Centrists” are actually Rightwingers and neoliberals. Corbyn has brought the party back to the true Centre Left.
Some links to better explain my point:
https://www.redpepper.org.uk/the-rise-of-post-blairism/
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2017/07/centrism-is-bust.html%3Fm%3D1
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2019/01/what-is-centrism.html%3Fm%3D1
Sorry, I think there’s a bad link there, try this:
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2017/07/centrism-is-bust.html
Bloody hell….
https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2019/01/what-is-centrism.html
Tory cuts to flood defence blamed for burst dam:
https://skwawkbox.org/2019/08/01/breaking-derbyshire-town-evacuated-as-dam-wall-collapses-in-floods-following-years-of-tory-flood-defence-cuts/
There is another irritating habit of Jeremy Corbyn’s that I see has now resurfaced. His habit of making a huge fuss about less immediate issues, while ignoring the most important ones. He keeps on doing this. Like someone dealing with his office in-tray in reverse order of priority.
So now we have his great policy on fracking for natural gas, delivered in great detail. Something he seems to have spent considerable time developing.
But there is still no clear Labour policy on Brexit. It has been leave, then remain, then half-leave, and now we seem to have returned to remain ? But this is still not really certain. Even Corbyn’s own MP’s are not sure.
The UK faces one of the most serious political and economic decisions of recent years, and Labour has no clear policy even on this !
And it goes to the heart of the criticism of Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of judgement.
Which is more important, at this point in time, drilling holes for gas or Brexit ?
‘ We’d be off our bloody rockers to leave ‘ – Emily Thornberry , Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary
Brexit certainly is the fly in the ointment, and because of it nothing in Politics is certain any more, we’re all sick to death of it and sick of hearing about it, we either wish it was over and done with or wish it had never happened, but whichever side any politician or party takes they are going to upset half of the electorate. Fracking is madness in my opinion, so I’m glad Labour are forming a policy on that at least. The Tories, on the other hand, have a very annoying habit of finding ever more ways of acquiring more and more of the wealth for themselves and their rich mates whilst lying through their teeth and shitting on the poor. I really wish they wouldn’t do that.
DPAC Report on Universal Credit:
https://dpac.uk.net/2019/06/press-release-dpacs-latest-research-shows-the-cruelty-of-universal-credit/
Interesting ideas for an alternative to UBI*
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/universal-basic-services-idea-better-basic-income-citizens-social-housing-ucl-a7993476.html
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/sites/bartlett/files/universal_basic_services_-_the_institute_for_global_prosperity_.pdf
(* moot point, I prefer to refer to it as ‘Unconditional Basic Income’ rather than “Universal”)
I doubt that any form of UBI is going to happen anytime soon, maybe in another 30 years but not in my lifetime.
Dunno Trev, you might live that long, and longer! Though if you do, I hope it’s under better social and economic conditions!
Well you never know, some people do live into their 80s/90s but according to my previous Doctor I’m going to live to my late 60s – early 70s. It’s not something I worry about though as I believe that we survive physical death and I have memories of a past life when I died young, killed by a crocodile at age 24 !
My wife and I had been earning quite nicely when I was made redundant and she had just gone back to college as a full time student. We claimed Universal Credit and never having used state benefits before we were worried. I wondered if we’d pay the mortgage on what they gave us. It’s fair to say we were pleasantly surprised to find that the process was all so easy. The money we received was more than adequate bearing in mind it was a benefit. I had to re-organise my loan payments but then I would n’t expect tax payers to have to foot the bill for my car! Putting it bluntly, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.
I think various people have different experiences of Universal Credit Mike, I’ve heard plenty of horror stories and I volunteer at a foodbank where demand has tripled since UC was rolled out in the area, but it might go smoothly for some people, perhaps it depends on your particular circumstances or just pure luck. You might be one of the lucky ones! Some people don’t have easy access to the internet for example, or even know how to use it, and others don’t always have access to a phone or have credit, all of which can easily lead to a Sanction if a call is missed or the UC account is not checked daily. Others have experienced problems setting up a UC claim to begin with, often due to some error involving ID, but have not been informed of the problem and are left waiting weeks/months for money that is never going to arrive. Getting through to the UC helpline can be fraught with problems too, making it difficult to resolve issues and errors are pending. In other cases UC has been successfully claimed and paid but with large amounts mysteriously and unexpectedly deducted for alleged overpayment of Working Tax Credits, which can be very difficult to challenge because it also involves HMRC as well as the DWP who don’t always communicate effectively between each other. There are many other different things that can go wrong and often do, leaving families and individuals with nothing to live on or pay rent, leading to further difficulties with rent arrears, evictions and homelessness. If your UC is getting paid properly without error or difficulty then count yourself fortunate.
I will use your own terminology: putting it bluntly, it never ceases to amaze me that if one experience of system works well, then all those who have not had the same experience are making a fuss, or has been suggested here; lying.
That appalls me. This essentially is what has gone wrong in our society. ”If it is not a problem for me; it is not a problem at all.”
In the matter of UC there is overwhelming evidence of multiple problems. These have been acknowledged by all sides of political thinking, though I’ll concede that the conservative takes some time to admit such problems.
I look forward to discussing this further with you. People have starved; some have died. It utterly grieves me to have it said that such happenings might just be ‘a fuss’.
As I said: happy to discuss this further.
One other thing Mike, how are you coping with doing the obligatory 35 hours per week jobsearch? A JCP Adviser told me that when I go on to Universal Credit I will be expected to spend 5 hours per day, 7 days per week, doing jobsearch. Do you think that is reasonable or even possible?
Oh, one other thing Mike, you say that the money is more than adequate considering that it’s a Benefit, are you aware that UK Benefits are being underpaid by about 45% ? i.e. the money is supposed to be 45% more than what you are getting.
You have a mortgage, which means that in 39 weeks time they will offer you ‘Mortgage Interest Payments.’ This, unlike rent paid for tenants is actually a ‘loan’ which will have to be repaid. They will also fix an attachment on your house to ensure that should you sell your house they will get that ‘loan’ back first. Not a a fuss, how do you feel about tenants (of Councils and private landlords) receiving perhaps more than £100 a week in extra benefit (as rent paid) more than you? It’s no fuss, they don’t have to pay it back.
I have been on universal credits since September I am single mother of three children I have several anxiety and suffer from really bad back pain that has taken over my life and limits when I can do I am waiting for a MRI scan to find out what the problem really is it has been like this since my last pregnancy 5 years ago when my tailbone moved to one side due to being pregnant I was told it would just move back after awhile but the last 2 years I’ve been in that much pain I can’t stand or walk for long periods of time so I went to the doctor and handed universal credit a sick line lasting for 4 weeks it started from the 10th December I handed in on the 11th December they accepted it and I signed into my universal credit account the next day and answered questions that I wasn’t fit for work and signed in few times after that bring up to the 20th December I signed in at 7 in the morning to find that my UC account had been closed in horror and complete panic I phoned to be told that they had posted something and I had not answered so I would say from the 18th til the 20th they closed the account and now I have had to make a new claim start all over again I’ve never owed anyone anything but now I owe universal credits tax credit and department of communities I would say bout thousand and half maybe two thousand, I have never been so scared and stressed out in my life, Can they just close your account so easy? Days before Christmas also
Hi Katie,
Sorry to hear of your plight, sounds like you might benefit from some independent advice. There’s the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and depending where you live there are other organizations that can provide Advice & Advocacy, check out what’s available in your area. You might also qualify for foodbank parcels, and some of the foodbanks can give advice too. Best of luck.
I am so very sorry to hear of your experience. What you have related appears to be all too suspiciously common. Suspiciously, because this is not the first time I have read that this has happened because someone ‘did not answer a letter’, or; did not turn up for an appointment-when they were given two; -at the same time.
I have little doubt now that the focus is to put up deliberate trip wires to derail applicants and receivers of UC. The election result could not have been worse. It has empowered bureaucracies to even greater bullying, because of course this IS bullying. It is also common to be given wrong information, which results in termination of benefits and increasing debt. It is deliberate. It can’t be anything else.
You’ve come to the right place for sympathy, but how you/we tackle these inhuman swines is something so many are struggling with.
I hope to God you did not vote these filth in over Brexit, because if you did, you are in part to blame for what they are doing. Sorry, but it is true.
I have been a single parent for over 50 years; it’s hard, but ‘in my day’, single Mothers were looked on as doing a valued job. Today they are treated as being responsible for their own situation, and a drain on the system.
I wish to God I could say something to help you, but I can’t. Perhaps your local foodbank could advice you on what you can do. They are becoming experts in dealing with the fallout of conservative brutality.
Good luck, -you have children, and must stay as strong as you can for them.
Again, I am so sorry that theses swines have treated you so badly.
2nd time claimant of UC here. Hi, i work for an agency on and off and when work stops i have claimed UC for the past couple of times whilst waiting for more work from the agency to come through. This 2nd time i claimed i had a sanction put on my claim. When i ventured down to the jobcentre to enquire why i was told ‘because you found employment and failed to notify us’. My answer to this was ‘i was working’…reply back was ‘you failed to show for an appointment that was set within your commitments, so therefore we have sanctioned your claim’….now this is where things got interesting because i then went off on a rant…i told them yes i had failed to turn up to their pathetic appointment but at that time i was working as i take work when i can from the agency. They badger people about ‘seeking employment’ and then when you finally get a job and all you want to do is get yourself away from the claim and work they penalise you. I told them that i wasnt prepared to leave work to go to a meeting that required me to be in a job when i was already in a job and lose a wage because of it, but no they didnt want to listen to the voice of reason. They shoved a piece of paper in my hand and said ‘ring this number’….off i trot back home and call the required number to explain to another ‘idiot’ what has happened. I was then told to take out a hardship payment as the sanction was going to take a few days to be lifted, i really didnt want to but i felt pushed into a corner, so 197 pounds later and me feeling that id just been duped by the person on the other end of the phone i asked ‘so how does this result in this money being paid back’? …reply ‘this payment is taken out of your Universal Credit payments every fortnight BUT your sanction will increase by THREE WEEKS! so the money can be paid back…so lets look at this situation..thats a sanction of 4 weeks for something i didnt nothing wrong for…then an extra 3 weeks to pay back a loan i didnt want whilst in that time i get absolutely zero in Universal Credit payments until the sanction has ended..and this folks is how the system is officially flawed…cant wait to get back to a proper full time job.
That’s nuts. What a mess. The Tories have deliberately wrecked our Social Security system, they must have done it on purpose because the only other explanation is incompetence and no one can possibly be so incompetent. Remember this experience next time an election comes around, remember who is responsible and vote accordingly.
I’m so sorry; I am so bloody sorry about this.
If ever the wind changes there will be a bloodbath.
Just remember the faces of the scum that are doing this……
—–and the scum which does indeed rise to the top, -that created the entire thing.