101 thoughts on “Staff: Universal Credit claimants go without money because support centres are woefully understaffed #UniversalCreditStrike”

1. So I take it the Strikers are calling for Universal Credit to be scrapped then? Thought not.

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   • That’s probably treason if you work for the DWP. Like the guys that tried to kill Hitler.

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   • The union is saying ‘scrap and replace’ Trev :

     https://www.pcs.org.uk/campaigns/social-security/universal-credit/universal-credit-fact-versus-fiction/pcs-cutting-through

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     • Scrapped and replaced, I’m glad to hear it, sounds better than “pause & fix”, but replace with what I wonder? UBI perhaps?

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2. This just shows what the actual reality is for claimants on Universal Credit.
   It’s a totally reluctant system, that has to be forced into paying something out.
   A sort of electronic Scrooge. Slow to pay, but quick to claw back.
   From the people I know who are on it, it’s a horrible, stressful experience.
   Constantly unsure how much, or if anything they are going to be paid.
   They might have been in poverty with Housing Benefit before, on the JSA
   system, but it was reliable poverty, that always paid on time.

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3. Another good (you know what I mean) article because of your commitment to work at the coalface. Thank-you Kate.

   It’s better than nothing. The strike I mean. But I have to wonder if the primary focus is the applicant, -or their own work conditions.
   The one positive for me is to see their frustration directed at the so called upper level rather than the applicant.
   That frustration IS glaring though, and for so many of these staff, that has resulted in caning desperate applicants.

   I just posted on the Gardy about what Oz’ is hammering their benefit applicants with; it’s called robodebt!? Some kind of computer generated punishment for whatever imagined misdemeanor their poor sods have done.

   Screw the Right. And screw the Labour/Labor Right even more. God damn them!

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   • Cheers Linda. The whole thing is a terminal shambles, but it’s important to keep reporting on it… there has to be a time when something better happens.

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     • When something better happens….we’re one step away from a Dictatorship. Martial Law is coming soon to a town near you.

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4. I am a benefits case worker of 30+ yrs experience. UC is a nightmare because it is so ‘remote’ from claimants. The basic principles / one size fits all’ IT system design simply don’t reflect the vast differences or changes in individual claimants circumstances.Problems with child care costs and the RTI (earnings) system are just the tip of the iceburg. Challenges to decisions (mandatory reconsideration) are ignored. UC won’t speak to advisers as DWP refuse to apply its ‘implicit consent’ procedure (hiding behind data protection – which is no different in practice to the old benefits). To date only a small number of the most vulnerable claimants are on UC. When things go wrong claimants can be left destitute because they have all (or most) of their income eggs in one basket. I worked in a Supplementary Benefit office in the early 80’s when staff went on long term strike due to …… staff shortages – nothing changes!

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   • Good to hear about this from the other side.

     You have a concience. Clearly you are not fit for the job because of that.
     All good luck to you and those of your colleagues similarly ‘unfit’ for the job.

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5. Loughton Jobcentre: Your UC claim has been closed because of old job wage information received from HMRC and we won’t tell you.

   Claimant: That information is wrong and I have the payslip to prove it.

   Loughton Jobcentre: Can you show us the payslip?

   Claimant: Yes, it was sent to me electronically, can I send it to you by email or upload it to a website.

   Loughton Jobcentre: No you have to attend the jobcentre and show us on your phone.

   Claimant: But it would save time and money if you just gave me an email address or looked on the website Ive uploaded the payslip to.

   Loughton Jobcentre: No you have to come and see us.

   At the unnecessary appointment

   Loughton Jobcentre: Can you send us the payslip to our email address (you couldn’t make this up)

   Frustrated claimant: Yeah sure

   Loughton Jobcentre: No we’re not receiving what you sent us and until we get it you won’t get the money you should have got.

   Frustrated claimant: Walks out, goes home and makes a complaint to the DWP and points out that they have made every effort to resolve the situation and jobcentre staff are engaging in stalling tactics.

   Jobcentre manager Susan: I’m going to abuse my power, cancel your next appointment and verbally inform you you’re banned from our jobcentre without giving a reason.

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   • I made complaints about JC Staff last year, taking it ‘to the top.’ The outcome was that it was all ‘turned about’ and made out that I was to blame. Part of the compliant was that a Work Coach (Dole Clerk) had told me to Eff Off.

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6. Why has no-one realised that we Universal Credit claimants are robbed of over £50 per year? Your Universal Credit payment covers a 30 day period (e.g. 25 July to 24 August) This payment is made on the same date every month (e.g. 31st, or the last day of a 30 day month, or last day of February) that is twelve payments a year. 12 x 30 = 360 so you are not paid benefit for at least five days of the year.

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7. Wait until the mass migration starts onto Universal Credit ! And the DWP are still not saying how they are going to do this. What is it going to be ? Rolled out in groups of Jobcentres like Universal Credit was – Group 1 then Group 2 and so on.
   Or are they just going to cut all the money off and let the 3 million try to get onto Universal Credit ? I asked my Work Coach and he said there was no way the system could take that many applications at once. Impossible !!

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   • Managed migration:

     https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/as-country-faces-brexit-chaos-managed-migration-of-claimants-into-universal-credit-mayhem-continues/

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8. Universal Credit causing suffering and hardship in Ashton Under Lyne:

   http://thepoorsideof.life/2019/08/29/cant-afford-food-cant-cope-thanks-to-universal-credit/

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9. NONE of this ‘system abuse’ will ever cease until those that keep putting Conservatives/conservatives into power, use their damn brains and realise they are being used by that same system to see any alternative as a threat.

   We are a democracy, or the shreds of one. These political scum are in power because the majority? are voting them in to power.

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   • Very true Linda. But there is still huge right-wing working class support for much of what has been done. Just look at the pages of the Sun – the biggest selling paper in the UK. It’s not enough for people on these blogs to fume about the Tories. How often have you heard on the street, and in the pub that ‘these skivers’ or ‘these immigrants’ are getting their just desserts ? And it’s not just the usual fascist extremists. It’s ordinary, working people.

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     • Thatcher succeeded in creating a largely de-Politicized Proletariat, followed by Blair muddying the waters by attempting to redefine the relationship between the State and the Market, all of which resulted in a Politically illiterate Working Class many of whom no longer even realize that they ARE Working Class! Since then people have been brainwashed by the MSM ‘Red Scare’ propaganda campaign so that they no longer trust the very people who represent them, the Left.

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       • I don’t actually think that Thatcher had to try that hard as the Tory press had been waging a propaganda war against what they saw as the ‘loony left’ such as Liverpool under Derek Hatton and Militant. I once remember speaking to a Liverpool Roman Catholic priest relative of a friend in the Welsh national movement about Liverpool under Militant. It seems they were regarded locally as pretty much on the extreme fringe but the one policy of theirs that was genuinely popular was that of building conventional low-rise family orientated council housing. About everything else Militant were regarded as being well away with the fairies.

         The Tories are bad, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that there are those on the extreme left who equally regard voters as ‘useful idiots’ to be manipulated and lied to when it’s politically expedient to do so. In past years it could be argued that the generally defective education available to many working class people, (plus an aversion to education amongst a small but significant hard core of the working class) made for the kind of situation that gave Thatcher and her ilk the landslide victories they enjoyed. I think it probably took those first three Tory election victories for it to really sink in that Britain was a changed place. Thatcher’s victory of 1979 was probably seen by many as a punishment to Labour for having let things get out of hand, and I suspect that few really believed that it spelled the end for the post WW2 consensus that had delivered so much. At that time Labour turned in on itself, seeking out scapegoats such as Militant to blame for its lack of election success, but I suspect the truth is that they continually yielded to the Tories in the imposition of a new hegemony which they more than half believed in themselves.

         Nowadays we still seem to be in an era where people vote for things through ignorance, yet there is absolutely no excuse to be ignorant – we have the internet, and even though this relatively new medium is being as exploited by those who would spread misinformation as were the earlier technologies of cinema, radio and TV there is always a choice as whether to believe or not – and often we can develop a ‘sixth sense’ about these things – even a sophisitcated lie is still a lie, and with a little scepticism usually those lies can be uncovered. I forget the title, but there was a short paperback published by some radical educators in the early 70s that advocated developing the built in crap detectors we all possess which education usually seeks to turn off and make us forget we have. Why don’t slogans like ‘Don’e believe everything you believe in the papers/hear on the news/see on the telly’ underline everything we are presented with as ‘fact’? Why isn’t our first thought when we hear or see a politician speaking about something ‘How do you know when a politician is lying? Their lips move!’. It may be that the news report is genuine and that the politician is (for once) telling the truth, but if we all were trained to have these thoughts we’d question more, (and yes, it’s ironic that RT, that Kremlin propaganda machine does use a tagline of ‘Question more!’ even if they aren’t necessarily providing us with the answers we need.)

         Sorry to get into a bit of a rant, as I’m sure that the majority reading it are already well aware of the contents, but I write in the perhaps vain hope that someone who doesn’t usually stop by this blog sees our posts and it makes them think. However, I have little faith that Kate’s excellent blog would appeal to those for whom the latest edition of Hello! magazine represents heavyweight reading. It’s amazing that we really only have one national newspaper that consistently presents an alternative view to the mainstream in a format that is genuinely popular – The Mirror. Why is this? I know there is the Morning Star, but that could be described as having anything like a mass appeal, and one could be a little unkind in wondering whether it has any appeal at all apart from the small but loyal band of supporters that keep it going. But why hasn’t Labour and the TUC cooperated in setting up a people’s daily that has editorial independence but yet publishes an alternative viewpoint in a popular style? Ditto with a current affairs online TV channel that deals with the real issues faced by ordinary people who struggle everyday under ideological austerity? Part of the reason will of course be that they themselves would be worried that they too could find themselves under the spotlight, which really is part of the problem that needs solving.

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         • It’s an interesting point you raise about ignorance, or even a sort of wilful refusing to believe.

           I’m in the last few months of writing a collection based on a lot of the interviews I’ve done in the last five years. One theme that really has emerged over the months as I’ve transcribed the hours of recordings at jobcentres and council offices is that officers themselves don’t necessarily believe that people are experiencing the poverty and conditions that people say they are. Officers of course deal with people who are the worst off in society but I still think many take a long view of people’s stories. Poverty in their minds belongs in other countries, other times and should look a certain way.

           I sat in one PIP assessment where an assessor couldn’t get his head around the fact that the man he was assessing lived in a tiny, filthy old static caravan. The assessor kept saying Caravan? – he couldn’t/wouldn’t believe it. I’ve sat in a mould-encrusted one-room flat occupied by a man with learning difficulties as an environmental health officer said the mould and the way the man lived weren’t really problems. I have so many experiences of that sort of thing.

           That may be the way that officers defend themselves when they have no resources to offer – they distance themselves and refuse to accept the truth – but it is interesting in the context of your comments. You have people who actually deal with these issues telling themselves that there is no issue. People deny reality even when they’re standing in the middle of it.

         • Yes Kate, I agree, many professionals simply refuse to believe that things are as bad as they really are. And I agree, I think that this denial can sometimes be something of a coping strategy, but really something will have to give as the living in denial cannot continue much longer, and I think that if we get a no deal Brexit there will be some kind of catastrophic collapse that will leave no doubt in people’s minds how bad it really is.

           It’s quite a common theme to look to elsewhere to find places where social and economic conditions are bad – apparently worse than they ever are here. I’m quite a fan of Stacy Dooley, as I think she’d done some cracking investgative journalism over the years, but of late I’ve found myself asking why she hasn’t made more programmes about conditions in the UK. Some of the topics of her programmes could have just as easily been made in the UK. Her ratings are such that the only BBC programme that does better is EastEnders, so anything made by her could potentially have a huge impact. Whether the BBC would allow her to make the kind of expose programmes about conditions in the UK is another matter – but it should.

         • Well personally Padi I rather liked Militant, I think I do have a natural ‘Tendency’ toward being quite militant myself!
           With Thatcher though, I don’t think it was just that she broke the Unions and undermined the far Left, I think it was also about steering the country toward a particular mindset, her denial of even the existence of Society, seemed to contribute to the creation of a materialistic culture that resulted in a ‘me first’ type of attitude, which I would say also continued under Blair, this upward social mobility and Aspiration model of living. It seemed particular evident among the younger students at Uni, who were largely Politically (and politically) unaware, not interested in changing the world, or appreciating learning for learning’s sake, the joy of education, to them it was all about landing a good job and buying the latest BMW. They were Thatcher’s children. I was the older weirdo mature student, a member of the local Anarchists club (the 1 in 12), reading Ghandi and Schumacher, doing screen-prints of Dr.Hoffmann and urging people to boycott Esso, attending peace marches anti-Nazi rallies and all the rest of it.

         • P.S. I like the Morning Star too!

         • Yes indeed Trev, Thatcher was clearly out to change the hegemony, and I can clearly remember discussing this when I was at Coleg Harlech back in 84 or 85 when we were studying the social and political changes in Wales (and the wider world) at the time. And yes, the mark of a Thatcher’s child is clear even on those who consider themselves to be quite progressive. And certainly what the Tories have done to all levels of education is scandalous, and has left us with an education system unworthy of the name. I’m part of a group trying to piece together evidence that would point us towards understanding how Coleg Harlech was closed, but through it all it has become very clear to us that Coleg Harlech for us has become something of a metaphor for what is happening to higher education right now. There really is a crisis for which there is no way out, as increasingly young people are beginning to question the value of going to university for three years to earn a degree that has next to no value, i.e. all it does is postpone the time until you end up stacking shelves in Tesco or flipping burgers in Burger King. It’s a bit of a long read, but this recent article in the New Statesman gives a pretty accurate account of what has happened to higher education in the UK:

           https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2019/08/great-university-con-how-british-degree-lost-its-value?fbclid=IwAR0eaZJJXkzAEal0aKaEaz4aSCDKdpJfyBd21e0XewswMY_0kSKptznTTIM

           I’ve always been very sceptical of political parties, especially those that tend to spout on about socialism all the time – in my experience they’re either privileged young people going through their adolescent rebellion period, or those with an ulterior motive, and who I wouldn’t trust for a minute if they wielded any kind of real power because I suspect it wouldn’t be long before they abused it. And I’m as worried by any group who worship Lenin or Trotsky as I would be by any group who worship Hitler and his gang. Do those people who quote Lenin and Trotsky and who follow their teachings actually stop and think for a moment about the terror and the indiscriminate bloodshed instigated by those two? They obviously have no sense of irony whatsoever when they rightly condemn the crimes of the Nazis, but conveniently forget about the crimes committed by the exponents of their ideology. Personally I’m less worried about the extreme left than I am about the extreme right, but that’s only because we’re far closer to being in a situation where the far right really attains a position of power. I shudder to think what the UK would be like if Farage got into power as PM. He acts the fool, but is far from it, as evidenced by the Brexit Party being a limited company under the close control of very few people, notably Farage himself. He is in fact a very clever man, and we should be very scared of him for that reason alone. When in the IWW we used to discuss tactics over industrial action and many of us were concerned about the antics of the Trot left. And okay, the Socialist Party wasn’t the SWP, (or ‘rape denialists’ as I refer to them now) but they still represented a clique that would be very detrimental to the health of us anarchists should they gain a modicum of power. So while we extended a cautious welcome to them on picket lines, we never lost sight that they represented an enemy who were therefore not to be trusted. So, whilst I may be letting my reading about the Makhnovist movement influence me a little too much, I still think it pays to be very cautious. But hey, Militant did achieve that one very important thing whilst in power in Liverpool, they built all those houses in just the way that the people wanted them, and that really does count for something.

           I must certainly have been a bit of a weirdo whilst at university in the second half of the 80s. I went to the meetings of a lot of the political groups, but most of them I found distasteful. The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) were a group of rather strange people for whom Hoxha’s Albania represented some kind of utopia, and according to one of their membership, the only negative thing about the country was that they grew tobacco. So, I guess murdering political opponents, more imagined than real, is just a minor detail? I even went to a couple of meetings of the local congregation of the Socialist Workers Party, (not that I could find any workers, and precious few who fitted my image of a socialist – they all seemed to be narcissistic sociopaths). My brief dalliance with them came to an end when in response to an appeal to join was that I didn’t think I was ready to become a ‘born again’ socialist. Whilst I enjoyed very cordial relationships with the local CPGB group, (some of whom were and are personal friends) I never joined, though I was an avid reader of ‘Marxism Today’, (and Bea Campbell irritated the heck out of me then, as she still does now – though I’ve never been quite sure why). In terms of my reading, it was very eclectic indeed, but I did read extensively about John Stuart Mill (not all bad, and I would suggest, a great help in understanding the English political system) and also Schumacher, and his friend Leopold Kohr, from whom Schumacher got the title ‘Small is Beautiful’. Kohr was for some time a huge influence on Plaid Cymru’s economic thinking. I didn’t do much anti-nazi stuff whilst at uni, as there was very little activity in that direction in the late 80s, but when there was a flurry of activity in the early 90s I launched my own anonymous one man anti-nazi campaign which produced many memorable posters – which people still occasionally talk about, and won’t believe that a) I was responsible (until I show them the originals and b) because the scale of my campaign was quite massive. All of which goes to show that perhaps I shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near an unsupervised photocopying machine whilst bored and in possession of buckets-full of flour paste.

           P.S.
           I don’t dislike the Morning Star, but it doesn’t have mass appeal. I think in terms of getting the kind of ideas that you and I subscribe to Trev, the Mirror is a far more effective platform.

         • Mmm, given that I have always professed to be a socialist, I feel compelled to respond to this.
           I actually don’t think there IS a party ‘spouting socialism’, not even a Corbyn led one. Labour nowadays is nothing if not adaptable to the political environment it finds itself in, which I find disappointing. I would prefer a socialist opposition, if only to watch the sparks fly between the parties rather than within them; such is wishful thinking.

           I am neither a young idealist nor someone with an ‘ulterior motive’. What philosophy I hold came to me as a natural process, as I suspect for so many others of us; including you. Most, -sadly of course, are indoctrinated into a belief system; so easily achieved nowadays because of the sheep like mentality of a populace, buying the latest political marketing (on most any subject actually), that the electronic/print media and its guru’s of BS (like that playful scamp, Piers) spout at them. It would actually be nice to find someone on the Left who does the same thing, maybe I missed something?

           I don’t actually worship Trot or Len, or even that mythical being who allegedly created mankind in 6 days, putting his/her feet up on the 7th day (no zero hours contract for them); – because I’m not that keen on this worship principle at all.

           All I want to see is a fairer society. We may not get that from these non existent socialist political parties, and we such as hell won’t get it from these New Age Nazi’s (yep, I do know they were ‘socialists’).
           We’ve lost all the gains of the industrial revolution, and frankly I care little who returns us to common humanity. I am in my 8th decade, and I’d like to see some even small, modicum of compassion and fairness return to us before I pop my clogs.

           This blog is hard reality. THIS is what is happening, THIS is what the mainstream media is largely ignoring.
           I actually find it hard coming here, because it is so bloody dispairing. How much harder then for posters here; stories here; links put up and read, about the suffering of a society largely condemned or ignored by the rest of society so obsessed with their latest tan/selfie/ god knows what, and by those who coldly and calculatedly created this?

           I care little which philosophy does something to change it, but I can say with reasonable confidence that it won’t be the heartless bastards who created it, nor any minor radical belief system that has no influence whatsover.

           I am a Socialist because I am not a Conservative, and because I will not embrace any political philosophy that cannot influence outcome.
           I would be happy to see a socialist government make some gains for the working poor or disaffected, before they are unseated, or they betray the people.
           I didn’t get to 74, having retired as a community lawyer, to retain any ideals; I’m a born cynic.
           I want someone, ANYONE to change what is happening to my fellow men who are doing it beyond tough.
           I care little WHO does. I just want to see it.

           And of course I know you do too.

     • That’s who I meant Cathy.

       (Keeping this short. Just logged on to pick up messages).

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       • People have fallen for the old trick of ‘Divide & Rule’, get the people blaming each other to deflect blame from the real culprits – the Politicians, the Bankers, Vulture Capitalists and the Rich.

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     • They may be ‘ordinary working people’ who wouldn’t normally associate themselves with the thin edge of the wedge of fascism, but this is exactly what they are doing. Let’s not forget that it was the ‘ordinary working people’ of Germany in the 1930s who supported and voted for Hitler in their millions, all whipped up into an imperialistic frenzy by the propaganda of Goebbels.

       The Sun, the Express and the Daily Mail are every bit as effective a mouthpiece for an elite who wishes to put one over on idiots who refuse to think for themselves and realise that they should be attacking those who tell them that immigrants/Universal Credit claimants/whoever is responsible for their being no decently paying jobs/places to live/properly functioning NHS rather than having a go at those even more unfortunate than they perceive themselves to be.

       Fascist extremists are certainly a minority but you can hear their rhetoric coming loudly and constantly from the mouths of the hard of thinking. But, just maybe someone who sounds like a fascist and acts like a fascist is in fact a fascist in all but name.

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       • “Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger.”

         Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials.

         That easy. And all because of the gullibility of the populace, particularly when they feel they can gain from it, even if it means denying others their own rights.
         This ‘patriotism’ currently showing itself in the Brexit Civil War, is nothing more than a sanctioned opportunity to racism and intolerance.

         (It’s interesting to see that when a dictatorship runs out of control, dissatisfaction grows within its ranks.
         I hope these verminous scum currently dictating to this country supported by their moronic myrmidons hammer the bloody hell out of each other)

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10. Wadsworth: Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur.
    Professor Plum: Yes, but now I work for Jobcentre Plus.
    Wadsworth: So your work has not changed.

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    • ”Of course my work has changed!
      I don’t have to help them anymore; I can enjoy bullying and belittling them now.”

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11. This is starting to become a familiar practice, dead man’s ashes to be taken to Tribunal after PIP refused:

    https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/29/man-to-take-brothers-ashes-to-appeal-meeting-after-dwp-said-he-wasnt-sick-enough-10652853/

    https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/08/30/i-dont-believe-it-im-going-to-die-and-im-still-not-sick-enough-for-pip/

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12. A No-Deal Brexit will probably mean the total collapse of Universal Credit if it causes big job losses as is predicted:

    https://smallbusinessprices.co.uk/brexit-index/

    https://news.sky.com/story/wage-growth-remains-strongest-since-2008-as-unemployment-rises-11784276

    http://theconversation.com/a-no-deal-brexit-could-put-nearly-20-of-british-jobs-at-risk-and-disproportionately-hurt-weaker-regions-112908

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    • Why won’t the DWP publish their analysis of Brexit effects on Benefits, what are they hiding?

      https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/02/how-will-brexit-affect-people-in-poverty-and-on-benefits-and-why-wont-the-dwp-say/

      https://welfareweekly.com/dwp-urged-to-publish-secret-brexit-impact-analysis/

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    • And more here:

      https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/government-urged-to-publish-secret-dwp-analysis-of-impact-of-brexit-on-poverty-wages-and-people-on-low-incomes/

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13. “I’m bored of eating rice and pasta from food banks” complained shoplifter who stuffed legs of lamb down his trousers:

    https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/im-bored-eating-rice-pasta-16839821

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    • Most of the comments to that article are quite worrying, with most of them seemingly blissfully unaware that Universal Credit affects far more people than just the unemployed. I’m hoping that those that comment in that manner represent a moronic minority, but I’m beginning to suspect that it might be indicative of the opinion of a large proportion of the voting public. That is very, very scary.

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      • You always get the Right wing Reactionary types commenting on local newspaper website articles, the ‘hang ’em & flog ’em ‘ brigade and “I pay my taxes”. A bunch of saddos sitting in their bedrooms.

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        • I can’t say too much there Trev, as I’m a saddo sitting in my living room commenting on things when I think it might do some good. But I get what you mean Trev, but it’s quite worrying that there seem to be so many of them.

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14. England, 2019. Foodbanks in schools.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-49515117

    When Brexit is over, and Boris is booted out, and the Queen is dead….can someone sort out the problem of poverty please?

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    • Definitely have the feeling that sorting poverty out drops further down the list every hour. It wasn’t high up the list in the first place. Can’t wait for the spending pledge.

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15. So how’s the DWP Strike going, anyone know? Or have they returned to work now? Hardly the Miners Strike is it, or even Lister’s Mill where the workers walked out and stayed out for 4 months until being forced back to work. Those were the days.

    https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/narey/1978/08/mannmills.html

    https://m.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/11928/27-04-2011/manningham-mills-1890-1891-a-strike-that-changed-britains-unions

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    • Or how about this one Trev? It’s not nearly well enough known about:

      https://tuc150.tuc.org.uk/stories/the-great-penrhyn-quarry-strike/

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      • Labour relations have always been a little bit difficult given the nature of industrialisation in Britain, in that it contained the first industrialised nations and therefore a labour movement that took a while to establish itself, and was severly repressed once it began to realise its strength and act upon it. Labour has also been rather fragmentally organised, which remains a major weakness of the UK’s union movement. Fairly early on, attempts to organise across the workforce failed, as the example of Robert Owen’s GNCTU, which failed as workers struck according to their sectional interests without the solidarity of the whole movement. Ditto the 1926 General Strike, as even though support was widespread at the beginning, after a week most of it had withered away. This was also a major weakness of the Miner’s Strike 1984-85, it was a single industry fighting what was basically a political battle. Had the Labour Party and the rest of the labour movement at the time unequivocally supported the strike it could well have defeated Thatcher.

        Reading what Kate has written above makes me wonder why the geniuses of the PCS hadn’t revealed all the pressures and problems long ago – they might then have had some credibility, and crucially perhaps engendered some sympathy.

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      • I didn’t know about that one Padi, bloody hell 3 years on Strike. A couple of generations of my family were quarry workers back in the 18th/19th century, “Delver”, “Miner of stone” etc. on the Census records, that was in Yorkshire, must have been a hell of a job in those days, no proper PPE, no sick pay or holidays, working in all weather or starve.

        Reply ↓

        • Yeah, it’s a strike that is still well remembered to this day in Bethesda as Y Streic Fawr. Many workers moved away to work in the South Wales coalfield and never returned as after the First World War the slate industry in North Wales went into decline. I think there are only a couple of quarries still working now, but I can remember seeing the tail end of the industry when I was a child living in North Wales as a child in the early 60s. Now all that is left is millions upon millions of tons of slate waste in the spoil heaps that cover huge areas around where the quarries were, including one that used to be the biggest man made hole in Europe, but is now the reservoir for the Dinorwic stored water power station that comes online at times of peak demand, such as the advertising breaks when Corrie is on.

          Reply ↓

16. Half of all Universal Credit claimants are struggling to buy essentials and pay bills:

    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/CitizensAdvice/welfare%20publications/Achieving%20income%20security%20for%20all%20(FINAL).pdf

    https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/04/universal-credit-added-so-much-stress-that-i-did-not-need-it-was-at-times-unbearable/

    Reply ↓

17. Bloody hell, I get zillions of job alert emails every day from all those crap recruitment websites I’m registered with, mostly irrelevant, just got one from Career Structure entitled “1 New Labourer Job in Brighouse”, but when I looked it’s not a Labouring job and it’s not in Brighouse, it’s for a Aviation Ground Crew Specialist in the army! Wtf?

    Reply ↓

    • trev, those job alert emails from jobsites are all crap. The same vacancies have been advertised for so long they were probably placed by jobcentres from the Flintstone era, all they do is change the date of when the vacancy was advertised. I complain to the job centre but nothing is done, there is no-one who will fight or take up the case for the unemployed. One vacancy in particular was advertised on Indeed, a Company called Royale Parcel and it said to apply on the Company site. Having clicked I was redirected and started filling in the application. About the fourth question was ‘Date of birth’ (I left this blank as it stinks of ageism) Later I was given the opportunity to upload my CV, when I tried it told me that I couldn’t do so because it was in Word Document format and had to be a PDF. I had a CV in PDF format and tried to upload it, the site again told me it didn’t support that format (though it was PDF this time) I clicked on the ‘Online Chat’ link and was told it was offline as ‘all our operators are on a break.’ Still determined I phoned the number given (0844 589 1124) heard the phone attempt to connect but was immediately cut off. I then went to the Company website and found a similar number (0844 588 1124) tried calling with the same result, didn’t even get to the first ring. I had an appointment at the job centre later that day and told them all about this experience, what happened? They couldn’t give a damn! YOU! have to look for work, YOU! don’t bring problems like this to the job centre, if (potential) employers muck YOU! about like this then it’s what YOU! deserve. All they understand is sanctions and how to impose them!

      Reply ↓

      • The Jobcentre laccies don’t really give a shit, I’ve realised that, they just go through the motions of appearing to do their job and you just have to go along with the charade. They don’t even read my jobsearch evidence and very obviously cannot be arsed to even look at it. It’s a friggin joke, but a nightmare at the same time. Fucking nobheads the lot of ’em.

        Reply ↓

        • I’m with you on that Trev, I’ve even started to put some quite questionable, (but deniable) stuff in my job search just to see how much attention my advisor is paying. His scan of my job search, presented on a tablet, is cursory in the extreme. My experience with UC has thus far been quite bizarre, as I’ve not had any problems, I was told more or less straight away about advance payments and reminded several times that they were available, and I’ve been told about extra payments for things like interview travel costs or clothing for interviews. I was also informed that it’s usual for new claimants to attend weekly appointments, but so far they’ve been at fortnightly, three weekly, four weekly and latterly five weekly intervals. And because I’ve opted for service in Welsh, my appointments are at 9:00 am, first thing. normally I’m on my way out of the door and on my way home by 9:05. But then I’m guessing that even the DWP is being forced to recognise that it’s highly unlikely that an employer is going to give a 62 year old a job – especially one who clearly knows their rights!

          But yeah, it’s a joke, and surely there must be a better way. New Labour didn’t have it right by a long way, but even they saw the sense in putting those over 60 on Pension Credit rather than making them go through the current palaver we face. It’s always been a bit of a charade Trev, and it’s even more so now. It would be impossible for even the most keen advisor to go through someone’s jobsearch evidence with anything more than a cursory glance, as there is just too much to do as it is, without having to deal with the absurd demands of a demented psychopath that we be kept busy looking for work if we aren’t already in work, (and then we can ease off searching quite so hard). If they want so badly for us to be in work, why don’t they just do what Labour did in the late 70s and relaunch the Community Programme?

          Reply ↓

18. Well, so much for the PCS strike. What did it achieve ? Nothing. What has the DWP done ? Nothing. So business as usual then ?

    Reply ↓

19. The misery continues:

    https://thepoorsideof.life/2019/09/05/we-dont-care-that-youre-disabled-and-distressed-you-still-have-to-attend-dwp-courses-more-tales-from-ashton-under-lyne-jobcentre/

    Reply ↓

    • This is completely wrong, the way that the ESA claimants are deliberately harassed by the DWP. Most of them should be in their sickbeds, not down at the Jobcentre. It’s just officially sanctioned cruelty. Designed to impose what the Conservatives see as the right moral attitude. George Osborne was writing the other day to say that he feels Iain Duncan Smith, will go down in history as a great reformer of the welfare system. Others might think differently.

      Reply ↓

      • He’ll go down in history alright, alongside Harold Shipman and Pol Pot…

        Reply ↓

        • I wish he would Trev, but as a society most seem to be so self absorbed– (and by God, those of you fronting up to the benefits system would need to be just that in order to damn well survive!), — that they do not recognize tyrants today.
          A lot of it IS the divide/rule thing; keep people under pressure and the preoccupation is simply to get through each day. The rest are a society that is unaffected by everyday struggle, so they actually support and admire these heinous scum.

          It disgusted me this morning that Mugabe’s death was the first item on the news. I accept it wouldn’t be put up as a footnote, but the FIRST story?

          Reply ↓

          • Totally agree Linda. Mugabe was a nasty piece of work who turned Zimbabwe into one of the poorest countries in Africa. I once worked alongside an ex- Zimbabwean who had managed to get a British passport , based on her grandmother’s original British nationality. (You could still do this then ).She used it to flee Zimbabwe for the UK at the first opportunity.

20. The BBC can rightly be criticised for pulling its punches on many occasions, but sometimes it also quietly rises to the occasion. One of its latest offerings is a documentary series ‘Rise of the Nazis’. It’s often said that history tells us as much about time it is written as about the time being written about. This series is no exception, and the first episode starts off emphasising that in 1930 Germany was a parliamentary democracy with rule of law, and that four short years later all that had changed. Of course, that won’t be unfamiliar to those of us who have studied it, but this is a new series, made for our times, so the references and emphasis takes on a new meaning for our times.

    It’s available on BBC iPlayer.

    Reply ↓

    • It’s bloody scary to think this could so easily happen again, and in this country. The likes of Boris, Rees Mogg, Dominic Cummings, Farage et al, these are very dangerous people.

      Reply ↓

      • Boris could end up in prison if he carries on the way he is:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/07/boris-johnson-could-be-jailed-for-refusing-to-seek-brexit-delay

        I’d love to see that happen, though I think some of the others should join him.

        One way and another the Tories haven’t had a very good week, what with Boris being beaten in the Commons, what is it? Four times now? Then there’s those two pictures, the one of JRM slouching, and the other of IDS with his finger up his nose, and then in his mouth. As if he wasn’t already enough to gross us all out, he has to go one better!

        The Tories are a complete laughing stock now, but still remain dangerous. Let’s hope common sense breaks out amongst the opposition parties and we get rid of the buggers forever, or at least a very long time.

        But yeah Trev, it’s terrifying. I went on the Merthyr Tydfil March for Independence today, and one of the major themes was the need to quell increasing fascism and its attendant evils. A good turn out, but not quite as good as the march in Caernarfon a couple of months ago. Video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYUkm4TA0Uc

        Reply ↓

        • Hey Padi, I think you put the wrong date on the beginning to your youtube vid, says 7.8.19, surely you meant 7.9.19 if it was today?

          Reply ↓

          • You’re quite correct Trev – I was more or less falling asleep when I was editing that video – I wanted to get it out, and the editing software was finally behaving itself enough to get the job done so I was distracted with that. I’m going to have to do a different version as there are a few minor changes I want to make. Thanks for letting me know!

        • Boris in the nick, imagine that, banged-up with drug dealers and scooter thieves, all getting high on Mcat . I reckon he’ll be forced to resign and then there’ll be a general election. But who knows, these are strange days indeed and practically anything could happen. Maybe the Downing Street cat should take over, erm, or is it the Downing St. dog now? The whole thing is a dog’s dinner anyway.

          Reply ↓

          • It is a dog’s dinner, and getting worse. Johnson is threatening not taking the law passed on Friday to the Queen for royal assent. He’s also making noises about no appointing a UK commissioner by November 1st if he has to ask for another extension, so that could mess up the EU as they’d allegedly be in breach of their own constitution if there isn’t a commissioner.

21. Local Government to be taken over by Military in the event of Brexit crisis. Martial Law is a very real possibility.

    https://beastrabban.wordpress.com/2019/09/06/private-eye-government-plan-to-draft-army-as-local-government-officials-in-event-brexit-crisis/

    Reply ↓

    • Gawd Almighty!! If this is correct, then frankly I hope it pushes things too far and causes a Hong Kong style rebellion.
      If that occurs locally, I will join them.

      Reply ↓

      • Operation Yellowhammer (and consequences of No Deal Brexit) explained:

        https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/13/project-yellowhammer-and-the-consequences-of-no-deal-brexit-explained/

        Basically it’s a shambles and we’re all screwed.

        Reply ↓

        • Cheer me up why don’t yer’!

          Reply ↓

          • HaHa 😂

            https://youtu.be/jHPOzQzk9Qo

    • I’m thinking this could possibly affect things like Jobcentres and Housing Benefit, Town Halls, etc. (if it happens)

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Redfold

      https://www.forces.net/news/brexit/operation-redfold-military-nerve-centre-ready-no-deal-brexit

      http://www.warfare.today/2019/03/22/operation-redfold-launched-in-case-of-no-deal-brexit/

      Reply ↓

    • ‘Operation Redfold’ Freedom of Information request denied:

      https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/586060/response/1402155/attach/html/3/FOI328193%20REPLY.pdf.html

      Reply ↓

      • Tristan Pedelty ? It’s all in the name with these people.

        Reply ↓

        • LOL 😁 straight from Upper Class Twit of the Year Awards.

          Reply ↓

22. Universal Credit claimant asked how often he changes his underwear:

    https://welfareweekly.com/universal-credit-mentally-ill-man-asked-how-often-he-changes-his-underwear/

    https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/07/universal-credit-mentally-ill-man-asked-how-often-he-changes-his-underwear/

    And…

    https://welfareweekly.com/universal-credit-mum-of-two-left-with-just-2-60-to-feed-kids-has-to-walk-13-miles-to-work-every-day/

    Reply ↓

23. New Panel set up to investigate Benefit related deaths:

    https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/will-new-serious-case-panel-probe-benefit-related-deaths-dwp-stays-silent/

    Reply ↓

    • As far as I can make out, this panel will investigate deaths that have occurred after (or as a result of) DWP errors and cock-ups, therefore they won’t be investigating deaths that occurred as a result of the system working as it was designed, i. e. to deliberately drive people to their deaths by means of Sanctions, built-in UC delays, UC deductions leaving people with nothing, Bedroom Tax, etc.

      Reply ↓

24. Farewell Amber Rudd! Wonder who’s going to replace her? Please God not Esther McVey.

    Reply ↓

    • In case you haven’t heard, Rudd has been replaced by Therese Coffey MP, whoever the fuck she is:

      https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/forever-amber-amber-rudd-resigns-therese-coffey-suffolk-coastal-mp-secretary-of-state-at-the-department-for-work-and-pensions/

      Reply ↓

      • Had a look as why not. A few treats: She’s big on selling public woodlands to private ass hats. Is also a private landlord who votes accordingly. Usual charmer. Has the perfect voting record for the DWP as well: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24771/therese_coffey/suffolk_coastal/votes

        Reply ↓

        • General twatness is a guaranteed prerequisite of the job I suppose.

          Reply ↓

          • Well, it’s not like he has much of a choice now, as he’s only got the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel now. I would have phrased that using something like ‘the half-decent membere’ then I reminded myself we’re discussing Tories, so there aren’t any half-decent ones.

          • Coastal Suffolk is far removed from the big towns & cities of the North where poverty is rife, thousands in poverty including children, lots of hoemlessness, social deprivation etc. She won’t have a clue, or probably even care. I once visited coastal/rural Suffolk, it’s like a different world to places like Bradford for example.

          • More about Therese Coffey:

            https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/09/11/therese-coffey-a-right-winger-in-charge-of-the-dwp-and-universal-credit/

      • Was she not in a comedy show called ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set’ with David Jason around 1967 – 69?

        Reply ↓

        • I think that might have been her mother, unless it was Terry Jones in a frock 😆

          Reply ↓

25. Vulnerable Universal Credit claimant left without Housing Benefit for 6 months:

    https://welfareweekly.com/exclusive-suicidal-universal-credit-claimant-left-with-six-months-of-rent-arrears/

    Reply ↓

    • More here:

      https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/09/did-dwp-stop-this-womans-benefit-solely-to-make-her-suicidal/

      There is no explanation of why this woman’s Housing Benefit was stopped in the first place. Makes you wonder if such cock-ups are a deliberate way of moving people on to Universal Credit.

      Reply ↓

26. Have you been forced to travel long distances for PIP Assessments? A BBC journalist wants to know:

    https://38d.gs/PIP-survey-BBC

    Reply ↓

    • Also report your Pip assessment experiences here:

      https://www.disabilityspeaks.com/pip-stories/

      Reply ↓

      • Why in the damned hell are these links not publicized in the mainstream press?
        Publicity; ongoing publicity is the bane of bureaucratic abuse. Just one occasional story is not going to do it.
        The mainstream press is almost complicit in the abuse of the vulnerable.

        Reply ↓

        • We have to do it ourselves I guess, DIY publicity via the Internet, that’s why I share all these links in the hope it will do some good or at least help to keep people better informed. Elsewhere on the net it’s referred to as “infowars”, sadly a term claimed by Rightwing loons.

          Reply ↓

        • Talking of the mainstream press (in this case Right wing, as most are) and “infowars”, the Sunday Times is trying to smear Corbyn by comparing him to Mugabe!

          https://beastrabban.wordpress.com/2019/09/11/tory-press-goes-full-infowars-as-sunday-times-compares-corbyn-with-mugabe/

          https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2019/09/murdoch-goon-says-corbyn-is-now-mugabe.html

          Reply ↓

          • The Guardian is looking for people to take part in a survey of those who have had difficulties with Universal Credit:

            https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/10/tell-us-if-you-have-applied-for-welfare-and-benefit-payments-online

27. Oh, apparently Therese Coffey was born in St.Helens and grew up in Liverpool. Merseyside has a message for her regarding Universal Credit:

    https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/we-not-submit-merseysides-powerful-16912617

    https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/14/this-job-centre-graffiti-shows-how-much-we-loathe-the-tories-flagship-benefit/

    Reply ↓

28. Welfare cuts in Scotland:

    https://welfareweekly.com/shocking-impact-of-uk-welfare-cuts-revealed/

    Reply ↓

29. Just watching a tv documentary about Corporate Tax avoidance (yep, that’s what I do on a Saturday night, how sad am I). It’s been out a few years now but I’ve never seen it before.
    It’s called ‘The UK Gold’ but also seems to go under the title of ‘Offshore Incorporated’. It’ll make you wonder why you bother to work, why you even bother to get out of bed to go do your minimum wage job, and why you bother to pay your taxes. It takes the fucking piss.

    https://openload.watch/offshore-incorporated/

    Reply ↓

30. 1 in 4 households facing homelessness are already in work:

    https://welfareweekly.com/one-in-four-households-facing-homelessness-are-already-in-work/

    Reply ↓

    • And there’s more on that story here:

      https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/15/25pc-households-at-risk-of-homelessness-are-in-work

      https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/09/15/in-work-homelessness-is-on-the-rise-if-you-think-youve-heard-that-before-ask-why/

      Reply ↓

31. Labour will scrap Universal Credit?

    https://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2019/09/16/labour-to-pledge-to-end-universal-credit/

    Reply ↓

32. Pingback: Why universal credit caseworkers strike | Kate Belgrave

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