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The assault on the poor and disabled

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The assault on the poor and disabled - Page 6 Empty The assault on the poor and disabled

Post by skwalker1964 Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:48 am

First topic message reminder :

I reblogged this post in 'honour' of the Tory party conference and Ivan asked me to post it here, too. You can find the original post complete with links at: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Here are two true stories:

A friend of mine once picked up a hitch-hiker at a motorway service station. The bloke looked a bit down on his luck, so my friend asked what his story was. The guy said he’d been living in service stations, bathing in the shower facilities at lorry-driver stops, for several days as he tried to make his way from one end of the country to the other to where a hotel job was waiting for him if he could get there. He’d lost all his benefits and had no way to get the money to take a train or bus.

My friend gave this man all the money he had in his pocket, which was £60. The man seemed genuinely overwhelmed and grateful, seemingly unable to believe that someone would give him a fairly serious amount of money within minutes of meeting him, on the basis of the story he’d just related.

I asked my friend whether he thought the man had been genuine, or might he have been ripped off? His answer was that his gut instinct was that the man was for real – but that if he wasn’t, he’d rather be conned than be hard-hearted and risk ignoring someone in genuine need.

By contrast, the incredibly rich (some $287 billion in today’s money) industrialist Andrew Carnegie once famously said that it would be better for the world if a rich man threw his millions into the sea rather than give any to the ‘unworthy’. To be fair to Carnegie, he gave away a vast proportion of his wealth – but the rich and privileged have a long history of presuming that, from their pinnacle of wealth and comfort, they are able to decide who is ‘worthy’ and who isn’t. The concept of the ‘deserving poor‘, by denoting that some poor are by definition not deserving, has resulted in great suffering while allowing the wealthy to feel satisfied with their lack of concern or action.

The current crop of Tories are truly in line with their predecessors in this regard – except that they’re even worse. Even though they can’t possibly be ignorant of the consequences, they push this line in the most cynical way, with the aim of dividing the British public, fooling the undiscerning into allowing or even approving of policies aimed at stripping the vulnerable of crucial protections. And for the basest of reasons – for short-term political gain (persuading some people that the Tories are ‘at least doing something about something!’), and to release even more public funds that can be channelled into tax-cuts for the already-rich or even greater profits for private corporations.

With their limited moral imagination, the Tories really only know two tactics. Both are calculated to appeal to the baser instincts of the small-minded and thoughtless: fear and vilification. There may be different facets or manifestations – they might try to invoke suspicion, or envy, or to dehumanise or caricature one set of people to get another set to back their policies – but the roots are the same.

I’m working on a post about economic fear and the way that’s fostered by government spokespeople and tame media, but it’s proving to be quite a big project and I’m not going to be online much over the next few days, so it will be a little while in coming. But the other tactic – vilification or demonisation of the vulnerable or resistant – is so plain that this post almost writes itself. Whether explicitly or in the omission, the Tories are at it constantly.

Just in recent weeks, we’ve had:


  • Iain Duncan-Smith accusing Britons of not working hard enough, while bare-facedly distorting figures on fraudulent claims for disability benefit (claiming a 30% fraud rate when in fact it’s bare over one percent) to gain public support for his hateful Welfare Reform Act.


  • A smug Frances Maude announcing that the bottom 10% of civil servants has a year to improve or be fired – conveniently leaving out the fact that if everyone in the civil service was a workaholic genius, there would still be a bottom 10%. Being at the bottom doesn’t mean you’re incompetent or unproductive. He insists that this is not an ‘attack’ on the civil service, even though at the same time he’s making cuts of 25% in civil servant numbers and talking of removing any terms and conditions that are better than those of the private sector that the Tories and their pals have already robbed.


  • Andrew Lansley calling on doctors not to take industrial action and having his department and tame journalists conduct an orchestrated propaganda campaign to persuade the public that doctors are rich, privileged, selfish and uncaring of their patients (‘After all’, he might as well say, ‘we’ve robbed the rest of the public sector, why should doctors be any different?’) This in spite of the fact that the doctors’ pension scheme is not in shortfall and that the Health Secretary, having specifically abdicated his legal responsibility for healthcare provision in his new Health & Social Care Act, is really not entitled to comment one way or the other, let alone to impose new pension terms.


  • David Cameron underlining again that the Tories are on the side of ‘strivers’, thereby saying that they’re not on the side of anyone who can’t strive, or who simply wants to live a decent, balanced life.


  • Iain Duncan-Smith (again!) announcing plans to remove benefits from anyone who dares strike against the removal of pay, pensions, conditions and protection that is now the norm for the treatment of ordinary working people.


  • Claims by Communities Minister Eric Pickles, vocally supported by Housing Minister Grant Shapps and many others, and by the right-wing press, that the UK has 120,000 ‘problem families’ who cause 80% of societal problems, even though not one of the criteria used to decide who is a ‘problem family’ relates to criminality, but instead refer to poverty and physical or mental illness.


  • Endlessly repeated soundbites about ‘benefit scroungers’ to justify capping housing benefit, even though the vast majority of people receiving this benefit are working, but can’t afford outrageous rents.


  • Cameron and others vilifying transport workers for daring to plan industrial action during the Olympic Games money-making exercise, even though industrial action is really their only negotiating weapon and it’s perfectly sensible for them to aim it at the periods when it will be most effective. The Tories really do want a workforce that’s powerless to stand up for itself.


I could go on, but I want to keep this post to a readable length.

The aim of all these policies and pronouncements is very clear: persuading whichever sections of the public that are not affected by a particular measure that those who are affected are not worthy of support, and definitely not worthy of help.

The consequences of these and other Tory measures are not hard to imagine – and they’re already being played out. Disabled, ill or mentally ill people spend their days in fear at the prospect of having their benefits stopped because they’re ludicrously assessed as fit for work, while some even attempt or commit suicide. People are forced to accept part-time ‘work’ that offers few (or even zero!) hours while the government crows that it has reduced unemployment; jobless people are forced to work for free and sleep under bridges by companies who ruthlessly exploit them to maximise profit. And so on.

In this context, it’s patently clear that the Tories’ policies, attitudes, sleaze, self-enrichment and their unholy alliance with powerful corporate and media interests show that they are not fit to judge a vegetable show, let alone judge whether a vulnerable person is ‘worthy’ of help.

Fortunately, we get to choose whether we believe them. To choose whether we agree with the kind of approach to life that says that, while no system is perfect, it’s much better to err on the side of goodness than of suspicion and selfishness, that it’s better to set up or protect systems that protect the genuine many than one which might prevent a very few ‘playing the system’ but that also strands people in genuine need in a situation of despair. We have the privilege of deciding what kind of society we want to be.

From everything I’ve written, you’ll probably have guessed that I absolutely agree with my friend, rather than with Carnegie, about which side it’s better to err on. But Mr Carnegie did say something that I agree with very much:

‘A man who dies rich dies disgraced’

In our current government, and in the people who support and fund them, we have a lot of walking ‘disgraces in the making’. Let’s think for ourselves, see them for what they are, and not make it easy for them to become even bigger disgraces than they already are.
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Post by oftenwrong Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:52 am

But as our gutter press are very aware, the Public's perception beats facts every time.

That's what has led us to "dog-whistle" headlines, which send a coded message without breaking any laws.

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Post by Bellatori Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:31 pm

Ivan wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Very true and actually rather annoying. The perception, as OW and others have pointed out, is definitely down to MPs banging on about minor issues that are then front page news in a large number of news papers. Personally rather than area blobs I would have put them as 3-D pie charts with cake slices. It would make the point very dramatically for particularly the fraud misconception. The importance is not merely the relationship between estimate and actuality but also the absolute value of the fraud compared to the welfare budget which is not clear in the area blobs.

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Post by oftenwrong Thu Nov 14, 2013 5:33 pm

Bellatori wrote: "I would have put them as 3-D pie charts with cake slices."

I suspect from that you are the fortunate possessor of an above-average comprehension, Bellatori.  At one stage I found myself roped-in to help produce a Fanzine for our Sports Club.  A hot topic ('twas ever thus) being an increase in membership fees (Boo!).

I suggested a pie-diagram showing how the money was spent, and my fellow conspirators looked at me as though I'd grown an extra head.

Copy the Murdoch Press - Know your Reader!
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Post by Bellatori Thu Nov 14, 2013 7:09 pm

oftenwrong wrote:Bellatori wrote: "I would have put them as 3-D pie charts with cake slices."

I suspect from that you are the fortunate possessor of an above-average comprehension, Bellatori.  At one stage I found myself roped-in to help produce a Fanzine for our Sports Club.  A hot topic ('twas ever thus) being an increase in membership fees (Boo!).

I suggested a pie-diagram showing how the money was spent, and my fellow conspirators looked at me as though I'd grown an extra head.

Copy the Murdoch Press - Know your Reader!
Either way, if you have half a brain... it sucks Twisted Evil 

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Post by Ivan Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:07 pm

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Post by Ivan Fri Nov 29, 2013 9:13 pm

5 benefit changes the government doesn't want you to know about
 
1. Disabled people denied a key benefit have had their right to appeal reduced.
 
2. Long-term sick people are having their benefits sanctioned ... for being sick.
 
3. 50,000 disabled people are being cut out of work.

4. There’s now a one-year limit on hundreds of thousands of people’s sickness benefit.
 
5. Eviction letters are now including veiled threats to remove people’s children.
 
For the details and reader comments:-
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Post by oftenwrong Sun Dec 01, 2013 1:03 pm

Many people are "Poor" because their only source of income is a Government Pension which is almost the lowest in the developed world. Only in Mexico is the old age pension worth less.

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Post by boatlady Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:45 pm

Disgusting case came to my door today

A mother of three (eldest 11) allegedly failed to attend a mandated appointment at the Job Centre in Mid October - apologised, thought the matter settled - today is handed a letter telling her her JSA is sanctioned from 7/12/13 - 3/1/14.

Like most living on limited income, the last payday before Christmas is for buying the christmas dinner and probably presents - no christmas for those kids.

I really can't escape the conclusion that the timing of this was planned for maximum punitive effect.
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Post by Phil Hornby Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:22 pm

Ian Duncan Smith must be really proud of himself.

Once again a Labour Opposition has every opportunity to highlight cases of this sort and pound away at Cameron and his cruel band of benefit-haters- the question is : will they take it?

If no practical action arises, why would anyone support Miliband at any election...?
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Post by boatlady Wed Dec 18, 2013 9:13 pm

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little bit of publicity here.
Labour taking the fight to the Tories - who walk out an hour into the debate on foodbanks - out-argued, outclassed, shown up for the nasty individuals they are.
Reports of laughing and sniggering on Tory back benches at reports of hardship in the country, while Esther McVey makes a speech about what a splendid thing food banks are.
As reported in the Daily Mirror - not sure if the Sun or the Telegraph will have it.
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Post by bobby Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:07 pm

If there is no opposition, the general public (voters) will be left thinking that what they do hear is the truth. Not everyone reads a daily or spend their valuable time scouring anti Tory Forums.
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Post by oftenwrong Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:03 pm

"The Poor" command many times more votes than do "The Rich".

Shouldn't that be enough?
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Post by Dan Fante Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:42 am

It's the people in the middle (and then only those in the more marginal seats) that have the real say though.
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Post by Phil Hornby Thu Dec 19, 2013 11:38 am

I say it again.  The Labour Party has the ability to hold up Duncan Smith's antics, and their cruel effects, daily - just as the Tory propaganda spews out of all those Government -supporting 'newspapers' on a continuous basis.

If progress towards removing this disgusting Coalition  - or at least bringing it into disrepute on a wider basis - is to be made, Miliband has to do more.


Last edited by Phil Hornby on Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:13 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : some intended, but missing, text entered)
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Post by Ivan Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:07 am

Hopefully, this poster from Church Action on Poverty will come back to haunt the Tories at the 2015 election:-

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Post by Phil Hornby Mon Dec 23, 2013 10:21 am

That's more like it!  Duncan Smith is getting panicky so the heat is clearly getting to him.

Timing of the counter-attacks will be important - the effort to discredit Cameron has to be continuous, but also needs to be targeted so that maximum impact on the Tories' most vulnerable weak spots coincides with the Election run-in.

Make the bastards pay for the misery they have caused so many...
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Post by boatlady Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:17 pm

Trouble is, I suspect IDS may be yet another Tory distraction - eventually, they can fire him and paossibly also the nasty Esther and in the aftermath of relief carry on the same destructive policies.
The destruction of social security is being given a brand name and that brand name is IDS - but the whole party is behind the basic concept.
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Post by oftenwrong Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:29 pm

Any "Doctor Who" fan will tell you that as one enemy is zapped with the sonic screwdriver, another steps into place. Ditto members of the nasty party.
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Post by Phil Hornby Tue Dec 24, 2013 11:33 am

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" People ask me : ' How can you bear to be such a thoroughly nasty piece of work', and I tell them:    ' Constant practice '..."
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Post by Ivan Wed Dec 25, 2013 12:17 am

Ricky Tomlinson at Trussell Trust food bank: My proud city Liverpool does not deserve to go hungry

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Post by Phil Hornby Wed Dec 25, 2013 11:55 am

I do have to say that the sight and sound of Mr Tomlinson tends to leave me needing to reach for the indigestion tablets...     Crying or Very sad
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Post by oftenwrong Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:14 am

What the Nation needs may just be revivals of Brookside and Alf Garnet, don't you think?
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Post by oftenwrong Sat Dec 28, 2013 6:59 pm

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the Press Association has issued a bulletin entitled, Survey: Rich-poor divide widening.

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Post by Ivan Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:35 pm

Malnutrition cases in English hospitals almost double in five years

The shocking impact of recession and austerity on England’s poorest people has come to light again in figures showing the number of malnutrition cases treated at NHS hospitals has nearly doubled since the economic downturn. Diagnoses of rickets – a disease of poverty associated with vitamin D deficiency – have also risen significantly, from 561 in 2008/09 to 702 in the past year.

The number of visits to food banks has risen to around half a million a year, according to Oxfam. The largest food bank operator, the Trussell Trust, fed only 26,000 people in 2008 – that figure now stands at more than 350,000. Adrian Curtis, its UK director, said: “It’s not surprising that rates of malnutrition have also increased. We see people coming to foodbanks who’ve gone without food for days.”


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Post by oftenwrong Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:09 pm

"....malnutrition cases treated ...."

Oddly enough a malady resolved in the early 1940s by the wartime control of nutrition.

Would this vicious Tory administration have the nerve to re-introduce Ration Books?
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Post by Ivan Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:44 pm

Extracts from two articles by John Wight which might be of interest:-

This continual hounding of the unemployed reveals that Britain is governed by a gang of rich sociopaths

“The primary objective of the Tories since they entered Downing Street in 2010, maintained there by their Lib Dem coalition partners, has been to beguile the nation into believing that rather than an out of control and under-regulated private sector, the root cause of the economy's ills is a bloated public sector. Their success in pulling off this confidence trick is measured in the ability of the chancellor and his Tory cohorts to couch a transparently vicious, callous, and carefully calibrated attack on the most vulnerable people in the country as official government policy.

Adding another layer of indignity onto the indignity already suffered by the most demonised, dehumanised and near-criminalised demographic in the country - the unemployed - can only be described as an obscenity. That the policy is targeted specifically at 'helping' the long term unemployed back to work or back to the 'habit of work' rings hollow. The clear inference is that everyone claiming out of work benefits is stealing from the taxpayer in order to support a life of leisure while everyone else has to get up early and go to work.”


For the whole article:-
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For the sake of humanity, society must unleash war on the Tories

“The economic crisis which began in the USA and hit these shores in August/September 2007 was a consequence of an out of control international banking and finance industry - in other words private greed on the part of the rich, the very constituency favoured by and so exalted by the Tories. A Tory-led government has viewed the credit crunch as their economic 9/11 - a pretext and smokescreen behind which they have implemented the transference of wealth from the poor to the rich under the rubric of austerity.

The campaign of hate being waged by this government of rich, privileged, and privately educated sociopaths against the poor, the unemployed, and those who dare try to claim the benefits to which they are entitled is unparalleled in modern history. Even Thatcher in her pomp was not as malicious in her treatment of the aforementioned demographic. This was not because she didn't wish to be more malicious than she was, it was because when she came to power we still had trade unions capable and willing to resist such an onslaught; the cost involved in even attempting to rip up the foundations of the welfare state would have been too damaging to her government and party to make worthwhile.

The fruits of Thatcherism have culminated in a new normal of demonisation and the near criminalisation of poverty in Britain. Austerity has been sold to the country as a policy of necessity in response to years of Labour profligacy and a bloated public sector. It is a lie so bold and barefaced that even Joseph Goebbels would blush while repeating it.”


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Post by oftenwrong Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:22 pm

The first rule of survival is "Know your enemy!"

It may actually be helpful that the Privileged identify themselves so clearly in the eternal struggle between the Have-nots and the Have-Yachts.

Some potential Revolutionaries might have already picked out the specific lawns upon which their tanks will be stationed.
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Post by Ivan Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:15 pm

Government to stop funding for low-income families facing emergencies
 
A £180 million-a-year hardship fund providing emergency help for low income families who suffer sudden financial crisis as a result of domestic violence, ill-health or natural disaster such as flooding is to be scrapped by the DWP.
 
Yet more "compassionate Conservatism" (an oxymoron if ever there was)  Evil or Very Mad 
 
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Post by Phil Hornby Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:44 pm

As always, it is essential that none of that valuable cash is wasted on good causes while there are better-off folk who need a tax reduction...    Shocked
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Post by boatlady Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:02 pm

I think the difficulty about these funds, is, they were passed over to local Social Services departments to administer.

Many took the view that their hard-pressed staff would not be able to cope with the consequent increase in their workload, so 'bought in' the services of outside organisations who administered the funds on behalf of the local authorities. Ours in Norfolk was admnistered along with a number of other counties' funding by an organisation based I believe in the North East, which not only has scant understanding of local conditions, but also I believe invested most of the money in brokering a deal with a large electrical retailer for provision of white goods at an advantageous cost.. Not surprisingly, the budget was I believe underspent, leading to the fairly reasonable conclusion that there was less need for such a budget than previously thought.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, women leaving abusive relationship, people running out of food and money to pay the gas and electric bill, and others with pressing needs, by and large go without the necessities of life. I myself have made several efforts to get access to some of our local fund on behalf of individuals who appear magically in every case to fail to qualify, despite being in desperate need.
Any fool could have predicted this outcome - and I'm tempted to believe this was in fact the desired outcome.
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Post by oftenwrong Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:38 pm

The "civil-service mindset" is found in many organisations, which require absolute proof of need before parting with e.g. charitable donation funds.  More than one substantial chunk of money contributed by the Public to some "Disaster Appeal" or other is allowed to just sink into the sand of administration costs.
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Post by Ivan Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:06 pm

Three men were held in a police cell for 19 hours and then charged under an obscure section of the Vagrancy Act of 1824. Their crime? Taking discarded food from a skip at the back of an Iceland supermarket.
 
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Post by Phil Hornby Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:20 pm

Quite right, too.

This is clearly a matter which contravenes the Conspiracy to Spoil the Fun of Conservative MPs legislation. We simply cannot have common folk assuaging their hunger at the expense of the Tory appetite to see some real suffering. It is the Blue Rosette equivalent of pornography...
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Post by boatlady Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:55 pm

Thanks for posting that, Ivan - saw a brief reference to it somewhere in passing - I rather thought someone was having a laugh - so it's really happening --- in England --- goodness!!!
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Post by oftenwrong Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:48 pm

The law of Property has always been a primary concern of our Police Force.

EDIT 29 January 2014

Someone has seen sense:

Three men charged under a 200-year-old law for allegedly taking items of food from a skip behind a branch of Iceland will not face prosecution.

The trio had been charged under the 1824 Vagrancy Act after being found in "an enclosed area, namely Iceland, for an unlawful purpose, namely stealing food".

But the Crown Prosecution Service has now decided a prosecution is "not required in the public interest".

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Post by Ivan Wed Jan 29, 2014 9:07 pm

Food banks aren’t solving problems — they can make things worse too
 
This is the nasty party at its worst – Edwina Currie repeating the same old myths about people with satellite dishes and widescreen televisions (is there any other sort these days?) living it up on benefits.
 
She refers to “170% increase in people using food banks in the last 12 months” and perversely concludes “that’s because there are more food banks”, rather than there is an ever increasing need for them. She bleats because the increase is, quite justifiably, “being used as a stick to beat the government”.
 
She says: “As anyone with their wits about them can grasp, if you increase the free supply of something worth having, you’ll have takers queuing at the door. How often do the same faces reappear, claiming their tin of soup?” I’m sure she’s well aware that you can’t just take yourself to a foodbank and claim some groceries - you have to be referred to one. You only get enough food for three days, and I think you can only be referred three times in one year, but why should Currie let facts get in the way of a good story?
 
She tells us that some of the people being fed “would struggle in prosperity and recession”. According to her, foodbanks are “perpetuating the problems” rather than “confronting failure”. Probably worst of all, she tries to claim that some foodbank users are “people who are not poor”, but making “a rational choice to stay on benefits, and to get the free food”.
 
What a vile woman. Like a true Tory, Currie appears to have sympathy only for businesses, as they might not make so much profit if some people get freebies instead of spending money they don’t have in food shops. All in all, I think this is one of the most disgusting blogs I’ve ever read, and shame on ‘The Spectator’ for printing it.
 
If your blood pressure can take it, here's the whole blog:-
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Post by boatlady Wed Jan 29, 2014 9:45 pm

She really is a stupid attention-seeking woman, who should know better than to talk such twaddle in public.

However, I do have some worries from time to time about the role of foodbanks

When I was much younger, there were many people in social care type occupations who spoke of a concept called 'radical non-intervention'. The idea was, if you didn't intervene in bad situations, things would (obviously) get worse and one of two things would happen
1) People would realise things weren't that bad - so then there was no need to do anything
2) The situation would get so horrible and out of control that someone would have to sort it out - either there would be a violent revolution, or the powers that be would alter the rules so as to change the situation.

I never really had the stomach for radical non intervention - which seemed to me at times like an excuse for laziness on the part of social workers and social policy makers; but in the current situation I do sometimes wonder if the foodbanks are helping in their way to mask the true horribleness of what is involved in the progressive dismantling of the Welfare State.

Having said which, I feel compelled to contribute my few bags of groceries every week, because I can see the need that is out there - and once again, I don't have the stomach for letting people starve when I have it in my power to do even a little bit about it.
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Post by oftenwrong Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:40 pm

Commenting only on that narrow point of non-intervention, it can occasionally be the best course. We used to have Policemen on point-duty at crossroads directing traffic, but there were fewer delays when they were withdrawn, because drivers soon sorted themselves out when there was no alternative.
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Post by Phil Hornby Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:48 am

History shows the level of Currie's judgement.

Besides, when Tory politicians become attracted to any subject it usually represents to them simply an opportunity for making some further deliberately controversial and provocative statement with the purpose of insulting their perceived enemies.

It is just the Tory way...
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Post by oftenwrong Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:05 am

".... an opportunity for making some .... deliberately controversial and provocative statement with the purpose of insulting their perceived enemies."

Not unlike internet discussion boards, some might think, Phil.
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Post by Ivan Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:25 pm

Heart attack victim in cash axe shock
 
by Robbie Gill
 
"A man forced to give up work with heart problems had his benefits axed for failing to complete a capability assessment... after suffering a heart attack during the examination.

The man, who received employment support allowance, was required to attend a work capability assessment to assess his suitability for work. During the appointment he was told he was having a heart attack, forcing the nurse to stop the assessment.

Two weeks later he got a letter from Jobcentre Plus saying he had withdrawn from the assessment and was being sanctioned. The man took his case to Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams."

 
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