Agenda 2019

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/more-than-300000-children-will-be-hit-by-a-new-benefits-cap-next-week-theresa-may-george-osborne-a7389736.html More than 300,000 children dragged into benefit cuts Theresa May claims that her government is a government for all the people and yet is determined to consign 300,000 children into child poverty. She is also determined to punish families by reducing the already low "benefits cap" and thereby ensuring that they become worse off by as much as £100 per week. Theresa May is prepared to preside over a massive increase in poverty and homelessness in this country in pursuit of the conservative dogma of austerity. This deplorable government accepts that poverty and hunger can be used as a weapon to punish and demonise ordinary people many of who find themselves in a vulnerable position due primarily to this conservative governments and the ConDem coalition before it policies, on welfare, employment and housing. Havin...

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/21/stephen-crabb-government-u-turns-disability-cuts-leaves-budget-disarray Disability benefits U-turn leaves Cameron with £4.4bn to find The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb  The government is in a complete shambles and this budget is descending into meaningless farce. The "one nation government" argument has been exposed as a cynical lie, and Osborne has been  revealed as the incompetent charlatan that many have always considered him to be. Moreover, he has demonstrated a complete contempt for Parliament with his failure to appear in the Commons to face questioning and in sending a substitute in his place. George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer   By this act of cowardice alone, he has demonstrated that he is unfit to hold one of the three great offices of State (or any other office for that matter) and should be sacked from his post.

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osbornes-family-struck-a-6m-property-deal-with-firm-based-in-tax-haven--reports-10373416.html   George Osborne's family 'struck a £6m property deal' with firm based in tax haven        Chancellor George Osborne     Today, (Wednesday 8th July), George Gideon Oliver Osborne, will delivery the first fully Conservative budget in almost 20 years. The already leaked details of the budget, (which until recently were the best kept secrets in the country)have already indicated cuts to child tax credits, housing benefits and tax credits on low incomes, together with £13billion cuts to welfare spending.These cuts, forming part of the governments drive for even more austerity in the United Kingdom, will effect the majority of people in the country reducing living standards even further and, it has been suggested increase child poverty, (even using the new government fiddled d...

http://cappingbenefits.conservatives.com/   Cameron says" We want to hear your views. Please take our survey to have your say" A contemptible exercise in public manipulation. Take a minute to fill in our quick survey A glaringly barefaced example of how questions can be "loaded", to ensure that only the response required by the questioner can be given. Capping benefits to ensure that an out of work household can claim no more than an average family actually earns by working sounds attractive, but fails to address the stark reality that average earnings are being driven down by government policy, causing many working people to actually claim benefits. The government are using the decline in average earnings, caused by their own policies, to cut overall benefit levels. A vicious circle, which suits government and employers objectives. Housing benefit payments are determined, not by those claiming the benefit, but by those setting ...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/food-banks-crawley-liam-marshall-ascough_n_5034541.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Extra Food Banks Aren't Needed Because Restaurants Are Busy, Says Tory Councillor  People aren't going hungry : Cllr Liam Marshall-Ascough Sometimes, it is hard to believe that that there are "people" in this country who still accept the myth that foodbanks are a consequence of "scroungers" preferring to live on charity rather than the result of government policies and delays in payment of essential  benefits. Last week it was Tebbit wading into the demonisation and general slurs in respect of Foodbanks and the people who use the charities.The Tebbit of "On your bike" fame. Tebbit, the lackey of Thatcher. Tebbit, the former airline pilot, who came to fame within the Tory party with his odious attacks on working people, immigrants, unemployed and the gay community a perfect lapdog in fact for the  grocers daughter from G...

     http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/26/ed-miliband-welfare-rebellion_n_5033370.html?utm_hp_ref=uk   Ed Miliband Faces Labour Rebellion For Backing Welfare Cap Ed Miliband:. More at home in the Conservative party? The Labour leader Ed Miliband has ordered his MPs to back the cap on overall welfare spending. This instruction to elected MP's, or at least the reasoning behind the order, demonstrates how far the Labour Party and its leadership has drifted away from the traditional base and principles of the Labour movement. Were this directive, enthusiastically endorsed by Balls and supported by the entire front bench of the Parliamentary Labor party, based on any sound economic benefit, then there may, just may, be some grounds for supporting such a policy. However, there is no such economic reasoning and the Labour MP's at least the majority of them, will troupe into the "Aye" lobby in support of the ConDem coalition and their Tory m...

  http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/454730/Edwina-Currie-s-cruel-jibe-at-poor?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-uk-news+%28Daily+Express+%3A%3A+UK+Feed%29 Former Tory MP Edwina Currie has provoked outrage by saying that ­people who use food banks waste their money on ­tattoos and dog food. Former Tory MP Edwina Currie   Edwina Currie, former junior cabinet minister, former MP, former lover of a nondescript parliamentary whip who became prime minister, crawling out from the depths of obscurity, to demonstrate that in all of her 67 years she has learned little if anything of reality in the United Kingdom. The gross generalisations pouring out of this politician turned author confirm a lack of understanding about how and why many people today, are forced into reliance on food banks and other charities for their day to day existence. With patronising comments, poorly constructed remarks and simplisti...

  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/07/universal-credit-waste-mps Universal credit scheme will waste at least £140m, say MPs, while some experts put the figure at nearer £300m. Iain Duncan-Smith   And Iain Duncan-Smith will still not listen. A recalcitrant individual responsible for the continuing waste of tax payers money, but moreover the architect of a scheme inflicting pain and hardship upon hundreds of thousand of people in this country. His initials are synonymous with policies which have brought misery to millions and retrospective changes to law which have sought to perpetuate injustice and exploitation in the workplace. Changes introduced to cap benefits, re assessment of incapacity benefits, State Pension age changes, Workfare, ATOS assessment instructions, IDS is responsible for the conception and implementation of the most obnoxious legislation that this ConDem coalition or any other government since the 19th Century has introduced. Many...

  http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/05/david-cameron-24bn-universal-credit-problems David Cameron's £2.4bn universal credit project riddled with problems   A poorly implemented scheme, born out of spite and malice and introduced by a government determined to demonise claimants of any benefits and divide society one against another. There is little if any likelihood of this ConDem coalition abandoning this odious policy, no matter what cost financial or social may be incurred. It is equally unlikely that a change of government in 2015 would be prepared to repeal this loathsome piece of legislation. It seems that when social division is the objective then the cost is one the government is prepared to accept.

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/22/fitness-work-tests-mental-health-unfair?commentpage=3 Work capability assessments place those with mental health conditions at substantial disadvantage, judge concludes   The judge ruled that the Department for Work and Pensions had breached its duties to make 'reasonable adjustments' under the Equality Act to ensure that people with mental health problems were treated fairly. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith   No doubt that the Department for Work and Pensions led by the odious Iain Duncan-Smith will move swiftly to challenge this ruling or change the rules and the law,to plug this hole in their obnoxious plans. Foot note: The DWP said it would appeal against the ruling, and stated it did not intend to halt the assessment process.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-in-line-for-20000-pay-rise-in-move-likely-to-spark-public-anger-8622556.html  MPs are set to receive a pay rise of up to £20,000. Just when you thought that you had heard everything, just when you thought that there were no other depths to which MP's could sink, just when you thought that the greed of demanding an increase in their expenses for lunch followed by another demand for an increase in their bar drinks allowance, could not be topped, comes this. Make no mistake about it, no matter how many times the MP's may bleat, plead poverty and trot out the well worn cliche that their salaries are set by an "independent review body", the levels of salary that these parasites pay themselves are set behind closed doors in smoke filled rooms and agreed long before any announcement is made in the media.   John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, is understood to be sympathetic to a pay rise after saying that M...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/18/bedroom-tax-council-funds-homelessness-_n_3296933.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Devastating impact of 'bedroom tax' sees huge leap in demand for emergency hardship handouts Iain Duncan-Smith   ; Secretary of State for Work and Pensions     Iain Duncan-Smith invents a policy which, ultimately costs more than the problem it was supposed to solve. Nothing new there then. However, the policy has been exceedingly successful in one very crucial respect. It has exacerbated tensions and divisions within society and may have created even more. The comments section of this Huffington Post article is littered with bile and venom directed by contributors who need additional bedrooms against those who have "empty bedrooms", or people in receipt of benefits against those who are not, and even some other ramification "us and them" syndrome. The people of this country must realise that the enemy is not the person living next door...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/suicide-bedroom-tax-victim-stephanie-1883600 Stephanie Bottrill was found dead on Junction 4 of the M6 motorway at the beginning of the month aged 53 and explicitly blamed the government for her actions. Stephanie Bottrill and her house in Meriden Drive, Solihull Already, the usual suspects are churning out the divisive comments designed to rubbish Stephanie Bottrill and her son. Headlines in the story leaders, and many remarks in the comments sections of the articles are quick to point out that "she was offered smaller accommodation" and "the council offered a relocation package" or "she declined the alternative as unsuitable". None of the commentators of course bother to report that Stephanie had the auto-immune system deficiency Myasthenia gravis, an illness which weakens muscles, and was on constant medication. Nor do they mention that she was not in receipt of any disability living allowance as ...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/29/ed-miliband-winter-fuel-benefits-pensioners_n_3177367.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Ed Miliband has suggested the Labour Party would consider withdrawing benefits such as the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes from wealthier pensioners. “Means testing is being used to divide and rule—to pit young people against pensioners. But the real divide isn’t between young and old, it’s between rich and poor.”   We have been here before. What is a "wealthy pensioner". How is "wealth" defined? Living in a large private house, but having only a state pension as income, can hardly be described as "wealthy". On the other hand, a couple living in private or social rented accommodation, both drawing state pensions and where perhaps one of the partners has income from an occupational pension plus a private pension, would have a far larger disposable income than many. Clearly there would have to be some means of comp...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/28/iain-duncan-smith-tells-wealthy-pensioners-to-hand-back-their-bus-passes_n_3172615.html?1367135836&utm_hp_ref=uk Iain Duncan Smith Tells Wealthy Pensioners To Hand Back Their Bus Passes IDS urges wealthy pensioners to forego perks. Another outpouring of verbal diarrhea from the "scrounger" living rent free in a lodge on his father in law's estate, who enjoys a chauffeur driven limousine on his way to and from work (and no doubt return trips to other less well known locations) and who's grasp of reality is severely limited by his background, his class and his intellectual abilities. Instead of lecturing the rest of us about things (in all aspects of his position as Work and Pensions Secretary)  which he could never understand or imagine, he would be better employed instructing or requesting that the other 649 MP's give up their allowances for food every week, (because they can affor...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/23/food-banks-trussell-trust-coalition-charity-_n_3138241.html?1366783614&utm_hp_ref=uk Foodbank Britain: Demand for Emergency Food Increases Five-Fold Since Coalition Came To Power Volunteers put a selection of tinned food together for a client at a depot at St Paul's Church, Brixton In Great Britain, in the first quarter of the 21st Century, more than 350,000 people rely on food banks. Last December, it was predicted that in 2013 foodbanks would feed more than 200,000 people across the country, double the number of 2012, and the expectation was that the number would grow rapidly. It is now only April and the figure already exceeds 350,000. This is a situation about which we should all feel angry, uncomfortable and even ashamed that we have collectively allowed this position to come about. A country which once boasted having "an empire upon which the sun never sets" and a collective wealth envied by nations aro...