Time to sack Liam Byrne!

In moments of indolence I like to imagine Liam Byrne forced to work for a workfare scheme. Demeaned and dehumanised with only his benefits to look forward to, if he misbehaves then it’s sanctions! But no, just a wild fantasy where Byrne gets his comeuppance. Though I wish someone would send him a membership form to join the Tory Party because that’s where he belongs. Even better if Mister Ed did the decent thing and sacked the lowlife scoundrel.

Labour abstained on the Worfare Bill and woe betide anyone who did the principled and only thing by voting AGAINST! Byrne said that, “it had been a very, very difficult decision”…. 

Huh? A difficult decision is taking on the ConDems. A difficult decision is taking on the powerful. I always have a tendency to balk when I see all that guff about  a “difficult decision”… It’s always in relation to when they are doing the wrong thing, making the wrong decision. Abstaining was the wrong decision! It wasn’t difficult it was plain wrong! And Labour looks utterly shockingly bad over this, sitting on their hands doing nothing. Just how low can Labour go in their pursuit of being the a pair of safe hands that the establishment can trust?!

But critics within his party accuse Byrne of failing to mount any significant opposition to the government’s bill. “The problem is that Liam basically agrees with them,” said one. “There is a lot of anger. This is a very important issue. He has missed an opportunity and put us on the wrong side of the argument.”

Of course Byrne does. It’s still about triangulation. Byrne is nothing more than a divide and rule merchant. And Mister Ed’s  pet salivating attack dog who possibly licks his chops at the possibility of savaging “evil benefit scroungers”. I mean, his constituency has one of the highest unemployment figures in the country. Does he tell those “evil benefit scroungers” get thee to a workhouse? Moralise and lecture them about the wonders of workfare? Who knows…. But what is bleedin’ well obvious and something that Mister Ed (Who he? Ah yes, spineless Mister Ed… Labour leader who seems to live a Howard Hughes existence!) should do and that’s sack Liam Byrne and tell him to piss off to the Tories…..

…..Now that would be a brilliant reality!

Jobseekers (robbing the unemployed) Bill….

“It is also about changing culture: finding out whether someone is working and not declaring it; and getting people used to the idea of getting out of bed in the morning and attending somewhere where they do what they have been asked to do, because they have so got out of the habit of doing that, that even attending an interview has become a problem for them. This is not just about training; it is about getting people culturally back in line so that they can then be dealt with by advisers.”

Reactionary words from Iain Duncan Smith

“It is that, but there is also a wider agenda of making people feel guilty just because they are out of work and guilty just because—temporarily, in most instances—they have to depend on some benefits. This is about scapegoating and victimising the poor and people who cannot get a job. It is about harassment and exploitation. At the heart of that is the judgment that Parliament was not properly informed of what those schemes and regulations meant. That is what the judgment said.

I make it clear that I shall vote against the Bill because it is immoral and wrong. Before we vote to render those schemes lawful retrospectively, it is important that Members are aware of what we will be supporting. Boycott Workfare is an organisation that set up”

Wise words from John McDonnell

 

Labour abstained on the Workfare (robbing the poor) Bill. Why? I mean, it this Labour’s default spineless setting! Sitting on their hands hoping nobody will notice while £130 million is robbed from in benefit rebates to about a quarter of a million jobseekers. Very courage. Instead their argument for abstaining is based on concessions that include, an independent review of the benefit sanctions regime (as argued by Liam Byrne). But that doesn’t mean the Parliamentary LP couldn’t vote against! Thankfully 57 MPs voted against this appalling Bill. Wouldn’t voting AGAINST this Bill have given Labour more of a leverage? Tories are probably laughing at Labour (who can blame them!).

And Labour capitulated to the weasley option… abstaining…

The DWP argue: “A retrospective transfer of public money to this group of claimants would represent poor value to the taxpayer and will not help those unemployed enter employment… It is vital that in the present context of austerity measures the public purse is protected from such claims which could cost up to £130 million…”

So it’s OK to take advantage of the poorest, steal their money and twist the rules so that the ConDems with an abstaining Labour can indulge in daylight robbery. As John McDonnell said in the debate: “It is worth noting that, according to the Government’s impact assessment of that delegated legislation, employers will gain £290 million and employees will lose £250 million”.

And as the ConDems along with a spineless Parliamentary Labour Party… Workfare still gathers speed and support with the likes of the YMCA and the Salvation Army who possibly believe they are doing God’s work. The Salvation Army states:

“We would be extremely concerned if a person turned down a mandatory work activity placement with The Salvation Army, because of any doubts they had about the support and welcome they will receive from us,”

BUT it’s the fact that people are working for their benefits, not a wage, it’s unpaid labour. It’s exploitation And the YMCA and the Salvation Army are giving ideological cover to the ConDems in their attack on the poor. Duncan-Smith thinks it’s about the poor who can’t be bothered to get out of the bed therefore they need a kick in the shins, punishing them for being unemployed by forcing them to work, punitive sanctioning if they refuse and organisations like the Sally Army and the YMCA are shamefully using and exploiting free labour.

Boycott Workfare has a week of action including protests outside the YMCA and Sally Army. So tell ‘em what you think!

Mealy-mouthed pathetic statement from the YMCA defending the indefensible

Statement from Christianity Uncut

MPs who voted against the turbocharged Bill

• Anderson, Mr David
• Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
• Burden, Richard
• Campbell, Mr Gregory
• Connarty, Michael
• Corbyn, Jeremy
• Crausby, Mr David
• Davidson, Mr Ian
• Dobbin, Jim
• Dodds, rh Mr Nigel
• Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.
• Durkan, Mark
• Edwards, Jonathan
• Esterson, Bill
• Flynn, Paul
• Glindon, Mrs Mary
• Godsiff, Mr Roger
• Goggins, rh Paul
• Havard, Mr Dai
• Healey, rh John
• Hoey, Kate
• Hopkins, Kelvin
• Hosie, Stewart
• Howarth, rh Mr George
• Lavery, Ian
• Lazarowicz, Mark
• Leech, Mr John
• Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
• Long, Naomi
• Lucas, Caroline
• MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
• Mactaggart, Fiona
• McCrea, Dr William
• McDonnell, John
• McGovern, Jim
• Meacher, rh Mr Michael
• Mearns, Ian
• Mitchell, Austin
• Moon, Mrs Madeleine
• Morris, Grahame M. (Easington)
• Osborne, Sandra
• Pearce, Teresa
• Riordan, Mrs Linda
• Ritchie, Ms Margaret
• Robertson, Angus
• Rotheram, Steve
• Shannon, Jim
• Sheridan, Jim
• Skinner, Mr Dennis
• Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
• Twigg, Derek
• Walley, Joan
• Weir, Mr Mike
• Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
• Williams, Hywel
• Winnick, Mr David
• Wood, Mike

 

 

The law around the war upon the poor….

This is S.I. 2013 No. 276 – Social Security replacement regulations for the work programme. Now what struck me was not so much the legal language but look at the top of the page:

Made 4.19 p.m. on 12th February 2013

Laid before Parliament 6.15 p.m. on 12th February 2013

Coming into force 6.45 p.m. on 12th February 2013

It was “laid before Parliament” at 6:15 and came into force by 6:45pm. So much for meaningful debate. The Court of Appeal criticised the government due to bypassing Parliament, surely they have done it again with these rushed through replacement regulations? Legal issue leads into a wider concern such as sanctioning an individual’s benefit. These people have not committed any criminal offence yet they are being penalised and punished in a serious way i.e. taking away their benefit. But the ConDems don’t care as we can see with them pushing these regulations through Parliament bypassing democracy.

Ideologically, it’s the poor who are being blamed. Unemployed people are blamed for being unemployed. The poor blamed for being in poverty. Mandation and sanctions are giving out this ideological message. Rules of social security operate by secondary legislation, when regulations get rushed through the rules get rushed through. And that’s not good for democracy.

 

 

Official: Workfare is…. unfair!

Well, it was a political victory yesterday when the court of appeal quashed “Back to Work” regulations. Cait Reilly and Jamie Wilson were represented by Public Interest Lawyers.

The case was brought by our clients Cait Reilly, who was made to stack shelves in Poundland for two weeks, and Jamie Wilson, who was stripped of his Jobseeker’s allowance for 6 months after refusing to participate in a scheme[3]which required him to work 30 hours a week for six months for free.”

In a carefully reasoned judgment the Court found that the Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith, has acted beyond the powers given to him by Parliament by failing to provide, any detail about the various “Back to Work” schemes in the Regulations. The Government had bypassed Parliament by introducing the Back to Work schemes administratively under an “umbrella” scheme known as the Employment, Skills and Enterprise Scheme, claiming the need for “flexibility’. The Court of Appeal held that this was contrary to what Parliament had required. Stanley Burnton LJ stated:

“any scheme must be such as has been authorised by Parliament. There is a constitutional issue involved. The loss of jobseekers’ allowance may result in considerable personal hardship, and it is not surprising that Parliament should have been careful in making provision for the circumstances in which the sanction may be imposed. There are well known legislative formulae for conferring complete flexibility of decision on a Minister.”

The result is that over the past two years the Government has unlawfully required tens of thousands of unemployed people to work without pay and unlawfully stripped thousands more of their subsistence benefits.

According to Newsnight last night said 130,000 people who have been unlawfully sanctioned are affected.

And no doubt Hoban, IDS and Freud are furious by the fact that workfare has been given a sound kicking. Hoban came out with fighting talk yesterday.

“The Court of Appeal has today ruled that the Government’s back to work schemes do not breach article 4 of the European convention on human rights.

While the judgment supports the principle and policy of our employment schemes, and acknowledges the care and resources we have dedicated to implementing them, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Employment, Skills and Enterprise) Regulations 2011 (“the ESE regulations”) do not describe the employment schemes to which they apply, as is required by the primary legislation. The Court of Appeal has therefore held the ESE regulations to be ultra vires and quashed them.

We are seeking permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment and, if permission is granted, we will take our case to the Supreme Court. As we are currently seeking permission to appeal, claimants who have already served a sanction will not be able to appeal on the basis of the Court’s decision until our appeal is heard. We are considering a range of options to ensure we do not have to repay these sanctions.

Today we intend to lay new regulations, which will come into force immediately and enable us to continue to refer jobseekers allowance claimants to our employment schemes and to provide the best chance for people to find employment.”

So it seems that they rushing through regulations at breakneck speed. John McDonnell has put down an EDM

That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013 (S.I., 2013, No. 276), dated 12 February 2013, a copy of which was laid before this House on 12 February, be annulled.

But what has confused me is that I can’t find any reference to the Statutory Instrument 2013, NO.. 76, which John McDonnell has referred to in his EDM. The reason for the judgement, it seems, was due to the fact the government bypassed Parliament, then surely what the ConDems are doing now rushing through replacement regulations means they are STILL bypassing Parliament, won’t they be falling foul of the judgement…again?

Workfare is unpaid labour that is seen as a way of beating the cuts coupled with the ideology of attacking pay and conditions, driving down salaries. To fight workfare we need an organised political campaign with the trade unions at the forefront as, to reiterate, it’s a wholesale attack on pay and conditions, workers rights, criminalising the unemployed and it’s all ideological. One day we will wake up finding ourselves part of an unpaid labour force.

The high street walk of workfare shame still includes… Tesco (well every little helps… their profits), Argos, Superdrug, Scope. And as we are experiencing the impact of austerity, these capitalist firms need to protect their profits and what better way than forcing someone to work for nothing. Of course that denies that person a wage for a day’s work.

What also occurred to me is whether once the impact of the attacks on legal aid come into force this April, will we be able to challenge again any similar government unlawfulness?

See Boycott Workfare

Johnny Void

NB: seems like Poundland has withdrawn from the workfare programme.

The unbearable harshness of benefits….

The devaluing of paid work continues. Unemployed people are helping to deliver patient care in hospitals.

The trust said all participants in the initial pilot were CRB-checked and received two weeks of training at Sandwell College before carrying out their tasks in hospital wards, involving “general tidying, welcoming visitors, serving drinks to patients, running errands, reading to patients and assisting with feeding patients”.

Putting aside training, qualifications, experience, expertise, health & safety and so on…what amazes me is that unions agreed to the proposal initially as they believed it would be a way for the unemployed to “gain experience”… Really?

But they said they had not agreed that the jobseekers would “play a direct role in patient care” and said they were very worried about the prospect of this happening.

Didn’t it occur to them that this would be the case? Give managers an inch and they were take more than mile. This is exploitation pure and simple and the unions should have known that.

ConDems go on about being better off in work yet workfare contradicts that assumption. People are facing one big monumental economic crisis. Personal insolvency is on the rise, unemployment, homeless has jumped by 14%.

The outlook is bleak and now with the reforms in the Welfare Reform Act kicking in and giving a kicking too. Unemployment declined by 45,000 in the three months to March and cue Chris Grayling’s excitement about it being a step in the “right direction”…There’s still high unemployment and a rise in part-time work as finding full-time work is problematic. But what Grayling fails to ask is where exactly have those 45,000 gone? Furthermore, number of people receiving jobseeker’s allowance, had also fallen, by 13,700 in April, to 1.59 million. Again, where have they gone? Where’s the statistical analysis? Just because someone has stopped claiming JSA doesn’t automatically mean they have found work. How many people have fallen through the net, fallen off the radar? How many are seeking financial support through other means? How many are utterly destitute? And today, 124,000 single parents whose youngest child is five or six were moved from income support (IS) to jobseeker’s allowance (JSA); they were told only eight weeks ago.

From 30 April 2012 until now I still have no benefits. How am I classed? Last week I applied for contributory JSA, I filled in my form at the Jobcentre but I got confused and garbled information about my old ESA claim that was still “live” due to being credited NI contributions. Today, seeing another adviser who told me to immediately contact ESA and tell them I have switched benefits and claiming for JSA as while my claim is still “live” for ESA they won’t process my JSA application (and I still don’t know whether I will receive it).

Nobody truly explained this until today, so I have “lost” a week, a JSA form lying around somewhere not being actioned because another benefit I no longer get is still “live”. Contacted the Jobcentre, ESA department and they have said they have closed the claim and will contact JSA. Indeed without the severe prodding of bureaucratic departments the left wouldn’t know what the right is doing…Even the adviser said sardonically, “They don’t communicate”!

It seemed glaringly obvious when I attended the Jobcentre last Monday, there was confusion along with staff whispering about ESA and JSA regarding what to do. I just wonder how in disarray these departments are in especially when the civil service is “downsizing” as well?

It doesn’t take a genius to work out the emotional impact of lack of funds. Independence fizzles away to dependence on your nearest and dearest. I am fortunate I have a partner but his salary doesn’t stretch that far. What about people facing this predicament who have no way of getting money? How to describe this experience is devastating and despairing.

ConDems sermonise about being “better off in work”… What about the impact of decreasing finances? Not being able to pay the bills i.e. phone bill = lose your broadband = not being able to search for jobs. “Ahhh, you could still search for jobs at the Jobcentre”! says the ConDem. Indeed… but about bus fares? My local one is 4.5 miles away and no doubt they expect you to walk there and back (I have walked the distance but not everyone can).

Over two years ago I was in work. Had energy, vim and vigor. An organised routine. Now there are days I can’t face the world, just stay in bed staring blankly at the curtains listening to bird song and classical music. It’s safe and cheap. Governments don’t care about the changes, trauma and upheavals colliding into your life. It’s all about knee-jerk reactions, vilification and demonisation. I used to have nightmares when I was OK of me being gripped by anxiety and depression in my waking life affecting my work and whole being. And this experience is one big nightmare, suicidal feelings have leeched through my consciousness. I wonder what was going through the mind of this man who slashed his wrists in the Jobcentre? How many more people will plummet to the depths of distress and see suicide as the only way out? Along with massive knocks to confidence and morale they expect you to have the energy and interest in applying for work.

There are times I feel embarrassed, self-blame and shame (I know better and these feelings are so contradictory) due to being unemployed and penniless. Unemployed and disabled people are scapegoated and chucked onto the scrap heap for an economic crisis they had nothing to do with and now we are paying for it emotionally and financially. Blaming the powerless in this society is a favourite sport for this callous and cruel coalition, they have blood on their hands.

Why is CWU supporting workfare??!!

There was a protest outside CWU headquarters yesterday over the union signing an agreement with Royal Mail to allow workfare schemes. Unemployed people being forced to work for their benefits. When I first heard about this I really honestly believed there had been a mistake. Surely not a union could be involved this? Workfare is against the principles of the labour movement. Workfare pushes down pay and conditions, it attacks ALL workers, it is just about the unemployed. The logic of this practice (obviously CWU bureaucracy don’t see it) implemented will impact on paid postal workers as Royal Mail will be asking itself, “Why employ people with a wage when we can do it for free”… CWU has signed up to a Frankenstein monster, it puts postal workers’ jobs in jeopardy while workfare is an oppressive practice, mandatory schemes where the unemployed face sanctions if they don’t sign up to receive their meagre amounts of benefits! It will undoubtedly create a two-tier workforce.

As stated on the leaflet being handed out yesterday:

There will be a new group of unpaid workers who will have to cross the picket line if there is a strike – or face destitution if their benefits are stopped.

There are temp workers working for Royal Mail who desperately want permanent contracts but with workfare …. again, why would Royal Mail give out permanent contracts when they can get labour for free?! Unpaid non-unionised workers who will do the jobs no one else wants to do. This isn’t about experience, developing skills and knowledge or increasing chances of getting work but creating an army of unpaid workers.

There has been an motion put to CWU conference (will run from Sunday 22 – Thursday 26 April at the Bournemouth International Centre Bournemouth). Let’s hope the motion will be heard and not accidentally on purpose knocked off the agenda. Hopefully there will be a protest outside conference.

CWU leadership should be ashamed. Across the road from the CWU headquarters I saw a closed Job Centre, shame really, as Billy Hayes and Dave Ward et al should shunted down there finding themselves unemployed. Hey don’t worry, as there are mandatory work schemes which will, apparently, help you get back into work and Royal Mail are looking for unpaid labour. How about it….chaps?!

Catching up

As I have been away it is now time to catch up with what’s happening in the world. This week was the Budget for the rich by the rich (excellent post by Andrew Fisher):

The ‘Granny tax’
I use the twitter-defined name as a shorthand, but Osborne has done is to freeze age-related allowances – the amount of income over-65s can earn tax-free – for existing pensioners, and scrap the relief for those retiring after April 2013.

This will cost millions of mid-income pensioners about £250-300 per year. It is a stealth tax on pensioners, and come May will probably prove as electorally misguided as Gordon Brown’s 75p increase in the basic state pension over a decade ago.

The extra dishonesty factor about this is two-fold: 1) it was the only major item in the Budget not trailed in advance; and 2) Osborne announced it in his statement by saying “we will simplify the tax system for pensioners by doing away with the complexity of the additional age-related allowances”.

Furthermore

There are other things in the Budget too that will become clearer in time:

• Osborne promised “growth-friendly planning and employment laws” – which is short-hand for ‘the environment and workers’ rights be damned’
• The pension age will rise beyond 68: “I can confirm today that there will be an automatic review of the state pension age to ensure it keeps pace with increases in longevity”. The problem with this is that increasing longevity is highly unequal, i.e. the richer are increasing their life expectancy at a quicker rate than the poorest. This is doubly bad news since poorer people also cannot afford to retire early, so their retirement gets squeezed, while the rich live for longer in retirement.

Simplified: the poor are paying for the rich.

Sundays in the Square

The Bloomsbury Pro-Choice Alliance has been set up to raise awareness of the attempts by 40 Days for Life and other groups (SPUC, Abort67) to restrict a woman’s right to choose. 40 Days for Life are holding ‘prayer vigils’ outside of the BPAS clinic on Bedford Square (WC1E) every day over Lent, ending on April 1st. We will be there every Sunday afternoon to counter this – a full programme of events can be found here.

Sunday 25th March: WHAT ABOUT TEH MENZ?

Sunday 1st April: Musical spectacular finale.

An excellent post by Simon here as well

Apparently 40 Days for Life are holding an evening vigil with Bishop Alan Hopes on Friday 30th March, there will be a pro-choice counter-demo from 7pm onwards.

Chris Grayling tapping into talent on Monday 26th 

 

Chris Grayling will be speaking at a conference called “Tapping into talent: putting employers at the heart of the Work Programme”

The Work Programme is the largest single welfare to work scheme the UK has ever seen. Specialist providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors are being paid for the results they achieve.  They now have more freedom than ever before in how they design and deliver their services.

There will be a protest. Meet 9am at Centrepoint, Tottenham Court Road, London. Or come along at 10.30am to pay a visit to local workfare providers!

 

Harriet struggles while Mister Ed triangulates….

Osborne is continuing class war on the public sector.

The rich will have their pain eased somewhat with the ditching of the 50 pence tax. Though even with NL they didn’t squeeze the rich until the pips squeaked….. Unfortunately!!

With all this happening just what is our illustrious leader of the opposition Mister Ed saying? While don’t ask Harriet Harman, that’s for certain. You see, Mister Ed has this brilliant idea, possibly dawned on him during an Eureka moment sitting in a private box rubbing shoulders with the rich watching the footie, like you do. It’s not anything new… it’s compulsion. You may get paid some pathetic and meagre amount, it’s still compulsion and coercion.

The policy – under which anyone aged between 18-24 and unemployed for a year should be required to do a minimum of 25 hours a week of paid work on a six-month government scheme, or lose their right to benefits – is the toughest welfare measure Miliband has backed since becoming the Labour leader.

Here’s Harriet Harman’s spin on the policy:

However, she struggled when asked the exact cost of the job scheme, saying: “I haven’t got quite the … I know that we have worked out that figure, I’ll have to get back to you on that, but it would finance all those who have been unemployed for more than 12 months.

“I haven’t got that actual figure to hand, but I can absolutely assure you that Ed Balls has, our shadow chancellor, and so has Ed Miliband – so that’s not an issue.”

Well, that’s alright then, the two Eds have the numbers but Harman, dear old Harriet, didn’t have the gumption to ring Ed B or Ed M. and ask either for the costings. Joined up government? Disjointed headless chickens more like.

But let’s go back (yes, let’s) to Mister Ed’s brilliant plan. What happens when there are no jobs in certain areas of the country for young people? Currently this recession is impacting on young people with high levels of unemployment. How the hell is compulsion and coercion gonna instill motivation and incentivisation? It aint. The scheme, one sideward step from workfare, is not about giving people real prospects, support and decent pay it’s about punishment. Mister Ed forever beholden with triangulation continues the lies about “culture of dependency” and desperate measures means more lies in pulling in swing voters. Who cares whether the hideous rubbish being peddled was created by right-wing ideologues with their own nasty axes to grind (Charles Murray et al).

Unfortunately, the leader of the opposition can’t get his head out of the triangulation zone as it is quite a right-wing populist wheeze, vote winner and good fun blaming the unemployed and disabled for the state we are in. Who cares whether the lies peddled has increased negativity, violence, hate crimes and abuse? You know, if the ConDems said they wanted to bludgeon the poor, instead of outrage and disgust, I am sure Mister Ed would let his salivating excitable attack-dog, Liam Byrne, off the leash who would respond by saying that not only would they bludgeon the poor but would make sure there’s jagged sharp edged glass stuck on the end of the bats to cause more pain and damage …. “Yeah, top that ConDems”!

We have no opposition! No challenge of the neoliberal consensus…..just triangulation. Why break a habit of a lifetime.

Welfare not Workfare report

It was an extremely productive and useful meeting yesterday in Parliament on “Welfare not Workfare” which was organised by the LRC in conjunction with DPAC and Boycott Workfare. My task was to chair the meeting. Speakers included Boycott Workfare, Adam from DPAC, John McInally (PCS Vice President) and John McDonnell MP.

There was an exchanging of ideas, views, activities and so on, which was positive. As I was chairing I didn’t take copious notes, which I usually do. But the statistics, attacks and experiences from participants highlighted and exposed the continuing onslaught by the ConDems on the welfare state. I was angry listening to the experiences of the Boycott Workfare speaker regards to the workfare scheme. It made me admire the speaker’s courage and determination as it is not an easy thing to do speaking out. For me, it is important and integral to the movement that we give a platform to the people who on a daily basis face the cruel, vicious and callousness of welfare reforms. Workfare is an attack on ALL workers, driving down pay and conditions. And it’s a trade union issue.It is estimated that £6m is lost due to unpaid wages in regards to workfare. Private corporations lining their collective pockets with profit at the expense of jobs.

The attacks on welfare benefits, as John McInally pointed out the constant hate crimes towards people on disability benefits, the vilification and demonisation; from being patronised as “poor dear” to condemned as a “benefit cheat”, will only get worse (see Lancet research here). Private companies hovering up public money, allegations of fraud and so on. Shoddy and appalling “support” and “advice” given claimants. Private companies are no substitute for the public sector. Atos is not fit for purpose, the trial by computer package is shrouded in secrecy and people winning appeals on a regular basis. There are backlogs regarding appeals regarding Atos and DLA decisions (mine took nearly 7 months which is quick in comparison).

There was a good discussion and exchanging of ideas about where we were in campaigning and activism, which also included the importance of direct action. During the past month or so the spotlight has fallen on companies who use workfare schemes which has caused major outrage. We need to keep this pressure up. I compiled a email list to continue the exchanging of ideas/protests/campaigning and so. If you want to be on this list leave a comment on my blog or email me at louisefeminista@btinternet.com

Update: 1700 people with disabilities to lose their jobs as a result of today’s announcement that Government is to close 36 of 54 Remploy factories.

Links:

Boycott Workfare

DPAC

PCS

Right to Work

“Ministers drop benefit sanctions threat from work experience scheme”…

News flash….

All benefit sanctions on the government’s work experience scheme are to be dropped by the Department for Work and Pensions following meetings between ministers and employers.

The news was conveyed by Anne Marie Carrie, the chief executive of Barnardo’s and one of the employers present at the 90-minute meeting between the employment minister, Chris Grayling, and more than 50 firms involved in the scheme.

They had met to seek reassurances that the government was not seeking to force young unemployed people into work experience schemes.

The government says the scheme is voluntary and gives someone eight weeks’ work experience. But participants can lose two weeks’ jobseeker’s allowance if they leave for no reason after more than a week on the scheme.

There have also been suggestions that some jobcentre staff do not make clear that participation on the scheme is voluntary.

The removal of the sanction after one week was a key demand of employers, some of whom said they would withdraw from the scheme unless reforms were made.

Grayling claimed the attacks on the scheme, by what the government has described as the “Trotskyist right to work” campaign, had led to an increase in employer interest in joining the scheme.

At prime minister’s questions David Cameron said 250 extra firms had shown interest in joining the scheme.

Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pension secretary, said the protesters outside Tescos were anarchists and half of them were unemployed.

“The reality for us is that this is a great programme. It is one of the best programmes. I am so proud of this programme. The kids are getting experience,” he said.

 

Big thanks to Boycott Workfare for all their hard work & campaigning in bringing awareness about the workfare schemes. BUT …..DWP may have dropped sanctions but the battle still aint won!!

There is still more to be done!