From September
2010 onwards all quotes in blog entries will
be included in
this
coloured font.
I have done this on my Sheep website and I
think it makes it so much easier to identify
quotations. In some entries there are a good
number of quotations and it can get
confusing.
December 1st
Today I have included in the Gallery a
further selection of Kevin's political
satire.
"Bombs Away!
The sham that now is the Liberal Democrats.
The party symbol of the 'bird of liberty'
letting 'rip' in the Liberal's desperation
to remain in government at any cost... to
anyone and everyone.
As with all of these - please feel free to
distribute"
"Your NHS is being ConDem'ed
The Conservative and Liberal Democrat
coalition government is pushing through
the privatisation of the NHS, and
destroying the service from the inside
out so as to make the task easier."
To view these graphics in a larger size
please go to the
Gallery
The contributor
hopes that his art work will help against
the struggle to save the health service,
which the present government are keen to
destroy making medical care available only
to those who have the money to pay for it.
Which will not be people who are too ill to
work of course or the unemployed or low
paid.
December 7th
Evil thrives when good
men do nothing.
Edmund_Burke
I
mportant
If you read nothing
else in the following entry
please at least sign the
following petition to make
sure that people with cancer
don’t lose benefits
This link is rather slow please be
patient, if it does not work at all there is
another link further down.
More information and action you can take
is included at the end of this entry
Again most of what
follows has little directly to do with the
main theme of this blog and I apologise to
visitors for whom this is of little
interest, which will of course be
mostly international visitors, as what is happening
here in the UK as a result of this corrupt
and evil government detrimentally effects
every one except the super rich. I am very
angry and deeply concerned about what is
happening to everyone but mostly the vicious
attacks on benefit claimants with the
demonization of the chronically sick and
disabled and this of course includes the
mentally ill. The government and certain
despicable media have focused their
attention on the disabled as a scapegoat to
blame them for the financial crisis which as
we all know was the fault of the greedy
bankers. This hateful propaganda
reminiscent of pre war Germany, see
November 24th entry
,
has been centred on people who are disabled
and ill with serious medical conditions,
even the terminally ill have been denied
benefits. Moreover the poisoning of the
minds of people by the media have encouraged
attacks on disabled people.
Little of what is
happening is not widely reported so it is up
to all of us to be informed about what is
taking place and make more people aware of
the dire effects of this awful onslaught of
cut backs and benefit reductions, the sole
purpose of which is to save the government
money regardless of the destruction of
peoples lives, people whose lives are
already more difficult as a result of their
disability.
It is important to be aware of the fact that
the government's welfare reform is not about
weeding out benefit fraud which is only 0.5
percent but making disabled people and the
chronically sick work and reducing the
benefits and services of those who can't.
The category of those who can't is becoming
more and more limited. People with severe
conditions such as heart disease and
Parkinson's have failed to meet the criteria
for exemption from the need to seek work!
Recently a person with a serious lung
disease was told he was fit for work, sadly
he died within three months.
Read more about this tragedy
guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/24/atos-case-study-larry-newman
Now people suffering cancer have to prove
they are unfit for work!
Just when you thought
that it could not get any
worse the UK government may
sink to an all time low. The
DWP is proposing to change
the rules so that all cancer
patients will have to
undergo a stressful
assessment to prove they are
unable to work. Once exempt
from an assessment and
automatically granted
benefits people suffering
with cancer who are
receiving chemotherapy will
have to go for a gruelling
work capability assessment
for their ESA benefit and
prove that they are unfit to
work!.
Can you imagine! Chemotherapy, not
to mention the cancer of course, causes
serious and debilitating symptoms, the last
thing any person wants when fighting for
their lives and suffering so profoundly is
to have to go to an ATOS assessment centre
and be interviewed when clearly it is
obvious that that person is not able to
work.
Furthermore
to
make matters worse, the Government is
pressing ahead with proposed changes in the
Welfare Reform Bill that will make 7,000
cancer patients lose ESA after 12 months
simply because they have not recovered
quickly enough.
I cannot convey to you
how shocked and horrified I
am, have the government lost
all sense of reason, of
morality, of compassion and
plain human decency. Its an
outrage and one we must
vigorously oppose.
From the Website of Macmillan Cancer
Support:
DWP proposes to force
chemotherapy patients to
undergo stressful benefit
checks
24 November 2011
Macmillan Cancer Support has
strongly criticised a
Department of Work and
Pensions decision to propose
changes to the benefits
system which could have
devastating consequences for
many thousands of cancer
patients. Under the plans
being consulted on,
seriously ill cancer
patients in the middle of
gruelling intravenous
chemotherapy treatment will
be forced to prove they are
too sick to work. Some
patients will have to face
back-to-work interviews or
be denied a crucial benefit
- Employment and Support
Allowance (ESA).
This is despite unambiguous
recommendations from cancer
experts and 30 cancer
charities who have clearly
stated that patients going
through debilitating cancer
treatment - and who have to
leave work - should be
automatically eligible for
ESA.
Until now, cancer patients
receiving non-oral
chemotherapy have been
exempt from work-focused
interviews and medical
assessments to determine
whether they may be fit for
work, while oral
chemotherapy or radiotherapy
patients have not been given
this protection. Cancer
charities, representing the
views of patients, have
asked the DWP to end this
discrepancy as the
side-effects of oral
chemotherapy and
radiotherapy can be just as
physically debilitating as
non oral chemotherapy.
However, instead of
extending exemptions to
particularly vulnerable
cancer patients, the DWP is
proposing to remove these
from all.
There is an urgent
need to do something about yet another of
the conservative governments grossly unfair
welfare reforms, namely the time limiting of
ESA. I am hesitant to ask you once again to
write letters which I know for some visitors
of this website will be difficult.
To explain the
situation it is far better that you read the
information directly from the source of the
request rather than me wasting hours trying
to explain this complex matter inadequately
in my own words.
Time Limiting ESA - We MUST stop it
"It seems that the
Conservatives are simply not willing to give
an inch on Time Limiting ESA.
Just to be clear, this means that if you
have worked and paid national insurance
contributions you will face an assessment.
If that assessment finds that you are indeed
unwell, but may be able to do some work at
some point, you will only qualify for
support for a year.
At the end of that year, no matter how ill
you remain, if you have a partner who earns
just £7,500 or more, or limited savings, you
will lose all ESA. All of it."
"The only way we
can now stop the government from going ahead
with this most horrifying of policies is for
Lib Dem Lords to vote against it."
Today, I'm asking all of you - Liberal
Democrat or not - to write to a Lib Dem
peer and beg them to oppose the one year
time limit. Here is a list of Lib Dem
peershttp://www.libdems.org.uk/peers.aspx
The above
information is from the Diary of a
Benefit Scrounger:
A site to share information on Welfare
cuts, illness, disability and general,
current, political thought.
To read more and
learn more about what action you can take
please click the link below
Here you can also
access still further information not only
about this but also related matters
concerning this vicious and unfair welfare
reform.
Basically at the
end of a year if you are on ESA , regardless
of whether or not you continue to be ill or
disabled, if you have a partner who earns
just £7,500 or more, that's less than £150
per week, or limited savings, you will lose
all your ESA. How can two people live
on less than £150 per week. That is £600 per
month. My payments to the greedy energy
companies cost £120 each month! And that is
for the heat setting of just 60 degrees F!
and at the end of the year we will still owe
them something. Not too warm I can tell you.
When you are ill generally you need extra
warmth. Also take into account the
escalating cost of food not to mention
clothing and just about anything else
including a mortgage or rent both of which
are extremely expensive.
Please try and
write to at least one Lib Dem peer to ask
them to oppose the one year ESA time limit.
Do the best you can just a simple from the
heart request that he or she opposes this
devastating policy, which will effect those
of us with serious long term illness and
will of course include mental illnesses and
learning disabilities, which as all of us who
suffer in this way know are life long
conditions.
The information below is from the Diary of a
Benefit Scrounger:
A site to share information on Welfare
cuts, illness, disability and general,
current, political thought.
Time
Limiting ESA - Template Letter to Lords
Yesterday, I asked
you all to write to a Lib Dem peer and plead
with them to vote against time limiting ESA
to just one year.
Template letters are certainly less
effective - many parliamentarians won't open
more than one or two of them. However, they
are better than not writing at all. For
every peer who receives 5, 10, 50 template
letters, at least they get to see the
strength of feeling people have over an
issue.
If you don't have the confidence to write
your own, please use this one. Peers might
also remember that I write for disabled
people. Many cannot write a letter
themselves. Due to physical or mental
disabilities, I have often had comments from
those so very grateful that a template
letter I have provided allowed them to
engage democratically.
For the template letter click this link
if you have not already done so
You can send it as it is or use it for a
base to write your own and if you can add a
personal touch all the better. However if
you cannot just send as it is.
December 14th
What next?
It seems as though not a day passes
without some news concerning the vicious
welfare reforms that are destroying the
lives of all those unfortunate enough to
need benefits, the sick, the disabled and
the unemployed. Even children do not escape
the onslaught. Yes children. How low can
they get reducing benefits to disabled
children by about half.
Last night, the
House of Lords failed to support an
amendment put down by Tanni Grey-Thompson,
the most successful paralympian of all time,
to protect the benefits of disabled children
once Universal Credit is introduced.
Support for disabled children cut in half
under Universal Credit
I
n
one of the first pieces of detailed policy
intention regarding the Universal Credit to
be released by the Government, it has been
announced that support for all but the most
disabled children, currently provided
through the disability element of child tax
credit, is to be halved under the Universal
Credit – a loss which could amount to more
than £20,000 across the childhood of a
disabled child.
Here is the latest outrage in the
Government’s war on welfare
It seems that Crime Stoppers, a
charitable organisation, have teamed up with
the government in their crusade against the
welfare system by supporting their
ridiculous and disproportionally expensive
benefit fraud campaign.
That’s right Crime stoppers!!!! You could
not imagine this in your wildest dreams or
rather nightmares.
Yes benefit fraud is a crime but hardly a
crime that warrants a place in the agenda of
Crime Stoppers!
This is yet another attempt to vilify the
sick and disabled and turn public opinion
against them by associating them with
benefit fraud. The intention is of course to
discourage opposition to the unfair and
drastic benefit cuts to the incomes of
people who are already receiving barely
enough to live on. Contrary to popular
belief engendered by the press and
government rhetoric people receiving
benefits do not receive huge payments,
neither do they receive payments as easily
as we are led to believe by simply filling
in a form as was recently suggested
regarding the application of DLA . A benefit
that is extremely difficult to qualify for.
By the use of subtle and not so subtle
implication the genuinely sick, disabled and
unemployed have been associated with benefit
fraud and are as a consequence seen as
“Scroungers”. Yes this word and others of a
similar derogatory nature are used when
referring to genuine claimants whether they
are sick, disabled or the unemployed. Thanks
to such slander a recent poll indicates that
over half of those asked think that
unemployment benefit is to high. Too
high!!!! Sixty five pounds per week too
high! I would liked to see anyone live on
that! It would not even cover your rent or
mortgage never mind clothe or feed you or
warm your home, if of course you are lucky
enough not to loose your home because you
could not pay your mortgage.
Here is what Lord Fraud, spelling mistake
intentional, says
"Benefit thieves are costing the taxpayer
over £1billion per year. This money is
intended to help those most in need not line
the pockets of criminals. We will continue
to tackle this problem at the frontline but
also at the root by reforming the benefits
system to make it less open to abuse."
Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform
quoted in Crime Stoppers Website
Helping those in need, really! Looks from
my perspective as though the government are
doing their utmost to make the lives of
those in need intolerable by their draconian
benefit reforms that even require cancer
patients to prove they are ill by undergoing
a face to face assessment. Just one of the
many radical and brutal welfare reforms.
Visit the crime stoppers website to see
the poster which features people with angry
expressions on their faces screaming, one
even has a raised fist, and the words
Well Un Fare. Such graphic
illustration while not overtly encouraging
violence suggests an overly angry response
against someone who is suspected of benefit
fraud which in the vast majority of cases is
unfounded. In fact about 87 percent of are
an error or plain and simply a spiteful
malicious call from such as a neighbour or
other acquaintance or associate.
What is really disturbing is that calls
can be made anonymously which leave the
field wide open to false reports. Enlisting
the help of a neighbour was a tactic used by
the Nazis. It was possibly a neighbour who
betrayed Anne Frank and her
family who had moved to Amsterdam to escape
Nazi persecution and had remained hidden for
twenty-five months.
Such was also the
case during the Chinese cultural revolution
when neighbours, even friends and relations
reported on each other.
Here is Crime Stoppers definition of a
typical example of benefit fraud which I
have quoted below to save you the bother of
searching for the link to crime stoppers as
sure as hell I am not going to give them a
link!
A person who dishonestly claims they are
a single parent, when they in fact live with
their partner.
Oooooooh - the crime of the century.
I don't think so
This was first on the list followed by:
Other types of benefit fraud include
claimants not declaring properties they rent
out, or not declaring their income from jobs
by saying they cannot find work.
These latter examples are more serious cases
of fraud, but really; a desperate single
parent living on a pittance denying they
live with their partner who may also be
struggling on a meagre benefit or low wage.
It hardly equates.
Yes of course there may be some cases
where the partner is a high earner which
would make this a more serious issue.
Nevertheless none of these are really
serious crimes and in any case amount to
only 0.5 percent of claimants. Moreover
these “crimes” really do not effect you or
I, your income or circumstances will not
improve even if the entire benefit system
was eradicated. Your tax and other
contributions will not be reduced. Regarding
the word “crime” in this context I prefer
the word misdemeanours if the situation
involves only the individuals concerned and
is not one of the very rare examples of
people applying for multiple benefits using
different names. Such as the case of someone
living in Thailand who applied for benefits
under many different names and swindled the
Irish tax payer out of half million dollars
using nine different names
I do not of course condone benefit fraud
in any way whatsoever but compared to more
serious crimes is it really worth all the
attention and effort the government are
making while ignoring more serious issues
such as tax evasion and actually allowing
big business to get away with it such as
Vodafone for example.
Here are the real crimes, crimes that are
sometimes never acknowledged
Keep in mind that benefit fraud accounts
for only
0.5
percent of all claimants
These are the crimes that most concern
me, the real crimes
The following are not in any particular
order of importance just a list of some of
the real crimes, not only in our country,
but the world over, much of which are the
result of greed and the desire for power and
a lack of compassion for others, a lack of
plain common decency and humanity.
The unfair distribution of wealth
The chairmen of crime stoppers, Lord
Ashcroft is a billionaire, a multimillion
pound tax avoider and was a former Deputy
chairmen of the conservative party.
The real crime here is the crusade
against the unfortunate by the fortunate,
the under privileged by the privileged, the
poor by the rich, the sick and disabled by
the well and abled.
World hunger and other global
deprivations
The real crime in society is that while
these greedy power hungry individuals line
their pockets millions die of starvation in
the so called developing world. When are
people in the developing world ever going to
be part of the so called developed world ?
When will children stop dying one every 3
seconds from hunger, when will millions
receive life saving vaccinations and medical
care, when the over three billion people
living on less than $2.50 a day, almost half
the world's population, have a decent
standard of living and rise above
poverty.
Never not while the capitalist system
thrives and rapes and pillages the earth,
exploits other human beings, animals and the
environment. Not while the one percent
control the resources of the 99 percent. Not
while individuals such those above have
assets numbering millions or billions and
have control of the world's resources.
Do you know that 900 million
people around the globe still struggle to
find clean water for themselves and their
families. The consequences are dire. Each
year, lack of access to clean water and
sanitation kills 1.8 million children under
the age of five. There is an opportunity to
sign a petition in the Links of Interest
further down at the end of this entry
This is the tip of the iceberg and the
list of crimes against humanity, our fellow
creatures and the environment is a list far
too long to include here.
The sick disabled and unemployed in a
wealthy country denied a decent standard of
living
It is a crime that a war veteran
and his learning disabled wife committed
suicide because they could no longer cope
with living on just £56 per week between
them. Having to travel a 12 mile round trip
to get food from a food bank and live in
only one room of their house.
It is a crime that a man with a
serious lung disease was told he was fit to
work by an ATOS assessor. The man later died
and within the little time allotted to him
before his enforced return to work.
Inadequate
punishment for serious Crime, real Crime!
This crime against a girl with autism is
so shocking yet the perpetrators have got
off scot free
When the rich get away with either
blatant fraud or tax avoidance the poor have
to pay. While tax avoidance is not a crime
it is not ethical and is unfair and looses
the country huge amounts of money that makes
the loss of money as a result of benefit
fraud appear miniscule by comparison.
So my answer would be no none of the
above.
Though the last four are of course a need
for concern as is genuine benefit fraud but
in its appropriate context not used as a
tool to justify cutting benefits and
destruction of the welfare system upon which
the genuinely sick and disabled depend on to
survive.
Odd isn't it about Cameron - he claimed
DLA for his disabled son even though he did
not need to do so. While such a claim was
quite legal of course, as DLA is not means
tested, it is not really ethical is it when
the claimant is a wealthy person well able
to provide for his son.
What can you do
Express your concern to your MP regarding
the nature of the Crime stoppers Poster.
Below is a request from
Defend-the-Welfare-State-Worldwide-Campaign
to do just that along with an example of the
type of letter you could write.
(You can also see an example of the Crime
Stoppers poster mentioned above)
We have an emergency appeal to our
members within this group - PLEASE WRITE a
letter to your MP !!!
As my elected member of parliament I wish to
make a formal complaint against
Crimestoppers.
The campaign advert being used by
Crimestoppers features a number of pictures
showing people with hate-filled, contorted
faces and one with a raised fist as they
contemplate the alleged dishonesty of
claimants. The advert does not actually
condone violence against claimants, but it
certainly portrays extreme anger as a normal
response to the suspicion, which will
usually be entirely unfounded, that someone
is committing benefit fraud.
I find this campaign offensive and
insulting. If the Government is that short
of funds would it not be of more financial
benefit to crackdown on Richard Branson,
Vodafone and other tax exiles instead
vilifying people on benefits.
Thank you for your assistance.
Though the request is directed to group
members it is okay of course for anyone to
write.
Please take action by writing to your
MP
You can find the name and contact details
of your local MP on the following webpage
Note with the exception
of the campaign against
benefit fraud Crime stoppers
have done a splendid Job of
bringing to justice thousand
of criminals. It is
therefore unfortunate that
its reputation is spoiled by
this particular promotion.
Please Sign a petition to Protect Funding
for Clean Water as mentioned above
Water is one of the most basic necessities
-- but 900 million people around the globe
still struggle to find clean water for
themselves and their families. The
consequences are dire. Each year,
lack of access to clean water and sanitation
kills 1.8 million children under the age of
five.
Today I have included another of Kevin's
political satire graphics. This time a
satirical poster based on the Crime Stoppers
Un Well Fare poster mentioned in the
previous entry.
Unfair on Welfare
The UK Crimestoppers organisation is
launching a new campaign supposedly
against benefit fraud, complete with a
poster of angry screaming people ('the
public') and the caption 'WEL-UN-FARE -
dont let benefit fraud make you mad.'
The poster is excessive inflammatory and
will encourage further prejudice, abuse
and even violence towards welfare
claimants in particular the sick and
disabled. Despite what some may believe,
the ongoing blitz by both the media and
politicians against benefit fraud is a
transparent attack on all claimants and
an attempt to poison public opinion
against all. The purpose of this is to
help ease punishing and harmful welfare
so-called 'reforms' through with minimal
opposition
Read more, access a larger size and more
posters including two others in the series:
When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted, when
all the waters are polluted, when all the
air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you
discover you cannot eat money.
Cree prophecy
And not a day passes without that
unscrupulous man (David Cameron) and the
rest of the UK government doing something
shocking.
The UK government have been secretly
helping Canada push its tar oil sands
project. A very environmentally damaging
project.
Not satisfied with destroying the lives
of the sick and disabled the government now
want to contribute to the detriment of the
environment and as usual all in the name of
greed, all for the benefit of big business
and profit at the expense of the many - the
present generation future generations, other
animals and the planet - for the benefit of
the few.
When David Cameron
became Prime Minister he
pledged to make this
government the
"greenest ever"
he said that he
"cared passionately"
about this agenda
"We've got a real opportunity to drive
the green economy to have green jobs and
make sure we have our share of the
industries of the future"
"There is a fourth
minister in this
department who cares
passionately about this
agenda and that is me,
the prime minister,
right. I mean that from
the bottom of my heart."
David Cameron quoted in
the Guardian.
Read more, includes a
video with the above
quotations. You
really have to listen to
this video.
Unbelievable! Talk about
hypocrisy
More like the greediest government ever
willing to do just about anything at the
bidding of big corporations in the name of
profit for the few at the expense of the
many.
The information below including a request
to sign petition comes from Care 2's website
The UK has been secretly fighting
European plans to penalize the use of tar
sands oil.
According to The Guardian,
both Shell and BP have been involved in
secret meetings with UK government
ministers.
The UK government has followed the orders of
the oil companies, secretly lobbying
against the European proposal, which aims to
officially recognize the higher greenhouse
gas emissions of tar sands oil.
Tar sands oil produces between 3 and 5 times
more greenhouse gas emissions than
conventionally drilled oil. According to
NASA scientist Jim Hansen, the exploitation
of the Alberta tar sands signals "game over
for the environment."
Tell the David Cameron and the UK government
to quit taking orders from oil companies.
Stop lobbying for tar sands!
I am not too well at all today with a
headache after a difficult night of sleep.
So this will not be a too detailed entry.
Time is moving on concerning the welfare
reform bill and we need to take action.
Please read what follows and sign the
petitions, most of which are very simple and
require only that you enter your name and
address. However if you feel well enough a
letter to an MP or one or more of the peers
in the house of Lords will be of great help.
Just do what you can. if we do not act
now, life for all of us who suffer with any
chronic condition or disability including
the mentally ill of course will become
intolerable.
For More details continue reading:
The following is from Where's the
Benefit Blogspot:
There are so many things
that need doing this festive season in
the fight against the welfare reform
bill and the closure of the ILF I
thought I'd collate all the actions in
one place. If there's anything I've
missed out, please, please post it in
the comments.
The most important thing to do is to
sign Pat's Petition to get the
Welfare Reform Bill paused for
reflection. Activists manage to get the
NHS bill paused to buy themselves more
time to present evidence of the harm it
would do: We need to do the same for the
WRB. The petition needs 100,000
signatures and so far it's only had
7,935. We're a long way off but it can
be done if people sign and share; in the
summer petitions around punishing
rioters reached the 100,000 mark in a
day or 2. But it requires people putting
in the effort and giving a crap. Please,
please, sign and share this.
Other government e-petitions that need
signing while you're on the e-petitions
page:
Please post the Wheres the Benefit
Blogspot link above to any forum, blog,
facebook, twitter and where ever you think
it will help to get signatures, lets get
these petitions signed and show the
government the strength of feeling about
these vicious and cruel welfare reforms
You can find the name and contact details
of your local MP on the following webpage
Here are the shocking consequences of not
taking action to prevent the drastic benefit
reforms referred to in the above entry:
Millions of us are living in terror of
brown envelopes arriving from the Department
for Work and Pensions. We know that soon
enough we will be told that our allowance is
to stop as we've been on it for more than a
year, or that we are to be "assessed" and
moved from the old incapacity benefit
system. We know that social care packages
will be "re-evaluated" and tax credits cut.
My envelope shared the joyous tidings of a
complete rejection of my claim for
disability living allowance. No explanation,
just a rejection. I angrily scribbled a
quick blogpost and went back to my family:
I am Sue Marsh. Disability
campaigner.
With just four or five weeks to go to
save disability living allowance, I am
working flat out on major research aimed
at protecting 3.2 million vulnerable
people from losing benefits that they
rely on to survive.
I have severe Crohn's disease. Probably
one of the most severe cases in the
country. I have had seven major
life-saving operations to remove over 30
obstructions (blockages) from my bowel.
I take chemo shots every two weeks which
suppress my immune system, ensuring that
I regularly have to fight infections.
Exhaustion, pain and nausea plague every
single day of my life. I have
osteoporosis and malnutrition. I have
had major seizures and a stroke.
Nonetheless, I have just heard from my
own disability living allowance
application, that it has been rejected.
This poor women suffers so terribly yet
she has been denied DLA
If you have not taken any of the actions
above previous entry please consider doing
so now. The need is urgent. We have I
believe only until early January to make the
government think again about its vicious,
cruel and evil reforms. Yes evil is not too
strong a word to describe this attack on
people who cannot defend themselves. People
who struggle from day to day with the misery
of debilitating illness including many who
visit this website.
Even if this does not effect you and you
are able to work, which I imagine is not the
case for most of us effected with a severe
mental health condition, please support
those who cannot and need the support of
benefits to survive.
In early January the welfare reform bill
could be passed into law. I am not sure
about this January deadline so please act
now do not delay. Even if you only sign the
first petition
included above"
Pat's Petition"
to
get the Welfare Reform Bill paused for
reflection,
please do so.
December 22nd
Every act of life, from the
morning toothbrush to the friend at
dinner, became an effort. I hated the
night when I couldn't sleep and I hated
the day because it went toward night.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
This quotation by Scot Fitzgerald is
included in the quotation page of this
website as it so aptly expresses what it
feels like to be depressed. It also conveys
very well what it feels like to be suffering
from a chronic and physical illness and as a
sufferer of both I can testify that this
description concerning the uphill struggle
to cope each and everyday is just so
accurate, absolutely spot on. The friend at
dinner.. the thought of which I could not
even contemplate let alone seriously
consider.
Scot Fitzgerald 1896-1940 widely regarded
as one of the greatest American writers of
the 20th century was an alcoholic.
Alcoholism rather like mental illness gets
little understanding or sympathy despite the
devastating effects these conditions have
upon the lives of those unfortunate to
suffer in this way.
Unless you suffer from continuous ill
health or disability you cannot imagine what
it is like to struggle each and every day
with debilitating health and torment of the
mind. I have depression as a separate
diagnosis along with OCD, AS and other
mental health problems. Though my depression
occurs as a result of my mental illness I,
in addition, suffer depression as a
consequence of the physical ailments from
which I suffer. I would well imagine that
this is the case for most people suffering
with illnesses and disability, so in a way most of us
have some experience of both mental and
physical illness. I have four kinds of
headache: migraine, chronic daily tension
headache, neuralgia and arthritis in the
jaw. I have only recently been diagnosed
with the last two and at this juncture I am
not sure if the neuralgia is a consequence
of the arthritis. Whatever the
technicalities I have four kinds of head
pain and the arthritis causes pain in a
whole range of locations in my head and
neck, such as ear ache, headache, toothache,
sore throat and even at times my eyes ache.
I have IBS and irritable bladder. In
addition I have fibromyalgia though the IBS
and irritable bladder are often included in
the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia
is a debilitating condition still not widely
accepted as real, though things are
improving in this regard. The basic symptoms
are widespread muscle pain and fatigue
ukfibromyalgia.com/
I also have a son who is on the autism
spectrum and who suffers depression and
general anxiety. My husband also sufferers
from depression, though he has no formal
diagnosis I suspect he is also on the autism
spectrum. So we are very much
struggling with no one really functioning.
My life is hell, it is one continuous
struggle from the moment I open my eyes
until I close them, though even in sleep the
torment of OCD presents in dreams and pain
may keep me awake. Sudden attacks of
chocking and not being able to breath and
other sleep disturbances make even the
respite of sleep not much of a break from
the ongoing misery.
Nothing is easy, every task is a major
undertaking due to either mental or physical
illness. Yet there are times when I feel
shamed for all my complaining because there
are those who are of course much much worse than
I, who struggle each and every day with severe symptoms, such as
the unfortunate lady mentioned in the entry
above.
No one who is disabled or chronically
sick should have to work, it is hard enough
for most to just get through the day never
mind get up and go to work for eight hours,
particularly in today's unforgiving work
place where the climate of stress and a
pressure to achieve impossible targets is
difficult enough even for an abled person
let alone someone who is disabled.
Lets just pause awhile and consider the
terms disabled and chronically sick. Surely
both mean the same thing, if you are
chronically sick you have a disability do
you not, as a result of your condition you
cannot do what other people do. You do not
necessary have to be in a wheel chair to
have a disability. Pain is a disability
which presents in most chronic illness, no
one can work well with constant pain
particularly if severe. Often though people
with serious illnesses and conditions are
overlooked when it comes to benefits
or sympathy and understanding for that
matter and perhaps not considered in the
same category as a person in a wheel chair,
though regarding benefits in these days of brutal
welfare reform being
wheel chair bound will not exempt you from
being pronounced fit for work. In fact some
years ago before these more draconian
reforms a wheel chair bound acquaintance of
mine lost her DLA and needed to go to a
tribunal to rectify the problem and get back
her benefit to which she was most certainly
entitled. She had fallen into the "good day"
trap. Claimants of DLA are often asked to
describe their good days. How the hell can
there be any good days if you are in a wheel
chair and unable to walk. You may have days
when things are not so bad - though if you
cannot walk you cannot walk - however no one
with a chronic illness ever has days
completely free of their conditions. There
are bad days and days when things are less
bad as all conditions fluctuate, but when
you are chronically ill there are no good
days.
Personally I would like to consider all
illness that effects normal day today
functioning as a disability and that
includes mental health of course, autism and
conditions like ME and Fibromyalgia. It has
surprised me on a few occasions when people
with certain disabilities question the
disabling effects of another person’s
condition, even to the extent recently of a
neighbour describing people with less
noticeable conditions as “scroungers”
this is most always the case with what are
termed invisible illnesses such as those
mentioned above when there are no
obvious signs that a person is ill. Though
due to recent propaganda even those with
obvious disabilities are being labelled
“scroungers” and harassed and attacked.
Yes my entire blog for the last two
months has contained little else other than
the governments drastic, cruel, evil
uncompassionate, wicked, unjust, draconian,
unethical, corrupt, benefit reforms. Yes
that's a long list of derogatory words that
describe their sickening callous behaviour,
not worthy of any government or country that
claim to be civilised.
I never thought this country would be
such an unfair place to live with people
corrupted by greed and self interest lacking
compassion for those less fortunate. What
sad times we are living in.
Again please sign the petitions and take
part in the other actions listed in Wheres
the Benefit blog spot
wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/ if you have not already done so.
Again just do the best you can, even if
you sign only one petition, every action
helps.
Nobody made a greater mistake than he
who did nothing because he could do only
a little.
Edmund Burke
The
deadline is 11th January, the next debate of
the welfare reform bill in the Lords. If the
welfare reform bill is passed and it becomes
law it will destroy the lives of many sick
and disabled people whose lives are already
shattered by profound and unrelenting
suffering. Cutting disability benefit
kills, destroys lives and causes suffering
on just so many levels. We must take action
against the brutal attack that is being carried out
by ATOS and the DWP on behalf of the
government.
Without exception every one on a
disability benefit will loose money
The Edinburgh Coalition Against
Poverty says:
"About one and a quarter million
people, now on incapacity benefit,
will lose £25 a week. Because of
sanctions and compulsion, many will
not be able to cope on Jobseekers
Allowance and will lose all their
benefits.
"These assessments have nothing
to do with the sympathetic care and
support of the sick and needy that
should be the mark of a civilised
society , and everything to do with
making the vulnerable pay for a
crisis that was none of their
making.
Alone we can do so little, together
we can do so much.
Helen Keller.
In this respect
we are "all in it together"
Please pass on the petitions to others, I think
the greatest problem is ignorance due to the
propaganda against benefit claimants by the
government and most of the media
Even if you do not have a disability or a
chronic medical condition or you are not
unemployed you cannot know that one day things
will not change. In this age of insecurity
what is happening regarding the sick and
disabled effects us all not just those of us
who are sick.
The world is dangerous not because of those
who do harm, but because of those who look
at it without doing anything.
Albert Einstein.
For more information and action you
can take
Volunteers required to e-mail information
to their MPs
The research I'm co-ordinating is very
nearly finished, printers are booked,
envelope stuffers recruited, designers
designing, researchers burrowing, PR team
talking themselves hoarse, briefers
briefing, analysts analysing and we have
pledges from over 150 different
constituencies to personally email a copy of
the research to their MP on the release
date. If you would like to volunteer as
"constituency rep" just leave a comment
below leaving a name and constituency. All
you have to do is email your MP a copy of
the research on a certain date at a certain
time (to be confirmed) with a covering
letter asking them as a constituent to
please read it and respond. (Template letter
will be provided.)
This group is established to galvanise
opposition to the current vicious attack on
the rights of the disabled by the Government
using "Work Capability Assessments" to
re-classify genuinely sick and disabled
individuals as "fit for work"
DPAC is about disabled people and
their allies. DPAC is UK based but we
know that disabled people in other
countries are suffering from austerity
cuts and a lack of fundamental rights.
We welcome all to join us in fighting
for justice and human rights for all
disabled people.
Disabled people should not be the
scapegoats for the financial mistakes of
governments, should not be constantly
told that there is no money to support
them by millionaire politicians. We will
not tolerate further erosion of our
living conditions or our human rights,
nor will we sit quietly while they try
to take our rights away.
December 23rd
This will be my last day on line until
after Christmas and I would like to wish
everyone a happy Christmas and new year.
Christmas is not my favourite time of year
and we have tended to try and not get too
involved in it. In the last couple of years
though once again my family and I have
gradually been sucked into the frenzy of
this time of year, not to mention the
anxiety and worry.
But whatever you do this Christmas try
over the next few days to find a little
peace. I know how difficult it is to do so
for many of us who are haunted by the
torment of mental illness and people with
OCD and indeed those with AS tend to take on
the weight of the world. The suffering
of others including other animals compounds
my own suffering and it is difficult to rest
and set things aside. Yet we have to at
least try even though I know that I will
always be anxious, worried, stressed,
exhausted and depressed and will find little
peace and
will most likely be ill over Christmas. Last
year I had the usual headache, plus a chest
infection .
Try if you can to forget
things for a while. Focus on something
positive. Such as the following.
Here is a delightful video I came across
this morning of an adorable polar bear who
was taken into care because his mother could
not feed him. Just look at the video isn't
he just so cute.
Siku, the cute abandoned Danish polar bear
There is nothing much any of us can do
about anything over the Christmas holidays
and this is the one good thing about
Christmas, life generally
slows down, there is no where open, except
sadly shops, most people have a holiday and
whatever it is you are trying to do or
achieve most of us will have to wait for
a few days.
Have a great Christmas
December 28th
Firstly I would like to remind everyone
that I am a person with OCD and AS and it
takes a lot of effort to write anything due
to these conditions and also the physical
conditions from which I suffer. It takes a
lot of brain processing, obsessing over the
content and consequent anxiety to write
sometimes even the simplest of things, such
as a comment for my Flickr account. I also
cannot spell without a word processor,
without which I would not be able to write
anything that would be anything like spelt
correctly even though I have an 0 level in
English language. But that took huge effort
learning to spell words that I would needed
to pass this exam, spelling which has now
largely been forgotten. Also despite the
aforementioned 0 level, my grammar is not so
good and both spelling and grammar have
deteriorated over the years I think largely
due to my severe state of anxiety and I also
think that ASDs get worse as one gets older
and this has effected my writing to some
degree.
Furthermore with four kinds of headache,
neck and back pain which is starting as I
write and the other problems of aches and
pains with fibromyalgia writing is a serious
and exhausting undertaking. It can take many
hours over a few days to get an entry
right... well as right as it will ever be.
These are among the reasons why I do not
have a proper blog as I cannot make entries
on the same day and need to review and edit.
This is why several entries may be loaded at
one time because they have been days in the
preparation and writing. There may be the
occasional day when something gets published
straight the way but this is not often. I
have prepared another blog even have name or
two for it, written an introduction and so
on but I am unlikely to be able to cope with
a more conventional blog which would include
comments that because of my illness I would
find difficult to keep up with.
So please keep all this in mind. What I
write will not be professional and may
contain mistakes, research is exhausting and
there are difficulties knowing what to
include and what to leave out hence the
somewhat long and rambling entries. I have
great anxiety as part of having OCD about
what I write, not only from a technical
perspective but also I have enormous concern
about accuracy and I will check facts over
and over. Nonetheless despite all my
endeavours to be as accurate as possible
there will be mistakes and that is why I
like to add as many links to other websites
where possible to verify information and you
are advised to check them out.
Well there are a lot of problems with
writing but as one person said it does not
matter about spelling or grammatical errors,
which often I do not see despite checking it
over and over until I reache exhaustion, it
is what I write that counts and it is my
sincere hope that something I write might
make a difference in some way or another.
December 29th
This morning I have severe pain from the
jaw arthritis, I can barely cope. I am
frightened this is progressing with alarming
speed. This is I think is the forth morning
I have woken with severe pain. I also wake
two or three times during the night with
this pain. A hot water bottle eases it
somewhat but it is still painful. It is hard
to type as looking down at the key board
increases the pain.
The last three mornings after getting up the
pain has eased but not so this morning its
just so awful. I now have four kinds of
headache: migraine, tension headache,
neuralgia and the pain from arthritis. Over
Christmas things have got a lot worse and
Christmas was a misery of exhaustion and
pain. The Friday before Christmas I had a
shocking headache the entire day worsening
as the evening came, it was a mixture of
tension headache and arthritis. The next day
Christmas eve I had a migraine, though
relieved with my usual medication it is a
misery nonetheless. Christmas day I was
exhausted. Boxing day another migraine in
the morning and later a arthritis headache.
So yet again Christmas was a nightmare.
Cooking the dinner was exhausting my husband
and son have little idea and need so much
instruction it becomes more of a task than
doing it myself although they did help in
their own way and in their own time. I
cannot cook alone as because of the OCD I
would throw things away, worried they were
contaminated. So at the least I need their
support.
I wonder why I bother as it is just too
much for people who are ill, yet I hoped
that somehow I would have a few days of
peace from the misery of existence.
Hope you all enjoyed Christmas as best as
you could. I imagine that many of us are
glad it is over. Somehow things seem worse
at this time of year.
December 30th
If you tremble with indignation at every
injustice then you are a comrade of mine.
Che Guevara
I have a keen sense of social justice for
all creatures, not just human beings and
from time to time there will be requests to
sign petitions and general entries about
circumstances in the world about which I am
concerned. Right now my focus is on the
shocking treatment of my fellow sufferers,
by which I mean ALL who suffer with a
disability or who are chronically ill which
amounts to the same thing. If you have a
chronic illness and cannot function in the
normal way that most people do then you have
a disability, (the word chronic by the way
means of long duration; continuing, rather
than just severe. There is unfortunately a
common misunderstanding concerning the
correct meaning of this word). It shocks me
just how many people do not consider that
they have a disability or consider that
their disability is less important than that
of another person. This was the case for me
many years ago. Mental illness is a serious
disability, maybe not specific phobias if
they are mild and easily avoided, but then
again specific phobias such as arachnophobia
(fear of spiders) may become really embedded
into ones entire life rendering a person
unable to function, so it is not up to
anyone else to judge how much another person
is effected. All mental illness, phobias,
OCD, bipolar and
schizophrenia
are serious conditions which are disabling
rendering the sufferer unable to function in
the day to day requirements of life in the
way that normal people do, or rather what
passes as normal which when referring to
mental and emotional stability simply means
the consensus, the majority.
It is my opinion that with some notable
exceptions very few people with a mental
illness are able to work for any length of
time as eventually our conditions will
destroy our ability to do our jobs properly.
This is why about forty percent of benefit
claimants are mentally ill. This might not
be the case if you had proper support and I
mean real support by a fully trained
mental health professional and an
understanding employer, both of which are
unlikely: the support is not available and
never has been and an understanding employer
is as rare as gold. To force a mentally ill
person out to work will cause their health
to deteriorate as much as it will of course
to force a physically sick person to work.
How many employers are going to choose a
person who has bipolar, a person with OCD, a
person in a wheel chair, someone with a
learning disability, a person with lupus,
MS, ME, someone who has any chronic illness
whether mental or physical - and some people
such as myself have both - who will not be
able to keep pace with abled employees and
during worsening of symptoms may need to
take time off with no notice.
Cameron: wake up from your psychotic
delusion and face reality! But of course
you know the reality don’t you. You know
that only 0.5% of benefit claims are
fraudulent . You know that the overwhelming
majority of people who apply for benefits
are genuinely sick. You know don’t you that
these new schemes are complete and utter
nonsense because you are well aware that
most people who are deemed fit for work are
not. You know that at the end of the day
most of those forced on to
Work
Related Activity Group
cannot work and
that there are no jobs for them even if they
could. Yes you damn well know don’t you that
most people put on ESA Work Related
Activity Group
will never find work. You are not doing this
to get disabled people back into work for
their own wellbeing despite the idiotic
statements that it will benefit them to be
working. All you are doing is trying to save
money in the short term and in the long term
destroy the entire welfare system.
Shame on you Cameron, not only do you
have far more than the vast majority of the
people of this world, you do your damnedest
to make the lives of those far less
fortunate a bloody misery. How would you
like to be ill, disabled and for everyday of
your life struggling merely to get out of
bed, make your bed, get dressed, prepare and
shop for your food, do your laundry, keep
your home clean and do the other simple
things of life that you take for granted...
except a lot of those things someone does
for you don't they. Do you make your own
bed? I doubt it. Or shop or cook or do much
of any of the day to day chores of which you
are capable but sadly others aren't. Well,
you might just about manage to make a piece
of toast in your new £200 toaster in your
£60,000 refurbished flat. How outrageous a
physically and mentally fit person has all
the help he needs while those who are sick
and disabled not only do not get the help
they need but are being forced into work and
receive less money. I hasten to add that I
am not so sure about your mental fitness as
only a sociopath would show such callous
disregard for suffering people.
Sociopaths however are not mentally ill
in quite the same way as are sufferers of
conditions such as OCD or bipolar. The
condition of being a sociopath does not
generally make the the person's life a
misery, it is not like the torment of a
mental illnesses such as OCD or bipolar to
name just two of the many mental illnesses
that destroy the lives of those who suffer
with them. Sociopaths feel no shame, no
guilt or responsibility and generally
manipulate people to their own ends. I do
not know if Cameron is a sociopath but
present behaviour certainly makes him appear
this way and I am not the only one to think
this:
Cameron - you know don’t you that behind
the deliberately complicated welfare reforms
that at the end of the day whether you are
assigned to the work related group or the
support group every one without exception
will lose money. In simple terms everyone on
ESA will receive less than they did on
incapacity benefit. You know that this is
going to reduce the quality of life for
people with disabilities in a time when
prices are rising with astonishing amounts
and frequent rapidity. How will people heat
their homes, pay their rent or mortgage,
eat, and simply have any quality of life?
The action concerning welfare reform are
destroying the lives of thousands of people.
People have lost their homes, been thrown
into poverty, become destitute, desperate,
depressed and have died. Some from the
consequence of their illnesses even though
the government have deemed them fit for work
while others have died as a result of
despair having committed suicide. In the
face of such misery do the government do
anything? They continue with their reforms
with a callous focus second to none,
oblivious to the immense amount of suffering
they are causing. What did Cameron and the
evil Ian Duncan Smith - the secretary of
state for works and pensions - do when they
heard of the couple who committed suicide
because they could not cope with another
winter walking six miles to get food from a
food kitchen, struggling to live on just £57
per week. I can just imagine Cameron's
emotionless smug face. Perhaps he heard the
news at the breakfast table in the luxury of
his centrally heated home with an opulent
amount of food and his new £500 Rancilio
coffee machine and new toaster that cost
£200. I can well imagine he barely gave the
news much attention sitting there in his
smug conceited arrogance. No doubt he found
some justification to mitigate the guilt if
indeed there was any guilt. I rather
doubt there was any guilt or remorse, the
lack of which are of course are indications
of sociopathy.
Yes I am angry. I have rarely ever wrote
anything so derogatory about another person,
but such is justified. The callous disregard
for the shocking suffering these reforms are
causing is appalling not only in the obvious
way of financial deprivation as a result of
these drastic welfare reforms but also the
psychological damage they bring, the fear
and dread of the brown envelope falling on
the door mat
summoning them to an ATOS interview.
The person knows that he or she is in for
weeks, maybe months of anxiety and
insecurity. Many people feel despair,
depression and fear.
This petition is the save the independent
living Fund (ILF)
For over 21 years the
ILF has made payments to
disabled people to be
used towards the cost of
employing Personal
Assistants. This money
currently enables over
20,000 disabled people
to lead an independent
life style. The
Governments policy
indicates that
responsibility for
independent living
strategies would be
passed to Local
Authorities. This is
unacceptable. The LA's
are unlikely to have the
funding or the in house
expertise to assess the
needs of the small
numbers of disabled
people in their areas
who would benefit from
the kind of support ILF
provides. The ILF does
have the expertise and
experience so the
Government should
reverse the decision to
close the ILF.
Please click the link
above to read more and
sign the petition
Also please sign the
following petition
Don't let
disabled
children pay
the price
for welfare
reform:
reverse
unfair plans
to cut
support by
up to £27
per week for
100,000
disabled
children
Every action we take however small may
help to stop these brutal reforms that will
blight the lives of people who are already
fighting sickness and disability.
Every single benefit is being changed by
the welfare reform bill all to the detriment
of disabled and sick people including
children.
Please also sign petitions and take
actions suggested in previous entries.
And please spread the word, so many
people are ignorant of what is happening
even those who will be affected.
Must leave it there, I feel some tension
in my head as a result of the huge effort it
takes to write all this which is for me a
huge worry concerning getting it right and
just the plain and simply exhausting act of
writing so much so early in the morning.
This is the problem is it not - people like
us who are ill cannot stand up for
themselves and yes it can make me ill if I
do not pace myself. BUT SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO
SPEAK OUT DON'T WE.
Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed people can change the
world. Indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has.
Margaret Mead
More information about what is happening
regarding welfare reform and the NHS
Below is a list of some of the cuts to
the benefits of disabled people and
information about a protest
PROTEST AGAINST CUTS TO DISABLED PEOPLE’S
BENEFITS AND SERVICES AND THE DESTRUCTION OF
OUR NHS, LEAMINGTON SPA, WARWICKSHIRE, Jan
20, 1pm
JOIN US TO PROTEST AGAINST CUTS TO DISABLED PEOPLE’S BENEFITS AND SERVICES AND THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR NHS ON WHICH ALL OF US WHO ARE NOT MILLIONAIRE POLITICIANS RELY.
SAY “NO” TO THE WELFARE REFORM BILL, THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR WELFARE STATE AND “NO” TO WORKFARE.
What Cuts do Disabled People Face?
Closure of the Independent Living Fund supporting those with high support needs, proving that the government’s rhetoric of supporting disabled people is as empty as their souls.
Movement from Incapacity Benefit to Employment Support Allowance through punitive and unfair compulsory Work Capability Assessments carried out by Atos, a private for-profit company who are declaring those who need 24-hour support and those with terminal cancer ‘fit for work’ in order to meet government targets and reduce disabled peoples’ income drastically
VAT increases and benefit rates linked to CPI not RPI which is likely to cost disabled people an extra £800 per annum.
Cuts to social care budgets, cuts to housing support, cuts to Access to Work programme (helping disabled people with any equipment they might need to compete on an equal basis with non disabled employees), constant attacks on disabled peoples’ integrity by the Tories and others suggesting we’re not really disabled but ‘just pretending’ to get meagre benefits which they’re going to abolish anyway
Where – LEAMINGTON SPA, WARWICKSHIRE
At CHRIS WHITE, MP’s office, 43a CLEMENS STREET, OLD TOWN, CV31 2DP, not far from railway station.
When – Friday, JANUARY 20th, meet outside constituency office at 1pm.
guardian.co.uk/society/2011/dec/06/cancer-patients-welfare-work-tests
Here is your reason to vote against these unspeakable people at the next election."
"I didn't think it possible to be repulsed and disgusted further by this government but they've achieved it."
Just two of over 300 Comments concerning the above Guardian article about welfare tests for cancer patients.
Well worth reading some of the comments to get a sense of public outrage.