BPS sign consensus statement asking for end of welfare sanctions

Originally posted on Politics and Insights:
The British Psychological Society (BPS) has joined eight other leading mental health organisations in calling for the removal of social security sanctions for people with mental health conditions. The statement launched yesterday at the 12th New Savoy Annual Conference in London. It calls for everyone living with a mental health…

Never before in UK history has so much been owed to so many by so few

It is worth bearing in mind that a government is not the country, it is not the people, it is not society and, most especially, it is not community or the daily reality of people’s lives. Good governance is like grease on a bearing, never to be confused with the bearing itself, which actually does […]

I heard it on the news

I saw a comment on Twitter the other day accusing someone of expressing their view but not knowing what they were talking about, they’d just heard it on the news. I thought what an extraordinary thing to say and how ignorant, because where else do we gather information from other than from what’s reported as […]

Talking ’bout my generation

I reckon I was born into what may have been the most blessed (fortunate) generation in the history of Britain. I am not saying it was easy, we were dirt poor and I spent more time with cardboard in my shoes than soles and we had marrow bone soup every Tuesday, the butcher saving my […]

There is only one reason Tory policies kill the sick and disabled (and they do): THEY LIKE IT

Here’s a great Twitter thread from Rachael Swindon, listing only some of the vile treatment endured by sick and disabled people at the will of the Conservative government led by Theresa May (and formerly David Cameron). It isn’t entirely accurate, of course. Nobody in their right mind thinks MS or Parkinson’s Disease is curable; it’s […]

Your No Licence Needed claim expires soon. Please get in touch

Dear TV Licensing, Thank you for your “Your No Licence Needed claim expires soon. Please get in touch’ letter as my ‘No Licence Needed’ expires: May 2019. I appreciate that you need to check if my No Licence Needed circumstances have changed. The answer is no, I am still, in law, under the presumption of […]

I’ve lost everything because of universal credit.

Originally posted on The poor side of life:
Wow, what a palaver it was last week, an extremely bad bout of rain and the hassle from the new Tameside One staff and security. It’s mind boggling that they wanted to move us when all we are doing is helping people, feeding people and signposting them.…

LIST OF TORY ‘ACHIEVEMENTS’ MAKES HORRIFYING READING

The blight of Tory government on the UK and its people in a few short bullet points The blight of Tory government on the UK and its people in a few short bullet points As the government prepares for the Chancellor’s ‘Spring Statement’, a list of Tory ‘achievements’ since 2010 has been circulating on social […]

UN calls on UK government to scrap ‘pernicious’ two-child benefit cap and rape clause

Originally posted on Politics and Insights:
The UK Government has been urged to abandon its “pernicious” two child policy and rape clause, following the publication of a United Nations Human Rights report. The new report published today by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), made a number of recommendations including that the two…

Former DWP boss tells how Tory policies pushed her to quit her job

Originally posted on Politics and Insights:
Mhairi Doyle with her grandson Isaac supporting junior doctors at Southport Hospital. Picture courtesy of the Liverpool Echo. A Merseyside councillor has spoken out about why she retired from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after 25 years. She says it’s because she “refused to be complicit in…