It’s beyond astonishing that the government views benefits as a cost cutting exercise. The Tories are ideologically opposed to social security and so they have made the benefits system as punitive and dismal as possible, treating being poor, out of work, sick or disabled as moral failings. The world of finance is awash with money, […]
Tag: Trussell Trust
The government is not failing, it is succeeding
Every time I see a headline like, ‘Government is failing disabled people’ or as in the Guardian, 1 April 2017, ‘This benefit cut will make youngsters homeless. It’s another Tory failure’, I am immediately stuck by an overwhelming sense of disbelief that either the media simply doesn’t get it, which is unlikely, or this is […]
It takes courage to ask for help
The Independent reports that five families are being made homeless every hour in the UK. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports that ‘almost 13 million people are living in poverty in the UK’, with over half of those in families with at least one adult working. And the BBC, amongst others, reports that, ‘More than 16 […]
The relentless rise of social democracy
A letter a day to number 10. No 1,483 Monday 04 July 2016. Dear Mr Cameron, There has been a great deal of media coverage of the alleged rise of right wing extremism, and certainly Nigel Farage was triumphant about nationalism. “We have done it without a bullet being fired,” he trumpeted, a heinous insult […]
Wages are no longer an entitlement, merely a reward
A letter a day to number 10. No 1,439 Friday 20 May 2016. Dear Mr Cameron, I was very impressed at this little nugget that you threw into the Queen’s speech for the State Opening of Parliament, “… and to move to a higher wage and lower welfare economy where work is rewarded.” It’s amazing, […]
Britain must now rank amongst the worlds brutal dictatorships
A letter a day to number 10. No 1,240 Sunday 25 October 2015. Dear Mr Cameron, The only test for any government policy is its impact on the ground in the real world, not some cooked up nonsense spun from a government office or department and especially not a PR department. The Trussell Trust latest […]
Positive Money and that £375 billion in QE given to the banks
A letter a day to number 10. No 1,168 Tuesday 04 August 2015. Dear Mr Cameron, When the Bank of England can create £375 billion of new money, that’s nearly £6,000 for every man, woman and child in the UK, and give it to the banks and financial markets entirely free of charge, your government […]
The silenced. the sanctioned and the dead
A letter a day to number 10. No 1,120 Wednesday 17 June 2015. Dear Mr Cameron, UK wide, we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis the like of which I have not witnessed before nor ever expected to, which, apparently coincidentally, began with the welfare reform bill, the introduction of universal credit and, […]
The people-less road to a stronger economy
A letter a day to number 10. No 965 Monday 05 January 2015. Dear Mr Cameron, I am much impressed with your new election poster, your people-less road to a stronger economy, an empty road. This is the Oxford definition of ‘economy’ – “The state of a country or region in terms of the production […]
The Tory giant Ponzi scheme
A letter a day to number 10. No 964 Sunday 04 January 2015. Dear Mr Cameron, Britain is not in a crisis in any natural sense. It is a manufactured, market driven, for profit, ideologically imposed austerity fronted by you and your government. Since 2009 printing money as quantitative-easing (QE) has added £375 billion out […]
Fear and Loathing in Great Britain 