Dear Thérèse Coffey. All the best, persecuting poor, ill and disabled people

Thérèse Coffey – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions House of Commons London SW1A 0AA 19 September 2019 Dear Thérèse Coffey, In your recent exciting video, introducing yourself as the new head of the DWP, you said, “It’s a privilege to lead a department that is here to help so many people.” For us […]

Neoliberalism – a terminal man-made disease

Over the past few years I have run a gamut of feelings about neoliberalism, anger, rage, despondency, futility, vengefulness, hatred, but lately all that has congealed and what I feel more than anything else is a virulent hatred for the appalling reality of the casual deaths neoliberalism not only takes for granted, but which is […]

The power of uncertainty – Tory abuse

One of the most despicable psychological weapons that the government uses extensively, and nowhere more intensely than the benefits system under the abomination that is Universal Credit, is uncertainty. Britain is in the grip of catastrophic uncertainty planned and executed by the Tories, from Brexit to Universal Credit, to pensions, our NHS, GP’s and front […]

This charity chief broke the Tory gagging order on the effect of Universal Credit. Her words are heartbreaking – and infuriating

The lady in the video below is Ellie Waugh, chief executive of the charity Humanity Torbay, which aims to help the vulnerable secure homes, jobs and training. Part of that mission has involved working with the Conservative government – but this has come with strings attached, including a demand not to criticise Tory policies such […]

Letter to the DWP about a fraudulent repayment claim on my pension

15 August 2018 Copies to Theresa May, Esther McVey, Jacob Rees-Mogg. Dear Sue Crook, On 25 April 2018 you wrote to inform me that I owed the nation £8,356.30 without any explanation of how this figure was dreamed up and that I would thus be paying back £11.10 a week for the next 14 years, […]

The war on the poor is a crime against humanity

Jobseekers allowance – Single unemployed under 25 – £57.90, over 25 – £73.10 – a week In the following I make no attempt to be impartial. not to the system. the government, its officials and especially the Department for Work and Pensions all of which act with extreme prejudice against the lives and well being […]

Universal Credit debit

I have received my PIP decision which is to pay me £214.65 every four weeks, that’s a loss of £95.95 from DLA which was £310.60. All else being equal, and it isn’t, I can take the hit, it’s manageable. My first payment is due on 6 February which means neither DLA nor PIP this month, […]

Truth in politics

Seeing the title of this piece, readers can be forgiven if their immediate reaction is that I am just being ridiculously naive. Politicians and lying go together like a horse and carriage, fish and chips, Batman and Robin, Theresa May and Brexit cluster fuck. Surely everybody knows that! When David Cameron became Prime Minister in […]

The Light

When I was at school I was often reprimanded for being a dreamer. I am very pleased to announce that it is a failing that has, above all others, lasted to this day. But what does it mean to be a dreamer? It is used as a pejorative term but which, if it makes you […]

Letter to Jeremy Corbyn – the Universal Credit debacle

Jeremy Corbyn MP House of Commons London, SW1A 0AA 16 November 2017 Dear Jeremy Corbyn, Thank you for reading out the letter from the GAP lettings agency in Lincolnshire in PMQs about the pre-emptive warning to tenants of coming evictions under Universal Credit. It is inevitable that many hundreds, more likely thousands, of evictions will […]