Number of Sick And Disabled Claimants Facing Sanctions Triples In Just Six Months

the void

The number of sick or disabled people who have had there benefit sanctioned for not taking part in ‘work related activity’ has almost tripled compared to just six months ago the latest figures show.

7.507 claimants on Employment Support Allowance (ESA), had their benefits sanctioned in March 2014, up from 4,698 the previous month and 2,369 In Sepetember 2013.  This has taken the total number of ESA claims sanctioned to over 100,000 since the regime was disgracefully introduced by Labour.

These clamaints are in the Work Related Acivity Group (WRAG) of ESA, meaning they have been judged unable to work at present but may possibly be well enough for employment in the future.  They include people with serious and life-threatening conditions including cancer.  Astonishingly this group are still sent on the Work Programme, where they may face compulsory ‘back to work’ training or even workfare.  Should they fail to attend…

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Iain Duncan Smith claimed expenses for his underpants (really!)

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(not satire – it’s Iain Duncan Smith!)

If there were ever any doubts that Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith is a very nasty bully of the highest order – as well as a hypocrite of the highest order – this little anecdote will surely remove them.

Around 10 years ago – when IDS was leader of the opposition – you may remember the ‘Betsygate‘ scandal when it was revealed he’d been using taxpayers’ money to pay his wife a wage for doing nothing.

In October 2003, a senior aide to IDS –  Dr Vanessa Gearson – gave written evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges about the scandal.

In her written statement Dr Gearson revealed that she had written an email to Conservative Central Office expressing her concerns about IDS claiming money from the taxpayer for his own personal…

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One Last Push! Sign and Share The Petition Calling For An Inquiry Into The Sanctions That Killed David Clapson

the void

This petition calling for an inquiry into the benefit sanctions which killed David Clapson has hit almost 75,000 signatures in just over a week.

Mr Clapson had his benefits stopped after missing a meeting with the Jobcentre.  This left him unable to chill the insulin he needed to manage his diabetes and without any money for food or electricity.  Shortly after his benefits were sanctioned he was found dead without any food in his stomach.

His sister launched the petition last week calling an inquiry into benefit  sanctions and the terrible damage they inflict.  Tens of thousands of people have signed already.  The Government will do everything they can to ignore it, but behinds the scenes this will not go unnoticed.

Benefit sanctions are the teeth of welfare reform, and are designed as a form of punishment for being on benefits.  If you don’t jump through every hoop set up…

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Duncan Smith reckons cutting welfare for cancer patients is “creating jobs”

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(not satire – it’s Iain Duncan Smith!)

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith is claiming that his welfare reforms are creating jobs.

Quite how cutting welfare payments to terminally ill cancer sufferers – for example – is supposed to create jobs, he doesn’t quite explain:

Deadly delay for cancer patients as thousands are waiting months to get benefits

Perhaps he’s referring to an uptick in jobs being created in the greetings card, flower delivery and undertaking sectors?

And to be fair to Duncan Smith, dying probably is quite a good way to get you off the unemployment figures.

Sometimes I think trying to satirise this government is getting to be almost impossible.

They satirise themselves so much better than I ever could.

.

Related articles by Tom Pride:

UK today: 40% of cancer patients can’t afford to heat their home properly

Dad deported from UK for having cancer

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The TUC And Workfare: Sadly It’s Worse Than You Think

the void

Just days after the TUC teamed up with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Tory Ministe Nick Boles, to sing the praises of unpaid work, a shocking document has emerged which goes even further in endorsing workfare.

As unearthed by @refuted, the TUC have issued guidleines to union reps on what they should do if their employer plans to take workfare placements.  Astonishingly the TUC even appear to want to help reps to:  “approach their employer to provide young unemployed people in their area with a good quality work experience placement“.  They are not just refusing to oppose workfare, but are actively encouraging it in unionised workplaces.

There then follows a description of what the TUC have decided is good workfare but which barely even resembles the current schemes.  Their claim that “Work experience placements should not continue for more than a few weeks

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Israel left reeling after Cameron almost criticises it

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(satire?)

Israeli officials were left reeling today after UK prime minister David Cameron very nearly pledged to almost criticise them.

In a dramatic turnaround, Mr Cameron shocked political pundits after he blasted the Israeli Army for massacring civilians in Gaza by not quite saying something not very nice about it.

And in a devastating speech which he was very nearly on the point of giving today, Cameron bordered on almost telling Israeli premier Benjamin Natanjahu to stop his naughty behaviour at once or face being told to shake hands and make up with the Palestinians.

Mr Cameron also blasted the Israelis by getting pretty close to claiming there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that innocent civilians in Gaza – including children – had been targeted as a form of collective punishment,  which he almost pointed out was not very nice and was even actually rather quite naughty if you think about it.

“It’s not nice,” Cameron almost said.

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Top Tory minister mysteriously avoids £20,000 fine. One law for them?

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(not satire – it’s the UK today)

According to the UK government’s own web page – the fine for employing an illegal migrant worker is £20,000.

Tory minister Mark Harper employed a cleaner – Isabella Acevedo – who was dragged from her daughter’s wedding ceremony and deported last week when it was revealed she had embarrassed Harper by not having all her valid documents.

For some unexplained reason, however, Harper himself – who was recently given a new ministerial job by Cameron – has not been fined £20,000.

An employer won’t have to pay the fine if he or she can show a valid reason for employing an illegal migrant worker – however being unaware of the fact is not considered to be a valid reason.

So what exactly is Harper’s “valid reason” for not being fined?

That he’s a government minister and a good friend of Cameron?

.

Please feel free to comment. And share. To…

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HOW DAILY MAIL ARE YOU? Take this simple quiz and find out!

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HOW DAILY MAIL ARE YOU?

(Answer the following questions a, b, or c. Tot up your score at the end to see how you did)

1) You discover your next-door neighbour has lost his job of 30 years. What do you do?
a. Ask him if there’s anything you can do to help him out until he finds a new job.
b. Check your professional contacts to see if there are any job openings you can find that may be suitable for him.
c. Get together a posse of like-minded, hard-working neighbours and chase him and his family out of town with pitchforks and torches before they drive house prices down even further.

2) You fancy doing something relaxing and entertaining. What do you choose to do?
a. Spend a night in with a take-away and a good film on the telly.
b. Go for a long walk followed by a pub lunch.

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Scientists shocked after small traces of integrity detected at heart of Tory Party

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(satire?)

Scientists are claiming minute amounts of integrity from a previously thought extinct species of Tory could still be residing at the heart of the Conservative Party – after the resignation of a minister over the government’s stance on Gaza.

According to a new study published today, the newly uncovered principles belong to a one and a half-meter-long foreign office minister known as Lady Warsi, a species of Tory previously thought to have been entirely uninhabited by morals of any kind.

Thomas Huxley famously discovered a rare genus of integrity surviving in the Tory Party as far back as 1859, but by the middle of the 20th century all subspecies of morals were long thought to have become extinct even in the furthest outreaches of the party.

The shock discovery comes not long after scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland claim to have detected minute traces of decency residing deep in the heart of Barclays Bank, consistent with evidence that tiny sub-atomic traces of honesty could theoretically exist in…

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Vox Political’s new home

Mike here announces Vox Political’s new home, over at voxpoliticalonline.com. This should allow Mike to make a few bucks running adverts, while doing his usual level, scurrilous best to destroy the government and Tory party. All the best, Mike, and I look forward to seeing you at your new site.

Mike Sivier's blog

Vox Political is changing.

The site has been transferred to a commercial host, enabling Yr Obdt Srvt to monetise it – that means we can host adverts and hopefully make a few quid from doing this.

With the blog currently averaging around 200,000 hits per month, and the possible revenue outweighing the amount YOS receives in Carers Allowance by a considerable amount, it seemed silly not to give it a go.

Visitors to the new site at voxpoliticalonline.com will notice that the adverts are intended to compliment the content, rather than clash with it. The idea is to provide commercial options that coincide with the reader’s interests.

However: This is dependent on the actions of the reader. If you click on an ad, that interest is registered and the programs that serve up ads to the site go looking for similar items. This is how they work to keep everything…

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