Should Universal Credit 'full roll-out' be halted or scrapped entirely? And what of the 'Department for Work & Pensions'?

Sunday 12 November 2017

Should Universal Credit 'full roll-out' be halted or scrapped entirely? And what of the 'Department for Work & Pensions'?

I would say that this approach

Yahoo News: Jeremy Corbyn calls for Universal Credit to be halted
'before millions of people are made worse off'

does not go nearly far enough. What about those who have already been made worse off under the so-called 'Universal Credit'?(2)

The 'Universal Credit is too big to fail' consensus of acquescence that has existed hitherto within the Labour Party and also the other main political parties that 'Universal Credit is a good idea' is one based largely on ignorance and prejudice.

Not only does 'Universal Credit' need to be 'stopped and scrapped'(2), but the Department for Work & Pensions needs to be changed from the benefits denial factory it seems to have been designed as

A major problem with any existing DWP system is that it leads the way to further abuses against claimants, as can be seen from my blog post Terra firma benefits services closures leave the economically vulnerable in the lurch.(3) Even before it became the Department for Work & Pensions, its decision-making by remote control mechanisms were designed as what could be called the 'detached torturer syndrome', with pay-per-minute and long delays calls to add to the financial punishment for being poor enough to require help.

Further still to the evidence brought up in that blog post about DWP as what might be called a 'claimants' rights denial factory', is Labour's previous role in bringing in Employment & Support Allowance as a more 'active labour-market programme' oriented payment, and Yvette Cooper's tightening of 'eligibility' restrictions even further in response to claimants' tribunal victories.(4) The Tories were left to pilot the outgoing Labour DWP Secretary's 'Work Capability Assessment' Mk 2 after 2010 General Election.(5)

Notes

No comments:

Benefits sanctioned? Take mass action!

Commenting on Blog Contents

Comments are approved unless abusive, obscene, completely off the subject, disguised advertising or libellous. Publication of a comment does not imply that the blog administrator or KUWG agree with it.

Please note if I respond to comments it is in my Google log in — never 'Anonymous'

Commenters cause less confusion when they use their own names or pen names. A host of 'Anons' can give very mixed messages. Even if you use the technically easier 'Anonymous' button to make a comment you can still put your name at the end.

How to post a comment on a blogspot blog piece.

Contact us:

Facebook: Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KUWG1

Telephone: 07724 843 973

Meetings: 3pm - 5:30pm
Thursdays, Kingsgate Community Centre
107 Kingsgate Road, London, NW6 2JH

Meeting structure

Helping you feel at home: We meet weekly in the Small Hall at KingsgateCC and start gathering from 3pm, attempting to start the meetings at about 3:15pm and definitely before 3:30pm.

Bring and share refreshments are included. We are not like the 'No eating or drinking on the premises' jobcentre.

The formal meetings start with firstname and what benefit we are on or a one-liner about what brings us to KUWG. (Pensioners and other allies welcome.)

We then ask for casework from those present, arrange who will help with what case, and go onto discussing campaigning leafleting and such outreach activities. We also arrange who will do the chairing or facilitating and note-taking for the following week. Rotating these roles helps minimise the risk of being dominated by one person and helps us build our skills as we share the workload.

Meetings actually finish at about 5:20pm to allow for putting tables and chairs back and leaving the kitchen facilities ready for the next group.

KUWG on Twitter

Sunday 12 November 2017