Appealing against State Terrorism beyond the 'mandatory reconsideration' stage is an act of counter-terrorism

Benefits & Work Publishing report:

Even by our standards this is a pretty gloomy newsletter.

We have the disappointing news that the success rate for disability living allowance (DLA) to personal independence payment (PIP) transfers is almost at the lowest level it’s ever been.

Then there’s the unsurprising news that a survey has found that PIP assessments are harmful to your health.

There’s the revelation that repeat testing of ESA claimants is back with a vengeance. There are now more repeat assessments than fresh claims, in spite of a DWP promise to stop unnecessary testing.

And the number of warnings that speeding up the universal credit rollout from next month will lead to a catastrophe for claimants is growing.

There is, though, the slightly more positive news that whilst the backlog of social security appeals has almost doubled in the last year, claimants continue to win in the majority of cases – except in connection with [Jobseekers Allowance appeals]....(1)

Theresa May seeks to portray herself as a protector of the people against terrorism:

Theresa May to warn tech firms over terror content

Technology companies must go "further and faster" in removing extremist content, Theresa May is to tell the United Nations general assembly....(2)

Yet her Government itself is guilty of state terrorism as highlighted in the Benefits & Work Publishing 19 September Update and more.(4)

Disabled people could be at risk of violence, and even “killings and euthanasia”, because of their portrayal by the UK government and media as “parasites” who live on benefits, according to unpublished comments by the chair of a UN committee.
(5)

Theresia Degener, who chairs the UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities, warns in the interview that such portrayals of disabled people are “very, very dangerous”....

Degener herself had told the UK government’s delegation that its cuts to social security and other support for disabled people had caused “a human catastrophe”,(6) comments that were repeated by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in yesterday’s prime minister’s questions [on Wednesday 14 September].

But her comments in the interview with a BBC journalist – which are believed to have not been broadcast – go even further.

Degener (pictured) says that cuts to social security have been so severe that they have become “life threatening to many disabled people”, and she then talks about the impact of the austerity cuts on public attitudes to disabled people.

She says in the interview that “disabled people being portrayed as parasites, living on social benefits, and welfare and the taxes of other people” was “very, very dangerous”.

She says that such attitudes “will later on lead to violence against disabled people, we know it, if not to killings and euthanasia”.

 So while this blogger dislikes character-labelling stuff such as 'Tory scum', I believe that appealing against nasty benefit decisions is an act of counter-terrorism. That can be far more effective at making them squirm in private than 'Tory scum' daubings and death threats can.(7)



Whether Theresa May & Co would describe blogs such as this and the Benefits & Work Publishing and Disability News Service websites that reveal more than the BBC as 'extremist' is another matter, but I note that this blog currently gets more page viewings from France than from the UK.

Blog post by Dude Swheatie of Kwug

Source link references

1. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3663-19-september-2017-update
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41327816
3. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/?s=uncrpd
4. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/portraying-disabled-people-as-parasites-could-lead-to-violence-and-killings-says-un-chair/
5. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/uk-faces-un-examination-government-cuts-caused-human-catastrophe/ 
6. https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/uk-faces-un-examination-government-cuts-caused-human-catastrophe/
7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41237836 Title: MPs tell of death threats and abuse at 2017 election 

Benefits and Work Publishing news headlines 29 June 2016

1. What do you think Brexit will mean for claimants?(1)
2. DLA to PIP Mandatory Reconsideration success rate halves in a year(2)
3. 30% of DLA to PIP claimants get no award at all(3)

Link addresses

1. http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3528-what-do-you-think-brexit-will-mean-for-claimants
2. http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3527-dla-to-pip-mandatory-reconsideration-success-rate-halves-in-a-year
3. http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3526-30-of-dla-to-pip-claimants-get-no-award-at-all

Benefits & Work Publishing: Why Claimants Died Plus The Cover Up That May See IDS On Trial

Why Claimants Died Plus The Cover Up That May See IDS On Trial

Dear Reader,

The DWP finally released very heavily redacted versions of the 49 peer reviews into claimant deaths last week.

In fact, some of the documents have been so heavily redacted that there is literally nothing left other than headings and standard text. Every word of substance, including details of lessons learned and recommendations for the future has been redacted.

Yet, the documents still reveal a great deal.

Most of the reports appear to be about claimants being forced off incapacity benefit (IB) and onto employment and support allowance (ESA).

In at least six of the 29 reports that contain any detail, there was a failure to even identify claimants as vulnerable, let alone offer them additional support...

More at http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3510-18may-2016-update

Dude Swheatie of Kwug adds regarding what the above reveals of DWP corporate culture, I am reminded of staff trade union posters that the DWP tried to ban

1. See the posters the government tried to ban - PCS

   www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/pcs...Cached

   Managers in government call centres have been taking down union posters that expose the brutal way workers are told to treat people on benefits.