Corbyn rival Owen Smith's 'brand positioning'

KUWG leafleters outside Kilburn Jobcentre yesterday heard with some hilarity of Jeremy Corbin's Labour Party leadership rival Owen Smith's release of a manifesto for his leadership bid. In terms of worker representation and rights, it really did seem that he wanted to 'out-Corbin Jeremy Corbin'.(1)

Then today a news story came this blogger's way, Former miner tackles Owen Smith for 'exploiting Orgreave as the site for his policy speech'.(2) Owen Smith's siting himself at Orgreave for his policy speech brings to mind these words from Craig Murray's blog:

Note “to pitch himself”. For PR professional Smith, political stance is nothing to do with personal belief, it is to do with brand positioning. On Channel 4 News last night, an incredulous Michael Crick pointed out that the “soft left” Smith had previously given interviews supporting PFI and privatisation in the health service. He also strongly supported Blair’s city academies.(3)

Meanwhile, though this blogger is sympathetic to Jeremy Corbyn, Labour is not the only political party having leadership elections at present; and as I am a member of the Green Party of England & Wales, I ought to get my head around the choices I am faced with for Leader and Deputy Leader.(4)

Dude Swheatie of Kwug

Link addresses

1. Meanwhile, the Institute for Employment Rights think tank is claiming Smith's policies as theirs http://www.ier.org.uk/news/owen-smith-workers-policies-mirror-ier-manifesto
2. http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2016/07/28/former-miner-tackles-owen-smith-for-exploiting-orgreave-as-the-site-for-his-policy-speech/
3. https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/07/entirely-fake-owen-smith/
4. http://londongreenleft.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/green-party-leader-deputy-and-tulo.html

Time is running out to vote in Labour Party Leadership elections

http://www.jeremyforlabour.com
If you were a member of the Labour Party or an affiliated Trade Union before 12 January you can vote [in the 2016 Labour Partly leadership elections volte façe].

If you weren't the ONLY way to vote is by signing up as a registered supporter between Monday 18 July and Wednesday 20 July at 5pm [— at a £25 per head fee].

"Has the Labour Party National Executive Committee any consideration for the proportion of a week's Jobseekers Allowance that that figure represents, and is that not exploitation of vulnerable people," some would ask.

KUWG statement in support of Jeremy Corbyn's mandate as Leader of the Opposition

(The statement below has been expanded slightly from the original. The figure for MPs' salaries has also been amended with the aid of referencing information given below.)

----STATEMENT STARTS----

KILBURN UNEMPLOYED WORKERS GROUP: CORBYN'S PLP OPPONENTS' CLAIMS THAT HE HAS NOT SHOWN ENOUGH LEADERSHIP LACK LEGITIMACY

The Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group (KUWG — aka 'Kwug') is non-party-politically aligned, including members of different political parties and none, as well as people with no vote in UK parliamentary elections and no vote in the recent UK EU Referendum. We are united by a commonality of interests in terms of maintaining and upgrading our basic living standards. The casework that we do helps promote our freedom of association and most fundamental rights.

Our casework by unpaid activists helps people prove their entitlements and continue living in the face of relentless attacks on 'public expenditure', our rights, our dignity, our health, our housing, and our character.

At our weekly group meeting on Thursday 7 July we discussed the attacks by some Labour MPs on Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and the prospect of a response statement from us to be posted on the Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group 'Kwug blog' regarding Jeremy's position as a democratically elected leader of the Labour Party. This initiative was enthusiastically welcomed.

The vast bulk of the media coverage of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership — as illustrated by the above Andrew Marr youtube video of an interview with Jeremy — focuses on Jeremy's support or lack of support from Labour Members of Parliament. Those Labour MPs who have attacked his leadership generally argue that he 'showed a lack of leadership' in the EU Referendum. In the above interview, Jeremy rebuffs that idea. Jeremy also draws attention to his 'real mandate', a mandate that got non-party-politically aligned KUWG members to join the Labour Party with rekindled hope in the electoral process even after what Tony Blair's Government did to their faith in the Labour Party.

(Lies of Tony Blair and his allies preceded the invasion of Iraq in 2003; their 'benefit thieves' lies also preceded attacks on the welfare state.)

We point out in our turn in this statement as members of a non-party-political organisation, that it is wrong to focus on a party leader's 'mandate' or 'leadership credentials' as being the number of elected Members of Parliament who support him in Parliament.

1. The 'first past the post' electoral system lacks Proportional Representation and scope for proper representation of the most marginalised people socio-economically in a society dominated by the interests of home owners and salaried classes;
2. The majority of his detractors within the Parliamentary Labour Party are MPs who failed to stand out in opposition to the Conservatives' worsening attacks on all people in unemployment and precarious working conditions. When it came to the vote regarding the Welfare Reform & Work Bill their failure to be an effective opposition and support other opposition parties in voting against that legislation, that Bill passed as an Act of Parliament while the majority of Labour MPs abstained; and
3. The gulf between MPs' nearly £75K salaries plus parliamentary expenses and the degrading level of 'overall benefit cap' that the Welfare Reform & Work Act introduces reduces the credibility of those now-dissident Labour MPs. They did not act against the reduced overall benefit cap and spread of more and more benefit sanctions while Universal Credit is actually set to destroy the welfare state rather than redeem it.

We concur with Jeremy Corbyn that he would be wrong to 'walk away' under the attacks of such opposition to his leadership. He really does have a mandate, and he should have more time to outline our interests than he got in that interview and the like. Such a surrender to lobbyists and media interests with dubious credentials and motives would be a desertion and a kowtowing to the interests of those MPs who do not represent our views and fail to support vulnerable people.

----ENDS----

Related link addresses:

• http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/eu-can-i-stay-or-must-i-go.html
• http://www.katebelgrave.com
• http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk
• https://voteforpolicies.org.uk
• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/these-are-the-184-labour-mps-who-didn-t-vote-against-the-tories-welfare-bill-10404831.html
• http://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/
• https://www.gov.uk/benefit-cap/benefit-cap-amounts
• http://dpac.uk.net/2012/05/dpac-briefing-notes-housing-and-housing-benefit/http://dpac.uk.net/2012/05/dpac-briefing-notes-housing-and-housing-benefit/
• http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=overall+benefit+cap (NB: This link is given here because the Wembley Matters blog has looked into the issue of the impact of overall benefit cap in LB Brent. The Kilburn Unemployed blog editor recognises that all three LB Brent Labour MPs support Jeremy Corbyn's leadership — at least to a point.
  See http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/brent-central-labour-party-gc-backs.html Title: Brent Central Labour GC Backs Corbyn's Leadership)

Leaders of Britain's Green Parties call on leaders of Labour, Lib Dem and Plaid Cwmry for progressive alliance in face of snap general election

In the wake of the UK's EU Brexit referendum debacle, the leaders of 

• the Green Party of England & Wales (Natalie Bennett)
• the Green Party of Northern Ireland (Stephen Agnew, MLA) and
• the Wales Green Party (Alice Hooker-Stroud)

together with Green Party of England & Wales one MP, Caroline Lucas, have jointly written an Open Letter to: 

• Jeremy Corbyn (Leader of the Labour Party)
• Tim Farron (Leader of the Liberal Democrats) and 
• Leanne Wood (Leader of Plaid Cwmry [the Welsh Nationalist Party]).

The UK's biased mass media seem to be showing enormous glee at a Parliamentary Labour Party coup against a party leader chosen more by the rank and file membership than old-guard Blairites would like. Those Kilburn Unemployed members who are Labour Party members are in a different league from the Blairites that laid down foundations of the 'welfare reforms' that the Conservatives are now exploiting, and are generally much happier with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership than those Blairites who would look forward to high paid lobbying positions for global corporations on top of the prospect of seats in the House of Lords.

Against that backdrop, it is not very likely that this letter would get much publicity from the BBC, say, or Sky News, and certainly not from the Daily Mail. So without further ado, this Kwug blog editor is republishing that 'Open Letter to Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron, and Leanne Wood' here, while 'declaring an interest in that I am a member of the Green Party of England & Wales. Perhaps it speaks more for Kwug's Labour Party members than the coup leaders against Corbyn could possibly do?

Open letter to: Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron, Leanne Wood on behalf of Green Party of England and Wales In a spirit of openness and transparency, we are writing to you as Leaders of parties which oppose Brexit, to invite you to a cross-party meeting to explore how we best rise to the challenge posed by last week’s vote to Leave the EU.   Britain is in crisis and people are scared about the future. Never have we had a greater need for calm leadership to be shown by politicians.   We have a UK Government in chaos, an economy facing a crisis and people up and down the country facing serious hardship. There is an urgent need to make a stand against any austerity and the slashing of environmental legislation, human and workers’ rights, that may come with Brexit.  With the growing likelihood of an early General Election, the importance of progressive parties working together to prevent the formation of a Tory-UKIP-DUP government that would seek to enact an ultra-right Brexit scenario is ever more pressing. This is an opportunity to recognise that a more plural politics is in both the Left’s electoral and political interests. This crisis exposes the absurdity of our first past the post electoral system.  Just 24 per cent of those eligible to vote elected the government that called the referendum. The only fair way to proceed is to have a proportional voting system where people can back the politicians who they believe in, rather than taking a gamble and not knowing who they will end up with.   The idea of a progressive alliance has been floated for several years, and proposals have once again been put forward in the context of the current crisis.  We believe that the time has come to urgently consider such ideas together in the context of a Westminster Government. We recognise the very different political situation in Scotland, given the strongly pro-EU majority there. We hope that co-operation between progressive parties their can ensure that this mandate is respected, and we will support them to keep all options open. We look forward to your response, Natalie Bennett, Leader of The Green Party of England and WalesSteven Agnew MLA, Leader of the Green Party of Northern IrelandAlice Hooker-Stroud, Leader of Wales Green PartyCaroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion Related posts and pages http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/dear-jeremy-corbyn-please-tell-cameron-about-universal-credits-flaws.html http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/jeremy-corbyns-office-replies-to-kuwgs-open-letter-on-perils-of-universal-credit.html http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/pmq-worthiness-of-perils-of-universal-credit.html http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/p/general-election-2015-and-you.html — outlines where the varying parties stood in terms of policies rather than crude 'first past the post' voting system votes at the 2015 UK General Election https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/will-no-early-general-election/ — argues that sitting Tory MPs are keener on waiting for boundary changes to make their seats safer than risking losing their seats https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/another-media-setup/ — demonstrates the kind of 'lacking transparency' dirty tricks that Blairites sometimes get up to http://www.katebelgrave.com/2016/06/while-politicians-amuse-themselves-austerity-continues-rampant-etc/

Demonstration in support of Jeremy Corbyn Mon 27 June at 6pm

The Kilburn Unemployed blog editor is getting various messages about this matter.

Here is what our non-party-political friends in WinVisible (Women with visible and invisible disabilities) sent out:

GWS is non-party political but we are part of the movement called into being by the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party – anti-sexist, anti-racist, welcoming of immigrants and asylum seekers, and against austerity, starvation wages, war and other environmental degradation. We are outraged that the one Labour leader directly elected by the membership is attacked by a parliamentary coup. We’ll be at this demonstration tonight at 6pm,(1) Parliament Square, to show support for Jeremy Corbyn. (Nearest tube: Westminster.) Please join us.

Janet McLeod — London & Eastern Organiser for Unite Community — sends us:

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey’s article in The Guardian which clearly makes the case for uniting behind Jeremy Corbyn in the face of the resignations of the last 24 hours. Jeremy Corbyn best represents the views and interests of workers, unemployed workers and trade unionists across the country and this support was shown in the overwhelming vote that saw him elected as Labour leader just 10 months ago. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/26/labour-mutineers-betraying-national-interest?CMP=share_btn_fb
There is a demonstration tonight at 6pm in parliament square to show support for Corbyn, bring your branch banners and Unite flags.
In solidarity
Janet MacLeodUnite Community & Unite in Schools CoordinatorLondon & Eastern RegionRon Todd House33 – 37 Moreland StreetLondonEC1V 8BB 07718 668498FB London & Eastern Unite Community#OurCommunityLEwww.unitetheunion.org

Meanwhile, London Green Left blogger Mike Shaughnessy points out that disaffection of working class British voters with the Labour Party is the fault of Tony Blair, not Jeremy Corbyn.(2)

Link addresses

1. https://www.facebook.com/events/1754368201514480/
2. http://londongreenleft.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/labour-party-coup-blair-is-responsible.html

Jeremy Corbyn's office replies to KUWG's open letter on perils of Universal Credit

Jeremy Corbyn's office has replied on 9 May to KUWG's open letter to the Leader of the Opposition regarding the perils of Universal Credit.(1)

This is what they said:

Dear [KUWG], Thank you for contacting the Labour Party about Universal Credit. Labour’s new direction will offer a real alternative to the Tories damaging cuts to public services and lack of investment in our economy and our people. 2016 will be the start of a journey to elect a Labour government in 2020: a government that will deliver a fairer, more prosperous society that we can all enjoy - a society that works for all, not just the few. There were two major cuts to in-work support in the Summer Budget – one for tax credits and one for its replacement, Universal Credit. Only the tax credit element has been reversed. As a result, current claimants of Universal Credit face huge losses to their income come April 2016. The Government’s cuts to Universal Credit will leave over two million working families on Universal Credit £1,600 a year worse off by 2020.                                                                                                                                   New claimants of Universal Credit will receive far less support than tax credit claimants, including those who transfer across to Universal Credits. There is no rationale for unfairly reducing the support of a working family on Universal Credit compared to a family in the same circumstances on tax credits. This is a political choice by the Tories to drastically reduce support for working families. At a time when the Government is cutting inheritance tax for homes worth over a million pounds, it can’t be right to reduce support for working families. Labour opposes the Tories’ cuts to the work allowance and we are calling on the Government to reverse them in full. We really do appreciate you taking the time to share your views with us - your talents and experience make us stronger in the fight for a fairer, kinder country. We want to increase the say our members and supporters have in our policy making process, and as this develops we will keep you informed. If you’re not already, I’d encourage you to like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LabourParty)(2) or follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/uklabour)(3) so you can stay up-to-date with breaking news. You can also get involved in the debate and find out more about how we make policy at www.yourbritain.org.uk.(4)
 Best wishes, 
Communications AgentThe Labour Party

What sort of reply is that?

Links

1. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/dear-jeremy-corbyn-please-tell-cameron-about-universal-credits-flaws.html
2. https://www.facebook.com/labourparty/
3. https://twitter.com/uklabour
4. http://www.yourbritain.org.uk

Lobbyist firm connected to Maximus dabbles in Labour Party Deputy Leadership campaign? (Whatever next?)

We have hear about 'insurgents' attempting to corrupt the Labour Party Leadership contest by joining up en mass to vote for Jeremy Corbyn. But as Green Party of England & Wales' one MP so far has observed, UK politics has been corrupted by corporations.(1)

Now it has emerged that a lobbying firm connected to global workfare till you drop company Maximus is bolstering the Labour Party Deputy Leadership campaign of Blairite Labour MP Caroline Flint.(2)

For more on Maximus, see Maximus' search results on DPAC website (3) and Boycott Workfare website.(4)

Notes

(1) http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/22/influence-mps-regulated-lobbying-paid-consultancies
(2) http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/labours-flint-sparks-concerns-over-lobbying-donation-firms-maximus-links/
(3) http://dpac.uk.net/?s=maximus&searchsubmit=

(4) https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?p=maximu+site%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boycottworkfare.org%2F&fr=yfp-t-903

A Budget to eliminate the safety net?

Things cannot get any worse

 By Joan Grant of the KUWG

The Tories said that they would make £12bn of cuts to social security, but would not tell us how. The one measure that we were told about was freezing benefits for 2 years. That saves £1bn. Reducing the benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000 will save £100m a year. So that left £10.5bn of savings still to be found.

The Budget is just days away now. We still have not been told what is planned but the press are starting to discuss different rumours.

One of the rumoured cuts is to make everyone claiming Housing Benefit pay 10% of their rent. They well know but probably do not care that there are thousands of people who get £73 in JSA but whose rent is £250 a week. No one can afford to pay a third of such a low income towards the rent on a long term basis. People will get into arrears very quickly and then be evicted. The lives of people in the private rented sector are insecure enough as it is, without this as well. In a borough like Brent 100 people a week apply as homeless to the Council. A plan like this will just make things much worse.

The way to reduce the housing benefit bill is to have more social housing so that people are paying lower rents. However, one of the first things the Coalition did back in 2010 was to reduce the amount of money allocated to building social housing. Another short sighted move. Selling off housing association flats (which will ultimately end up in the hands of buy to let landlords) is another very bad policy.

The other possible cut that I have seen mentioned is to reduce the amount that people in the ESA-WRAG get from £102 to the same as JSA, i.e. £73. People currently in the ESA-WRAG face seeing their benefit reduced by £30 a week. In addition they may have to pay 10 % of their rent which could be £25 or more each week. So they face a dramatic reduction in their incomes

The Tories also plan to take away Housing Benefit from young people aged 18-to-25 who are receiving JSA. This is another pointless, petty and vindictive policy. 

 

I have no wish to scare anyone as these proposals are just rumours at this stage. But there will be more cuts after the budget on Thursday, so we may as well be prepared.

I personally do not expect any meaningful opposition from Labour. They may even support these measures to show that they can take “tough decisions”. But I’d love to be proved wrong. Only Jeremy Corbyn was on the anti austerity march two weeks ago.

These cuts will affect millions of people. The only thing that we down at the bottom have is numbers. We have to find a way to make our voices heard.

And all of this is in stark contrast to the inheritance tax cuts for homeowners which will “cost” a £1bn.

I will do another blog next week after the budget, when we will know exactly what we are dealing with. 

Related post

Benefits for people in work cost 6x as much as for people out of work

 

Corporate-vs-constituents'-interests in the Labour Party leadership elections

By Dude Swheatie of Kwug

The Wembley Matters blog has republished a newly-elected-Labour-MPs'-letter that was published in Saturday's Guardian.(1) The letter calls upon Labour Party leadership contenders to not go in for any return to Blairite 'New Labour'.

One of the signatories is now MP for Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough, the former seat of David Blunkett. Blunkett became much too heavily connected with a private company that had global ambitions, A4e [aka 'Action for Employment].(2)

When Blunkett was Secretary of State for Education and Employment David Blunkett, A4e was expanding its 'welfare to work industry' operations from the North of England into London. The reason I know that is that I was a jobseeker and intern with another 'welfare to work industry' company in London and told by the Head of Jobsearch of that company to complete weekly jobsearch portfolios relating a minimum of 16 job leads and I actually applied for a job with a company called A4e that was expanding into London. (3)

Since Blunkett owed a double allegiance to that company and his constituents, if not before, 'welfare to work industry' customers in Sheffield and elsewhere have been well able to tell Labour candidates that a privatised 'welfare to work inustry' is more of a problem than a solution.

It would, I am sure, be very interesting to see what other 'interests' Labour MPs hold in the private sector while mass media commentators focus so much on the power of 'the trade union lobby' in the Labour Party leadership election process.

See also

A4e head Emma Harrison steps down from family champion role (4)

Notes

(1) http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/no-return-to-new-labour-call-by-group.html

(2) https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A9mSs2NRn1lVLUwA9StLBQx.;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcxNzAwMwRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10LTkwMy1zBGdwcmlkA2FRak5qSkJrUXgyV1M3Wm51U1A3SEEEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzQEb3JpZ2luA3VrLnNlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMzEEcXVlcnkDImRhdmlkIGJsdW5ldHQiICJhNGUiIHNoZWZmaWVsZAR0X3N0bXADMTQzMTkzNzMxNQ--?p=%22david+blunett%22+%22a4e%22+sheffield&fr2=sb-top-uk.search&fr=yfp-t-903-s

(3) That Head of Jobsearch told me when I objected to that directive of quanitity over quality, that the directive came from 'no less than the office of David Blunkett'. A subsequent investigation in response to complaint from me found that 'Direct Computer Training' (DCT) claimed that that monitoring measure was actually only a recommendation and not mandatory. Yet at the time that I received the findings of the 'investigation' DCT intern contacts gave me a subsequent internal memo marked 'confidential' that reaffirmed the 'mandatory claim' associated with the jobsearch portfolios and threatened 'termination' [sic] to anyone not complying with that directive. The reason that irked me so much was that my written application to A4e including customised CV and hand written covering letter that had taken me several drafts and several days to accomplish had resulted in an interview.

I doubt that I would have accomplished an interview had I complied with A4e's 'advice' that we submit photocopies of the same standard CV with each job application!

(4) http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/feb/23/a4e-emma-harrison-steps-down-family-champion

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GE2015 manifestos round-up

Uploaded by Dude Swheatie of Kwug

You do not have to vote uninformed.

Conservative & Unionist (Tory Party)
    https://www.conservatives.com/yourmanifesto.aspx 

Green Party of England & Wales
    https://www.greenparty.org.uk/we-stand-for/2015-manifesto.html


Labour Party
    http://www.labour.org.uk/manifesto

Liberal Democrats
    http://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto

Left Unity
    http://leftunity.org/manifesto-2015-the-economy/

TUSC (Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition)
     http://tusc2015.com/
(Dude Swheatie is not sure from looking at their site that they have a manifesto with internal democracy agreed policies as much as they have candidates and campaigns)

UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party)
    http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015 

See also

BBC Policy Guide: Where the Parties stand
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/manifesto-guide#tab=issue!issue=priorities!party=con!nation=uk

Benefits & Work Publishing Ltd General Election Guide: who can you vote for to prevent “life-changing” benefits cuts?
    http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3074-election-special-who-can-you-vote-for-to-prevent-life-changing-benefits-cuts
    
Vote for Policies, not personalities: Compare policies from each party in their own words, and make an informed decision about who to vote for at the 2015 General Election
    https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/

Votematch (an Unlock Democracy project): Votematch is the UK's biggest voter advice app, helping you find the party that best matches your views
    http://www.votematch.org/

More on TUC backing for workfare

'Ivy' of the KUWG has added a post script to the blog piece TUC backing for workfare. Perhaps that post script is worthy of a blog piece in its own right rather than an appendage position?

"This cosy TUC and CBI backrub comes right after Ed Milliband’s announcement to cut benefits for 18 - 21 year olds, as revealed in The Guardian," she writes.

Note that the Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement. So perhaps this is classic case study material for a newer, 'tail wagging the dog' relationship between a more submissive post-Thatcher era trade union movement and a now neoliberal Labour Party? From trade union votes for politicians, to trade union leaders currying for such favours off neoliberal politicians as maybe life peerages?

Well, whatever it might do for the trade unionists involved, as Johnny Void says, the detail of what the TUC backing for workfare in which the rights of participants amount to 'get sacked and you will certainly get sancioned' and are already legislated away do not bode well for an emergent workforce or reserved army of labour. See The TUC and workfare: It's worse than you think.


* Name disguised to protect identity of a vulnerable person