Ask well-informed questions of candidates while government bodies still gather the statistics!

Richard Osley of Camden New Journal and Islington Tribune writes in the Islington Tribune:

No mistakes: Justice Secretary Liz Truss can’t think of a single error made by Tory government (1)

JUSTICE Secretary Liz Truss was stumped today when the New Journal asked her if the Conservatives had made any mistakes at all in government since the last general election.

With cabinet members arriving in the target constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn at a rate of one every four days since Theresa May called a snap election, Ms Truss was in West Hampstead this afternoon (Thursday) to help with the local Conservative campaign aiming to unseat Labour’s Tulip Siddiq.

After rolling off a list of achievements and insisting that, despite her role in the Remain campaign, that her party had been right to call a national referendum on EU membership, the New Journal asked the simple question as to whether she could think of any mistake the government had made over the last two years.

She paused, looked surprised by the question, and then replied: “Well, I think given where we were as a country, given what we inherited in 2010, which was a country with serious financial problems, I think we’ve done a very good job in getting us back into a better position. We have record levels of employment, we’ve got more children in good and outstanding schools, we are putting more money into the NHS and that’s what people want to see....”

Perhaps that phrase ".... and that's what people want to see...." is the most telling piece of her speel, given the new policy of the Department for Work & Pensions closing jobcentres without a consultation of service users, and saying that closing jobcentres will 'improve the service'?(2) Her Party does not want the people who are not in regular 'nine-to-five' employment to be seen to expose the lies and statistical manipulations involved in her 'record levels of employment' vision that masks the misery of zero hours contracts and sanctions.

As William Davies writes of Tory leader yet to be mandated as Prime Minister, Theresa May: Theresa May's Vapid Vision for a One-Party State: (3)

.... The prime minister’s rhetoric since calling the general election has implied that the best outcome for “the national interest” would be to eradicate opposition altogether, whether that be in the news media, Parliament or the judiciary....

Elsewhere, the non-party-political Revd Paul Nicolson of Taxpayers Against Poverty writes:

Question Candidate MPs! More deaths More in hospital with malnutrition It will get worse What will you do about it? (4)

Questions for all Parliamentary Candidates;
Each question should be prefaced with

IS IT FAIR…

The NHS has reported that over 7300 people were admitted to hospital with malnutrition in 2014/15. Up 50% in the four years since 2010? http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/news/food-bank-britain-amid

That the Office for National Statistics has revealed an unprecedented increase in deaths in 2015 after decades of improvement? http://www.theactuary.com/news/2017/03/an-unprecedented-rise-in-uk-deaths-will-see-life-expectancy-fall/

That the regressive impact of the market and austerity has damaged the health and wellbeing of millions of citizens since 1979 and in particular since 2010?http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/news/tap-health-equality-campaign-of-9-blogs-against-a-national-disgrace-we-publ

That because rents are rising faster than incomes The Resolution Foundation has forecast ​ever ​lower incomes after housing costs reducing by 16% for the poorest citizens over the next four years while the highest incomes rise 4%? http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2017/01/Audit-2017.pdf

That Income Support, Employment Support Allowance and Jobseekers Allowance all at £73.10pw and Universal Credit of £317pm are too low live on AND have to pay rent due to the bedroom tax and council tax http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/news/the-great-injustice-in-cutting-esa-by-30-a-wee

That given what we know about the physical and emotional costs of moving house, the vulnerability of children’s education to frequent moves and the disruption to schooling and social networks, that councils are demolishing council estates rather than maintaining them?  http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/25331/412554-Housing-as-a-Platform-for-Improving-Education-Outcomes-among-Low-Income-Children.PDF

​To allow the UK to sleepwalk into a proliferation of insecure work which is short sighted, damages health and costs the taxpayers? http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/news/allowing-uk-to-sleepwalk

In 2010 it was estimated that inequalities in health accounted for productivity losses of £31-£33 billion per year, and £20-£32 billion a year in lost taxes and higher welfare payments.  Additional NHS healthcare costs associated with inequality were estimated to be in excess of £5.5 billion a year?  http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/news/health-inequalities-004
Rev Paul Nicolson

Those questions are based on official statistics that no doubt Justice Secretary Theresa May, Prime Minister Theresa May etc would rather have the public not see. So I would say, grab every opportunity you can! Ask those questions of candidates and highlight those statistical realities.

Otherwise, those who have landed Britain in such a mess in the name of 'austerity' and the reality of making economically vulnerable people subject to the bankers' debt, will abolish the requirement and budgeting for official bodies to gather the relevant statistics.

Similarly, you may wish to ask candidates questions around how Conservative Government has sought to so 'transform justice' that injustices are made invisible by removing people's right to challenge, say, dodgy benefits assessment challenges, etc.(5) 

Successful legal challenges embarrass the abusers of vulnerable people in a very unequal and divided Britain, and so do the statistics resulting from a legal system designed and equipped to challenge injustice rather than perpetuate injustice.

Link References

1. http://islingtontribune.com/article/no-mistakes-justice-secretary-liz-truss-cant-think-of-a-single-error-made-by-tory-government
2. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/terra-firma-benefits-services-closures-leave-the-economically-vulnerable-in-the-lurch.html 
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/opinion/theresa-mays-vapid-vision-for-a-one-party-state.html
4. http://taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/news/question-candidate-mps-more-deaths
5. http://kilburnunemployed.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Ministry+of+Justice

Update on David Clapson, sanctioned to death

Guest blog post by Gill Thompson, sister of the late David Clapson. (David Clapson died after being found 'fit for work' and then sanctioned for inability to stick to a 'Claimant Commitment' that was not fit for humanity.)

David Clapson when he was a serving soldier

Update on David Clapson: sanctioned to death?   Hi,   As many of you know, I have been campaigning for a long time to try and achieve an investigation into the link between the benefit sanction imposed on my brother and his death. I believe that having had his benefits stopped due to a sanction, he was unable to afford to buy food and electricity to refrigerate his insulin, which in turn left him unable to manage his diabetes.   Unfortunately despite the best efforts of my lawyers, the Coroner has refused to open an investigation as he considers there is no evidence that the benefit sanction played any role in my brother’s death. I am now preparing to ask the High Court to consider my brother’s case and am raising money to cover legal fees, including court fees and experts fees.   In order to do this, I need to raise a minimum of £10,000 and I would appreciate any help you can give. You can pledge your support here – https://www.crowdjustice.org/case/david-clapson/   Please share the link on social media and email it to 3 people who you think would be interested to help me spread the word. Please also make a pledge of £35 or whatever you can afford to the new case. Either of these things will really help me to take this case to the High Court.   I am very grateful for your support of my campaign so far. This is not just about my brother. I want a Coroner to look at the DWP guidance on people living with Diabetes and how the sanction regime is applied to people with long term health conditions. The UN has raised concerns about the extent to which the UK government has made use of sanctions in relation to benefits and the absence of due process and access to justice for those affected by the use of sanctions. I hope you can continue to support me in my fight to ensure David’s death is properly investigated and action taken to prevent future deaths of vulnerable people   Thanks so much for your ongoing support,   Gill Thompson

No more deaths from benefit cuts – Gill Thompson launches legal case for brother David Clapson

Guest blog post from WinVisible (Women with visible and invisible disabilities)

PRESS RELEASE . . . PRESS RELEASE . . . PRESS RELEASE . . .

No more deaths from benefit cuts – Gill Thompson launches legal case

for brother David Clapson 

No more deaths from benefit cuts — Gill thompson launches legal case for brother David Clapson

Gill Thompson’s legal case for her brother David, who was diabetic and died in 2013 after his Jobseekers Allowance was sanctioned, has just been launched. Gill's legal team wrote to the Hertfordshire Coroner setting out why there should be an investigation, including of breach of the right to life and of DWP procedure sanctioning claimants (see Leigh Day press release).  David’s death was put down to “natural causes” and there was no inquest.  Public support through CrowdJustice fundraising has enabled this challenge.

 

In October, at the people’s premiere of Ken Loach’s film “I, Daniel Blake” in Leicester Square, Gill joined other campaigners at an invited vigil against deaths from benefit cuts, on the red carpet.  Nichole Drury, another bereaved relative, spoke about her mother Moira Drury, who had a head injury from domestic violence, and developed cancer.  Moira was too ill to attend the benefit exam but her reasons were not accepted and she was cut off.  The stress of being without benefit for months, then a Council Tax demand for nearly £2,000 resulting from loss of benefit, hastened her death.  The banner of names of people who died from benefit cuts and sanctions was read out by Maggie Zolobajluk.  Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, longtime opponents of the Work Capability Assessment, gave their support at the vigil and spoke to people individually.   

 

Corbyn highlighted David’s plight in Parliament at Prime Minister’s Questions, telling Theresa May and ministers to go and see “I, Daniel Blake”.

 

Black Triangle welcomes Gill’s challenge, relevant to the refusal to hold an inquest into the death of Alan McArdle, who died of a heart attack in 2015 within an hour of being read a letter threatening to stop his Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).  Maximus had reported him to the DWP for missing back-to-work appointments, insisting on sanction when someone called to let them know he was in hospital.

 

Many claimants say WinVisible’s Benefit self-help rights sheet has helped them, including against sanctions. We won exemption from the face-to-face Work Capability Assessment (WCA) exam for many vulnerable women, and helped restore benefit to disabled women cut off for “failure to attend”. 

 

Despite words that people on ESA Support Group rate with chronic conditions will no longer be retested, on 1 November the government launched a “Work, health and disability: improving lives” green paper at disability charity Scope, which includes the proposal to make everyone subject to sanctions, including sick and disabled people in the Support Group who are currently protected. Disabled campaigners are determined to fight this new attack on claimants, and recently protested against national Mind, confronting CEO Paul Farmer against Mind sending their policy officer Tom Pollard to work for the DWP – tied to lucrative DWP contracts for the “work cure” for people with mental distress. 

 

Opposition inside Parliament is also growing.  MPs opposed to the ESA cut due in April 2017, are calling for a debate, including Green, Labour, SNP and Tory MPs, such as Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage where David Clapson lived.  McPartland’s correspondence with the DWP at Gill’s request, where the DWP replied they knew David was insulin-dependent, forms part of the legal challenge.

 

More info: Gill Thompson gill.a4u@outlook.com   WinVisible win@winvisible.org  020 7482 2496

Court ruling expected soon on domestic violence challenge to the total Benefit Cap

Women Against Rape UPDATE

Court ruling expected soon on domestic violence challenge to the total Benefit Cap   On Tuesday 29 April, Women Against Rape and others held a vigil outside the UK Supreme Court in Parliament Square, to support the legal challenge to the government’s “total Benefit Cap”.  The Cap, which limits a family’s total benefit to £500 per week, including rent and Child Benefit, traps women and children in violent relationships – a violent man in waged work is not capped, but the woman who leaves him, is.  We went in to monitor the case, and anxiously await the outcome – the ruling is expected soon.

This Supreme Court challenge to the Cap, is joined by another challenge against “bedroom tax” by a single mother fleeing domestic violence whose Housing Benefit is cut for having a safe room in her secured housing, in case her violent ex-partner tries to break in.  And more challenges to the Cap, bedroom tax and Council Tax are under way. The challenge before five Supreme Court judges was whether the “Benefit Cap (Housing Benefit) Regulations 2012 are unlawful because they unjustifiably discriminate against lone parents and victims of domestic violence, who are predominantly women, and fail to have regard to the best interests of the child”. http://supremecourt.uk/cases/case_2014_0079.html  It is being brought by two single mothers and their children, fleeing domestic violence.  Their solicitor Rebekah Carrier describes the Cap as ‘catastrophic, cruel and arbitrary’.    The court heard from a legal team representing the families, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Shelter.  Their case included that:   ·         The Benefit Cap discriminates against women, disproportionately hitting women fleeing domestic violence and single mothers.  Traumatised mothers are less likely to be able to get waged work to escape the cap.  A girl in one of the families is traumatised by abuse – such children need their mothers, not unfamiliar childminders while the mothers go out to work. ·         The policy goes against the best interests of children.  By January 2014, more than 100,000 children had been made homeless – not a small-scale policy. (We are shocked at this level of brutality towards children – the emotional harm done to them can only be seen as violence against children!)   ·         Women going into emergency accommodation to flee domestic violence are entitled to dual rent so they can return to their home – but dual rents are bound to exceed the Cap, so this deters women from leaving violent partners.  Women’s Aid fear the death toll could rise, of women murdered by partners – already, more than two women a week are killed by partners or ex-partners. ·         Families placed in temporary accommodation by the Council have no choice about where they go or how much it costs.  ·         The actual impact of the Cap is much worse than set out in official documents, but Department for Work and Pensions predictions have not been reassessed according to the reality.  Discretionary housing payments are not reliable or a long-term answer. ·         The courts have a responsibility to address discrimination in social policy, and the Cap already has exemptions, such as for some disabled people. ·         MPs and Lords who wanted amendments to the Welfare Reform Act, such as keeping Child Benefit out of the Cap, were promised by the government that their concerns would be dealt with by the regulations – yet this has not been done.   The judges asked various questions.  Baroness Hale, Deputy President of the Supreme Court, asked if the Cap was about discouraging people from having children.  (This too, goes against the human rights they are considering.)  The CPAG pointed out that large families could not change their size, and that parents in paid work get benefits on top of wages – including Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit, so the £500 a week “average earnings” to justify the level of the Cap, was false.  Also, one of the single mothers in the case has only two children but still exceeds the Cap due to her high rent.  Her and the children’s benefit is a small proportion – her personal allowance is meagre. Last year, Women Against Rape (WAR) launched a petition on behalf of women and children escaping violent relationships, and is campaigning with others to “Scrap the Benefit Cap!”  In Parliament, the Early Day Motion sponsored by John McDonnell MP calls on the government to lift the cap to protect current and potential victims of domestic violence.  The government has been forced to respond to the many objections and since 10 April this year, some women in refuges and hostels are protected, but the majority – like the mothers and children in the legal challenge – are not. Sign our petition here to scrap the cap NOW, get your organisation to endorse it, like it to your friends on Facebook and Twitter – we need as many signatures as possible.  The petition is endorsed by the Black Women’s Rape Action Project, and others.  Ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 980 Watch Don’t Cap My Benefits and share the link (BBC Panorama, 10 April). For more information about the campaign contact WAR  Tel: 020 7482 2496  war@womenagainstrape.net About the legal challenge: Rebekah Carrier, Hopkin Murray Beskine.  Tel: 020 7272 1234

Important date change: Benefit Cap Appeal and Protest to be held on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 January

This is instead of Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 January dates that were previously posted. For more details, go to
Benefit Cap traps women in violent relationshipsFr...

Benefit Cap traps women in violent relationships

From Women Against Rape

Please sign urgently.  The legal challenge this petition supports is coming to court on 28 & 29 January.  The petition has just under 500 signatures.  We need as many as possible.  Signatories include: Dr Bridget Anderson Natalie Bennett, Leader Green Party Dr Lynn Bindman JP Zena Edwards, poet Dr Charmian Goldwyn Selma James, Global Women’s Strike John McDonnell MP Mrs Jessica Mccarnun, Bedroom Tax campaigner Waveney Women’s Aid - Jenny Webber Women’s Health Project, South London Splitz Support Service - Jacqueline Mundy Dr Felicity de Zulueta
Dear friends,   The benefit cap is trapping women and children in violent relationships.  A legal challenge in defence of women who have already been affected will be heard on 27 and 28 January at the Court of Appeal. What you can do: ·         Sign the petition to scrap the cap NOW, get your organisation to endorse it, like it to you friends on facebook and twitter – we need as many signatures as possible.  ·         Join the protest outside the court on 27 & 28 January, 9.30 am, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand WC2A 2LL. ·         Listen to Kim Sparrow from Single Mothers’ Self-Defence, who has endorsed the petition, on BBC Radio 5 Live about the reality of the Benefit Cap. (Starts 1:08 minutes into the show, move cursor along.) Like it to your friends. Petition to Scrap the Benefit Cap which traps women and children in violent relationships. In support of legal challenge to be heard 27-28 Jan 2014
WAR outside the High Court in Oct 2013	Women Against Rape (WAR) and others have launched a petition asking the public to support women and children impoverished by the Benefit Cap after escaping violent relationships.  A legal challenge on behalf of affected families will be heard in the Court of Appeal on 27 and 28 January 2014. Solicitor Rebekah Carrier describes the Cap as ‘catastrophic, cruel and arbitrary’. Please sign online here For more information about the petition contact WAR Tel: 020 7482 2496  war@womenagainstrape.net About the legal challenge: Rebekah Carrier, Hopkin Murray Beskine.   Tel: 020 7272 1234
·     One third of women have suffered domestic violence.  Every week two women are killed by partners or ex-partners, in England and Wales. ·     The Benefit Cap limits a family’s total benefit to £500 per week, including rent and Child Benefit.  Extortionate rents, including for some refuges and hostels, leave mothers and children with little or no income to live on.  ·     A test case is being fought in court on behalf of families impoverished by the Benefit Cap after escaping violence.  So far, there is no exemption from the Cap for victims of violence.  ·     Many victims of violence are unable to get a job immediately or to move to a cheaper area – they need to stay close to friends and relatives for support, and time to recover and to reassure distressed children.
Women Against Rape was among the groups demonstrating at the High Court in October.  We heard in court what the mothers and children have gone through, including living for years in rundown housing.  They are represented by Rebekah Carrier of Hopkin Murray Beskine, who describes the Cap as catastrophic, cruel and arbitrary: "Two of the families have fled domestic violence in circumstances where they were financially reliant upon their abusive partners, and they now face a stark choice between descending further into poverty and risking losing their homes, or returning to their abusers in order to escape the imposition of the cap." Lisa Longstaff of Women Against Rape says: “We call on the government to put the safety of women and children first by lifting the Benefit Cap so no one is trapped in a violent a relationship where they risk injury, trauma and even death.”  The petition is endorsed by the Black Women’s Rape Action Project, Legal Action for Women, Single Mothers’ Self-Defence, WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities) and Women Against Rape.

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Women Against Rape oppose the Benefit Cap — how about you?

Launch of petition to Scrap the Benefit Cap which traps women and children in violent relationships. In support of legal challenge to be heard in early 2014
WAR outside the High Court in Oct 2013	Women Against Rape (WAR) and others are launching a petition asking the public to support women and children impoverished by the Benefit Cap after escaping violent relationships.  A legal challenge on behalf of affected families will be heard in the Court of Appeal in early 2014. Solicitor Rebekah Carrier describes the Cap as ‘catastrophic, cruel and arbitrary’. Please sign online here For more information about the petition contact WAR Tel: 020 7482 2496  war@womenagainstrape.net About the legal challenge: Rebekah Carrier, Hopkin Murray Beskine.   Tel: 020 7272 1234
·     One third of women have suffered domestic violence.  Every week two women are killed by partners or ex-partners, in England and Wales. ·     The Benefit Cap limits a family’s total benefit to £500 per week, including rent and Child Benefit.  Extortionate rents, including for some refuges and hostels, leave mothers and children with little or no income to live on.  ·     A test case is being fought in court on behalf of families impoverished by the Benefit Cap after escaping violence.  So far, there is no exemption from the Cap for victims of violence.  ·     Many victims of violence are unable to get a job immediately or to move to a cheaper area – they need to stay close to friends and relatives for support, and time to recover and to reassure distressed children.
Women Against Rape was among the groups demonstrating at the High Court in October.  We heard in court what the mothers and children have gone through, including living for years in rundown housing.  They are represented by Rebekah Carrier of Hopkin Murray Beskine, who describes the Cap as catastrophic, cruel and arbitrary: "Two of the families have fled domestic violence in circumstances where they were financially reliant upon their abusive partners, and they now face a stark choice between descending further into poverty and risking losing their homes, or returning to their abusers in order to escape the imposition of the cap." Lisa Longstaff of Women Against Rape says: “We call on the government to put the safety of women and children first by lifting the Benefit Cap so no one is trapped in a violent a relationship where they risk injury, trauma and even death.”  The petition is endorsed by the Black Women’s Rape Action Project, Legal Action for Women, Single Mothers’ Self-Defence, WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities) and Women Against Rape.

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