Thread 33 Sunak : Sense and Sunakability

[DuncinToffee]

After 10 dyas on the rollercoaster, we now look forward to 5 more pledges and a mini budget

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4939564-thread-32-sunak-sunak-v-suella-the-final-countdown?page=40&reply=130888910

itsgettingweird

1.5 day for Hancock!

I have shared this on the Inquiry thread, thanks for the update.

@DuncinToffee Thank very much for that link.
The 'Statement' is good but I'm still really worried that things will get much worse for disabled people (& they are pretty challenging now!)

I did watch a celebrity SAS programme on TV recently (not my sort of thing but DS is very down & he wanted company to watch it). Matt Hancock was on it. No spoilers for those who might still want to watch but he didn't seem to grasp AT ALL how angry many people might feel with this Govt (& his part in it)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-67507045

How on earth did the government manage to underestimate last years figures by 15%??

And wtf are they piddling around with Rwanda?

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2023

Today, we've published provisional long-term migration estimates for the UK, year ending June 2023.

Immigration was 1.2m
Emigration was 508,000
Provisional net migration (difference between people arriving and people leaving) was 672,000

Provisional net migration for year ending June 2023 (672,000) is slightly higher compared with year ending June 2022 (607,000) but down on our updated estimate for year ending December 2022 (745,000).

Number of care worker visas went from 12,000 last year to 77,500 this year. Want to cut immigration? Fund social care properly.

x.com/samfr/status/1727624495865688391?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

From the report

• The increase in non-EU immigration in the YE June 2023 was mainly driven by migrants coming for work (up to 33% from 23% in YE June 2022), largely attributed to those coming on health and care visas; in contrast, those arriving on humanitarian routes decreased from 19% to 9% over the same period.

Rwanda would not have done anything about that

I always wondered during the Brexit campaign how the Leave voters would react when white migrants from Europe were replaced by brown and black migrants from elsewhere. Guess we will find out

I have got to admit that I am worried about that too. But I don't think the Tories have the patliamentary time to get this through before a GE.

I am a carer for my disabled DH. Getting ESA and PIP was a horrible process. Some people have no idea how hard day to day life can be, do they?

We are lucky in that we are older so by the time any changes come in we will probably have pensions etc. Labour must not go down this road, it would be a betrayal of everything they stand for.

He was the same on I'm A Celeb. Wittering on about how all he'd done was fall in love. He seemed to genuinely think that people were angry with him because of his affair, not because of his terribly handling of covid and the deaths of thousands and thousands of their loved ones.

I've just seen that Sunak lied to Parliament in PMQs yesterday. He was asked about 'eat out to help out' and whether he had taken advice from the scientists. He replied that the scientists had been consulted. But all the scientists have testified under oath that they weren't consulted.

@MrTiddlesTheCat I've never watched I'm a Celebrity. What was (surprisingly!) interesting about the SAS show was that each of the participants 'broke down' as they went through genuinely challenging SAS style tasks & the viewer got to see something of their psyche. MH progressed further than I expected (it's physically very challenging) but he got short shrift from the SAS instructors & the last few episodes were a joy to watch frankly.

Am tempted to watch it myself now! Which channel was it on please?

He got voted to do all the trials at the beginning of I'm a celeb because the public wanted to punish him. They quickly realised he enjoyed doing them so stopped voting for him.

Hancock was well prepared for the physical tasks but he underestimated the mood of the voters.

The SAS thing was filmed before the celebrity jungle I think

@IClaudine It was Channel 4.
I don't want to spoil it but they all go through some very tough stuff including (in a later episode) some really horrible Interrogation. I wondered if it had been beefed up for TV ratings but my Ds said he thought it was fairly accurate.
Hancock had someone screaming in his face (not comfortable viewing however you feel about him) but it was his denoument itself which was really interesting.

@DuncinToffee I'm surprised he'd do the Celebrity thing after the SAS one!

He must have a very tough hide / need the money / attention really badly.
(mind you, isn't that the very definition of many Politicians ...)

Me too I’m in receipt of ESA & PIP, I was originally given a indefinite award for DLA but when they changed over I had to reapply for PIP & every two years thereafter, I’ve just been informed that a review form is on its way nearly eight months before this award runs out, I dread it so humiliating & degrading I was penalised last time & lost points because I used my arm to push my glasses back on my head, the assessor told outright lies I didn’t have the energy or headspace to challenge.

@dontcallmelen I'm so sorry. I also had an indefinite award under DLA but now my PIP is reassessed every 2 years. My last F2F assessment was awful. I was asked 'how often I changed my knickers'. I bridled & the (55? year old man) said he 'just needed to know if I was able to manage my personal care' but the way he worded it was horrible - gratuitously offensive. I was in contact with my then local CAB at the time & mentioned it to them. They said that that particular assessor was well known for such remarks & they would flag it up 'again' but not to complain directly as he had the power to alter my assessment '& would do so'

Both my young adults have Autism & Clincial Anxiety which affects them to a disabling degree. One has PIP & one has child DLA. ALL three of us regularly have our awards reassessed up to a whole 12m before they end. The system is not fit for purpose - SO MUCH £ is wasted on the Appeals/Tribunal system.

Oh God that’s awful @medianewbie im so sorry.
absolutely agree the it’s not fit for purpose, it’s a cruel process especially when you have to go to appeal/tribunal & the sheer amount of money wasted is criminal.

@dontcallmelen thanks x
This is why my young adults will never go through an assessment without me present (or a decent CAB person)
The waste of money is staggering. That's why it's so clearly an Idealogical policy.

I am so sorry @dontcallmelen and @medianewbie the whole process is a disgrace.

They also try to catch you out with seemingly friendly, innocuous questions. The PIP assessor asked if we had pets, but we were wise to that one as I had read about why they ask this and how you answer can be used against you. It is despicable.

I am so sorry to hear all your personal experiences, it's dehumanising

There are a lot of disabled people and carers posting on Twitter/X who are scared and panicking. I really wish Labour would say something about its plans to help people be less afraid.

Eh? I've not heard anything about this. They use having a pet against people?

This has cheered me up a bit - I bet Farage hated it! Go Nella Rose
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67507616

(Although I love Fred sirieix so the last para is disappointing!)