To ask you to all sign this petition asking the government to investigate 9,580 benefits-related deaths?

[BowieFan]

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170364

The excellent Jack Monroe has started a campaign on twitter and has been collating stories of awful experiences with the DWP, Atos, Capita and Maximus. Some of the stories are heartbreaking.

Please, please sign this petition - at the very least, the families of people who died because of the DWP deserve some closure.

Take David Clapson - former soldier who died of hunger and insulin-related shock. He had been sanctioned for being late for an appointment, and couldn't afford to pay for electricity for his fridge to keep his insulin cold. The coroner said his stomach had had no food in it for upwards of three days. Nobody should be dying like that in 2016.

I recommend you check out Jack's twitter (@MxJackMonroe) and read some of the stories using the #HungerHurts hashtag. It's heartbreaking, but we need to confront this.

Back when I was on a YTS a very wise man told me,

Don't blame people for following the rules, if the rules are shite, change them.
Don't hate the players, hate the game.

All those jumping on JCP workers dicks. Need not worry if you ever need assistance, after all. I'm sure you'll easily get a job with them. Seeing as you get on so well together.

Ummm.... okay

Not sure pointing out that the people themselves aren't actually evil and that you can't actually expect people to put their necks on the line and risk their livelihoods is jumping on their dicks.

Are you usually this hard of understanding?

And frankly if you bring the level of aggression that some of you are showing on here into your interviews, it isn't going to make anyone bend over backwards to help.

What constitutes dick jumping spider?

Presumably not burning effigies of JC staff lego

The comparison to the nazis IS offensive and ridiculous and the 'oh so they are only following orders' type snide comments just make people look ridiculous

He/she is not articulating their point well but it is true, all it takes is for a few good men to do nothing and that is what's happening right now.
I like to think if it hits the fan that actually I will share what I have with my neighbours deserving or not but this divide and conquer shit has been going on 10 years now, people are turning against each other. Educated professional people talking absolute shit about the disabled, poor and immigrants. It's scary at times.

That's kind of you to do that but you can't expect others to do the same. Many people don't care - this isn't something you can blame on the last ten years though - it's human nature.

And it may be depressing but that's just the way the world is. Very few people do things for truly selfless reasons.

Pissed Aye divide and conquer.

Job center staff aren't them.
They are us.
Low paid or agency.

Time old tactic of Tories.

I kind of agree and I kind of don't, it's like the guards/prisoners experiment isn't it. My exdh had to go and sign on at what was not the worst job centre you can imagine, on the edge of a middle class area, there were no junkies abusing staff etc more lots of young girls with buggies and the odd youth with its cap on the wrong way round. Anyway the security guard told ex to turn his phone off, ex said I'm trying to utilise my time you are wasting because you're running late. They then accused him of being aggressive, the man is a senior manager, manages managers he didn't get their without knowing what tone and body language to use. Security then tried to eject him from the building, JC look up, know who he is that he has an appointment and that there has been no raised voice from ex but stand by and do nothing except sanction him for not signing on, knowing what has happened in front of their eyes. That sort of bullshit must happen regularly and security aren't even employed by the job centre so no they aren't us they are in positions to challenge and don't.

I've no doubt Pissed I've had plenty of run ins, where just a bit of help instead of the scripted stuff, just a friendly advisor even would be in order!

They aren't the ones benefiting.

They don't get a bonus if they throw people off course.
They do have to justify every action they take or risk their own job security.

If they slip up they don't get some cushy pension they just swap sides of the counter.
It's bad and it will get worse, AIDS who implemented some of these punitive policies has fucked off pretty sharpish to put some distance.

Front line, every day, blamed, insulted, held to task, on average wage.

IDS should have to work the desk now he has so.e spare time.

I understand they aren't benefiting which tbh makes their stance and attitude all the more galling

The comparison to the nazis IS offensive and ridiculous and the 'oh so they are only following orders' type snide comments just make people look ridiculous.
Trying to manage on £73.00 per week is ridiculous.

Given that the job centre staff don't personally decide how much you get, Dawndonna , perhaps you could explain your point of view a little better, rather than just quoting my posts and making snarky comments.

My point of view is that the Tories are complete and utter bastards, that many have fallen for the rhetoric and that, as history has demonstrated oh so regularly, when we are in a recession, the poor, the weak, the vulnerable are demonised first.
As for my money, the DWP employ someone to ensure I get as little as possible. I am really quite severely disabled, but am yet again, having to apply for extra monies that in all likelihood I won't receive. They lied on the forms last time, despite evidence provided by consultants and doctors which actually included a picture of my ulcerated colon. They will probably do so again. If you support a system such as this then I will make snarky comments, it's the very people least able to fight that are being penalised. Or perhaps we should all hold our noses and take a pinch of arsenic each day?

So your argument is with the Tories. I understand people railing against the system but the people implementing it are just trying to earn a wage. There are dodgy people in every job but to write off everyone at every job centre as a nazi or whatever risks making you look slightly unhinged.

Do you actually think it's personal? That someone comes in and says 'oh how can we fuck up Dawndonna today'?

Do you have a council house?

Does who have a council house?

No Livia, I am not unhinged, I was trying to explain my personal circumstances, of course I don't think it's personal. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination stupid, I would appreciate it if you would stop implying that I am.
As for JC staff, yes, they're doing a job, if, as many tories choose to believe, there are no targets, then why are they implementing sanctions? They don't need to. At least if they don't implement them, people don't go hungry, don't get into a panic and a downward spiral. It's unnecessary and cruel to sanction people, particularly when it's for puerile reasons.

And btw I'm not here defending the policies or anything else, I just think that vilifying an entire profession is lazy stereotyping and adds nothing to a discussion

And if they don't implement them, like a PP said, they end up on the other side of the desk. That helps nobody.

I didn't say you were unhinged, I said that argument risks making you look slightly unhinged. Not the same thing at all.

I know a little of your situation but your issue is with the Govt, not the JC staff

There's ways of implementing things though aren't there. My friends been sat waiting listening to them gossiping about their weekends and had to leave to pick her kids up from school then start the whole process again the next all because towie couldn't wait ! This is people's lives they are fucking with, the recruitment process should be more stringent at least. Mind do who'd want the job I guess

My issue is with both staff and government policy. IME (used to volunteer) staff unnecessarily sanction. Many of them. No, not all of them.

I wondered if dawn had a council house