Some of the effects of Tory party policys

[ttosca]

The National Housing Federation has released a report highlighting the impact of 100 days of the bedroom tax in Merseyside:

? 26,500 households in Merseyside are affected by the bedroom tax, only 155 managed to downsize due to shortage of smaller homes.

? 19,055 disabled people in Merseyside are losing over £13m a year due to the bedroom tax. Some grants are available but for three months only.

? 14,000 Merseyside households fell into arrears with their rent in the first four weeks.

?The bedroom tax is hurting the most vulnerable people in Merseyside. It is time to face the facts and repeal this unfair policy now.? David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation

Read the National Housing Federation's summary here

bit.ly/1beczNM (includes a link to the pdf report)

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More than half of benefit claimants ruled fit to work ended up destitute !

MORE than HALF of people stripped of disability benefits after being ruled ?fit for work? by Atos Origin were left unemployed and without income, according to a Government study.

The Department for Work and Pensions - DWP, who hired the French IT firm to help them slash the benefits bill, have admitted finding out in a survey that 55 per cent of people who lost benefits in the crackdown had failed to find work.

Only 15 per cent were in jobs, with 30 per cent on other benefits.

The DWP claimed people left high and dry were given ?tailored support? to find jobs.

But the extent of the hardship suffered by the Atos victims in the study will only add to the growing public fury about the firm and their methods.

Atos have assessed patients with terminal illnesses as ?fit for work?. And thousands of victims of genuine, chronic conditions have complained of being humiliated by the company?s tests.

So far, Citizens Advice in Scotland have received a shocking 24,000 complaints about Atos, who rake in £110million a year from the taxpayer for their controversial work.

The extent of unemployment among people denied benefits after Atos assessments was revealed by the DWP after a Freedom of Information request.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/atos-scandal-benefits-bosses-admit-1344278?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer0762d&utm_medium=twitter

Mumsnet deleted TWO of my posts. I requested one be deleted, but they deleted the original and the corrected on. :(

flatpack-

You know, of course, that figures released in the last fortnight indicated that the gap between rich and poor has shrunk to its lowest level in 25 years? I'm sure whichever left-wing rag you choose to flick through this week didn't run that story. But of course, your sainted propaganda isn't "misleading" or "partisan", can it?

The story you are referring to doesn't indicate that 'the gap between the rich and the poor has shrunk to its lowest level in 25 years'. It refers to income-inequality only. The Wealth gap is still the largest it has been for over a half-century, and continues to grow.

And yes, it was printed in 'left-wing rag[s]' like the Guardian:

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/jul/10/income-gap-poorest-richest-ons

The full story is that absolute poverty has increased substantially under the coalition, as evidenced by the rise in homelessness and the manyfold rise in the use of foodbanks.

Ahhhhhhhhhh ;)

Leith thanks for the link. It looks good, I especially like: industrial democracy, local democracy, indigenous companies and more extensive public and community ownership and cooperatives, and make finance a means of sustaining industry. I picked these because changing the ownership of companies and compelling the financial sector to invest and lend to local businesses esp co-operatives where the value created is shared actually starts to deliver on wealth redistribution and tackle inequality. I have saved in favourites to check back.

I asked for one of my posts to be deleted.

Mini I am going to be actively involved in a piece of work that will use the weal model as a tool to engage the public, the referendum has been very negative so far and has in the main been about the happy fairyland of getting a yes vote. No attempt to involve the public, or should I say the majority of the public in creating the "morning after the night before" if you see what I mean.

Our project will get real people, poor people in fact all the disenfranchised to have a voice. This is to important to leave to the politicians.

On a diffrent ote, I have come to believe that the only way to rest control back to the democratic principle, and bring about the end of massive inequality is to nationalise the banks. It is they that control mostly everything, taking action on bonuses, tax cuts, tax evasion, as well as how and where the government spends it's money all seems pointless as it is international money markets that are the problem.

Didn't think so.

I think it was Rothschild in the C19th who said "he who controls the supply of money, controls the country, and I control the money supply" In the lead up to the great depression the banks had massively contracted the amount of money in the system. Governments are in hock to banks. I agree with you, what is needed is banks that are under democratic control. The root cause of imperialism, war, inequality, monopoly and third world poverty is banks. They favour monopoly interests and those corporate global giants they help create answer to no one, some have profits larger than the GDP of smaller countries, because of the way in which they are owned a small percentage of people are literally holding governments and us to ransom. This is what I mean when I speak about private property (note to Hamster et al, I am not suggesting you to share your kitchen or even your last rolo!)

Another link for the interested, this time 5 FACTS why the benefit camp is a load of class war tosh.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/07/five-things-iain-duncan-smith-doesnt-want-you-know-about-benefit-cap

3, 4 and 5 are opinions, not facts. 1 is debatable, and 2 is unproven.

UPDATE ? IDS WILL answer for misusing Stats

jaynelinney.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/update-ids-will-answer-for-misusing-stats/

The National Housing Federation? I've just looked at their website. They seem like a typical Labour-style quango, lobbying for council houses. Assuming it falls under Eric Pickles' purview, I hope he gets rid!

How interesting Long, you disagree with the provision of social housing? Or just that those who do the providing should have any kind of representative voice?

Housinf associations are the largest landlords these days as collectively they own more housing and provide social housing to more people than any other type of landlord, something I am sure you found out by looking at the web site, I am at a loss then to see why Eric Pickles as minister for local authorities would want to have housing associations in his department.

ttosca, thanks for the update, lets hope they make mince meat of him.

Longfigernails, what would you suggest, would you like to see no affordable housing? Do you think the market alone can meet the need for affordable housing and diverse communities? because right now we are not building enough affordable homes and one third of the UK is off bounds for ordinary working families on the average income. Central london is becoming a ghetto of the rich and essential workers are being pushed out.

Thanks, Mini, I've learnt a lot from your posts.

The housing problem could also be helped by adapting existing empty buildings and by stopping private landlords from charging high rents and exploiting the housing shortage and the Housing Benefit system.