Your Political Silence Is Consent

by Howling Mad Maverick

Before you start reading I’ll let you know now that I am not a ‘name brand’ academic or anything like that. I’m just a person who lives here and who is sick to the point of insanity at how things are.

 

A lot of people out there now know the facts, I’d even dare say that most people out there know the essentials.

 

Workers are being broken, disabled people are being culled, and the Etonions are swilling even more luxuries from their troughs, while the best people out there starve away to nothing.

 

But complaining changes nothing.

“Boo Tories! Boo DUP! Boo RFC!” shows your opinion in the same way that livestock crying “Baa! Moo! Cluck!” before going on the chopping board shows their opinion.

 

What we, the people, need is a movement again.

The Yes campaign was a monumental revival of humanity in our home, people came together peacefully, sharing their hopes and dreams for the benefit for all, and for the first time in my life I was able to smile at a stranger.

Now many Yes organisations have become the political groups from the film Life of Brian “Let’s have a meeting! (and talk to no one outside our group)”, which leaves us with only the SNP and Scottish Green Party in the ‘limelight’.

We can’t expect any political party at Westminster to continue the fight for our dreams on our behalf (just look at the party Keir Hardie founded).

We need to take to the streets again (and let me be crystal-sparkling clear, I am not inciting riots. What makes our movement so special is that we are so peaceful, no Brit can ever say the same).

We need to be seen, not just at one of demonstration that has been planned and paid for months in advanced (and boycotted or distorted by the British media). We need to show the British that we have a presence that reaches further and stronger than their propaganda. We have the advantage because we actually live here.

Be like the Icelandic women on October 24th 1975. They went on strike for a day, JUST ONE DAY!, to demand equality, and they got it.

Workers unite! And remember “if you tolerate this then your children will be next”.

That’s enough of my rant. I have been writing a wee story that will most likely never be finished, but with the revival of drugs in the community (especially amongst young people), and with the POVERTY-SUPER-MAX that we ARE in for thanks to the political climate, I figured I might as well share a wee bit of it here:

 

What’s The Point?

(A snippet of what life was like in 2004 for me)

 

“Wee-man!”

 

Everything was grey, the pavement, the buildings, the sky.

It was raining.

Dave was rushing down the street, he didn’t run, but he did move as fast as he could while maintaining his calmest facade. The streets were not safe, at least not to Dave.

The fact that Dave had lived here his entire life meant nothing, you’re either one of them or you’re not, and without knowing it, Dave had chosen a different path to the rest of them a long time ago.

Dave believed this was due to his way of thinking, ‘was it a magic gift?’, he could never understand why people were addicted to tv and alcohol when so much more is possible in this life.

They would rant and rave about how bad corruption had gotten, how dangerous times had become, but they stood ready to attack the person who stood up for them, against the things they lived to complain about.

Dave never understood double-speak, why would anyone focus on what they hated, then defend what they hated the minute someone came along to make things better?

 

“Here wee-man! Mate!!!” a junky called over to Dave from across the street.

Dave never gave anything away, he never showed any emotion, especially when he was outside.

Dave kept on walking, not looking at the junky, but not looking away either, like a government agent avoiding questions from reporters, in a Hollywood film.

All the same Dave kept his head down. He always kept his head down. Dave felt claustrophobic from the CCTV that spread through his home town like a virus, and looking down from the cameras made him feel a bit safer. Keeping his head down also limited the chance of a probable “Whit you looking at!” from a passer-by, and it came in handy to avoid stepping on whatever lay on the ground.

“MATE! ! !” the junky shrieked at the top of his voice, making Dave look over.

Once he had Dave’s attention, the junky shouted “Tell yer maw she was good stuff last night!” making an offensive gesture toward Dave.

The junky proceeded to puff out his chest and spread his arms, inviting Dave to a fight.

A full grown adult on drugs, in a place where people know him, against a school aged boy out on his own…As if’

Dave walked on, still showing no emotion. To show emotion, any emotion, was a sign of weakness in these streets.

Dave hated the world he lived in, everyone was addicted to needless drama. They would even purposely create problems if there was no drama to keep them amused.

And ‘God forbid’ you showed any kindness. If you showed any sign of compassion, you had truly declared ‘open season’ on yourself to all of them.

Things were bad for Dave because he didn’t fight these pointless fights that the drug addicts often challenged him to, but at least they had one slight hint of fear of him, which was not being able to tell what Dave was thinking, courtesy of the “mask” that he wore.

 

Dave could see the newly built flats as he reached a further part of the street.

A forest used to be where the flats where situated. It was the last forest Dave had ever seen.

People had overpaid stupid amounts of money, to some ‘fat-cat’, so that they could live in a house that was essentially made out of papier-mâché, in a horrible area. Was it worth the loss of the last green area that Dave had ever known?

What’s the point?’ Dave lamented.               

Dave’s world was covered in cement, to him the Earth was a large sphere of concrete. It was full of rules that only applied when preventing good people from making a stand.

Snitches get stitches!” the so called “hard men” would chant, but they were always the first ones to run and “snitch” whenever things didn’t go their way.

Dave considered how he would not be living in terror, if the worst people were not encouraged and protected by the establishment.

Head’s they win, tail’s you lose… there’s no survival of the fittest anymore’ Dave thought to himself.

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All the Bloody Terrible Stuff that the Tory Government has done

  • Made a deal with the sectarian terrorist group – DUP

 

  • Pathetic response to the Grenfell tragedy.

 

  • Tories and DUP team up to vote  for emergency services cuts and pay freeze

 

  • Abolished the Department for Energy and Climate Change

 

  • Fought against reforms to Personal Independence Payments in court which would extend disability benefit to people with conditions such as dementia

 

  • Reduced the benefits cap (affecting the 116,000 of the poorest families in the UK). This has also put domestic abuse refuges at risk of closure.

 

  • Continued selling arms to Saudi Arabia, despite evidence that the Arab state has committed war crimes.

 

  • Cut funding for pharmacies by more than £200 million over 18 months

 

  • Spent £1.9 million building a Wall. (Sound familiar?) “Great Wall of Calais”

 

  • Not told anyone about a Trident missile malfunction weeks before the Commons voted to replace 4 nuclear submarines costing 40 billion.

 

  • Cancelled plans to allow unaccompanied child refugees into the UK. Then claiming there was no more room. The UK Gov then refused to consult with councils on capacity.

 

  • Told Scotland that ‘Now is not the time’ for an independence referendum despite dragging Scotland out of the EU when it collectively voted to stay.

 

  • Proposed jail sentences of up to 14 years for whistleblowers, and the prosecution of journalists who receive leaked documents.

 

  • Prison Crisis – which has seen officers walk out over concerns about safety and incidents of suicide and self-harm

 

  • NHS England Crisis –  deliberately underfunding the NHS (which has killed people- Elderly patient dies after a 35hr wait on a trolley as besieged A&Es shut their doors 42 times leaving nurses in tears and now the Red Cross warns of a humanitarian crisis) and privatising contracts.

 

  • Scrapped housing benefit for 18 to 21-year-olds. Charities have warned the policy will lead to thousands of young people becoming homeless.

 

  • Despite Turkey’s worsening human rights record – the UK Government is selling them British Fighter Jets for £100 million.

 

  • Abolished the Child Poverty Unit.

 

  • Introduced the “Snoopers Charter”, requiring internet and phone companies to store browsing histories for 12 months and giving the government access to the data.

 

  • Ruled out an inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave despite growing evidence that the South Yorkshire Police attacked and framed the miners.

 

  • Ignored WASPI women (a group that fights the injustice done to all women born in the 1950s affected by the changes to the State Pension Law (1995/2011 Acts).

 

 

  • Westminster (UK gov) refusing to give reassurance to EU nationals that they can continue to live/work in UK post Brexit.

 

  • Announced intention to repeal Human Rights Act

 

  • Announced plans for a ‘dementia tax’ to force the elderly to pay for their own care
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Armed with Paper [Poem…of sorts]

Armed with Paper

 

Strong prisons can have paper bars

Creating books with empty memoirs

And blackout ceilings of Latin Decrees

Where only the poor are cut off at the knees

 

Exempting only inmates of bloodied Titles

Conversations translated with bias subtitles

On a malleable foundation of benefit hate

Privilege redefining the disabled sick fate

 

Knowledge is power so they increase the security

Plunging Internet light into controlled dark obscurity

Foreshadowed by brandings breathing in an enclosure

Ninety Nine will fall when One controls the exposure

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I, Daniel Blake

I exist in a system that tortures the most vulnerable in society.  A system that rewards cruelty, degrades human beings and drives up suicides and disabled deaths.  You might think that this film is unrelated to you. You might be doing alright for yourself. But the difference between me and you? – Is luck.

I was fine, working and healthy one day and then the next my entire world burned into ash.  What happened to me was not predictable. It could not be cured, only managed and even then somedays it cannot.

If you want some insight into how Tory austerity is killing people – go watch “I, Daniel Blake” (an excellent starting point).  Although the system of cruelty was actually started off by Labours ATO’s Medical Assessments and evolved into the monster that is Tory Mass-Murder.

I’ve wrote about this before, and I will write about it again:-

DWP Deaths

United Nations (UN) Two UK Investigations

Deaths 2014

We could all be Daniel Blake. We all deserve to be treated with respect. We are human beings.

In five weeks time I will also be homeless, becoming more disabled, financially crippled before Christmas and today I discovered that the Homeless officer that was meant to be helping me – she got a new job and failed to allocate my case to someone else.

#IDanielBlake
#IDanielBlake
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My Red Line

It is very difficult on Twitter to fully express how I, personally, feel about the entire tax credit issue. My cold attitude towards the woman who wept on TV “I voted Conservative for my kids” has led to criticism that I, myself, are in some way inhumane and compassionless. Did I back down? Fold? Apologise? Did I Hell.

And let me express this in its full non-140 character limit form – I will NEVER apologise for feeling angry that someone voted Conservative for ‘their’ kids by throwing OTHER peoples’ kids and disabled/sick people under the bus.

If that makes me a bad person – I am a 100% ok with that. My soul (core or nature – whichever words you want to use) will continue without so much as a flicker of the type of corruption that plagues the UK emanating from the House of Commons.

Conservatives have murdered thousands of disabled people[1] and destroyed the independent living fund[2]. They are now going after the Work Related Activity benefits[3] and the PIP itself is already a degrading[4] unfair and disgusting process for people to be submitted to (with one woman with Crohns disease told to work in a nappy and their own staff admitting they are forced to lie and trick claimants[5]).

I have friends that are now dead in (have died in the past 2 years). And they died for NOTHING but the greed of others. So if this ‘apathy of society’ has become my ‘Red Line’ then so be it.

I also don’t feel the excuse of ‘I didn’t know’ is actually valid anymore.

Even if you managed to miss every single article, news report, protest and campaign groups from all over Scotland indeed in your own town – nearly EVERY newspaper has reported that a Coroner Mary Hassell (who will most likely now be subjected to Project Smear) put down the DWP as a major factor in the ‘cause of death’ on someone’s (Mr A’s) death certificate[6].

And that’s just the recent one. There are archives FULL of articles from all over the media world[7].

So whilst I am against MSM coverage in general and believe the BBC is nothing more than a propaganda mouthpiece for Westminster – they are actually not entirely responsible for the ‘black-out’ of breaches of BASIC Human Rights.

The UK is under UN investigation for Human Rights abuses of the disabled. That has not magically appeared overnight (although is long overdue)[8]

An unpopular side-theory is that we, the people, are part of the problem. The ‘black out’ on social cleansing (whether you are poor, on tax credits or disabled or sick) is also coming from ourselves.

Many times our twitter account has been told “You’re very depressing today” and as many times we have politely paraphrased the sentence “I do NOT care if it depresses you – this is REALITY”.

The quickest (although slightly inaccurate) way of demonstrating this theory within your own life is to go onto Twitter. Send out 2 tweets. One of those tweets should be insanely happy (if you can slide a unicorn into it – you get double points) and cheerful. The other tweet – the hard cold reality of life in the UK, preferably something that outrages you and that you think the entire world should sit up and take notice of.

My own experiences over the past five years (and you’ll see this on Facebook or any social media) is that people will favourite, retweet or ‘Like’ the happy one.

Because the current working Theories are:–

Theory 1. I didn’t Retweet you (and yes – I have asked) because it depresses ME (take a moment to admire that excuse because it is very similar to theory 2)

Theory 2. I don’t care because it does not affect ME.

So if I’m criticising the reaction to working tax credits cuts – does that mean I agree with said cuts?

NO. No it certainly does not.

My argument is that if we, the UK, had STOPPED the UK Government from coming for the most SEVERELY disabled people in society (by erasing the ILF: Independent Living Fund), or stopped them from murdering thousands of sick / disabled people through the DWP & ATOs-soon-to-be-Maximus, if we had stopped them from attacking our communities over the last FIVE YEARS – then they would have not been able to come after people on working tax credits.

A very hard thing to tweet in 140 characters- If people fought even HALF as hard for disabled people as they fought for Tax Credits – UK would have NEVER reached this stage in 1st place.

I am not defeatist either. I do not accept “What’s done is done”. As long as there is Time – what was done can be undone. We cannot resurrect the dead or rewrite the past (no matter how hard the UK Government tries) but we can stop this from continuing. But in order to stop it – we must ALL start discussing it. If we cannot open up a dialogue involving everyone – then how can we challenge Westminster?

And Yes. I am aware the internet and twittersphere is saturated with paraphrases of this original poem (by Pastor Martin Niemöller):-

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me

Into poems such as:-

First they came for the unemployed, the poor and disabled, I did not speak out because I was not unemployed, poor or disabled.

Then they came for the working poor, and I did not speak out because I was not one of the working poor.

Then they came for those on middle incomes, and I did not speak out because my income was higher, not top rate, but higher.

Then they came for me …… and there was no one left to speak out for me.

These poems are relevant.

Make no mistake here. This is social cleansing and the UK Government is attacking its own people.

But the War is actually Against Apathy.

So if you get angry or I get angry about the current UK political system and go ‘off on one’ online or in the real-world – GOOD. We should all be angry and be able to express ourselves within the realms of free speech.

And no – I will not apologise about my ‘ inhumane and compassionless’ ‘cold attitude’.  Because I would rather hold my ground on this issue than compromise my heart.

—————————————————

[1] http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/10/05/will-david-cameron-explain-the-dwp-deaths-to-the-conservative-conference/

[2] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/disabled-man-lost-half-care-6370509

[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33347511

[4] http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/atos-victims-call-immediate-halt-3171692

http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/update/2014-02-19/stockton-protest-against-degrading-benefits-assessments/

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/shadow-state-dehumanising-degrading-treatment-disabled

[5] https://kittysjones.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/what-you-need-to-know-about-atos-assessments/

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/nurse-makes-heartfelt-apology-after-1340838

[6] http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/coroners-ground-breaking-verdict-suicide-was-triggered-by-fit-for-work-test/

[7] http://bravemany.com/archive-1/ (Archive #1 is now online from the original blog – in reality it is number is 31). We have #62 archives to date although the topics are sectioned into different aspects. Archive 31 (or #1 on bravemany) is probably the most valid for the current run of articles on bravemany 28/10/15)

[8] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/un-to-investigate-uk-over-human-rights-abuses-against-disabled-people-caused-by-welfare-reform-10478536.html

 

 

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The Story so Far….

The Story so Far….

There are many people that can put this more eloquently than myself. I usually doodle.

In reality humanity needs to wake up – Yesterday.

I live in the UK, quite possibly the most Un-united Kingdom on the Earth. Our democracy is enslaved to another country and if the word ‘Democracy’ was a person – it would be on its Knees.

If you haven’t already guessed – I am from Scotland.

We could have been independent….actually No. We couldn’t have.  There is no reality where Scotland can democratically free herself; because corruption, legalized propaganda and fear will stop us. And if that didn’t stop us (historically speaking) – a technicality would have[i].

Despite the actual independence referendum itself being questionable (whitewash investigations continue across Scotland) and held with the security of a Tuck Shop being run by squirrels (there are literally videos all over youtube showing problems that even make my disengaged cat wince) – there were some positive outcomes.  Labour destroyed itself and lied (about so many things) specifically about pensions.

Morbidly when I built this website to discuss, campaign, rant etc. it was because I thought we would lose the Independence referendum but paradoxical I also couldn’t watch that historical event take place without Trying.  Trying for something better.

Don’t take that as defeatist. Scotland WILL be independent. I just don’t think it will be with a clear cut vote, in a swirl of rainbows – in fact I suspect it will take a choke hold over the people with the London-Controlled Government reducing us all into very desperate creatures.

Right now the Government keeps its population scared, desperate but still afraid of losing what little we have – that time will move forward in the next five years. Eventually some people will decide that there’s nothing more to lose. And that is what will, probably and eventually, free us all.

But whatever happens – Hope will come in Over Fear. That I do believe. Hope and Integrity will always exist in the cracks and it will bleed through. There are good people out there. You’re probably one of them.

You could mistake my description (with propaganda, discrimination, persecution featuring heavily in the metaphorical brochure) of my beautiful country as belonging in a fascist warzone  – that’s because it is.  And like most advanced forms of warfare – the people don’t even realise they’re being attacked (and destroyed).

I would love to ‘Walt Disney’ this up for you but humans are selfish. They don’t care until it (persecution) is on their doorstep. This is proved by the death of over 60,000 disabled people (10,600 dead in 10 months x 6yrs of Conservatives)[ii] after their benefits were terminated by the Government. And that is just the people we know about. There are people who do not claim for benefits out of fear/shame etc. So sixty thousand people die and nobody cares. This is both sad but reality.

 

From being forced into ‘reprograming’[iii] by the UK Government under pain of losing meagre benefits, to having budgets cut across all departments to pay for ‘Austerity’ that so far has led to the rich doubling their wealth whilst the poor have become poorer.

Austerity was and is an excellent tool for causing fear (and by natural proxy allow for social control).  It is also, in a larger scale – a complete lie[iv].  Most of us (mere ordinary mortals) have seen our pay cut whilst the top 1000 people’s wealth has doubled[v].

And before I carry on (I am sick of this issue being raised by idiots that can’t do basic math) – Migrants contributed £20bn more in taxes than they took in public services over the last decade.  Average pay, taking account of rising prices, has fallen every year for six years. This is the worst decline living in standards for most people since official records began in 1856.

But the genius Westminster Government[vi] has Working people attacking the Corrupt, the Rich disabled and sick…. immigrants, the really poor, various religions and any day I’m sure they’ll be adding other races, atheists and ‘people that have read A book’ to that list. Make no mistake. You are NOT the exception.  We (rich, poor and everyone in between) are not in this together.

Referring to ‘Social’ control I suppose I should acknowledge BBC bias and the phenomenon of ‘BBC Math’. The BBC bias occurs when the tax-payer funded organisation simply ignored/ignores most protests, events and rally in the same way that my cat doesn’t bury the shit in its litter tray.

BBC Math is basically how the BBC counts how many people turn up at protests against Austerity. It is a very complex procedure. First –They don’t send any journalists. Then one of their writers closes their eyes and picks a number (numbers 0-130) out of a hat. That number then becomes a mainstream official figure.

The key attribute of BBC Math is that no actual Maths takes place.  This phenomenon got so bad during #indyref that I actually found myself placing numbers onto people in a photo of rally to disprove the BBC maths*

* using an advanced technique (I didn’t personally invent…ah what the hell – I invented it) called ‘Counting’.

The BBC is quite frankly…finished in Scotland. Ironically the Conservatives (their masters) want them gone as well so strategically I think the BBC has been taking advice from either Fifa or Glasgow City Council*

*a side note – a sarcastic kudos and slow clap to Glasgow City Council for killing The Arches, demolishing the Buchanan steps and then blowing 23million on spy cameras.  My Bowel has better PR.

All hope is not yet lost.

The legalised propaganda where a Politian (nods to Alastair Carmichael) can lie and then face no repercussions is being challenged in Scotland – by a Crowdfund.  If someone had pointed out that previous sentence to me two years ago I would have thought it came from a fantasy story.. People don’t care….right? Wrong[vii]  3913 people seriously care and have put up £60,000 in 16 days.  This is pretty damn incredible.

We also KNOW that 1,617,989[viii] Scottish people are Brave and there are Many of them (see what I did there).

Despite the entire mainstream media, UK Government and most political parties raining down their very best ‘merry hell’ – 1,617,989 people stood and fought for Scotland.

Labour literally lost its strategic heid and continued to Exorcist (spin) its way to hell.  When I was a kid I may have (once) voted Labour (I came from a seriously Labour family…some of you know HOW Labour that was and what it cost to walk away) but I digress – I am happy that their true and quite frankly Conservative colours have been exposed. I am sad that they cannot admit how much they have screwed (up) Scotland.

They now have a chance to go away, disentangle themselves from London, ‘find themselves’ and come back with a new vision, attitude and attempt redemption (hopefully not in my life time though) – but they will Not. Instead Labour has somehow become MORE right wing than most conventional right wing parties. It’s actually fascinating to watch – but not in a good way. It’s like watching a horror movie KNOWING that everyone is going to die but watching it until the end anyways.

Then in May – 1,454,436 of those people came back and reinforced Scotland by voting SNP.  Whether you are SNP or not – That sends a message.

I would have, personally, been happy with Scotland backing any of the anti-austerity parties and I wish the Scottish Greens had done better basically because I liked the moxy of Patrick Harvie.  But, like most, I understood the importance of not splitting the vote.

So where are we now?

>Tentatively pushes a piece of paper across the digital table<

2016 Scottish Parliament general election – Thursday 5 May 2016

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_devolution_referendum,_1979

[1] http://www.bigissue.com/features/3637/atos-deaths-and-welfare-cuts

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33060794

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/apr/29/the-austerity-delusion

[1] http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/10_myths

[1] In the UK, the main Government (voted in General Election) hold their debates etc. at Westminster.  Despite 56 MPs out of 59 from Scotland being against Austerity – the Scottish people have virtually no democratic control over their country as The United Kingdom is divided into 650 constituencies, with 533 in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland. So even if Scotland, Wales and Ireland wanted a different future, party, government – England controls all four. Kind of like how a Prison Guard controls the Inmates. Democratic? So whats happened is that a party called the Conservatives controls the UK. They are possibly one of the most morally corrupt party in history…but that’s for another article.

[1] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-people-versus-carmichael#/story

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014

 

[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_devolution_referendum,_1979

[ii] http://www.bigissue.com/features/3637/atos-deaths-and-welfare-cuts

[iii] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33060794

[iv] http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/apr/29/the-austerity-delusion

[v] http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/10_myths

[vi] In the UK, the main Government (voted in General Election) hold their debates etc. at Westminster.  Despite 56 MPs out of 59 from Scotland being against Austerity – the Scottish people have virtually no democratic control over their country as The United Kingdom is divided into 650 constituencies, with 533 in England, 40 in Wales, 59 in Scotland, and 18 in Northern Ireland. So even if Scotland, Wales and Ireland wanted a different future, party, government – England controls all four. Kind of like how a Prison Guard controls the Inmates. Democratic? So whats happened is that a party called the Conservatives controls the UK. They are possibly one of the most morally corrupt party in history…but that’s for another article.

[vii] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-people-versus-carmichael#/story

[viii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014

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DWP Deaths

So How Many?

How many does it take?

This should not come as a surprise to anyone but the UK is now under investigation for Human Rights Abuses related to Welfare Reforms by the Conservative Government, specifically managed by Iain Duncan Smith (eventually will be replaced by Stephen Crabb – the man who thinks LGBT can be ‘cured’ and has never voted against his party stance) [1]

No one is shocked but like most murders and scandals in the UK – ‘knowing’ and ‘proving’ are often two entirely different creatures.

A huge problem for the media, reporters and various free sites is how to ‘translate’ the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions – mortality-statistics-esa-ib-sda) figures. It is no easy task as the report is deliberately evasive, fragmented and actually doesn’t fully address the original FOI (Freedom of Information) Request.

I could go into detail but a lot of people are complaining online that the entire thing is too complicated to follow. But make no mistake – the UK Conservative Government WANTs to confuse you.

  1. The DWP has lied to the UN (by claiming the data that has just been released did not exist in the first place), hidden figures and manipulated the original FOI request. Mostly because the UK Government has essentially committed mass murder. And it is STILL hiding information.
  2. This is the reason the Tories / Conservative Party want to destroy the Human Rights Act (HRA). Because they cannot be found guilty if they rewrite the very foundation of what it means to be Human.
  3. The UN has already ‘urged’ the UK Conservative Government to scrap the bedroom tax after Investigators were horrified with what it was doing to people[2]. UN Investigators also claimed that it constituted a violation of the human right to adequate housing. But even then – They couldn’t prove it was killing people because the UK Government/DWP claimed the figures didn’t exist.
  4. The Conservative Government is trying to dilute the power of Freedom of Information Requests.
  5. It is all connected. The Bedroom Tax, the Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information and the new DWP figures.

So the DWP Report (which is probably why you are here). (You can download the full PDF. mortality-statistics-esa-ib-sda)

mortality-statistics-esa-ib-sda To download on a PC/Laptop. Right Click over the Link with your Mouse and choose “Save Target As”.

What it tells us

  1. Number of Deaths in the Work Related Activity Group is – 7,200. (This is a group made from people that the DWP has said will recover and return to work within a year. There should be ZERO deaths in this category)
  2. Total is 91,470[3]. This is a MINIMUM figure. Because

9,740 died whilst waiting to be assessed (a process that can take over a year)

2,650 people died after being assessed as “Fit to Work” by DWP.

1,360 died after appealing their “Fit to Work” DWP sentence.

3,320 people died whilst not in receipt of any benefit payment.

  1. We KNOW that people are dying because of the Sanctions and strain the DWP is putting on them[4]
  2. The figures that DWP have released… Don’t make sense. They have also erased December. Seriously – Christmas is cancelled.

The Flaws in the DWP Report

  1. This Report was the result of a) Campaigning and b) a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The Report does NOT answer the questions from the FOI request
  2. The figures are actually even MORE disturbing than you think. For some reason December is missing. The FOI request specifically asked for the year 2011. December 1/12th of the year. Is Missing.
  3. There is a reason December is missing. Tables for Mortality statistics: Out-of-Work Working Age benefit claimants show the total number of deaths in 2011 was 13,490 – that means 2,890 ESA claimants must have died in December that year to make that figure work.

The inclusion of December would push the stats up. Specifically; 93 deaths per day – nearing 653 per week. The inclusion of December would almost TRIPLE the ESA death rates.

  1. The reason all the reports, articles and numbers are being very specific is because We (the people) cannot Trust the DWP. They are omitting information and manipulating it.
  2. There is ONLY one reason to manipulate information of this nature (Murder and Death does tend to have a political impact). Because the real figure (without being too conspiracy theorist) – WILL BE WORSE.
  3. From Previous DWP reports, Claimants are counted as ONE. One person, one claim (so even if you’re claiming for a few benefits – it tends to be counted as one person) – this makes for better headlines and can easily be manipulated to be “Success” stories for people getting back into work and off benefits (even if you’re only off one benefit – that’s close enough for MSM).
  4. The inclusion of Incapacity Benefit (IB)/Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) was deliberately put in to make translating the ESA figure MORE difficult (but in its own way – actually makes it more worrying).  But make no mistake. You can go into depth here but the bottom line is – people were found fit for work and then died. This means they had their benefits cuts, suffered financial hardship, were hounded on their last days by the DWP and died.

However when you die something spectacular happens.

Incapacity Benefit (IB)/Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) to deaths on Income Support Allowance (ESA), the totals for each year are greater than the total number of deaths recorded for the whole population.

So how many of people have died? We don’t know. And as long as the DWP / Conservative (helped by the Lib Dems back at the start) are in charge – we might never know.

But the fight must continue.

It doesn’t matter whether this article has every single figure (considering the source is DWP) or just contains some basic diluted facts for easy digestion.

People are dead. And more are dying.

Ignorance is not an excuse (it actually wasn’t even an excuse BEFORE this report).

And the fight MUST go on.

Because the moment you stop caring – is the moment you don’t need Human Rights because by definition – you’re no longer human anyway.

 

People who have died & current figures (27/04/16)
People who have died & current figures (27/04/16)

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[1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/un-to-investigate-uk-over-human-rights-abuses-against-disabled-people-caused-by-welfare-reform-10478536.html

[2] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/11/bedroom-tax-should-be-axed-says-un-investigator

[3]mortality-statistics-esa-ib-sda

[4] http://calumslist.org/

[5] http://voxpoliticalonline.com/ – where the original FOI request came from.

 

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United Nations (UN) Two UK Investigations

In case Main Stream Media >looks directly at BBC, Daily Mail and Daily Record< tries to confuse the issue – the UK is under TWO UN Investigations.

The first is about violations of Disability Rights (which given the behaviour of the UK Government, Conservatives and Department of Work and Pensions DWP– we’re about 91,470%[1] sure the UK Government is  guilty – but who am I to judge…their record speaks for itself)

Anyone experienced in the DWP death stories is probably wondering why I did not list ATOs[2] in the ( ) comment. ATO’s is about to be taken over by Maximus. Maximus deserves its own paragraph.

Maximus[3] has ALREADY (before they have even taken over from ATOs) been found guilty of failures and abuses in the US. It has been found guilty of disability discrimination, constantly involved in Medicaid fraud, has been found guilty of paying lower wages to women than men and has had racial discrimination complaints filed against them

That is Maximus. The UK Government has given the ATOs/DWP Assessments to a company that regularly commits criminal offenses[4].

Back to the UN.

So the First investigation is about

Violations of Disability Rights.

Specifically the UN is looking at whether Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms have caused “grave or systematic violations” of disabled peoples’ human rights[5].

The second is about whether

Welfare Cuts have disproportionally hit marginalised groups[6].

This is a huge enquiry in terms of the number of topics (there are 30) it aims to look at; including gender pay gap, youth unemployment, and trade union rights etc.

Additional issues under this investigation will include

  • What steps are being taken to reduce reliance on emergency food aid from food banks. (At this point I can imagine Iain Duncan Smith jumping up and down in the back row shouting “I’m going to put Job Advisors into Food Banks…that’s our [UK Gov’s] full reply to starvation and Welfare Deaths in the UK”[7]
  • The extent of homelessness, and measures to reduce the numbers sleeping rough. (Well UN – you’re in luck here! We’re opening Work Houses and calling them ‘Charity Recycling Centres’ [8]
  • Whether there is fair access to higher education because of university fees.

The second report is also looking at how the UK Government is tackling forced marriage, domestic violence and female genital mutilation, and the strategy to combat human trafficking etc. Whilst the second investigation is welcomed – it is Standard.

“The investigation is part of a periodic review of all the countries that have signed up to the covenant. A UN delegation of independent experts from numerous countries is set to hold public six-hour talks with government officials next summer” http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/29/un-investigate-impact-welfare-cuts-vulnerable-uk-groups

What should actually be dominating the news (and it will NOT do so) is the investigation into Violations of Disability Rights – because it was not routine, it was TRIGGERED.

Triggering a UN investigation is no small matter. And it certainly not easy.

Linda Burnip[9], founder of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC – You may recognise them from Twitter as we regularly RT them), initiated the UN investigation into the UK government’s grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s human rights. DPAC has been vital and tireless in campaigning for the rights of disabled people.

For Three and a Half Years members of DPAC have been gathering and submitting evidence to the United Nations. They campaigned and fought for an inquiry using Article 6 of the Optional Protocol within the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (You may notice we’ve used Article 6 in a previous article challenging Argyll and Bute Councils Cuts).

DPACs website can be found at http://dpac.uk.net/

This will the FIRST time a country has been investigated by the UN using the Optional Protocol.

If you wish to go into more detail about Article 6 and how it relates to the UN investigation please check out

https://dpac.uk.net/2015/10/why-are-the-un-investigating-the-uk-government-for-potential-breaches-of-disabled-peoples-human-rights/

And Finally, I thought this was quite a good few lines from the webpage above from DPAC:

There are of course too many cuts and reforms to note here, but here are 2 facts worth bearing in mind:

Disabled people are paying up to 9 times more through direct and indirect cuts in order to balance the UK’s budget than non-disabled people;

For disabled people with the highest support needs, this figure rises to 19 times more.

In what is still the 6th richest country in the world.

 

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[1] http://bravemany.com/so-how-many/

[2] ATOs – they do the assessments to determine IF someone is disabled or sick enough to receive welfare using Nurses/ Paramedics or Trainee Medical Staff with no specialisms in said illnesses and usually subject applicants to a degrading inaccurate inhumane process. http://bravemany.com/archive-1/

[3] http://edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/node/161

[4] http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/maximus-wins-wca-contract/

[5] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/un-to-investigate-uk-over-human-rights-abuses-against-disabled-people-caused-by-welfare-reform-10478536.html

[6] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/29/un-investigate-impact-welfare-cuts-vulnerable-uk-groups?CMP=share_btn_tw

[7] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/28/food-banks-job-benefits-advisers-iain-duncan-smith

[8] http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2014/11/28/the-first-of-the-new-workhouses/

 

[9] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/16/disability-un-investigation-uk-government-violations-human-rights

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Deaths 2014

The Department for Work and Pensions has finally[1] published the number of people who have died while claiming incapacity benefits since November 2011 – and has announced that the number who died between January that year and February 2014 is 91,740.

91,740 people.

91,740.

The DWP statement “these isolated figures provide limited scope for analysis and nothing can be gained from this publication that would allow the reader to form any judgement as to the effects or impacts of the Work Capability Assessment”.

The work-related activity group is for people who are expected to recover from their illnesses and be well enough to return to work within a year. In that group, there should be ZERO deaths.

Instead we have 7,200 deaths in the work-related activity group.  7200 death which brings the known total to 8,500[2]. (Please note that figures are rounded to the nearest 10)

9,740 died whilst waiting to be assessed (a process that can take over a year)[3].

2,650 people died after being assessed as “Fit to Work” by DWP.

1,360 died after appealing their “Fit to Work” DWP sentence.

3,320 people died whilst not in receipt of any benefit payment.

This new data suggests that the average number of deaths per day between January 2011 and February 2014 was around 79.5 – 556 per week.

Initial Report Available at

http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/08/27/known-number-of-deaths-while-claiming-incapacity-benefits-nears-100000/

“The increase in the frequency of these deaths is enough to raise questions about the way the incapacity benefit system is being run – questions that demand full, frank and immediate answers” -voxpoliticalonline.com

 

[1] DWP has delayed this for TWO YEARS. Despite being ordered to publish the figures by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-told-to-publish-esa-deaths-report-after-two-year-delay/

[2] http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/08/27/known-number-of-deaths-while-claiming-incapacity-benefits-nears-100000/

[3] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/27/delays-disability-benefit-pip-claimants-mps-scrutiny

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Argyll and Bute: Cutting the Most Vulnerable: Part 2

 

Argyll and Bute: Cutting the Most Vulnerable: Part 2

Argyll andBute: Cutting the Most Vulnerable: Part 2

proposals

Two Points that are New (new information to us) are:

  1. The proposals (as predicted in our last article) are now missing from where they were on Argyll and Bute Councils Websites. But don’t worry Argyll and Bute – We saved a copy for everyone. You can download them here Service Choices Report – Appendix 1-1
  2. The reason I couldn’t get the Minutes from the Proposals meeting was because there weren’t any. (Let that sink in – We’re meant to be a democratic country).

3.     These proposals were hatched in secret by 12 of the 36 councillors.

The group that they formed was NOT a committee of the council and no papers were published nor minutes produced. (Michael Breslin was one of the 24 councillors kept in the dark.  More detailed exploration into this story can be found on http://blog.breslin.scot/ (This is Michael Breslin’s Website and actually gives you an insight into how underhanded this entire omnishambles has become)..

It should also be noted that SNP was in that room, part of that group (I wouldn’t be doing my duty to you if I didn’t tell you that – its not exactly making me sing inside but you guys need to know that I don’t mind being uncomfortable about this)… Iain MacLean, Sandy Taylor, Gordon Blair and Richard Trail.

And as for  6 others…..we’ll have you soon they were Dick Walsh (Independent), Gary Mulvaney (Conservative),  Roddy McCuish (Independent), Robin Currie (Liberal Democrats), Ellen Morton (Liberal Democrats) & Aileen Morton (Liberal Democrats). We’re missing 2 (should be noted that these names have came from 3 sources now…always missing the same two). It’ll be sorted soon. (Ammended Data: The missing names are from Trade Unions)

Action Points (Which I promised in the first article[1] are now ready):

  1. FIRST: There is an OPEN PUBLIC meeting about this on the 8th of October.

Anyone that can go – SHOULD GO. It is a meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee of Argyll and Bute Council on Thursday 8th of October. 

(Goodluck, btw, in trying to find Information to Attend. We had to seriously dig through and here is what we have)[2]

attendance

Thursday, 8 October 2015 10:30 am, Policy and Resources Committee

Venue:   COUNCIL CHAMBERS, KILMORY, LOCHGILPHEAD

Ironically if you have one of the 100s of jobs they are proposing to cut – I doubt you’ll be able to attend at 10.30am on Thursday but try and find someone who can.

  1. You can’t attend – its NOT over. If you wish to Lobby (write, tell them you are not happy and demand they do something) your MP: These are the people you are looking for http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/councillor_list (don’t worry should that page go down – I’ll very helpfully re-upload it for them on my site)

 

If you are not from Argyll and Bute Council – you’re probably thinking “This doesn’t affect me”. Actually it does. If they pull this off and successfully cut these services in Argyll and Bute – it will set a precedence and what started off as a stand against one council will open out into every Council. Don’t make all of our lives a misery by NOT taking a stand. WRITE to your MSP, your Party, Make this an Issue – Let EVERYONE know what is happening here and why it matters.

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[1] You will notice that this is the first time in our history that we have ever written a part two to an article (previous article detailing some of the proposals available here http://bravemany.com/?p=1144 ) but THAT is how bad this story is becoming.

[2] https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/moderngov/mgMeetingAttendance.aspx?ID=6816 (if this page goes missing – let us know and we’ll upload it here)

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