Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Shame of minister who refuses to accept link between benefit ‘reforms’ and deaths.
7/10/2014

http://i0.wp.com/voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/140807harper.jpg?zoom=1.5&resize=529%2C315

Tarnished record: Mark Harper previously came to our attention when it was discovered that he dodged a £20,000 fine for employing an illegal migrant worker. Vox Political covered the story on August 7 this year.

The new Conservative minister for disabled people has insisted that his department is right to ignore reports of deaths linked to the loss or non-payment of disability benefits.

It seems that, in an interview with the Disability News Service at last week’s Conservative conference, he said he did not accept that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should be collecting this information or trying to learn lessons from such deaths.

The article continues: “One disabled activist suggested last week that this failure could amount to criminal negligence, while Samuel Miller, a prominent disabled academic from Canada, said this week that DWP had ‘seriously breached its duty of care by ignoring benefit-related deaths’.

“But Harper said he did not ‘accept the premise’ that DWP should collect and analyse reports that suggest a disabled person’s death could have been linked to the non-payment or withdrawal of benefits.

“He said: ‘If somebody in those sort of cases, if someone has [a] mental health [condition] and then something happens, trying to disaggregate what was the cause I don’t think is as simple as you are trying to suggest.’

“When asked whether he accepted that any deaths had been caused, or even partly caused, by the loss or non-payment of benefits, he said: ‘Of the cases I have seen since I have been the minister where there have been allegations, when you look at the detail they are not as simple and straightforward as people are alleging.’

“But Harper did promise to ‘go back and look back at what processes we have in place to track cases’ and to look at the Freedom of Information Act response from DWP that led to the DNS story.

“There have been numerous reports of disabled people whose deaths have been linked to the employment and support allowance claim process, or the refusal of benefits, including the writer Paul Reekie, who killed himself in 2010, and the deaths of Nick Barker, Jacqueline Harris, Ms DE, and Brian McArdle.

“Many of the cases became widely-known through media reports of inquests, but in the case of Ms DE, the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland concluded that the work capability assessment process and the subsequent denial of ESA was at least a ‘major factor in her decision to take her own life’.”

Of course this all goes back to the Freedom of Information requests submitted by Samuel Miller and others that prompted Yr Obdt Srvt to make the now-infamous “vexatious” request of June 2013. When it was refused on appeal to an information tribunal, Disability News Service submitted its own request.

A repeat request by Vox Political has since been refused on the grounds that the DWP intends to publish some or all of the information at an unspecified time in the future. These ‘section 22′ refusals must be supported by certain conditions which the DWP did not meet, and a reconsideration request has been met with stony silence (other than the acknowledgement of receipt), so once against it seems an appeal to the Information Commissioner (and possibly another tribunal hearing) will be necessary.

It’s all stalling tactics. The Conservatives in the government know that, if the true extent of the deaths becomes clear, the game will be up for them.

After all, who in their right mind would want to vote back into office an organisation that had just caused the deaths of anything up to or beyond 50,000* of their fellow citizens? Nobody would be safe under such a government.

Turning back to Mr Harper, independent disability researcher Mo Stewart has written to him with a stern rebuke that he will, no doubt, ignore. Here it is:

“Please be advised that the public are beginning to challenge why, historically, your predecessors don’t manage to remain in post for very long and I note your website continues with the government rhetoric whilst totally disregarding the human consequences of the austerity measures.

“I often wonder what exactly MPs mean when claiming that we are living in ‘difficult times for families’ when failing to take responsibility for the deaths and devastation you have clearly created, using cash as the only justification for the fact that ‘malnutrition’ is now regularly found in Coroners’ reports. The poor, the sick and the disabled people of the UK didn’t create the banking crash Mr Harper, so why are you hurting them but refusing to publish the growing mortality rates of government policies?

“Please be advised that your defensive claims that that you do not “accept the premise” that the DWP should collate and analyse the many, many thousands of deaths now directly linked to the withdrawal of DWP benefits is tantamount to an abandonment of responsibility by the British government, it may well lead to charges of crimes against humanity once all the detailed and often disturbing evidence has been collated and analysed by other sources and the British government is already about to be investigated by the UN for the demonstrated human rights violations of disabled people. All this whilst the UK faces the return of Victorian diseases linked to extremes of poverty…. That’s quite a track record this government has built up.

“With respect, you are not professionally qualified to assess these reported cases and regardless of if you admit it or not, high calibre REAL experts are now advising that: ‘…there is growing evidence that the draconian welfare reforms are irreparably damaging the mental and physical health of benefit claimants.’

“If someone is already surviving on a token income and the government reduce or remove it, with savage sanctions or by using a totally compromised ‘assessment’, how precisely do you expect these people to live, to eat or to survive when they are already the poorest in the land?

“Coroners don’t lie Mr Harper and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland didn’t make up the case history when they concluded that a vicitm’s death was due to the impact of being ‘stripped of benefits.’ http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2014/03/woman-killed-herself-after-being-stripped-of-disability-benefit-says-watchdog/

“This question isn’t going to go away because DWP Ministers fear the public reaction if the figures of welfare reform related deaths are ever published.

“Now the DWP are attacking our older disabled veterans by threatening to remove the DLA of our War Pensioners, whilst the PM continues to wax lyrically at Conference about the debt this nation owes to our armed forces. Unwise Mr Harper, very, very unwise.

“Release the mortality figures Mr Harper and don’t ever presume that we are about to stop asking for them.”

In addition to the above, it seems appropriate for Vox Political to reiterate:

Not only does the DWP have mortality statistics for benefit claimants, but it has them in a form that may be freely distributed to anybody asking for them, within the cost limits imposed by the Freedom of Information Act.

The only reason these numbers are not in the public domain is the fact that ministers like Mark Harper refuse to allow their release.

The only reason they have for refusing to release these figures – that makes any sense – is that they fear the consequences: Public shock and outrage.

That is not the response of a responsible government. It is the response of a gang of criminal killers who are terrified their misdeeds will be revealed.

*This is an estimate based on the known number of deaths related solely to a single benefit – Employment and Support Allowance – between January and November 2011.

It’s all stalling tactics. The Conservatives in the government know that, if the true extent of the deaths becomes clear, the game will be up for them.

After all, who in their right mind would want to vote back into office an organisation that had just caused the deaths of anything up to or beyond 50,000* of their fellow citizens? Nobody would be safe under such a government.

I think Goldfinger's got the Secretary.

Work till you drop.....



Retirement age to rise by as much as six months per year

The pensions minister, Steve Webb, says Britons must accept dramatically longer working lives to avoid a health care funding crisis



By Peter Dominiczak, Steven Swinford, Katie Morley and Dan Hyde

10:08PM BST 06 Oct 2014




Older people will be encouraged to work longer under a Government plan to increase the average retirement age by six months every year.


Ministers believe that the retirement age needs to increase dramatically to reflect Britain’s ageing population and to avoid a health care crisis.


The average age of retirement is 64.7 for men and 63.1 for women. The Department for Work and Pensions said in its business plan that it would like the average to rise by as much as six months every year.


The number of over-65s in England is expected to increase by 51 per cent over the next 20 years, and the numbers of those aged 85 and above will double by 2030. Ministers accept that the trend will hugely increase the costs to the NHS, elderly care and state pensions systems.


Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrat pensions minister, admitted that the target was “ambitious” but said the retirement age had already been rising for women.



More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/11144991/Retirement-age-to-rise-by-as-much-as-six-months-per-year.html

Think thats stupid. Whilst at 6th form the Economics teacher repeatedly used to point out how we would retire a lot younger and earlier.

It all because the Tories have redistributed the wealth into far fewer hands and as a consequence, young kids cant get jobs as older people have to stay on at work longer to make ends meet.

Fred : If it is a "psychological problem" needing time,

So how much time does your doctor give you for your psychological problem's ?

while i certainly have a great deal of sympathy for young kids in finding employment, i also feel that all too often they won't roll their sleeves up and take (relatively) menial jobs whereas the poles (for example) who have come over here often work all hours at all sorts of things, and very often do quite well for themselves

The mansion tax will raise well over 2 billion so that will go to the NHS, people wont have to work longer like these daft proposals from the Tories.

Older people will then be able to enjoy there remaining years on earth and not have to work themselves into the ground, we have the very best young hard working people in the World, just look at the Exam results that have been produced under the Tory administration, jesus these youngsters must have worked so hard to get them top grades.

Im so proud of them.

depends on what basis it might be raised
if a graduated tax like income tax, which is what you supported a couple of weeks back, will it raise as much as you say and if so, at what rate do you propose it should be raised

The working longer thingy sounds ok, if for example you work in an air conditioned office shuffling paper.

Try telling someone on the tools that they have to work till they are 67, and they'll laugh at you, or clump you one.

exam grades
don't make me laugh
it is patently obvious even to the blind that exam questions have been dumbed down since the old A-level was dumped

Spot on Max re to manual work but dont forget thiers only so much you can do before you start to produce falling negative performance in the office aswel.

actually, i feel seriously sorry for the teachers, who now have few weapons to deploy against unruly children
apart from anything else, these children take up a disproportionate amount of time and effort to the distinct detriment of those who actually want to learn

i also think (suspect) that many teachers have set too low aspirations and targets for their pupils, though this is scarcely helped by the lack of parental control and discipline and similar in the home

so young sticky, do you leave it to the individual as to when (s)he should retire, or should the employer have the last word?

Manuel,

You were referring to middle east in one of your rambling posts.

Get somebody to keep you awake and have a look at this HardTalk interview.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04knjl4/hardtalk-general-lord-richards-chief-of-the-defence-staff-british-armed-forces-201013


------------------------


Gf,

Post 46987

I can remember how the "new technological age" was heralded by the politicians and the media.

The advances in industrial engineering.

The reduction is heavy manual work and hours needed to accomplish "projects".

That was the 50s-60s-70s and so on.

I do not see why work is so lauded by many, who wouldn't know whats a many "manual worker's" day actually consist of, or the "miserable forms of work" of some of those in the "lower strata" of society.

More often than not those who lord it over others owe their "positions",or own standard of living, more to inherited wealth or the opportunity is availed them than their ability.

The other thing is, while I can see the necessity to "provide" for lean years by producing more than immediately necessary when conditions are favourable, overproduction especially of "glitter" or "marketable goods produce which have no intrinsic value in themselves" and are produced to gain a monetary advantage seem a daft driver of an "economy". It seems to only to increase the greed and consequential divisions of a society.

------

Is that understandable?

What I am saying simply is the Etonian type cabal wish who they see as less desirable to work longer for less in order to fill they pockets more!

Stand in line all of you, and show respect to your leaders!

you really do post a load of tripe at times
makes my stuff look like prime sirloin

Very Fred.

Theirs a one or two on this thread aswel who have all had it handed down on a plate to them.

If they had to go out on Building Sites like I have in the past 10 years not as a manual worker but part of the management team just to direct things in freezing cold blustering pis-ing it down weather they would know about it.
No chance of getting to 60 never mind 65 in those type of jobs.

And your second point yep consumables which are supposed to enrich ones life but a dammed good book would be far better and a fraction of the cost.

To me knowledge is far superior than material effects.

This age of the X factor, strictly, Gay chat hosts (nothing against Gays its supposed to be fashion) 3 for 2 at the supermarket etc etc is superficial carp to me.

you and your bloody carp
don't you fish for anything else! :-)

gf--- There are some on this thread who have been handed sweet f a, and have worked hard to achieve their goals.
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