Disability Cuts, Now Remploy

Remploy + Welfare reform = We are all in this together

Remploy is a company that employs disabled people and they are proposing to close 36 of their factories which willl result in 1,700 jobs being lost. This is ok because the disabled people who lose their jobs will be able to fall back on our welfare system, right?

http://thepotterblogger.blogspot.com/2012/03/please-could-you-help.html#comment-form

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/risk-to-1700-jobs-as-remploy-closes-36-factories-7543811.html#disqus_thread

A Dickens Coalition Play

                                        
                                         "Please Sir, I want some more"
                                   A coalition play starring children from squeezed

                                       middle families and children with parents who

                                            will receive reduced welfare benefits.

Show Me The Money

Ah! So this is where the REAL money is, not in the pockets of the disabled or those who have lost their jobs and have to rely on Welfare.

What do I say to disabled people? Welfare Reform

I am involved with a charity called the Powerhouse for women with disabilities. The women come to the centre twice a week by taxi. For some of them these are the only outings that they get. They can't work because they aren't able to. The charity has had its funding cut and are struggling to stay open. One woman asked me if she would still be able to attend craft making sessions. It is heartbreaking.

A report called the Spartacus Report written by sick and disabled people who became more ill through lobbying for reform say that the reform must be responsible and transparent. They don't feel that they have been listened to. They rely on DLA for what some of us would regard as necessities.

Why are we cutting benefits in a time of austerity? There aren't enough jobs. Simple as that. Large parts of the country have job centres that have closed down, shops that are boarded up, training centres which cannot offer proper help because of funding cuts, charities that cannot help disabled people and more job losses to come because of a looming double recession.

I agree that the welfare system needs to be looked at to get people who have become over reliant on it to strive to find work. Work brings independence, aspiration and a feeling of belonging. However, people are losing jobs all the time through no fault of their own. I don't think there are many people who strive to be on benefit. Yes, there are benefit cheats but this week the Government is looking to punish everyone who is on benefit.

Lots of people who are in work have been baying for the blood of benefit claimants saying things like, 'why they should get money for staying at home when we have to go out and work?' I say to these baying people, just think, do you really want to be out of work and sitting at home all day? There is nothing to envy those on benefits. This is the logic that the Government does not understand. By putting a cap of £26,000  the Government is sending out a divisive message that the unemployed are a burden on society and should be punished.

I worry most about the children. According to The Observer 100,000 children will be affected by the benefits cap. The £500 a week cap will push these children into poverty. These children probably already suffer by not being able to eat nutritious food, have proper heating and warm clothes because their parents cannot afford it. They probably live in areas where the schools are under achieving. It is a constant cycle. If they don't get the education how will they grow up to escape poverty? Will the money saved from cuts to benefits go towards rebuilding people's lives. I doubt it.

I call on the Lib Dems to reconsider the Welfare Reform Bill next week. People have been saying that the Lib Dems are propping up a Tory Government. I did not believe this till now. The Tories are riding high in the polls. The Lib Dem party needs to distinguish itself as the party that cares for all classes, not just the squeezed middle. Remember that the squeezed middle may become a benefit claimant through future job losses. Can the Government guarantee that everyone in work now will not lose their jobs? I don't think so.

RETHINK THE WELFARE REFORM BILL. 

http://thepotterblogger.blogspot.com/2012/01/lib-dem-fightback-on-wrb-update-1.html#comment-form

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Today is Martin Luther King day and I want to pay tribute to this giant of a man.

'We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.'

Martin Luther King's words are just as relevant today as then. I am thinking of those governments who carry out systematic abuse of their citizens, the Arab Spring protestors and those in Africa who live under the rule of a tyrant. Good people need to speak up.

HS2 a 'Pooh Trap'

“If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” Quote from Winnie the Pooh

Viscount Astor, David Cameron's father-in-law, has called the HS2 a 'Pooh Trap' because he says he (Viscount Astor) is 'biased in favour of the countryside'. Well, David Cameron must have fluff in his ear because he has not heard about his father-in-law's grumblings.

America - the land of who knows what?

Have you seen the news today? Four American soldiers were filmed urinating on the corpses of some members of the Taliban. Meanwhile, the Republican candidates are all competing to be the holier than thou Republican presidential candidate by using Christian far right views to win votes. I do not understand the contradiction of the American political and values system.

What Do You See?

What do you see when you look at the picture of me above with my face covered? Do you see a young person out to cause trouble? Chances are that most adults would think negatively.It is actually a picture of me at Occupy St.Paul's with another protestor.  In Dr Rowan Williams', the Archbishop of Canterbury, New Year message he said, 'There is a national habit of being suspicious and hostile when we see groups of youngsters'.  This happens particularly when a group of boys are hanging out. The stereotyping of young people is a common problem.

As a young person, I feel that children are often ignored for so many reasons. Firstly, the riots of 2011 did nothing to help the youth's case. A group of silly, unruly youngsters caused damage that went  beyond wrecking property.  It also ruined the case for those young people who are genuinely wanting to try in life. Youth are being tarred with the brush of the riots.  We need to be able to recognise that the youngsters who took part in the riots do not represent the majority of us.

There are over a Million youth unemployed. As the Archbishop said, 'what kind of society is it that lets down so many of its' young people?'. In the pool of unemployed youth lies disappointment and torn dreams. What happened to the social promise of reward for working hard? I am not talking about a sense of entitlement here. I am talking about normal things that people should be able to expect.

My New Year request is for the Government to improve the situation of young people. Children are often used in political arguments. As an example, the country's deficit is being tackled so that the children of today will not be saddled with it in the future. This is noble but children of today need attention today.

'Christmas' by John Betjeman

This is a wonderful poem but I have only reproduced the last three stanzas. Please read on and you will see why.

'And is it true? and is it true?

The most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?


And is it true? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant.

No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives to-day in Bread and Wine.'



The plight of the children in Gaza who suffer everyday and witness death and destruction is something that I want people to remember this Christmas. Below is a poem that I wrote for a production called 'Letters to Gaza' run by The Calders Bookshop in London to remember the hardship of Palestinians. I can never know what it is like to be a child in Gaza or Israel so I do not take sides. I have previously blogged about Jewish children too.

http://childrenofgazafund.org/

Children of Gaza
It’s just the luck of birth,
That keeps us at separate ends of the Earth,
That doesn’t mean I forget you,
I won’t just sit and stew,
I will try and fight for you,
Try not to feel too blue,
Whatever happened to your life?
It’s all just suffering and strife,
The poor children of Gaza.

Why at such a young age,
Are you in a cage?
Always hiding,
Your confidence is sliding,
Surrounded by sadness,
Chaos and madness,
It really isn’t your fault,
That all your happiness was locked up in a vault,
The poor children of Gaza.

Where is the democracy?
You are shot at with accuracy,
You stand no chance,
When the soldiers are in a trance,
A trance to kill,
There’s nothing for you to leave in a will,
Many people have died,
You have cried,
The poor children of Gaza.

You don’t want the blockade,
Or the grenades,
It’s wrong you have to play with bullets,
Which rain down like comets,
Your siblings are dead,
You don’t like to think how much they bled,
You still have nightmares,
Where no one ever dares,
To save you from the soldiers,
The poor children of Gaza.

There’s still a bit of hope,
That one day there’ll be a rope,
That’ll pull you out of all this,
Wouldn’t that be bliss?
Your friends are always there,
Or someone who cares,
But there’s death lurking,
Soldiers are working,
At least you are still alive,
One day happiness will arrive,
For the poor children of Gaza.

Me reading my poem at the Gaza Evening November 2011

Libdemchild with Rev Jesse Jackson at Occupy St.Paul's

I was asked to speak at Occupy LSX (St.Paul's) today with THE Rev Jesse Jackson. It was an amazing honour to be in the company of such an important and historical figure. It was also a great privilege to have been asked by the Occupy Movement to speak. This is my speech.

Good afternoon Occupy, It’s an honour, a privilege to be here today. This is one of my favourite places in the world. I am here today to contribute to my future through debate and an exchange of ideas.

I want to live in a country where the level of inequality is minute and where children are able to get the best education no matter which school they go to in what area. No doubt we will always have people who earn more than others because people's abilities differ but I do want to live in a country where children can afford to eat at home, have heating and have a childhood. Poverty affects childhood well being. Children from poor families have more problems such as mental health, school achievements, alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancies.


Youth unemployment is now at 1.027 million. I have reason to worry about our young and I am grateful to Occupy for providing a space for me to talk about these things. To me, a child, capitalism is scary. It presents an illusion of how if you work you will have a decent standard of living. This isn't the case. People have lost jobs through no fault of their own. I am struggling to understand what forces are at play that allows 1% to keep accumulating wealth while there are children in this country who don't have breakfast before school because their parents can't afford it.

We have had free market economics for 30 years and it has resulted in a lobsided world. The Occupy Movement is right to ask for our economic system to be looked at. Capitalism was meant to provide for all. It’s not. When billionaires like Warren Buffet says that he wants to pay more tax and uses words like ‘it’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifices then it really is time.

What is the future for us the young people who form part of the 99%? Bleak if things carry on the way they are. The Occupy movement has been phenomenal in the way it has made the debate on inequality a part of everyday life now. When the banks first failed it was seen as an economic problem, nobody really could predict the way it would affect us all. Then it happened but people weren't able to put a name to it. The Occupy movement have given us a language to describe what we are living. Inequality.

I don’t understand the hypocrisy of society. While children are being abused, killed and neglected in their own house unnoticed by society or social services the city of London’s director of community and children’s services provided a witness statement to say that children were at Occupy spending time with drug addicts.

What really makes me so angry is that while much is made about this camp being a health and safety hazard children are living in unsafe housing, overcrowded homes with leaking roofs and damp on the walls.

People at Occupy are insulted for supposedly not having jobs. Yet, strikes and marches are organised demanding jobs for people. So if you are at Occupy you somehow can go out and magically get a job but if you don’t belong to Occupy then you are not to blame for being unemployed?

Professor Richard Layard, the professor on Happiness, said ‘We do not need a society based on Darwinian competition between individuals. Beyond subsistence, the best experience any society can provide is the feeling that other people are on your side. That is the kind of capitalism we want.'

Occupy is stirring intelligent debate about social justice, economics, race, feminism and education. These are building blocks for sustainable living. Anyone who criticises Occupy misses the real picture. It’s not about the tents, silly. It’s about redistribution. Redistribution of wealth, opportunities and ideas.