We are extremely anxious of the knock on effect this would have to family carers in receipt of Carers Allowance for those affected. This double whammy would have grave consequences on the income of many families, that are already suffering with disproportionate cuts to benefits and social care.
On Thursday 9 June, MPs will take part in a debate in the House of Commons Chamber on carers. This debate was recommended by the Backbench Business Committee following a representation from Mims Davies MP.
This debate will be opened by Mims Davies, Conservative MP for Eastleigh
Transcripts of proceedings in the Commons Chamber are available three hours after they happen in Today’s Commons Debates.
From Monday 6 June members of the public can inform the Backbench Business debate by joining the conversation on the Carers Week Facebook page at www.facebook.com/carersweek.
The Backbench Business Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject.
The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal. The Committee’s meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.
copied from Parliament site
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copied with permission from Winvisible
Vigil 9.30am Wed 21 October
Royal Courts of Justice, Strand (off Kingsway) London WC2A 2LL (Temple tube)
10.30am
Go into court to hear the case and show support
This case against the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) focuses on the discriminatory impact of the Benefit Cap on disabled people and their carers, who lose Carers Allowance, punishing them & their loved ones.
Supported by Disabled People Against Cuts, Single Mothers’ Self-Defence, Global Women’s Strike, Taxpayers Against Poverty, WinVisible (women with disabilities), and many more.
Contact SMSD / WinVisible 020 7482 2496
From time to time, every carer needs support to help them look after the person they are caring for.
Sometimes that will mean getting equipment installed in their home so that they can meet the needs of the person they support. Other times it might mean calling in home help so that they can keep up with their housework.
The importance of these services cannot be overstated. They mean that carers can provide the best support possible to their friend or family member whilst maintaining their own health.
read in full from CarersTrust
Short report can be read here Full report here
Twitter users – #WelfareDebate15
Tuesday May 5th Daily Politics debate
BBC2 2pm
BBC Parliament 9.00pm
BBC News 9.30pm
Presenters Andrew Neil and Alison Holt
Participants –
Iain Duncan Smith Conservative
Rachel Reeves Labour
Steve Webb LibDems
Suzanne Evans UKIP
Jonathan Bartley Green Party
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Non-attendance (see below) recently by the purveyors of welfare reform suggests that they deem themselves to be unaccountable for their actions.
Will Mr Smith attend this debate or will the quiet man become the invisible man AGAIN
Iain Duncan Smith fails to show up for General Election hustings in his own constituency
Britain asks: where is David Cameron?
Wirral West MP Esther McVey pulls out of live radio interview in Liverpool city centre
‘Ashamed’ Tories quit Newsnight welfare debate at the last moment
Many disabled people and carers will be watching this show. They have borne the brunt of these cuts and are living in dread of the prospect of the further £12billion cuts to welfare promised by the Conservatives.
Most followers will be aware of the recent dispute between Disability News Service and DWP. CarerWatch, along with many other indiduals/groups, found this to be unacceptable behaviour from the DWP, and welcomed the opportunity to be one of the co signatories of a letter published in the Herald Scotland. Also here
1. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THIS TOO, YOU CAN SEND A TWEET TO @johnpringdns using hashtag #We SupportDNS
2. YOU CAN LEAVE A COMMENT ON DNS FACEBOOK PAGE
3. OR ADD A COMMENT BELOW
Copy of letter below –
Saturday 25th April 2015
WE note that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has carried out its threat to refuse to answer questions from, Disability News Service (DNS) editor John Pring (“inside Track: DWP and its dispute with a disability warrior“, The Herald, April 22).
Mr Pring is an experienced journalist, who has been reporting on disability issues for nearly 20 years. He launched DNS in April 2009 to provide in-depth reporting in both the specialist and mainstream media on issues that affect the lives of disabled people.
Numerous disability groups rely on the Disability News Service to keep them informed. By refusing to communicate with Mr Pring the DWP is refusing to communicate with millions of disabled people. The actions of the DWP are counter to transparent government and freedom of the press, upon which a functioning democracy rely. We consider the actions of the DWP to be highly offensive and discriminatory.
We fully support Mr Pring and insist that DWP perform its public duty to talk to the press without bias or favour.
John McArdle, Black Triangle Campaign; Dr Stephen Carty, Black Triangle Campaign; Linda Burnip, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) Steering Group; Debbie Jolly, Co-Founder DPAC; Bill Scott, Inclusion Scotland, Dr Pauline Nolan Inclusion Scotland;
Norma Curran, Values into Action Scotland and Scottish Campaign for a Fair Society; Pat Onions, Pat’s Petition; Simon Barrow, Co-Director, Ekklesia; Rick Burgess #newapproach; Jane Bence #newapproach; Rosemary O’Neill, CarerWatch; Frances Kelly, CarerWatch; Ian Jones, WoW Campaign; John McDonnell MP; Karen Machin, St Helens, mental health carer; Peter Beresford, Co-Chair, Shaping Our Lives; Steve Preece, Welfare Weekly;
Charles Huddleston; Mo Stewart, Independent Researcher; Annie Bishop, Independent Advocate; Gail Ward, disability rights campaigner; Jo Walker, disability rights campaigner; Anne Ross, multiple sclerosis activist
Dr Rhetta Moran, RAPAR; Jonathan Bartley, Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Streatham; Steve Griffiths, researcher in social and health policy; Steve Donnison, Benefits and Work; Neal Lawson, Compass; Rosemary Trustam , Publisher, Community Living magazine; Ellen Clifford, DPAC; Andy Green, DPAC; Paula Peters, DPAC; Anita Bellows, DPAC ; Roger Lewis, DPAC steering group ; Bob Ellard, DPAC Steering Group; Catherine Hale, disability activist; Michelle Maher, WoW Campaign; Josh Petzoldt, member of UCL Staff Disability Forum and National Association of Disabled Staff Networks; Dr Simon Duffy, Centre for Welfare Reform; Alan Wheatley;
Sam Barnett-Cormack; Pam Pinder, CarersforumUK; Judy Hamilton; Caroline Richardson, Spartacus Network; Paul Bepey, BBC Ability Chair, Access Technology Manager/Assistive technology lead; Melanie Sharpe and Dr Hamied Haroon, Co-Chairs of the Disabled Network at the University of Manchester; Steve McIndoe, University of Manchester, Adam Lotun, disability risk management consultant, Workplace Disability Adjustments; Carole Ford, WowCampaign; Susan Inness, Disabled Library assistant, University of Nottingham; Lesley Beebe, Bradford University; Karen Reissman, Union NEC (PC); Susan Stubbs, University of Manchester; Angela Thompson, Jenny Hambidge,
This coming week until April 16th we would like to ask all our supporters to sign up to our Thunderclap.
Many have already done so, but let’s give it a real push to send a clear message to all political parties to call a ceasefire on welfare reforms.
These reforms are causing horrendous distress and causing many to unfairly lose out on money they could be entitled too because they have been rushed through ,and thus far 158,300 have been wrongly found fit for work,1300 died while looking for work by this brutal system and to our absolute horror 68 died while appealing. This has to be stopped! These deaths have to caused considerable harm and distress to those who are no longer with us and their families. The WCA has already been found to be (more…)
With many thanks to those that added their name in support of this letter to the Guardian.
If you wish to add your support please add your name in the comments section
What does Carers Allowance mean to you ? again leave a comment.
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Family carers are among the most responsible members of society. CarerWatch, along with others, believes suggestions made in recent leaked documents of moving carers to universal credit would result in an unfair system that gives no recognition whatsoever of the contribution carers make to society.
CarerWatch believes that governments should accept their responsibility to carers. Carers deserve a livable income, a separate benefit which recognises that they are not unemployed or “passive” recipients of benefit but are making an important contribution to society.
Those in receipt of carer’s allowance cannot be classed as being inactive. Carers are unique within the benefit system in that they have to (more…)
copied over from Huff Post Politics
Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP suggests £60k, which goes up to £80k due to his chairmanship of parliamentary intelligence committee, justifies offering his services to a “Chinese company” for extra renumeriation. The sting has seen him suspended from The Conservative Party. I reflect that leaving my professional career to look after my disabled brother, saves the taxpayer the equivalent to paying his salary.
Dear Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP
I can sympathise you want a professional pay package to compensate you for the sacrifice you have made in public service. I can only apologise that sacrificing my own professional career to continue the care of my disabled brother, saving the tax payer £80,000 a year, was not enough to keep you in the manner you wish to be accustomed. (more…)
CarerWatch Blog 