When one of us is threatened – we are all at risk

This was sent in via email. We dont know where it originated so if anyone finds out please let us know so we can give them full credit.

 

First They came ……

 

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.*

What food might this contain?’ the mouse wondered – - – he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!’

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, ‘Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.’

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, ‘

Will you be hit by welfare cuts? Want to tell your story?

My name’s Frances Ryan and I’m journalist covering cuts to disability support. I’ve recently worked with DPAC for stories/interviews about DLA and ESA, and the bedroom tax.

 

 

To fit in with new research on the cumulative impact of April’s cuts, I’m currently looking for disabled people who are set to lose multiple benefits – and would be happy to share their story (anonymously if needed) for a possible article.

 

Will you be hit by the six major cuts?

 

They could be:

 

Contributory Employment Support Allowance

 

If you’re currently on low rate Disability Living Allowance – or perhaps are on a higher rate but have reason to believe you will not be elibible under PIP

 

Bedroom tax

 

Council tax benefit reduction/loss

 

Any other benefit cut/loss coming in this April.

 

If you are going to be affected by simultaneous cuts and are happy to speak to me please email frances.ryan18@btinternet.com (rather than leaving a message here as I wouldn’t want to miss your message).

 

Thank you very much.

WOWPETITION pushes towards 25,000 signatories

As the changes surrounding many welfare benefits come closer to being implemented, more and more people are starting to realise the devastating effect that there will be on their lives.

Also, those not affected at the beginning now understand too that the safety net they may need in the future is being stripped away.

From benefit cuts, care criteria tightened, charges increased, abolition of Independent Living Fund, loss of Legal aid, proposed bedroom tax and so the list goes on.

Grassroot groups are increasing in memberships, voices are being raised louder. Their strength growing, as are the campaigns.

CarerWatch will carry on supporting them and help raise awareness where and when we can.

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One such group is WOWPetition – you can read about some of their team here

They have submitted a petition to the governments website.

Full details here  

or click the logo below to register your support.

CLICK TO SIGN

 

and then share as wide as possible asking your own networks to do the same.

 

Update – Campaign for Benefit Justice

.Come and have your say (details here)

7pm   Thursday 14^th February 2013

at Camden Town Hall, Council Chamber

Judd St, WC1H 9JE

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UPDATE

Further information received. Please share with your networks.

Campaign for Benefit Justice

Cuts in benefit are an unjust attack on the poor and they must stop. People are already being driven into debt, hunger and homelessness. From April millions more will be hit by the Bedroom tax, cuts in council tax benefit, ending Disability Living Allowance and further vicious cuts. In one of the richest countries in the world, the rise of food banks, destitution and poverty is not acceptable. People receiving benefits did not cause the banking and economic crisis and we do not accept them being scapegoated to pay for it.

The Campaign for Benefit Justice, a network of grassroots campaigns fighting the Tory attacks invites

Lords second reading of Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

 

Members of the Lords will discuss the key principles and purpose of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill during second reading, on Monday 11 February 2013.

The bill implements an announcement by the chancellor in the 2012 Autumn Statement that increases in certain working-age welfare benefits and tax credits would be limited to one per cent, rather than increasing them in line with inflation.

read more here

watch live here on Monday 11th feb from 2.30pm

 

 

Camden United for Benefit Justice

Camden United for Benefit Justice

Invites you to a Community Speak-out

 

Welfare Reforms –

what they mean for us

and how we can oppose them

 

Come and have your say

7pm   Thursday 14^th February 2013

at Camden Town Hall, Council Chamber
Judd St, WC1H 9JE

Introduced by

Rev Paul Nicolson from Taxpayers Against Poverty
 who are backing legal actions against the cuts in Camden, Islington and Haringey

Followed by DISCUSSION and OPEN MIC  w  ALL WELCOME

If you need translation, please let us know

Are you a council or private tenant, a two-parent or single parent family, on a low income, disabled, unemployed, a pensioner, a carer, receiving working tax credit or other benefits, cut off benefits, in debt, struggling to heat your home, dependent on food banks, an asylum seeker, trying to escape domestic violence with nowhere to go . . . or a resident concerned with the welfare cuts?

 

Speak out against the cuts and how they are affecting you …
Join the borough-wide campaign to stop them …
Stop evictions … Cut rents not benefits …

Scottish Welfare Reform Committee meeting Tues 5th Feb 2013

 

WELFARE REFORM COMMITTEE

AGENDA can be found here, along with names of witnesses

3rd Meeting, 2013 (Session 4)

Tuesday 5 February 2013

The Committee will meet at 10.00 am in Committee Room 3.

More about the committee here

Clerk: Simon Watkins

E-mail:

WelfareReformCommittee@scottish.parliament.uk

You can watch live here from 10 am

 

 

 

 

 

Is it immoral to cut welfare – The Big Question BBC 2 Jan 27th

Due to tennis this programme will be on BBC2 tomorrow ( 27th Jan) at 10 am.

Duration: 1 hour

Hosting live from from the Oasis Academy MediaCityUK in Salford, Nicky Campbell asks.. Is torture ever justified? And, is it immoral to cut help to the poor?

In the studio to discuss welfare are Dr Simon Duffy, the director of the Centre for Welfare Reform; Cllr Paul Murphy, from Greater Manchester Poverty Commission; Adrian Nottingham, from the foodbank Mustard Tree; Sarah Whitehead from Church Action on Poverty; Alec Shelbrooke, Tory MP for Elmet and Rothwell; Dr Stephen Davies from the IEA; and the entrepreneur, Deirdre Bounds

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Dr Simon Duffy, from the Centre for Welfare Reform. along with the Campaign for a Fair Society recently released a report -

A FAIR SOCIETY? – HOW THE CUTS TARGET DISABLED PEOPLE

Full details, including a video available here

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For those watching that participate on Twitter, the hashtag is #WRA ( Welfare reform Act) and  #bbctbq

PLEASE SHARE AS WIDE AS POSSIBLE

.

Upcoming business – Parliament

Parliamentary business for Thursday 10 January 2013

House of Lords Main Chamber

 

Differential impact on women of changes to welfare benefits – Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

 

Select Committee

9.30am

Draft Care and Support Bill Joint Committee Subject: Draft Care and Support Bill Witness(es): (at 9.45am) Frances Patterson QC, Commissioner responsible for Public Law, Law Commission and Tim Spencer-Lane, Lawyer, Law Commission; (at 11.00am) Lorraine Butcher, Director of Children’s Services and Director of Adult Services in Cheshire East, Association of Directors of Children’s Services Ltd (ADCS); Cllr David Rogers OBE, Chair of Chair of Community and Wellbeing Board, Local Goverment Association; and Sarah Pickup, President, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). Location: Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster

Disabled people will be impoverished as they face a “Tsunami” of benefit cuts – says Inclusion Scotland

Disabled people in Scotland face the impact of several simultaneous cuts to their benefits, say disability campaigners at Inclusion Scotland. They describe the affect as being akin to a virtual Tsunami which will devastate disabled people’s living standards causing hardship and homelessness. They say that the Department for Work & Pensions has refused to carry out a cumulative impact assessment of the effect of welfare cuts on disabled people forcing Inclusion Scotland to do their job for them.

Labour MP Ian Mearns has called for a debate in Westminster Hall which will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday, 18^th December, on the effects of welfare reform on disabled people, their carers and families. This debate follows over a year’s campaigning by disabled people and carers who have worked hard to promote blind activist and carer Pat Onions’ petition asking the government to stop and review the cuts to disabled people’s benefits & services. In spite of restricted media coverage, “Pat’s Petition” collected over 62,600 signatures.

IS have analysed the changes using the DWP’s statistics and have calculated that the combined effect of the cuts planned under the guise of welfare “reform” will have a devastating impact on disabled people (who are more likely to rely benefits for some or all of their income than non-disabled people).

For example: