Wednesday 15th March 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[refitman]

Look, Labour just needs to be more right wing, ok

[gilsey]

Good morning.


Hilarious.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Today is the one time of the year when PMQs really *isn't* the main event, given that it will be interesting to see what Starmer goes on.

[refitman]

[AnatolyKasparov]

And those are.....bad?

Its time for some on the left to accept that no government will *ever* take a stance of "let them all in, no questions asked".

Not even Corbyn's Labour did this.

[refitman]

And those are.....bad?

Its time for some on the left to accept that no government will *ever* take a stance of "let them all in, no questions asked".

Not even Corbyn's Labour did this.

Open the tweet, the graphic ends "stop the small boats".

They're pandering to the right. No talk about legal paths to entry.

[refitman]

[AnatolyKasparov]

And those are.....bad?

Its time for some on the left to accept that no government will *ever* take a stance of "let them all in, no questions asked".

Not even Corbyn's Labour did this.

Open the tweet, the graphic ends "stop the small boats".

They're pandering to the right. No talk about legal paths to entry.

They have mentioned safe routes often enough recently, even Cooper (who I rate about as highly as you) did so in the Commons the other night.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... hite-paper

This is absolutely shocking.

So they're scrapping the Work Capability Assessment which was designed to determine if someone is fit for work and are going to solely rely on the Personal Independence Payment assessment which is designed to determine if someone has extra living costs due to their illness or disability. What this effectively means is that hundreds of thousands of people will no longer be classed as sick or disabled by the benefits system and will be treated as ordinary claimants. For example people with mental health problems but no physical disability requiring extra care will en masse become fit for work and subject to the increased sanctions regime Hunt has just announced while losing thousands of pounds a year in benefits.

It's worse than anybody thought.

[frog222]

Ouch will look at that afterxards

Just in from tractoring firewood from the bottom of the orchard

Chief economist Miatta Fehnbulleh from the NEF

LIVElink catchup , ill post permalink after

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Hunt’s disability plans put 1m at risk of losing £350 a month, IFS says

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... h-ifs-says

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said up to 1 million people currently on incapacity benefits could lose about £350 a month as a result of dropping the work capability assessment (WCA), which assesses capacity for work, and using the personal independence payment (Pip) test, which measures only the extra living costs of disability.

It said the logic of the plan meant those who have conditions that prevent them working – such as people with short-term or fluctuating illnesses – but who do not claim Pip, or incur major additional living costs, would no longer receive extra support. Pip tests are also widely distrusted and currently take 14 weeks to process.

[frog222]

AAAGH !

That is one hell of a lot of people .

[AnatolyKasparov]

Even though the dread phrase "up to" appears in the above, its clear that a significant number *will* end up worse off.

Not good.

[frog222]

Permalink

Chief economist Miatta Fehnbulleh from the NEF

IN the last half some incredible leaks of Number Ten driving the BBC 'News'



Perhaps not incredible, but certainly very revealing !

[Sky'sGoneOut]

AAAGH !

That is one hell of a lot of people .

Yes and I'm one of them. As it stands like hundreds of thousands of other mental health claimants there's no chance I'd pass a PIP assessment because my condition requires no extra cost.

And it gets worse. Even if they accept that you deserve the higher rate of benefit after passing a PIP assessment you will no longer be exempt from looking for work. Unless you're terminally ill or have cancer you'll be given a work coach (trained to understand your condition apparently) who will decide what employment you're suitable for and for how many hours, you'll then be expected to fulfil whatever obligations they set you. This will be conditional so if you don't do it you get sanctioned.

If this white paper were to be enacted as it is written today sickness and disability benefits in this country would effectively be removed from a lot more than a million people. I understand the media are focussing on the budget but after spending the afternoon on disability benefit forums there are a lot of shocked and frightened people out there today.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

For anyone who thinks I'm scaremongering.

Our new approach will mean both voluntary and mandatory work-related requirements may be set for health and disability benefit claimants, where this is appropriate, with requirements added at a pace that is appropriate for the individual.

In other words no matter what your health circumstances if your work coach deems you fit for any kind of work they will be able to set conditional requirements that you will have to fulfil or be sanctioned.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Anyway I'll shut up about that for now, it won't begin until 2026 at the earliest and they'll have to win the next election.

How did the budget go? Did he increase the duty on wine?

[frog222]

Anyway I'll shut up about that for now, it won't begin until 2026 at the earliest and they'll have to win the next election.
How did the budget go? Did he increase the duty on wine?

No idea sky, but I do know I can get legless for less than you , ceteris paribus, ie excluding cheating on meths for example

Bedtime, willl see what news at Ten comes up with ......................

[Sky'sGoneOut]

Ah that explains it, hearing something she didn't approve of caused her brain to cease functioning completely. Totally understandable, I once had a cheap crappy underpowered amplifier that would overload and shut itself off at the slightest loud noise. Which as you can imagine was quite annoying but imagine if that were your brain? Poor girl.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

It would be interesting to see some polling about 'woke' in the UK. A recent poll in the U.S found that a majority of people viewed it positively which didn't go down well on Fox News. Given the results of social attitude surveys here over the last couple of years I wouldn't be surprised if we're about in the same ball park.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/poli ... 417394002/

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed say the term means "to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices." That includes not only three-fourths of Democrats but also more than a third of Republicans.

On Monday evening Newsnight had Baroness Patience Wheatcroft on to discuss Lineker. She's previously been an editor at the Times, Mail and Sunday Telegraph and in the discussion even she described the right wing press as 'currently rabid' with obvious disdain. And who can blame her when we've got Peter Hitchens making an absolute cunt of himself claiming the Nazis were left wing in the Mail while every other comment piece in the Telegraph claims 'woke' is bringing down civilisation as we know it.

Listening to the the Republicans and Tories along with their media lackeys you'd think they had managed to turn 'woke' into a dirty word (something they allegedly hate when it comes to words like 'gay' having a new meaning), but out there in the wild away from the nutcases and weirdos who appear on Fox News or write opinion pieces for the Telegraph it would appear the American public and the British, if our social attitude surveys are to be believed, think otherwise.

If the Tories want a culture war then fine, bring it on. As long as I don't have to serve under Starmer. I wouldn't want to be shot without trial just so he can appease the enemy.


Edited because...ah who the fuck cares.

[Sky'sGoneOut]

No idea sky, but I do know I can get legless for less than you , ceteris paribus, ie excluding cheating on meths for example.

All things being equal my froggy friend what the fuck does 'cheating on meths' mean?

[Sky'sGoneOut]

[PorFavor]

[Sky'sGoneOut]

[PorFavor]

Night night.