Showing posts with label Poor Families. Show all posts
Tories and Lib Dems engineer fastest fall in wages since Victorian times by Mike Sivier
Tories and Lib Dems engineer fastest fall in wages since Victorian timesby Mike Sivier Pictures displayed by Street Democracy UK
David Cameron must be so proud. He wanted a return to the Victorian era and that is exactly what he has achieved. Wages have nosedived, meaning the gap between the richest and poorest is larger than it has ever been; we already know that diseases once thought long-gone are stalking our streets once again while the […]
|
Care UK pay cuts made me homeless, says Doncaster striker
Care UK pay cuts made me homeless, says Doncaster striker
‘Care UK workers in Doncaster are fighting pay cuts so devastating that they have already made one woman worker homeless.
Mags Dalton has been a care worker for 26 years. But pay cuts of £400 a month mean she can’t afford her rent anymore—and will be forced to move out of the city altogether.
Mags told Socialist Worker, “I only moved into my house about a year ago. The move cost quite a lot—paying a bond, rent and hiring a van. Then Care UK took over our workplace in September, and by December they were cutting wages.’
The bedroom tax DHP postcode lottery by joehalewood
The bedroom tax DHP postcode lottery
by joehalewood Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
If you live in Copeland you have a 6% chance of getting a bedroom tax DHP: Yet if you live in Westminster it is a 169% chance! Yes you read that correctly and below here is a little graph which shows this starkly: Here is the maths bit which is pretty simple so bear with me. […]
David Cameron announces immigration benefits crackdown
David Cameron announces immigration benefits crackdown
‘David Cameron is to announce tough action on immigration that will halve the amount of time foreigners can claim benefits in the UK.
The Coalition will introduce laws to ensure that European Union migrants can only claim out-of-work benefits for three months, Mr Cameron says in an article for The Telegraph.
The Prime Minister also pledges to stop more than 500,000 British jobs being advertised across the EU and announces tough new curbs on colleges offering visas to “bogus” students.’
Benefit sanctions hit most vulnerable people the hardest, report says
Benefit sanctions hit most vulnerable people the hardest, report says
Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Systematic problems in the way the government administers and imposes benefit sanctions, including disproportionate burdens on the most vulnerable, are revealed in a report commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The report found the way in which the DWP communicated with claimants was legalistic, unclear and confusing. The most vulnerable claimants were often left at a loss as to why benefits were stopped and frequently not informed by the DWP about hardship payments to which they were entitled, it said.
It also revealed serious flaws in how sanctions were imposed, with Work Programme providers required to send participants for sanctions when they knew they had done nothing wrong, leaving "claimants … sent from pillar to post".
The independent report was written for the DWP by Matthew Oakley, a respected welfare expert who is widely acknowledged as one of the leading thinkers on welfare on the centre right and as a result his criticisms, couched in careful language, are all the more damaging for a government that has consistently said the sanction regime is fair.
His main recommendations, which have been accepted by ministers, are:
His main recommendations, which have been accepted by ministers, are:
- All correspondence with claimants, including its style and content, should be reviewed
- Claimants must be given personalised information about why they have been referred
- Clear information must be given about the appeals process and access to hardship payments
- A guide to benefit sanctions must be easily accessible in hard copy and online
- Claimants who need particular help in understanding letters must be identified and spoken to
- People should get information through their "preferred channel"
- Procedures should be reviewed to ensure people have a clear understanding of their responsibilities
The DWP responded to the report by saying it would be updating the way it talked to benefit claimants, setting up a specialist team to look at all communications, including claimant letters, and working more closely with local authorities and advice centres to simplify the system.
Read Matthew Oakley’s full report on the government website here
South Sudan food crisis worst in world: UNSC
South Sudan food crisis worst in world: UNSC
‘Food crisis in South Sudan is the worst in the world, with the country on the threshold of a total famine if fighting continues, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) says.
In a press statement released on Friday, the Security Council “expressed grave concern about the catastrophic food insecurity situation in South Sudan.”
The 15-member council also urged the countries that promised at a May conference to provide the African country with $618 million in aid to “swiftly fulfill those pledges and to increase their commitments.”’
Council tax rises hit Britain’s poor hardest
Council tax rises hit Britain’s poor hardest
‘More than two million of the poorest people in England are facing rising council tax demands this year because of fresh Government cuts to the benefit system, new figures reveal today. War widows, carers and the disabled are among 2.31 million people who used to be entitled to council tax benefit but have now had their support substantially reduced or taken away altogether.
As a result, significant numbers of families have been pushed into debt, with a survey revealing that nearly 16,000 people in London alone have been referred to the bailiffs for non-payment.’
Nearly One Quarter of American Children in Poverty. Anti-Poverty Measures Scrapped under Obama’s ‘Sequester Budget’
Nearly One Quarter of American Children in Poverty. Anti-Poverty Measures Scrapped under Obama’s ‘Sequester Budget’
‘A total of 16.3 million children live in poverty, and 45 percent of children in the US live in households whose incomes fall below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
The annual report, tilted the Kids Count Data Book, compiles data on children’s economic well-being, education, health, and family support. It concludes that, “inequities among children remain deep and stubbornly persistent.”
The report is an indictment of the state of American society nearly six years after the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. While the Obama administration and the media have proclaimed an economic “recovery,” conditions of life for the vast majority of the population continue to deteriorate.’
Mississippi Cuts $1.3 Billion from Schools, Gives $1.3 Billion to Nissan
Mississippi Cuts $1.3 Billion from Schools, Gives $1.3 Billion to Nissan
‘Mississippi has proved to us all that austerity, or the political ideology of “government living within its means,” is a farce. All austerity means is taking money away from public services, and giving it to private business. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant and the GOP-led legislature illustrated that perfectly in two ways.’
The Ten Plagues That Are Hitting America Right Now
The Ten Plagues That Are Hitting America Right Now
‘Why are so many plagues hitting the United States all of a sudden? Yes, one can always point out bad stuff that is happening somewhere in the country, but right now we are facing a nightmarish combination of crippling drought, devastating wildfires, disastrous viruses, dying crops and superbugs that scientists don’t know how to kill. And as you will see, we even have a plague of flies down in Mississippi. So what in the world is going on? Is this just a case of bad luck, or is something else happening? At the conclusion of this article, please feel free to tell me what you think. The following are ten plagues that are hitting America right now…’
‘We don’t want you here’: TV crew heckled and accused of ‘inciting racial disharmony’ in Southampton at showdown meeting with producers of Immigration Street
‘We don’t want you here’: TV crew heckled and accused of ‘inciting racial disharmony’ in Southampton at showdown meeting with producers of Immigration Street
‘Angry residents this week accused TV producers of inciting racial hatred as they met to discuss filming of a documentary on immigration in their road.
Residents of the Derby Road area in Southampton came face to face with the Love Productions crew and vented their anger about the show called Immigration Street.
The programme is billed as a follow on from Channel 4′s controversial Benefits Street which aired earlier this year and sparked a nationwide debate about welfare in Britain.
Last night, furious residents with banners and placards heckled creative director Kieran Smith, telling him: ‘We don’t want you here’.’
Teenage Girl Beaten By Police For A Curfew Violation
Teenage Girl Beaten By Police For A Curfew Violation
‘A 17-year-old girl in Pittsburgh was beaten by police, and later hospitalized, after she and a group of friends were stopped for a curfew violation. Merceedez Wright is now wearing a neck brace and has cuts and bruises all over her body, the result of a violent encounter with police which occurred on the night of July 15th. Power-tripping police officers aggressively pursued and injured this teenager all for the unspeakable “crime” of being near an ice cream shop just a few minutes past 10pm, the neighborhood enforced curfew. ‘
What Corporate Media and Corporate Latino Politicians Won’t Tell You About Central American Child Refugees
What Corporate Media and Corporate Latino Politicians Won’t Tell You About Central American Child Refugees
‘Why can’t Latino politicians and corporate media call the current wave of Central American children refugees, when that’s what they plainly are? What’s the role of the US drug war, US trained cops and military, and US funded death squads in the violence and poverty that sent them here, and why won’t Latino politicians mention that either?
And why are none fleeing Nicaragua, which is just as poor as Honduras, Guatemala or El Salvador?’
Israel-Gaza conflict: Strip suffers bloodiest day after ‘heinous massacre’
Israel-Gaza conflict: Strip suffers bloodiest day after ‘heinous massacre’
‘A night and day of ferocious violence has resulted in more than 100 deaths in Gaza, with Palestinian accusations that a bloody assault on the town of Shuja’iya by Israeli forces, leaving bodies on the streets and buildings destroyed, was motivated by revenge for the deaths of 13 soldiers.
The Israeli losses were one of the largest in one operation suffered in recent times by the Jewish state. Qassam Brigade, the military wing of Hamas, had claimed that it had lured troops into a minefield. But the Israeli military stated that the deaths came in separate incidents overnight involving improvised explosive devices and a firefight.’
Israeli officials call for cutting energy and food supplies to Gaza
Israeli officials call for cutting energy and food supplies to Gaza
‘Israeli officials yesterday renewed their calls for cutting food and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip as a punitive measure against Hamas and the area’s residents.
Israel’s Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon stressed that it is important to pressure Hamas and the people of Gaza through cutting off electricity and bombing Gaza’s power plant and destroying it completely.
In a radio interview yesterday Danon called on Netanyahu to cut off the electricity supplies that Israel provides to the power plant, and to prevent the flow of fuel, food and basic goods into Gaza.’
The Heart of the Problem With Israel: The Mass Expulsion of the Palestinian People
The Heart of the Problem With Israel: The Mass Expulsion of the Palestinian People
‘As Israeli government violence against the Palestinians in Gaza intensifies (the latest news being an aggressive ground invasion), I saw a discussion on-line about whether Israel has become more brutal or the brutality has simply become more visible to the public.
I remembered listening to Benjamin Netanyahu when he was at MIT in the 1970’s. He called himself Bibi Nitai and said he was in self-exile until the Labor Party, which he despised, was out of power. He spoke contemptuously about Arabs, and predicted he would be the leader of Israel someday and would protect the Jewish state in the way it deserved. The immediate response many of us had was: “Heaven help us all if he ever gets into power in Israel.”’
UK firefighters begin eight-day strike over reforms
UK firefighters begin eight-day strike over reforms
‘Firefighters in England and Wales have begun an eight-day strike to protest over the government’s proposed reforms of the fire service, Press TV reports.
Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) started on Monday a series of strikes at planned periods over eight consecutive days.
Firefighters are protesting against the government’s plans to raise pension contribution and increase the retirement age from 55 to 60.’
Mayor Squares Up To Homeless Mums
Mayor Squares Up To Homeless Mums
Newham boss launches violent rant against housing activists
SHOCKING footage came to light yesterday of a testosterone-fuelled east London mayor squaring up to a young homeless mum campaigning for decent housing.
The Morning Star was shown a video of Newham Mayor Robin Wales shouting at single mothers and housing campaigners handing out leaflets highlighting their eviction from the Focus E15 hostel.
Mum-turned-social housing campaigner Sam Middleton told the Star that the Labour mayor “was very rude” when she attempted to hand out leaflets at the public fair.
The video clearly shows Ms Middleton approaching Mr Wales from a distance when the mayor starts frantically waving his hands and shouting at her.
The raging politician then had to be held back by one of his own security guards who led him into the safety of a gazebo.
Another campaigner tried to hand Mr Wales a leaflet about the mothers’ plight as he passed — but the mayor angrily slapped the man’s hand away.
“I did feel threatened,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.
“He lunged but was restrained.”
“He started shouting that it was a ‘family day’ but failed to see the irony that there were families who would have loved to be there but they were forced out of London by his policies,” the activist explained.
Mr Wales’s security then shunted campaigners from the public space.
Ms Middleton told the Star that a “communications officer” took two lots of Focus E15 leaflets and threw them away.
When she tried to retrieve them she was manhandled out of the Mayor’s Newham Show.
“I literally just got picked up, my arms behind my back, everything,” said the mother of one.
A spokeswoman for the council argued that “officers took the decision to evict the group of protesters and political activists from the park as they staged an aggressive protest.”
Newham Council has insisted it had rehoused the mothers but the group point out that the current rents eat up most of their income.