Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

WAKE UP, Blair to declare war on the dsabled/the unemployed/single parents

bread and butter person | 10.06.2002 10:53

wake up everyone, news plans by the Blairistas to launch even crueller attacks on the vulnerable, whar will activists wake up.tib;

i,m afraid this article isn't as sexy as issues like the world bank, the zapitistas, genoa, etc but it is happening in your own backyard to some of the most vulnerable in our society.Since their election in 97, the govt has brought in increasingly harsh welfare rules, cutting benefits of the disabled, striking them off disability allowance, forcing single parents into poorly paid under-resourced schemes in a attempt to dicipline the workforce. it has been said that a society is judged by how it treats its most weakest, yet i am aware of DSS doctors forcing plps arms behing the back as to prove they have mobility in that arm. Yet, where are the marches against such infringements of civil liberty, actions against benefit cuts, , the articles on indymedia.I think is the same as the lack of interest in council house privitasations,(watch how many replies it gets) its not sexy enough for m/class activists. But, we ignore this issue at our peril, the BNP are certainly not ignoring such bread and butter issues,

maybe one should remember the old pastor niemoller warning: First they came for the communists, but i wasn't a communist......

comments welcome....

Blair plans welfare revamp

Blair to announce 'work-first' welfare shakeup

Nicholas Watt, political correspondent
Monday June 10, 2002
The Guardian

Tony Blair will today attempt to brush off a series of rows about spin which culminated in the resignation of the transport secretary, Stephen Byers, when he ventures into the highly contentious area of welfare reform.

Dismissing claims that the government has been blown off course by the rows, the prime minister will announce a big increase in the controversial Job Centre Plus system, where claimants are denied benefit if they refuse offers of work.

Staff at the centres, which combine the work of the old social security offices with job centres, recently staged a lengthy strike over their safety. The unions claimed it was highly irresponsible of management to remove protective windows to emphasise the positive side of seeking work.

But in a speech in London, Mr Blair will make clear that the government is determined to "roll out" the centres, which he will describe as an example of the government's "work-first approach" to benefits. The 56 existing centres are to be extended to a further 50 towns and cities, covering a quarter of the country, by next April.

Leftwing Labour MPs who have a strong track record on rebelling on welfare reform are likely to be alarmed by the move. But the government will hope that Mr Blair's high-profile announcement, on the day that MPs return to Westminster after the jubilee recess, will show that the government is determined to focus on key policy areas after the resignation of Mr Byers.

To illustrate the government's approach, Mr Blair will unveil a scheme designed to help lone parents and disabled people return to work. Such groups do not lose benefits if they refuse to work, but they are called back to the new centres on a much more regular basis for interviews if they remain unemployed.

The new scheme, "Ambition: Energy" is being run with the help of leading energy companies and aims to create 4,500 skilled jobs in the next three years. Big energy companies, including Centrica and the National Grid Group, have made clear to the government that they are particularly keen to hire single parents. They will help to fill 2,000 vacancies for gas central heating engineers, who can earn up to £25,000 a year, and 1,000 vacancies for gas fitters.

Mr Blair will host a reception in Downing Street tonight for four single mothers who have found jobs with British Gas as gas fitters after completing a training scheme at the North East London College, Hackney.

Andrew Smith, the work and pensions secretary, who will accompany the prime minister today, said: "In this government's first term we set down firm foundations for delivering a modern welfare state. Rights have been established, but responsibility, too. Now with the roll-out of the Job Centre Plus, we will introduce a work-first approach to benefits."

The chancellor, Gordon Brown, will underline the government's approach today when he announces a series of measures to improve Britain's productivity, regarded as one of the weakest areas of the economy.

In a speech to the Amicus trade union conference in Blackpool, Mr Brown will say that the main focus of his spending review next month will be to "sweep aside" barriers to increased productivity.

This will mean extra cash from the Treasury in July to improve the recruitment and retention of skilled scientists and engineers; to help schools teach about enterprise; and to improve the transport, hous ing and planning systems.

"Just as we have been winning the battle to increase employment and entrench stability, we must now win the productivity war," the chancellor will say.

The policy announcements follow a weekend "third way" seminar attended by the prime minister, the chancellor and the former US president, Bill Clinton.

Peter Mandelson, the former Northern Ireland secretary who organised the event at Hartwell House near Aylesbury, said the seminar showed that the centre left still dominated western politics.

"Events will challenge the government and the government will be tested by how it deals with them," he said. "But the main thing is that the government remains focused on its priorities."



bread and butter person

Comments

Hide the following 13 comments

i agree

10.06.2002 11:06

totally agree with your sentiments, so many activist really havent got a clue about how one third of this country lives,i think it is one reason why so many w/class folk are suspicious of them. we should start to take on these issues or as you have said someone else will..

btw, the corporate Guardian article is too supportive of New Labour and does not give a true pictue as you have tried to do on what is happening, soviet union stylee to the vulnerable who cannot produce...

dissilusioned...


easy targets

10.06.2002 12:35

easy targets for a govt upto its neck in shit and sleaze

doley


I agree

10.06.2002 12:54

it is a big worry that under pressure for results the government is trying to make the weaker classes in soceity appear like the problem and forcing them into producing results. It is interesting how they are doing this in league with the bigger industries as well, who are in desperate need of a cheaper work force.

There are loads of domestic cases which are just crying out for someone to act against them, there is someone else out there ready with solutions to them if we keep ignoring these issues. And that, I think is something we have recently all begun to realise.

karic


Write on

10.06.2002 14:39

I also agree with what you say,
It is far to easy to get involved with the funky side of movements, and in this avoid the real fact that real people are suffering on our doorsteps. Perhaps we need to stop involving ourselves so much with theoretical abstractionsa nd open our eyes. This might sound cruel, but at the same time it is this kind of behaviour that allows people like the Elites to avoid real questions and concentrate on distant and soloutionless problems.

I could however be wrong.

holyghost


sexy?

10.06.2002 16:28

amazing to hear the world bank described as sexy - I can assure you that serious committed work to stop it's craziest excesses is far from sexy, it's dull, complicated and involves dealing with a lot of rather sad, opinionated and in the end self-interested people.

the thing about posh people getting interested in the WB is maybe due to travel and education - people who have enjoyed both can put together the facts of massive disposession and hunger in the South with incoherent, arrogant economics and see that people like them in the North are in a good position to do something about these huge issues since our treasuries push the WB/IMF's policies....

I can't see why working on that should mean that people shouldn't also be interested in what happens down the road in the UK, and agree that these issues need dealing with too - ideally linking them cos it's all about a rich few getting richer while telling the rest what to do or to go hang.

for now though, seeing as the British inclosures and clearances are largely over and people on this island are generally not starving or raising illiterate families without clean water in cardboard and polythene shacks, there will always be activists here who assume that their fellow brits with, for the most part, literacy in English, houses, food, sanitation and freshwater taps can fight for themselves a little better than the people in Southern slums etc who suffer most from the policies of the WB etc...so yeah I agree with the statements above, but please don't slag off all those bothered about the WB and IMF - it's not sexy, it's about dealing with a hideously effective public relations machine while people are starving and dying from totally curable diseases in a way which is not (yet?) happening here. these issues need linking, not misunderstanding and abuse....

cheers

zedhead


i'm very worried

10.06.2002 17:36

growing up in the eighties, i must admit i never got into the work ethic mentality, and i doubt i ever will. i kept my sanity and finances together through the dole. just about.if 'forced' to take a job, i suppose i could just about do one, but it would be a real psychological strain. Furthermore, if my living standards fell and i was forced to live in shared accommodation, that would be any residual quality of my life gone.
but what about people who are somewhat older than myself and even more vulnerable? theres more to a job than just the job, you know. for example, could 'anyone' be pushed onto a building site, with the risk of being beaten up by the thugs who usually work in such places ?

grateful unemployed


i'm very worried

10.06.2002 17:36

growing up in the eighties, i must admit i never got into the work ethic mentality, and i doubt i ever will. i kept my sanity and finances together through the dole. just about.if 'forced' to take a job, i suppose i could just about do one, but it would be a real psychological strain. Furthermore, if my living standards fell and i was forced to live in shared accommodation, that would be any residual quality of my life gone.
but what about people who are somewhat older than myself and even more vulnerable? theres more to a job than just the job, you know. for example, could 'anyone' be pushed onto a building site, with the risk of being beaten up by the thugs who usually work in such places ?

grateful unemployed


a reply

10.06.2002 20:01

thanks for replying plp, zedhead, believe me it wasnt an atack on plp who work on third world issues, they are largely committed plp who have integrity, but i say again, while the suffering in africa, etc is beyond belief the mindset of many uk activists, ngo,s does not register the relative suffering in areas of the uk. From many accounts, the treatmeny of plp by the dss, etc is diabolical and causes great distress and crushes the spirit.

unemployed, you got me wrong, i think plp should have the opportunity to work, its just when welfare policy is used a tool to crush plps spirits.....

me agin


we need a claimants' union / campaign

10.06.2002 20:48

We need a claimants union / campaign / party / task force to push for unemployed peoples' rights by picketing dole offices and places like Quarry House in Leeds, to represent claimants, and challenge the scum politicians in elections and wherever we can fight back.

We especially need to smash the New Deal. Everybody needs to get involved in this. It is long overdue.

George Elser


Let's get out of the ghetto

11.06.2002 21:19

I heartily agree we, the left, should take up bread and butter and community issues. I was inspired reading the report about Argentina. It's about how in desperate times, people are ignoring the state and organising themselves in neighbourhood groups. The socialist parties have tried to infiltrate the central meeting but the neighbourhoods have resisted this by sending delegates who they know as neighbours, to represent them. This is anarchism in action.
We must strive to get the same kind of grassroots groups together here and take social centres. Not just in Brixton and Manchester but in villages and towns all over. Let's strive to be inclusive, not alienate people with political leftist dogma - but show that people power really means people power. Any ideas on how or if we should take this idea forward?

dissenter


Let's get out of the ghetto

11.06.2002 21:20

I heartily agree we, the left, should take up bread and butter and community issues. I was inspired reading the report about Argentina. It's about how in desperate times, people are ignoring the state and organising themselves in neighbourhood groups. The socialist parties have tried to infiltrate the central meeting but the neighbourhoods have resisted this by sending delegates who they know as neighbours, to represent them. This is anarchism in action.
We must strive to get the same kind of grassroots groups together here and take social centres. Not just in Brixton and Manchester but in villages and towns all over. Let's strive to be inclusive, not alienate people with political leftist dogma - but show that people power really means people power. Any ideas on how or if we should take this idea forward?

dissenter


Let's get out of the ghetto

11.06.2002 21:21

I heartily agree we, the left, should take up bread and butter and community issues. I was inspired reading the report about Argentina. It's about how in desperate times, people are ignoring the state and organising themselves in neighbourhood groups. The socialist parties have tried to infiltrate the central meeting but the neighbourhoods have resisted this by sending delegates who they know as neighbours, to represent them. This is anarchism in action.
We must strive to get the same kind of grassroots groups together here and take social centres. Not just in Brixton and Manchester but in villages and towns all over. Let's strive to be inclusive, not alienate people with political leftist dogma - but show that people power really means people power. Any ideas on how or if we should take this idea forward?

dissenter


My opinion of Centrica and National Grid

11.06.2002 23:27

My message to Centrica and National Grid would be that their actions are irresponsible. They are encouraging the government to force single mothers to work in jobs they may not want. Surely single mothers should be staying at home and looking after their children if we want a stable society.

Brian Barlow
mail e-mail: brian@brianb.u-net.com


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech