Have I slipped back in time two centuries, or is this still Great Britain in the year 2012 AD? It is?
Then why have I just read the most terrifying report that would belie a modern, western society?
Last year 24,000 people died through fuel poverty. That's almost a tenth of a city the size of Newcastle Upon Tyne, dead through the cold because they couldn't afford to heat their homes.
Half were pensioners, 30% were disabled and the ones no-one perhaps imagines are the 20% who were families with children under 5 years of age. Now also bear in mind that many of those families were working families but so poorly paid they relied on benefits and tax credits to top up to a liveable sum.
Benefits, however, are now capped to 1% annual increase, half the rate of inflation. When was the last time your fuel bill came in cheaper than the previous year? Was it by any chance more than 1% higher? I suspected as much.
Working tax credits, the thresholds for which have been hugely reduced cutting off many families, are capped. Child benefit is capped. That means by 2015, working families will be hundreds of pounds a year worse off. But that's fair right? Working families belong in the "shirker" or should that be "scrounger" group, right? The average family loses more from cuts to tax credits and other
benefits than it gains from the increase in the personal allowance.
This is just a part of how the 'reforms' hit everyone and hit hard. Homelessness is increasing. Plans to link housing benefit to inflation and not to rents could leave many unable to pay the rent. Parents looking after disabled children face the danger of losing their homes or having to put their children into care. But announcing a benefit increase of 1% is meant to blind us to the fact that this is in real terms a cut. A £3.7bn a year cut and from the areas affecting our poorest and most vulnerable people.
At least the same number are likely to die in their homes from the cold again this year. The stats don't count the growing number of homeless adults and children. I can't help but think of the little match girl and can't believe that in one of the world's most powerful nations and in this day and age this can be happening. So I must have slipped back in time. It's the only reasonable explanation.
Do me a favour and keep an eye out for the most vulnerable in your area over the winter. You could save a life with a simple flask of tea.
Strivers vs Shirkers? Ten Things They Don't Tell You About the Welfare Budget
Scroungers or scapegoats? The class war on welfare
Saturday 22 December 2012
Thursday 13 December 2012
Tories: The terrorists we seem to allow
I never used to get involved with politics. I voted at election time and that was it. Then this coalition government, aptly tagged Con-dem, got in by the skin of it's teeth and not only reneged on virtually every promise made but began systematically dismantling the country. Some do it by use of force and we call them terrorists. Some do it through parliament and we call it democracy at work. The suffering under the latter enters every aspect of life. It's terrorism of the most intrusive, pervasive form. It costs lives and it costs livelihoods.
I had an email today on the back of now many letters to my MP asking him to do everything he could to prevent yet another ludicrous 'reform' going through. The email links to a very simple website, thepriceoftoryfailure.com which makes interesting reading. Just one of the stories shared:
We can't go on like this. People dying while waiting to hear whether they're deemed 'fit' for work. Those who've worked all their lives reach retirement then sit freezing in their homes. You can't get people off benefits when there are no jobs to go to. You can't make people well enough to work whilst destroying health care. But the Tories are doing these things because whatever they do, they'll be untouched by the damage. They're already wealthy and in just the right bracket to do well out of the carnage.
Things are devastatingly bad for charitable organisations so the very people we would turn to in a crisis like this are unable to help. I had an email from the RSPCA telling me there is a 65% increase in the abandonment of animals. Britain, the nation of animal lovers, cannot afford to support a cat or a dog. But that's not just because of job losses. Because not only are so many unemployed, but the cost of everything is also spiralling. VAT increased to 20%. We don't pay VAT on food. The cost of producing and transporting it though has massively risen and of course the government do nothing because they're coining it on the proceeds.
Fuel bills are extortionate. But wait, they won't do anything about that either. Privatising utilities and putting them into the hands of profit making big business was a Tory 'reform' the last time they were somehow elected and allowed to stay. This time they want to privatise the NHS. Hell, even the forests were nearly sold off until the people spoke out.
There's so much to say and write about the current state of things I could keep going all night. The fact that the Labour government had in fact lowered the deficit from the previous Tory government's legacy. The fact that foreign investors are nervous and look at us then look at Greece. We could all move to Iceland who have the right idea about fat cats, but we can't currently afford the air fare.
We MUST speak out at every opportunity and KEEP speaking out. And this from someone who didn't even know her MP's name until this government started their rich boys' rampage through the country. PLEASE. If you have a chance to say no, I don't like the way things are going, TAKE IT!!
I had an email today on the back of now many letters to my MP asking him to do everything he could to prevent yet another ludicrous 'reform' going through. The email links to a very simple website, thepriceoftoryfailure.com which makes interesting reading. Just one of the stories shared:
"Now retired, I have just made the decision that I can only afford to heat my home at certain times, because it literally will be a case of heat or eat."Last week's autumn statement showed growth is down, borrowing is up. And Britain’s poor and hardworking are paying the price while the fat cats get fatter. Weren't these measures sold to us as a means of reducing borrowing and boosting growth?
Next April, each person earning over £1 million a year will be getting on average a tax CUT of £107,000 each, not just for one year, but every year.
We can't go on like this. People dying while waiting to hear whether they're deemed 'fit' for work. Those who've worked all their lives reach retirement then sit freezing in their homes. You can't get people off benefits when there are no jobs to go to. You can't make people well enough to work whilst destroying health care. But the Tories are doing these things because whatever they do, they'll be untouched by the damage. They're already wealthy and in just the right bracket to do well out of the carnage.
Things are devastatingly bad for charitable organisations so the very people we would turn to in a crisis like this are unable to help. I had an email from the RSPCA telling me there is a 65% increase in the abandonment of animals. Britain, the nation of animal lovers, cannot afford to support a cat or a dog. But that's not just because of job losses. Because not only are so many unemployed, but the cost of everything is also spiralling. VAT increased to 20%. We don't pay VAT on food. The cost of producing and transporting it though has massively risen and of course the government do nothing because they're coining it on the proceeds.
Fuel bills are extortionate. But wait, they won't do anything about that either. Privatising utilities and putting them into the hands of profit making big business was a Tory 'reform' the last time they were somehow elected and allowed to stay. This time they want to privatise the NHS. Hell, even the forests were nearly sold off until the people spoke out.
There's so much to say and write about the current state of things I could keep going all night. The fact that the Labour government had in fact lowered the deficit from the previous Tory government's legacy. The fact that foreign investors are nervous and look at us then look at Greece. We could all move to Iceland who have the right idea about fat cats, but we can't currently afford the air fare.
We MUST speak out at every opportunity and KEEP speaking out. And this from someone who didn't even know her MP's name until this government started their rich boys' rampage through the country. PLEASE. If you have a chance to say no, I don't like the way things are going, TAKE IT!!
Tuesday 3 July 2012
Get out of my inbox (reprise)
I don't actually like to start my day with a rant. It never bodes well for the rest of the day. It's far better to get through the day and if it's still bothering me then get it off my chest. It does get more and more difficult to maintain a rant-based blog when you get you grievances out in the open and feel the door nicely swing shut on them. This one though, I don't think it will ever stop boiling my blood.
I know retailers are having a hard time of it right now, but there's a reason for that. We're ALL skint, not just them. I know the same emails go out to all customers but here's the thought. I might have bought a product once in the dim and distant, perhaps in the days when everyone laughed because shopping online was a really geeky thing to do. The thing is, there are very few retailers that I use again and again. Most of the things I buy online are one-off obscure purchases that will never be repeated. I still get every single email from that company along with all their other one-off customers. Does this not reach a saturation point for everyone?
When a retailer starts emailing me every morning, it's a little too clingy, a little too samey and dare I say a little too desperate. The only message any of us wants to hear every morning is the one from our brain saying made it through another night.
Would it not be better customer relations to at least split up the mailing list so that the emails arrive less frequently? I don't mind hitting delete even as often as once a week per retailer. Once, sometimes twice, even thrice daily though? If they were phone calls or knocks at the door, I'd have a case for harassment. I know it's not a major hassle to delete an email. What bothers me is the sheer persistence even after I've unsubscribed and I don't believe I ever selected that 'yes give my details to everyone you know' check box, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.
If only one-off purchases resulted in one-off emails and that check box really worked. Instead what happens is a message arrives that says something along the lines of 'You are receiving this message because you bought an obscure little thing nine years ago from our dubiously related auntie's dog's company and they sold you out'. Unsubscribe? Ok, but we'll still email you pretending to be a completely different company because we think you'll never notice. Which prompts me to scream once again, get out of my inbox!
I know retailers are having a hard time of it right now, but there's a reason for that. We're ALL skint, not just them. I know the same emails go out to all customers but here's the thought. I might have bought a product once in the dim and distant, perhaps in the days when everyone laughed because shopping online was a really geeky thing to do. The thing is, there are very few retailers that I use again and again. Most of the things I buy online are one-off obscure purchases that will never be repeated. I still get every single email from that company along with all their other one-off customers. Does this not reach a saturation point for everyone?
When a retailer starts emailing me every morning, it's a little too clingy, a little too samey and dare I say a little too desperate. The only message any of us wants to hear every morning is the one from our brain saying made it through another night.
Would it not be better customer relations to at least split up the mailing list so that the emails arrive less frequently? I don't mind hitting delete even as often as once a week per retailer. Once, sometimes twice, even thrice daily though? If they were phone calls or knocks at the door, I'd have a case for harassment. I know it's not a major hassle to delete an email. What bothers me is the sheer persistence even after I've unsubscribed and I don't believe I ever selected that 'yes give my details to everyone you know' check box, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.
If only one-off purchases resulted in one-off emails and that check box really worked. Instead what happens is a message arrives that says something along the lines of 'You are receiving this message because you bought an obscure little thing nine years ago from our dubiously related auntie's dog's company and they sold you out'. Unsubscribe? Ok, but we'll still email you pretending to be a completely different company because we think you'll never notice. Which prompts me to scream once again, get out of my inbox!
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