Tories stall on ‘yellow card’ scheme for benefit sanctions – because it exposes their homicidal activities

Last Updated: February 19, 2017By

Select Committee chairman Frank Field said vulnerable people are ‘wrongly having their income snatched away’ [Image: Getty].

This Writer agrees with social security campaigner Samuel Miller – the government won’t introduce a system that could curb benefit sanctions because they are doing precisely what the Tories want.

Mr Miller writes: “From the DWP’s perspective, the benefit sanctions regime and the recent introduction of the reduced benefit cap are helping to drive record employment, forcing claimants to accept any work – including zero-hour contacts and low wages.

“About 1.5 million people leave the welfare system each year, and there is fear that many of them may be facing destitution and having to depend on food banks for their survival.

“But multitudes of people dropping off the welfare rolls actually saves the government staggering sums of money in benefits provision.”

It should also be mentioned that the reasons for removing many people’s benefits are completely false. The Scottish trial proved this when nearly 500 people were able to get their benefits back by demonstrating that they did not deserve to lose them in the first place.

But the Tories don’t want that to happen. Most of their social security policy over the last nearly-seven years has been about inflicting destitution on the poor in unreasonable ways, being defeated by logic when people fight these policies, and finding new ways of inflicting destitution on the poor as a result, under a cover story of trying to balance the nation’s books.

If people are forced to visit food banks, or to leave their home, or to die, as a result… well, that’s of no interest to a Tory.

It’s true: Your Tory government is cutting the national deficit – one citizen at a time. What are you going to do when the Tories decide to cut you?

Ministers have been accused of sending desperate jobless and disabled people to food banks by stalling on a promised reform to cut the huge number of benefit sanctions.

Frank Field, the chairman of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, has criticised the department for dragging its heels on a badly-needed change.

A “yellow card” system, which gives claimants 14 days to challenge a decision to dock their benefits rather than imposing the punishment immediately, was pledged way back in October 2015.

A trial in parts of Scotland led to almost 500 people successfully explaining why they did not deserve the punishment after being accused of failing to meet commitments to actively look for work.

Yet the Department for Work and Pensions has refused to commit to introducing the early warning system across the country, insisting more research is needed.

Source: Ministers accused of ‘sending vulnerable people to food banks’ by failing to act on promise to curb benefit sanctions

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10 Comments

  1. Barry Davies February 19, 2017 at 2:43 pm - Reply

    The whole “actively looking for work” thing is designed to ensure those who are unable to work would either have to waste their time and limited resources pretending to look for work or lose money, just what is the benefit to anyone?

  2. First Night Design February 19, 2017 at 2:44 pm - Reply

    The card should not be yellow.

  3. Dez February 19, 2017 at 5:10 pm - Reply

    more research needed? What more do these imbeciles require when human life is at stake? I guess they are waiting for a high paid consultant bean counter to work out how much their Bwankers bailout charity fund might lose. The suggestion is entirely reasonable especially when the effected ones are on the poverty line and any loss of money has far reaching implications for them eg rent arrears, food, heat etc etc. I guess as these lame brains have never been that close to poverty they would never get the impact of their stupid plans and recognise a good compromise solution if they fell over it. It can only be greed and power that drives them on doing all they can to destroy the minions.

  4. jeffrey davies February 19, 2017 at 6:02 pm - Reply

    least we forget tesco b&m poundland salvation army heart mind cancer charitys even the yanky ones maximus who now own remploy take in slaves has thats whot they are slaves who dont show up on government statistic

  5. Louisa London February 19, 2017 at 8:45 pm - Reply

    Bit of info for you. It comes from someone who works for the DWP.
    The DWP have over sanctioned thousands of people and are now contacting them in order to pay the money back. In some cases the amounts to be paid back run to thousands of pounds. The errors have happened because of staff misinterpreting the rules that relate to low level sanctions. These are sanctions imposed when a claimant does not attend a job centre interview. This is a massive project involving dedicated teams. It started before Christmas and is not expected to end before May.

    • Mike Sivier February 20, 2017 at 1:21 am - Reply

      I’d like to see some proof.

      • Jane Owens February 20, 2017 at 9:49 am - Reply

        Manchester Evening News.

        • Mike Sivier February 20, 2017 at 1:47 pm - Reply

          Link?

  6. Grayling February 20, 2017 at 3:02 pm - Reply

    #Atos and #Unum ( formerly the outlawed Unum Provident ) – the elephant in the room that drives everything – started under John Major’s #Tory goverment in the mid 90s

    When these spivvy crooked entities get banned …… they come looking for looking for work elsewhere ….the shadow corporate state

    The Welfare Minister responsible was swivel eyed ‘ freemarketeer ‘ Peter ‘ I’ve a little list ‘ Lilley

    Lilley also comes up on alternative media re the #CSAinquiry tinfoil hat ? or maybe not ?

    Unum made inroads into BAMS ( Benefit Agency
    Medical Services ) ….basically hired retired jobbing GPs who were at least answerable to the GMC ( General Medical Council ) unlike Atos , #Maximus and #Capita’ s hacks and quacks

    Then the #Tories privatised BAMS who were then sold to SEMA and then Atos bought them up

    Splitting the former DHSS up into agencies was to neutralise the various public sector unions – it makes it harder to organise

    That started with #EdwinaCurrie as Health Minister – she used #JimmySavile to run the POA ( Prison Officers Association ) out of Broadmoor

    The real problems are neo liberalism , corporate welfare and the pseudo science biopsychosocial method – His Toniness was partially responsible with his contradictory ‘ third way ‘ but Major and Thatcher had already done the damage by increments

    Then Cameron and his Bullingdon club boys saw New Labour’s weaknesses in policy and exploited them to unprecedented extremes for ideological reasons

  7. mrmarcpc February 21, 2017 at 4:50 pm - Reply

    This yellow card scheme will get scrapped as the tories will want nothing to stand in their way of the devastation that they’re causing the to the people of this country and enjoying so very much!

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