Is this spoof benefit form the basis for Coalition unemployment policy?

Thatcha 2

Take a good hard look at the picture above and then try to tell yourself it isn’t the basis for RTU’s (see the earlier article on Iain Duncan Smith) entire benefits policy.

It is taken from the Spitting Image spin-off book Thatcha! The Real Maggie Memoirs, published in 1993 – just one year after Smith was returned to unit – sorry, Parliament – as MP for Chingford.

He first came to prominence as Shadow Social Security Secretary under William Hague in 1997. It cannot be beyond credibility that he had bought the Spitting Image book and had been taking notes… can it?

Look at the image. The form is described as “Form SCRO/UNG(e)/R” – and now benefit claimants are derided by the Conservative-led Coalition government as “scroungers”.

Note 2, referring to a claimant’s address, states: “Ha! Now we know where you live, we can keep an eye on you. You might have to keep up that fake limp for a long time.” This is typical of the current attitude, that disabled people are faking it in order to get a state handout.

Note 5, for those with relatives, delivers a classic Tory line, “Well why can’t they look after you? Must you always come running to us? Claim disallowed.”

Note 7 is for those who are registered disabled: “Claim disallowed – and don’t bother coming in to complain, we’ve got steps up to the office heh heh.” Is this a million miles away from current DWP policy, to make it as hard as possible for the sick and disabled to claim?

The form disallows claims made by people with partners, with savings, without savings; it asks claimants if they are lying and, if the ‘no’ box is ticked, bluntly responds, “Oh yes you are. Claim disallowed.”

The question “You don’t know the meaning of the words ‘hard work’ do you?” is an exact reflection of the attitude put around by the right-wing press, encouraged by ministers in the Coalition government, as is the fact that there is no ‘yes’ box to tick.

An affirmative response to “Would you be prepared to take any work offered to you, no matter how poorly paid, degrading & menial?” elicits the response: “God, you’ve really got no self-respect left, have you, you scrounging little bastard. I pity you.” Isn’t this exactly the sort of emotional state that Coalition benefit policy is intended to create?

Note 19, for those who ticked a box saying that they wished to claim the money – and claim free NHS spectacles (this last included in tiny print) – states: “Aha! Got you! You obviously don’t need them if you can read that tiny print. Claim disallowed” in a move reminiscent of the ‘voodoo polling’ that appeared on the Conservative Party’s website earlier this year, asking people if they thought benefit increases should be greater than wage rises for working people. When people ticked the box saying they disagreed with this, the Tories were able to claim this meant support for their policy for a below-inflation rise in benefits, when in fact it was based on a false premise, as benefit rises were never greater than wage rises in real terms.

“We promise to process this claim within 28 days. Though exactly which 28 days is up to us,” the form states. This will ring true, particularly for anyone who has received notice that they have a limited period in which to appeal against a decision – and that period ran out the day before they received the letter.

Most damningly true of all is the warning: “Remember, to give false information is a very serious offence – unless of course you are Minister of Employment, in which case it’s essential.” This is certainly a sentence that Iain Duncan Smith seems to have taken to heart.

By now, you may be thinking that this is all taking a silly joke form from a book of satirical humour – published 20 years ago! – just a little too seriously.

But, when you consider the sheer number of similarities between what was wild humour in the 1990s and what is bitter reality now, there can be no conclusion other than that the joke is on us.

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11 Comments

  1. Carole Frost August 8, 2013 at 8:38 pm - Reply

    iain duncan smith is playing a dirty game with his jokes non make me laugh no more i am wholly disgusted with this whole affair with this government .

  2. Nick August 8, 2013 at 9:04 pm - Reply

    well i look like a prisoner of war and look forward to the day when i get get before a court and speak to a judge of years of abuse from the DWP

    hopefully that day will come when a mass claim takes place by all of the relatives of those that have died in going through the welfare reform process i will then be able to step forward with their lawyer as a skeleton who has survived and what a great day that will be

    yes i live in hope just as those in the Hillsborough disaster sort justice i and many others hope at some point to do the same with the many deaths that have arisen from the welfare reform bill and a trial for all of those responsible for it’s implementation that have led to many deaths

    • Peter August 8, 2013 at 9:40 pm - Reply

      Just as those who perpetrated those horrible crimes against humanity during WWII (the Nazis) are being hunted 60+ years on. I hope the same happens to all those in government that have presided over the persecution of the sick & disabled, unemployed and the poor.

      Not only those that implemented and sanctioned these crimes against us but also those in government who sat by and let it happen. Let’s hope they are all hounded until they are in their graves… and beyond.

      “I was only following orders”, has never been an excuse for the Nazis and should not be an excuse now!

      • Nick August 8, 2013 at 10:54 pm - Reply

        “I was only following orders”, has never been an excuse for the Nazis and should not be an excuse now!

        indeed peter what we are seeing today is so far removed from normal a time i thought i;d never witnessed but it’s true and for the likes of myself it’s a very dangerous road ahead but i have managed to take my tory mp along for the ride

        I’m not sure at what point he’ll wont to get out and I’m not sure what use he is to me but for the time being he’s in albeit only by email as i scared him off 3 years ago when i took my shirt off and showed him what persecution looked like and at that point he left never to return but at least he returns my emails and says just keep your head down and ride the storm out

        well I’ve been doing that for 33 years but it doesn’t get any easier as you get older it always gets worse

  3. sp4mf15h August 8, 2013 at 9:06 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on Oprichnik Rising.

  4. scarecrow78 August 8, 2013 at 11:34 pm - Reply

    Well it wouldn’t surprise me if an idiot like George Smith saw this obvious satire and thought it was real. (G)IDS probably watched Spitting Image and thought it was a documentary…

  5. […] Is this spoof benefit form the basis for Coalition unemployment policy?. […]

  6. […] Take a good hard look at the picture above and then try to tell yourself it isn’t the basis for RTU’s (see the earlier article on Iain Duncan Smith) entire benefits policy. It is taken from the Spitting Image spin-off book Thatcha!  […]

  7. Denise Clendinning August 9, 2013 at 9:00 am - Reply

    They will try anything to save money,

    • Mike Sivier August 9, 2013 at 9:14 am - Reply

      It’s not about saving money! A lot of their policies are very expensive – look at the bedroom tax, that will cost more than the current system.

      • Alex Casale August 9, 2013 at 1:11 pm - Reply

        The government should let us know how much taxpayers money they are giving the companies and charities, who are using Workfare (which profits the rich by providing free labour). We should also be told how much the taxpayer is paying govn staff to implement all the different benefit and welfare changes. I cannot help but note that it is also costing the taxpayer for “a necessary administrative cost” to deal with the ballsup with Universal credit. I want to see the balance sheets. How much it is costing taxpayers and how much the government is saving by their draconian cuts in benefits and welfare.

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