August 2014 – Vox Political

Homelessness in England rises a shocking 26% under Tory Lib Dem coalition – Pride’s Purge

August 31, 2014 Mike Sivier3 Comments

Statutory homelessness in England has gone up by a massive 26% since Cameron and Clegg’s coalition government came to power, writes Tom Pride in Pride’s Purge. And the number of people sleeping rough in London has risen by an unbelievable 77% since 2010. Visit Pride’s Purge for the full story. A more detailed article may appear on this site later today. Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike Join the Vox Political Facebook page. Buy Vox Political books and help publicise the best of the blogs! Health Warning: Government! is now available in either print…

‘More or Less’ on the ESA deaths: MORE stupidity, LESS accuracy

August 31, 2014August 31, 2014 Mike Sivierallowance, assessment, assessor, Atos, BBC, claim, claimant, Daily Telegraph, David Cameron, dead, death, Department, die, DWP, employment, ESA, fit for work, Freedom of Information, Group, IB, inaccurate, Incapacity Benefit, Income Support, is, misread, misunderstand, More or Less, Pensions, phase, request, support, Tom Chivers, WCA, work, work capability assessment, work-related activity, WRA, wrong38 Comments

BBC Radio 4’s More or Less promised a feature on the long-discussed deaths of people claiming Employment and Support Allowance in its programme on Friday – and delivered five minutes of drivel that is an insult to the intelligence of anybody concerned. As a reporter, I am staggered that the BBC has had the bare-faced cheek to patronise us in this manner. The feature (which may be downloaded here – it’s the August 29 edition) took as its premise claims made on the social media that 10,600 people have died within…

Threat of election defeat to UK government raised to severe – Pride’s Purge

August 30, 2014 Mike SivierConservative, defeat, election, Pride's Purge, terror, threat, tom pride, Tories, Tory3 Comments

New level of threat to UK government – related to militant Tory defectors – means election defeat is highly likely, though not necessarily imminent, according to Tom Pride. The level of threat from the British electorate to the continued existence of the UK government has been raised from substantial to severe, Theresa May, the home secretary, has announced. The move to distract the electorate comes after figures were released showing a large rise in net immigration to the UK which experts say could make attacks on government ministers in the near future “a real possibility“. This…

Is Douglas Carswell now against the bedroom tax? Or UKIP now for it? – Pride’s Purge

August 29, 2014 Mike Sivierbedroom tax, Douglas Carswell, UKIP4 Comments

UKIP defector Douglas Carswell is a big supporter of the bedroom tax, writes Tom Pride in Pride’s Purge. As a Tory MP, he even voted against exempting families with an ill or disabled child, war widows or widowers and foster parents who routinely use a room for foster care placements. UKIP on the other hand are officially supposed to be against the bedroom tax. So now Carswell has joined Farage, who has agreed to do the great big u-turn? Is it the UKIP who are now FOR the Bedroom Tax – or Carswell who is now AGAINST it?…

It’s official – Britain’s top jobs are a ‘closed shop’ and ‘equal opportunity’ is a myth

August 29, 2014August 29, 2014 Mike SivierAlan Milburn, armed forces, bank, BBC executive, boss, business, cabinet, cambridge, chair, child poverty, civil servant, closed shop, commission, company, cosy club, crisis, diplomat, economic, economy, education, elite, equal opportunities, equal opportunity, firm, Flip Chart Fairy Tales, Guardian, judge, Lord, manage, MP, myth, neoliberal, newspaper columnist, officer, old school tie, Owen Jones, oxford, permanent, poor, private, Private Eye, public, public bodies, public body, recovery, revolving doors, Rich List, school, secretaries, secretary, skills, social engineering, social mobility, Sunday Times, top job12 Comments

If you have ever wondered why you couldn’t get on in life, despite all the talent anyone should ever need… now you know the truth. It’s because you didn’t go to a private school and you didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge University. According to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, 71 per cent of senior judges, 62 per cent of senior armed forces officers, 55 per cent of top civil servants, 43 per cent of newspaper columnists and 36 per cent of the Cabinet are members of a…

Wrong again, Daily Mail! UN human rights investigation is welcome here

August 28, 2014August 29, 2014 Mike Sivier'Brazil Nut', allowance, appeal, bedroom tax, claimant, Coalition, committee, Conservative, CRPD, cut, Daily Mail, dead, death, Democrat, Department, die, disabilities, Disability Living Allowance, disabled, DLA, DWP, employment, ESA, government, Grant Shapps, health worker, housing, human rights, Iain Duncan Smith, IB, Incapacity Benefit, Income Support, investigation, is, Lib Dem, Liberal, medical professional, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, minimum wage, Pensions, person, Personal Independence Payment, Philip Davies, PIP, poverty ambassador, rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, rights, SDA, secretary, Severe Disablement Allowance, Shipley, support, Tories, Tory, un, united nations, unum, Vox Political, WCA, work, work capability assessment18 Comments

Where, exactly, is the “fury” that the Daily Mail wants us to believe has been sparked by the UN’s decision to investigate breaches of human rights by the Coalition government? Nowhere, apart from at the Daily Mail and the Coalition government! The paper reported yesterday (correctly) that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has launched a formal investigation into whether the UK’s Coalition Conservative and Liberal Democrat government has committed “grave or systemic violations” of the rights of disabled people. It then went right…

Here we all are, dying by a thousand cuts – Juxtaposed

August 28, 2014 Mike Sivier5 Comments

I’m looking at the state of my country and the state of the world. I’m enduring political-social-economic breakdown, war and general meltdown; I’m witnessing agendas that require the deliberate construction of societal divisions and the fabrication of conflicts – even mass murder by sovereign nations and marauding fascist hordes, writes Juli in the Juxtaposed blog. I’m seeing that when action is taken, it’s either simplistically eager and over the top or it’s reluctant and insultingly piecemeal. Nuance and subtlety; the simple and straightforward are in a right old jumbled-up mess.…

Are You For Justice? Join the fight to save Legal Aid

August 27, 2014August 28, 2014 Mike SivierConservative, government, Jo Brand, legal aid, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, Shami Chakrabarti, Stephen Fry, Tamsin Greig, Tories, Tory, Vox Political7 Comments

“There will be abuses of power and miscarriages of justice if people do not have access to legal advice and representation. That is already happening.” – Shami Chakrabarti (on the video). The video by Justice Alliance UK (above), featuring Stephen Fry, Jo Brand, Tamsin Greig and the aforementioned Shami Chakrabarti discusses the real effect of Chris Grayling’s restriction of Legal Aid. Vox Political has published articles on this matter and you are strongly urged to read them, if you don’t understand why this is important. Start here. Then here. Then…

Proud Stocktonian Mike McGrother’s open letter to producers of Benefits Street

August 27, 2014 Mike Sivierbenefits street1 Comment

Wildcats of Kilkenny frontman Mike McGrother wrote this to Love Productions, according to the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, reported by Unemployed in Tyne and Wear. As revealed yesterday, Love Productions is currently filming the second series of the controversial Channel Four show in Kingston Road on the Tilery Estate in Stockton. Middlesbrough Evening Gazette published a detailed interview with the company in which one of its directors explained why Teesside had been chosen for the second series. And that prompted proud Stocktonian Mike – who had previously contacted the Daily Mail…

Seat choice for Boris is an admission of Tory weakness

August 27, 2014August 27, 2014 Mike Sivier2015, association, Boris Johnson, candidate, Conservative, election, London, Mayor, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, Nigel Farage, Parliament, people, politics, Sir John Randall, South Ruislip, Thanet South, Tories, Tory, Uxbridge, Vox Political22 Comments

In typical cowardly Conservative manner, Boris Johnson has decided to apply to be that party’s candidate in the stronghold seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip at next year’s general election. The seat is currently held by Sir John Randall with a majority of 11,216. He will be retiring at the next election, making room for Johnson, who is currently Mayor of London. Johnson will have to go through a selection procedure but there can be no doubt about the result. The decision encourages us to draw two conclusions: Firstly, Boris…

Month: August 2014

Homelessness in England rises a shocking 26% under Tory Lib Dem coalition – Pride’s Purge

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Threat of election defeat to UK government raised to severe – Pride’s Purge

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Is Douglas Carswell now against the bedroom tax? Or UKIP now for it? – Pride’s Purge

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Wrong again, Daily Mail! UN human rights investigation is welcome here

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Here we all are, dying by a thousand cuts – Juxtaposed

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Are You For Justice? Join the fight to save Legal Aid

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Proud Stocktonian Mike McGrother’s open letter to producers of Benefits Street

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Seat choice for Boris is an admission of Tory weakness

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