Dear John Bercow – YOU can have #IDS Indicted
Thanks to Jayne Linney for putting this on her blog, where Vox Political found it:
Dear John Bercow,
I was incredibly naive when I started campaigning for the rights of people with long term health conditions and disabilities.
I believed passionately in democracy and that here in the UK, we had one of the best political systems in the world.
I had always believed there were strict rules governing MPs and that they were held to account by customs and conventions that had served us for centuries. Sadly, that naivety is long gone.
Over the last 4 years, I’ve learnt that democracy is merely an illusion. I’ve learnt that a politician can do or say virtually anything he or she likes and no-one will do anything about it at all.
In the case of Iain Duncan-Smith, we have seen the results of a failure to govern the governors as never before. He has lied – not “misled” or “misdirected” – to parliament repeatedly. He has lied about who is affected by his “reforms”. He has lied about who is protected from them. He has lied about how much they have saved the treasury and he has lied about their efficacy. He has lied about the level of support for his changes and lied about the timescales of their delivery.
The results of his lies are clear for all to see. Vulnerable people he promised to support go hungry or are left without care or security. Nearly a million people have been driven to foodbanks. Homelessness has risen, the benefits bill has risen and the housing bill has risen. Sanctions have soared – over 500% in the case of those too unwell to work – and a fiscal black hole of billions is becoming apparent at the treasury as every one of his major schemes grinds to a halt. Universal credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Personal Independence payments, all have failed, leaving millions stuck in limbo.
Yet still Mr Duncan-Smith lies and still his lies go unchallenged.
This petition https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/investigate-ids-for-lies calls on parliament to investigate those lies and hold a full and transparent enquiry into his conduct. He has even repeatedly bullied the media not to hold him to account, can he bully you too? Is there no-one prepared to challenge this man and stop his inhumanity?
Campaigners will never rest until the scale of this man’s failures are clearly exposed to the public. Until his dishonesty is fully revealed. He will not be reshuffled or sent quietly away to “spend more time with his family”. No matter how long it takes, Iain Duncan-Smith will be shown as the cruel bully he is.
You could choose to make sure that happens sooner rather than later, before more thousands of lives are ruined by his incompetence and lies. You have the power to restore at least some of the democracy we have lost. But make no mistake, now or in the future, it will happen. I and many like me will make sure of it.
Readers can sign the petition here https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/investigate-ids-for-lies
This letter is from the indomitable Sue Marsh , in support of the #TRUTH Campaign; Thanks Sue :-) xx
DON’T FORGET TO SIGN THE PETITION!
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Thank you for this. I have signed but wonder how IDS has gotten away with this for so long. The man has no compassion for vulnerable people and seems to have no understanding of the challenges that these people already face. He will, in time, I believe, face a court for crimes against humanity and it would be of great concern if he does not at some time have to answer for his deeds.
Have signed and posted to FB – 3,089 and counting. Brilliant piece of work!
This letter needs reworded or scrapped. first its not clear what is being demanded, and then also makes several accusations about IDS basically lying about everything, without pointing to clear evidence to back this up. i.e. How do we know if IDS lies consciously or just constructs a deluded work process whereby he can convince himself he is right and deal with problems later ?
“Over the last 4 years, I’ve learnt that democracy is merely an illusion.”
The UK has never had a democracy because of the existence of the unelected
House of Lords, that was abolished by Cromwell who brought about the people’s parliament. Cromwell described the House of Lords as ‘dangerous and useless’. The upper parliament has not saved people from starving hunger caused by welfare reform, presided over by IDS.
“He has lied about who is affected by his “reforms”. He has lied about who is protected from them. He has lied about how much they have saved the treasury and he has lied about their efficacy.”
I am a victim of IDS and his DWP / private contracts. Reform means abolition and the rise of starvation caused by loss of any food and fuel money by government. This means a huge rise in malnutrition hospital admissions and the costs of pauper funerals.
Small works pension – early retirement in lieu of redundancy from the huge austerity job cuts.
No benefit as too disabled / chronic sick to comply with Jobseekers.
No disability benefits. No sick benefit.
Lost state pension payout at 60 (joining the 530,000 women since 2013).
Having the inability to survive 6 years without state pension payout.
Losing a huge chunk of state pension from the rise from 30 to 35 years
needed National Insurance Contributions.
The government is not telling huge numbers of
women born from 1953 and men born from 1951
that they will not be able to get benefit and will have NIL STATE PENSION FOR LIFE from the flat rate pension, that is more about abolition and leaving the old forever in penniless starvation
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/state-pension-at-60-now
“and a fiscal black hole of billions is becoming apparent at the treasury”
The Tories have spent more since 2010 on welfare reform admin, than Labour spent in 13 years of benefit to people.
It is welfare reform that has added to national debt.
A deficit is not a national debt, but something the UK has had for 300 years to no ill effect. The politicians do not even know basic economics, that could be told them by any economists with a degree. Never mind me reading it in blogs such as yours.
The Trussell Trust is informing again and again (and itself only half of all food banks) that it is benefit sanctions and the working poor who are the bulk of the starving.
The over 60s also starve, left on just the state pension in old age, itself the lowest of all rich nations bar poor Mexico. Someone at 60 and disabled / sick can equally be sancitoned off benefit for many months (it takes about one month to starve) as a young woman with a new baby.
Those 60 and over are not listed in government unemployment figures. Half of over 50s are either within working poor or are unemployed.
97 per cent of the benefits bill is to the working poor and poor pensioners.
The myth pensioners are well off, is another downright lie by IDS, but why would wealthy and privilege politicians know who the poor are. No chance.
But then The Tories and Liberals (now called Lib Dems) did this a century ago, with the Workhouse and New Poor Law (forbidding feeding the starving other than in a Workhouse), that killed 5 million men, women and children.
Centuries of successful Poor Law had fed people, with a shilling for a loaf of bread for a family, in town or country.
Every time I look at that 38% petition the amount of signatures needed seems to change. When I signed it was 2000 needed, then I looked again and it was 3000 needed, but now a day later it seems as though it is 4000 needed?Why is this or am I going off the rails.
I certainly cannot wait until the day when IDS get whats coming to him thats for sure.
i think 100 thousand names are needed Keith. starts at a thousand and so on needed im sure i read not on online petiton as ever brought change. but could be wrong ?
I think you may be confusing this with a government e-petition.