‘You’re better off in jail’ | scottish unemployed workers’ network

Last Updated: March 20, 2017By

Those were the words of one of the many unhappy people we met outside Dundee buroo this week. He had been sanctioned, and his observation was based on personal experience.

There were other sanction cases too. James had been sanctioned for 65 days for not coming to an appointment that clashed with his college course. He had informed the DWP, of course, but the relevant information had got lost. He wasn’t surprised at this because they had been consistently chaotic, even sending him appointments at a Manchester jobcentre, rather than Dundee. And now he was waiting for an overdue hardship payment.

As usual, there were ESA problems too. Paul had been told that it didn’t matter that he was in pain. He had explained that he couldn’t sit and had problems getting around – and they had said he should use a wheelchair.

Kirstie had come up against the inflexibility of DWP bureaucracy, which doesn’t allow for people’s actual circumstances. Her ESA claim had been shut down because she was unable to provide the identification evidence demanded of her. It seems the DWP hasn’t worked out what to do when someone has no passport or driving licence and lives with another family member and so doesn’t have their name on the utility bills – yet that can’t be a very rare occurrence.

Source: ‘You’re better off in jail’ | scottish unemployed workers’ network

Join the Vox Political Facebook page.

If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!

Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(
but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.


The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook

latest video

news via inbox

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

3 Comments

  1. joanna March 20, 2017 at 8:03 am - Reply

    He’s right, can you imagine the outrage if a prisoner was denied food if they refused to work!
    Yet the DWP are denying Human Rights to law biding Citizens!!!!

  2. jeffrey davies March 20, 2017 at 8:12 am - Reply

    just another way of culling the stock through benefits denials

  3. katythenightowl March 20, 2017 at 6:49 pm - Reply

    At 56, I don’t own a passport or driving license, and have been having the same kind of problems with proving who I am at times – my only saving grace, is that I’m an actual bill-paying householder, although there are times when that didn’t prove good enough either (when my husband tried to access money from a bank account he’d had before we met 30-odd years ago, and had forgotten about. It was the bank who contacted him but, because he, too, hasn’t got a passport or driving license any more, the money wasn’t given back to him) :(
    This must be something that is more normal for those who are ill/disabled, than not, so it would be just another weapon to beat us with :(

Leave A Comment