This absolutely abominable Government which has failed to deliver on its election promises and failed its unsuspecting electorate, driving 22% of the population into poverty and a further 16% living on the edge of working destitution now plans to slip anyone of working age caught in their poverty trap cage into the edge group to ensure their figures look good in the right-wing press.
The Government's latest neoliberal plan was announced by
Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa Coffey, in it she stated that Universal Credit claimants will now be given just four weeks, rather than three months, to find a new job in their preferred field. After this time if they don't make "reasonable efforts" to secure any Job, or if they turn down any job offer, part of their payments will be withheld. The new approach, Ms Coffey said, "is a step change in our offer to claimants and employers, making sure
our jobcentre network and excellent work coaches can deliver opportunities, jobs and prosperity to all areas of the country".
This announcement has been met with heavy criticism from the Labour Party and the trade union movement who point out that this type of damaging attack on previously enjoyed rights is an attempt to illustrate a lurch towards the ultra right by the beleaguered Prime Minister who is 'clinging on to driftwood' in order to save his job.
In Northumberland a spokesperson from their Trades Council told us here at murky about the problems facing the unemployed and how 'work coaches' treat their clients. She said "The recent massive cut in universal credit payments has forced claimants to look at their household spends differently and both mobile data and home Internet and phone line charges are being cut by families along with energy, fuel, tv, transport and food costs", "the current attacks on claimants by belligerent work coaches when they have no data available to make contact strikes fear among those who find themselves in the position of being out of work, as their benefits are stopped as soon as contact failure is recorded."
An unemployed claimant who can't find reasonably priced childcare care to enable her return to a lower paid career than the one she told us had been stolen by the Tories handling of Brexit, said "for coaches, read slavers, as they are not interested in your personal plight only in the numbers game". I live in south-east Northumberland and have been offered job interviews without childcare 40ml away from where I live and there's no space in the work coaches mechanical hearts to complain" "I have recently lost my flat and if it wasn't for my gran my daughter and I would have starved"," its time local face to face contact was made with job centres and not data and dismantle mobile phone call centre grief". "Why does the Government not get local councils to run job centres, their staff who deal with housing and council tax benefit treat us as human beings and not shipped meat".
One of the biggest problems with Teresa Coffey' plans for the unemployed is with internet and mobile phone data charges. The lack of regulation from the Government has yet again failed to protect the majority of UK customers from obscene price rises which will drag domestic consumer inflation towards a real time 10% rise when abominable Council taxes, food, transport, NI and tax rises, and out of control energy inflation is added in.
Internet and mobile data providers have hoodwinked the public for years with an automatic inflation rise plus either 3 or 4% added each year with this years rises described as obscene with BT, EE, Plusnet and Vodafone up 9.3%, Talk Talk up 9.1% with Virgin Media contracts rising by £56 per year. Skay announced its massive rise in its lowest rate of TV charges, a rise of over 20% earlier this month with its new data and internet charges rising massively for those out of contract.
How can Theresa Coffey’s dreadful plan march onwards and upwards when so many obstacles are placed in the way of claimants due to the Tories policy on attacking those in greatest need?
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