{"id":2924,"date":"2015-02-03T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2924"},"modified":"2015-02-03T16:50:17","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T16:50:17","slug":"power-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2924","title":{"rendered":"Power in numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

This week is voter registration week. In part 2 of our series on why voting matters, UNITElive spoke with a mother of four who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken on the dreaded Bedroom Tax. Jessica McCarnun explains why casting your ballot this May is so important.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life under the coalition government hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been easy for Jessica McCarnun \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one of half a million people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been affected by the Bedroom Tax, which came into effect in April 2013 and disproportionately harms the disabled.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnder the tax, those who are in social rented housing are slammed with an extra \u00c2\u014114 a week after being deemed to have one spare bedroom and \u00c2\u014125 a week for more than one empty room. As a direct result of the Tory tax attack on those who are already struggling to get by, two-thirds of those affected haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been able to afford their rent.<\/p>\n

 
\nMcCarnun, a Unite Community campaigner from Salisbury, is a mother of four children, two of whom suffer from a disability. It was through her personal experience of the Bedroom Tax that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become a dedicated campaigner against a policy that hurts the most vulnerable in society.<\/p>\n

 
\nWithout any legal training, McCarnun has helped thousands of families, many of whom are disabled, win appeals against the tax. So far, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had a 100 per cent success rate.<\/p>\n

 
\nAlthough McCarnun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and other campaigners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tireless work have helped thousands from falling off the edge, she asserts that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only one sure-fire way to secure policies that work for working people and not against them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through voting.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re effectively giving up your chance at being heard,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe only reason we have such inhumane policies as the bedroom tax in place now is precisely because millions didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote in the last general election.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nIndeed, five years ago, only six in 10 people cast their ballot.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere are staunch voters who will always vote \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for example, older people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and their concerns are almost always heard in Parliament,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen you think about the groups that are least likely to vote \u00e2\u20ac\u201c young people, working-class people, and ethnic minority people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you see it reflected in policy.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey say that work pays but working people now are hurting more than ever before,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said, adding that she understands the disillusionment with politics among the most downtrodden. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut we have the power, in numbers, to make a difference.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe must dispel this notion that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no point, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply not true,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCarnun added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bVoting is perhaps the simplest but most power tool we have to change not only our lives, but our children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives, for the better.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nVoting\u00c2\u00a0 is easier now than ever before \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you can register online in less than five minutes. Be sure to register before the deadline on April 20 and join our coalition campaign, #NoVoteNoVoice. Find out more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To find out more about Jessica’s work, visit her website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week is voter registration week. In part 2 of our series on why voting matters, UNITElive spoke with a mother of four who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken on the dreaded Bedroom Tax. Jessica McCarnun explains why casting your ballot this May is so important.     Life under the coalition government hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been easy for Jessica McCarnun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[224,223],"wps_subtitle":"Bedroom tax campaigner explains why voting matters now more than ever","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2924"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2927,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2924\/revisions\/2927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}