{"id":3408,"date":"2015-03-19T18:13:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T18:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3408"},"modified":"2015-03-20T12:44:33","modified_gmt":"2015-03-20T12:44:33","slug":"when-a-government-just-doesnt-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3408","title":{"rendered":"When a government just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Department of Work Pensions\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe epicentre of the coalition government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s destruction of the welfare state as we know it\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwas today (March 19) the scene of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national day of action against benefits sanctions.<\/p>\n

 
\nHundreds gathered outside the DWP to protest the cruel sanctions, in which benefits claimants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 entitlements are suddenly cut for spurious reasons, or often, for no reason at all. The central London event was one of dozens of Unite-led demonstrations outside Jobcentres up and down the country.<\/p>\n

 
\nPunitive sanctions have resulted in over two million people having their welfare payments cut or stopped without warning over the past two years, leading to increased poverty, misery and even death.<\/p>\n

 
\nIn London, the total number of sanctions dealt out by the DWP from October 2012 to September 2013 was 130,442 and 103,679 between October 2013 and September 2014.<\/p>\n

 
\nBlaming the unemployed for unemployment<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nLeading the campaign, Unite community national coordinator Liane Groves explained why Unite launched its nationwide day of action.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bToday Unite is calling for the end of benefits sanctions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBenefits sanctions mean that if you are five minutes late to a Jobcentre interview, you can lose your benefits for a whole month. We believe they are cruel, and they certainly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help people get back into work.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re affecting the most vulnerable people. In fact, 40 per cent of people who have been sanctioned have mental health issues.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nGroves argued that the ostensible purpose of sanctions\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto get people back into work\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis completely misguided.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere are a number of ways to actually help people get back into work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor example, helping the jobless with their CVs or coaching them before interviews.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the biggest problem is that people need decent jobs to go into in the first place. The government needs to create decent jobs and people will walk into them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no good blaming the unemployed for unemployment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nStanding together<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nJacqueline Woodward Smith, a primary school counsellor and Unite community member, like most of us, also knows someone who has been sanctioned.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy partner suffers from Asperger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, a form of autism, and several other disabilities that haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been diagnosed,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe was sanctioned for a year and he really struggled with that. Eventually his case went to court and he got his benefits back. But he still lives in fear every day that he might be sanctioned again and what he would do \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even contemplated killing himself. This is what sanctions are putting people through; this is how people live now.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor me, this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a political issue, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a moral one,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Smith went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are dying because of sanctions. As a Unite community member I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m out here to stand with my brothers and sisters. All of us know someone who has had their benefits taken away and are suffering now, so we need to stand together.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nSmith condemns the image mainstream media portrays of society\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most vulnerable, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve fallen on hard times, often by chance.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this idea that everyone on benefits is having a lovely time and going on big holidays, but so many people just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand the reality\u00e2\u20ac\u201dpeople have to choose between food, heating, transport, and other basic necessities most of us take for granted.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nLessons not learned<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nGill Thompson, whose brother, David Clapson, died after being sanctioned , handed in her 211,822-name petition at the DWP \u00e2\u20ac\u201c calling on the prime minister to investigate the widespread use of benefit sanctions.<\/p>\n

 
\nClapson, a vulnerable diabetic ex-soldier, died starving and destitute in 2013 because he was penalised by his job centre for missing a meeting.<\/p>\n

 
\nThompson spoke through tears about her brother, an ultimately fatal victim of a system that continues unabated.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy brother worked for 29 years of his life, he was a soldier in Northern Ireland in the 70s, and he was a carer for our mother for eight years,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe just hit hard times and he became vulnerable. So they sanctioned him and within three days, he was dead.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here not just in memory of my brother but for others as well,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Thompson added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is about vulnerable people. When I started this, all I want is lessons to be learned and no one else to die. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bring my brother back\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing I can do. But lessons aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t being learned. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still sanctioning people as we stand here today. People could be dying.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy brother wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a scrounger. I come from a very good working-class family. My brother worked, my mother and father worked, and I work. My brother just hit a time in his life when things went wrong, and that can happen to any of us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 
\nCall for compassion<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 
\nAndrew Osborne, who is on Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s general engineering, manufacturing and servicing committee, had come to London from Cambridgeshire for a union meeting. But as soon as he and his colleague found out about the demonstration, they came to join in solidarity.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe system needs to be more humane,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Osborne said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI remember a time when you could lose your job, and you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to be chased around the capital being forced to apply for millions of jobs that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exist. You could actually apply for jobs in your sector.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere should not be this element of aggression and downright nastiness. We should have a bit of compassion for people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve fallen on hard times.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou can judge a society by how it treats its poorest and most vulnerable,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Osborne added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening here is an attack on the most vulnerable, while the rich, the fat cats and the bankers are getting away scot free. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones who crashed our economy, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones who are ruining society and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones who should be taken to task.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

The Department of Work Pensions\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe epicentre of the coalition government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s destruction of the welfare state as we know it\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwas today (March 19) the scene of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national day of action against benefits sanctions.   Hundreds gathered outside the DWP to protest the cruel sanctions, in which benefits claimants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 entitlements are suddenly cut for spurious reasons, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[231],"wps_subtitle":"Unite demands end to sanctions misery ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3408"}],"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=3408"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3418,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3408\/revisions\/3418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}