The Illusion Of Democracy.

       Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, is in full tilt throwing out the usual crap concerning our latest Crooks and Liars competition, known as the general election. TV is giving us "the leaders' debates" where we hear the well rehearsed sound bites, or bursts of pointless growling and snarling between "the Leaders", ah, where would we be without "our leaders". The babbling brook of bullshit create the illusion that during the Crooks and Liars competition you are free to roam the streets spouting your particular message to the general public, they call it "democracy". But what if your message is contrary to the accepted views of the powers that be? Will you still be free, in this "democracy" to go about spreading your opinion? Well apparently not, you will find yourself and your supporters being put under the watchful eye of the system's minders, and threatened and harassed at every opportunity. 

This from The Void:

       Lisa McKenzie, who is standing for Class War  against Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford, was arrested last night in the latest petty police attack on the group’s election campaign.

      Lisa was accused of putting a small sticker on a wall two weeks previously and thrown into the back of a van, hand-cuffed and held for hours.  She has been charged with criminal damage. The arrest took place at last night’s Poor Doors demonstration, the weekly picket of the luxury tower block in Aldgate where tenants in social housing are forced to use a different door to the rich.  According to one onlooker police insisted her arrest was nothing to do with the election campaign against Iain Duncan Smith.  They must think we are fucking idiots.

     When Lisa and Class War recently went on the campaign trail in Chingford they were followed by police, repeatedly harassed and threatened with arrest.  Class War candidate for Croydon South, Jon Bigger, was recently followed around the constituency by up to a dozen coppers just for handing out leaflets.

       At previous Poor Doors protests police arrested high profile Class War supporter Jane Nicholl, threatening her with ludicrous arson charges after somebody allegedly burnt a small effigy of Boris Johnson.  At a later demonstration police seized a Class War banner they said had a rude word on it and arrested the person holding it.  One of Class War’s founders, Ian Bone, has also been arrested at the protests for equally trivial reasons.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Wheelchair Is No Excuse For Protesting.

       Recently I drew attention to the harsh treatment by the Transport Police against a group of elderly protesters trying to defend their free bus pass. Well it seems that the police in London, not to be outdone by the Transport Police in Sheffield, have launched a grossly over the top attack on a group of disabled people protesting at Westminster Abbey. The group, part of the Disabled People Against Cuts, (DPAC) were attempting to highlight  the injustice that will be caused by the government's intention to close the Independent Living Fund, (ILF).

Photo from Ian Bone's blog.   

      Elderly, pensioner, walking with the aid of a stick, disabled and in a wheelchair, you are all fair game for our boys in blue, well its more high vis-jackets and riot gear now. Of course they are called the Police Force, emphasis on the word FORCE.

This from The Void:

       At one point, so desperate were the police to arrest someone for nothing,  they charged into the crowd causing people to fall onto several wheelchair users.  Such was the sudden aggression of police it is a miracle no-one was severely injured although unconfirmed reports suggest one disabled person did have to receive treatment after this assault.  Police also attempted to remove access ramps for wheelchairs users to prevent them from being able to peacefully protest in the Abbey grounds.  Equipment was damaged and police prevented the planned disabled toilet and other infra-structures to be created which would have led to a safe event.  Throughout the afternoon all those inside the grounds remained at risk of violent arrest, and in fact, as you read this, that might be happening.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Forced Labour Is Fascism.

       What is happening in this country is no longer about party politics, it's about fascist forced labour, it's about ordinary people being forced to fatten the bank accounts of greedy shareholders, being forced to swell the profits of rich corporate giants, all for no wages. Thousands of people are, at this moment in time, working for prosperous corporations and so called charities and receiving no wages while failing to turn up can see your benefits sanctioned. There has already been one case where a homeless man failed to turn up on his workfare scheme, on two separate days and was fined in court, the sum of £250. Is prison the next step to force you to work for nothing? Where does this stop, it wont, until we stop it, by mass protests, by boycotting those greed merchants that are exploiting this situation, by changing the system to one that sees to the needs of all our people, and gets the millionaire parasites off our backs. What do you call a country that forces people to work for rich companies, for nothing, a democracy???? 

This from The Void:

Exploit us and we will shut you down.

      In April George Osborne’s mass workfare scheme will begin.  Unemployed people will be sentenced to 780 hours community work simply for being unable to find a job. Not even lone parents with young children are to be exempt from the scheme which will see so-called charities like Groundwork UK and the Salvation Army paid by the tax payer to force people to work for free.  Part time workers and those currently genuinely volunteering will also face being sent on unpaid work.

      Collective action can halt this forced labour scheme in its tracks.  A week of action against workfare has been called beginning on the 29th March.  An escalation in the campaign against unpaid work is vital and there is no better chance than this.  It only takes a few people to get the ball rolling, and protests against organisations using workfare have proved to be effective.  Boycott Workfare can offer support with publicity, leaflets and advice. Please help spread the word about the week of action and let’s make this the strongest stand against people being forced to work for free that has been seen so far.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Six Months Free Labour For The Bosses!!

       I can just hear the Cameron/Osborne/ Oxbridge millionaire duet, chucklng over their champagne, "you ain't seen nothin' yet." as they come up with more ways to give their millionaire business friends  more cheap and free labour. The "labour market" is now riddled with part-time low paid jobs, zero hours contracts, workfare slave labour schemes, sanctions and below inflation wage increases, if you get one at all. It doesn't end there, longer slave labour periods, more sanctions, smart cards to monitor your spending and being punished if you don't earn enough, are all part of the package they have in mind for you and your kids. Is there anybody looking at this can still see any illusion of democracy?

An appeal from Boycott Workfare:

      Tens of organisations have already quit workfare. The government will not reveal which organisations are still using it for fear the schemes will collapse. Its contractors complain that they have lost hundreds of placements due to public pressure.

Workfare: If you exploit us we will shut you down!

       But they’re trying it again with a new scheme – “Community Work Placements” – launching on 1 April 2014 which will force claimants to work for six months without pay. Six months – 780 hours – is more than twice the maximum community service sentence. Workfare does not help people find jobs and being unemployed is not a crime.

      This new workfare scheme is part of a raft of draconian measures, misleadingly called “Help to Work”, which are designed to increase sanctions (benefit stoppages) and undermine wages still further.

         For the workfare schemes to happen, they need places to send people, but tens of large charities have already quit. Oxfam stated that the schemes were incompatible with its goal of reducing poverty in the UK. Liverpool CVS has condemned the scheme in the strongest possible terms.

       Our action can stop companies, charities and councils from exploiting forced unpaid work and make make sure this new scheme falls flat on its face. Wherever you are, however you can contribute, take action on 29 March-6 April.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Punished For Being Low Paid!!

       So you think the present "austerity" policies are as bad as it gets, and you believe that the rich bastards can't do much worse to us? Well, what is in store for the us will make the present feel as if you have been living in a socialist utopia. You will be punished for not earning enough, you know it's your fault, you should be out looking for a better paid job. It's a strange philosophy, you work but don't earn enough, so punish the worker and not the employer who doesn't pay them enough. Logic, sanity, fairness, justice, all turned on their heads and spouted as truths. Ah the wonders of capitalism.

This from The Void:

     In breath-takingly savage news, it has been reported that the DWP plans to stop Housing Benefit payments to low paid part time workers if they fail to carry out ‘work related activity’.
       When Universal Credit is finally introduced, those earning less than the equivalent of the minimum wage for 35 hours a week will be forced to constantly look for more or better paid work to qualify for in-work benefits such as Tax Credits and Housing Benefit.  Part time workers could face being sent on workfare in the hours they are not at work and will have to prove to Jobcentre busybodies that they are constantly looking for another, better paid job.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Truth Of Our Era, ATOS Kills.

     ATOS Kills, is not a slogan, it is a truth. Across the country we have seen deaths and suicides as a result of this so called “assessment policy”, which translates as, cutting welfare to the most vulnerable in our society. Whatever the result of the “assessment” the stress and trauma of having to face this humiliating treatment is often enough to push vulnerable people over the edge. We have, sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, a millionaire cabal, who, in their pampered bubble world, know nothing of the struggles and suffering of the ordinary people, nor do they care. They are all worshippers in the temple of Mammon, the poor and vulnerable are mere sacrifices on the altar of finance.

 

      ATOS is just one of the many tools in their armoury as they plunder the public purse, but it is a brutal tool being used against a vulnerable section of our community. We can all say what we feel about this savage attack on our communities by attending the organised Day of Action against ATOS, which takes place tomorrow Wednesday, 19 February. There will be one in your town or city, if not create one. Protests are taking place in towns and cities across the UK including Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Croydon, Hull, Birmingham, Truro, Portsmouth, Edinburgh, Wimbledon and many more. To find a protest near you visit: http://ukrebellioncom.ipage.com/atosdemo/

 

This from The Void:

 

     Someone recently commented that there was once a time when a government policy which led to spate of unintended deaths would have been halted to find out what the fuck was going on.

     Yet the death toll linked to the horrific Atos run Work Capability Assessment grows ever higher with a spate of tragic suicides reported throughout December.  Life is cheap under neo-liberalism and neither the Tory Party, or Labour – who merely say they will replace Atos but the assessments will continue – are opposed to this terrible regime facing sick and disabled claimants.

     Barely any of those found ‘fit for work’ by Atos have actually found jobs, despite Iain Duncan Smith’s magical Work Programme.  The number of successful appeals against decisions made to throw people off benefits remains sky high.  The stress and suffering caused by Atos is more than well documented by hundreds, if not thousands of people on the internet.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Some Charities Are Not What They Seem.

       Continuing the week of action against workfare, we shouldn't forget that in this capitalist society so many charities are just another business where bosses get fat salaries and bonuses at the expense of the public. So today as well as the other previously mentioned let's concentrate on these vultures.

This from The Void:

 

 Groundwork boss Sir Tony Hawkhead who recently gave a speech at the annual workfare conference.

      As part of the week of action against workfare and sanctions it’s time to say enough is enough and hold these shameless bastards to account for their grotesque profiteering.  And don’t let them try claim that they aren’t doing it for the money.  Workfare and workfare contracts are two of the reasons they can afford to pay their bosses so much after all.   These so-called charities are the real benefit scroungers and the suffering they are causing is obscene.
Groundwork are on twitter @groundworkuk and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groundworkuk
TCV are on twitter @TCVtweets and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/TheConservationVolunteers
YMCA are on twitter @YMCA_England and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/YMCA.England
The Salvation Army are on twitter @salvationarmyuk and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/salvationarmyuk
And don’t forget another so-called charity involved in mass workfare, The Shaw Trust, on twitter @Shaw_Trust and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaw-Trust/221553131217597
Don’t forget to sign the petition calling for an end to all benefit sanctions without exceptions.
Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid

Visit ann arky's hoime at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Government Paid Mercenaries!

      When a state carries out policies that kill people in another state, they usually call it war. However, what do you call it when a state carries out policies that kill its own people? Well here in the UK the policies pushed through by the state are killing people. One of them is called “Work Capability Assessment” and the weapon is in the hands of ATOS. I suppose that ATOS being a French company, we should call them mercenaries.

      The number of people who have died after being assessed by ATOS, as fit to work, is well over 100,000. In any war situation these figures would be a national disaster, why does our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, not splash them across banner headlines? Simply because they are on the other side, the side of the murdering state. The latest tragedy in this brutal assault on the disabled and vulnerable, was 53 year old, partially sighted Jacqueline Harris, as well as her problem with her sight she had restricted mobility and was on constant pain relief. However the compassionless bureaucrats, sitting comfortable in their cocooned world of “ticky-boxes” considered her fit to look for work and stripped her of her benefits. It was a pain to far, and sadly Jaqueline Harris took her own life.

    This war against its own people continues on many fronts, the freezing/cutting of wages in the midst of rising energy and food prices, the bedroom tax, putting extra strain on already stretched finances, are just two attacks which are pushing more people into fuel poverty, food banks, deprivation and in turn malnutrition, with the resultant health problems. In truth, these actions are a slow death sentence and are directly responsible for health problems and an early death in thousands of cases. The state by its deliberate policies is killing its own people, all in the name of the economics of the banksters, it is sacrificing the lives of its citizens to bolster and increases the wealth of the already obscenely wealthy. We live in a sacrificial society, where the people are offered up to the god Mammon. 

This from The Void:

     A woman stripped of benefits after being found ‘fit for work’ by Atos has taken her own life the Bristol Post have reported today.

According to the newspaper: 

     “PARTIALLY-sighted and only able to walk with the aid of a stick, Jacqueline Harris suffered crippling pain due to slipped discs in her back and neck. Her mobility was reduced further when a dog savaged one of her wrists. “Despite being in agony which strong pain relief could not ease, the 53-year-old was deemed to be fit for work following a government health assessment and told to find a job.

      “Her sister claims the verdict that she was ineligible for disability benefits drove her to take her own life earlier this month.”

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Accelerating To Deprivation.

     This government's eager complicity in the financial Mafia's drive for sweatshop Europe is seen in the number of ways in which they offer their business friends helpings of free labour. They give interviews proclaiming unemployment is falling and the recovery is gaining ground. However, unemployment is falling because thousands of people are on workfare, a government gift of free labour to the corporate greed machine, and as for recovery, well among the ordinary people the recovery is a fairytale. The millionaire's Old Boys network, our government, has now started another way of forcing young people to work for nothing, their “traineeships” scheme. Of course their millionaire buddies in businesses like Boots, Poundland and Kwik-fit, to mention just a few, are more than eager to take on board as much free labour as they can get their hands on. Why employ people for a wage when your friends in government hand you free labour.

       Another smiling comment from the millionaire cabal in charge of our drive to deprivation, is that inflation has fallen from 2.7% to 2.2% and this should ease the pressure on the general public. What a load of bullshit, in that “fall” there is hidden the fact that food has risen by 4.6% and energy bills are set to rise in the region of 10%, how this will ease the pressure on the ordinary household budget has yet to be explained.

     With workfare, traineeships, zero hours contracts, part-time employment, bedroom tax, rocketing food and energy prices, and ATOS killing off the disabled, this government has pressed the accelerator as we spiral down the deprivation road. Sweatshop Europe here we come. 

 

An excerpt from an interesting and informative article by The Void:

Unpaid workers on these schemes are counted as employed, a handy distortion of the figures for a Government that claims they are bringing down unemployment.  With the numbers in part-time work, precarious self-employment or workfare all at record levels, and wages falling far behind inflation, the true picture of the labour market is far from good news. Recent Housing Benefit statistics* show that the number claiming help with housing costs remains at record levels.  Over 5 million people are on this benefit and for the first time, in July 2013, the number of working Housing Benefit claimants topped one million.

 Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Workfare Illegal,---For A While!!

     When you and I do something that is "illegal" we feel the full force of "the law", but when the government does something "illegal", it simply changes "the law" to make it legal.

Victory For Cait Reilly – Workfare Was Illegal Says Supreme Court

A unanimous verdict at the Supreme Court has judged that the workfare schemes in the Cait Reilly case were illegal.

This follows the DWP’s appeal after a lower court had found that the almost all the  Government’s workfare schemes were illegal.  Iain Duncan Smith was forced to rewrite the law after this judgement retrospectively making these schemes legal.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk