The Robin Hood Tax

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Welfare Cuts in the UK

On Wednesday the 11th January the House of Lords was debating the Welfare Reform Bill. They won the vote, by considerable margins, on three major amendments which they had tabled, in an attempt to mitigate some of the severest effects that the cuts will have on sick and disabled people.

Here are two articles appearing afterwards, in two newspapers at the opposite ends of the political scale.

Sonia Poulton in The Daily Mail - 12.01.2012:

We're all desperate for welfare reform, Mr. Cameron, but hiding the truth is not the way to achieve it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2084706/David-Camerons-Welfare-Reform-Bill-Hiding-truth-way-achieve-it.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Polly Toynbee in The Guardian - 13.01.2012:

Cameron's problem is that people are nicer than he thinks. When these welfare changes come into force, their savage effect will be seen – and then the public mood will turn.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/12/welfare-cuts-cameron?CMP=EMCSOCEML657

The Spartacus Report on Responsible Reform

This report into Disability Allowance Reform has been written, researched and funded by disabled people, who see their basic but essential support benefits under serious threat by government reforms. I am very concerned by its findings and the misrepresentation of disabled people that it exposes. Here is an extract from the press release that accompanied its publication:

"A report published today (9 January) finds that Government misled MPs and Peers over the hostility to disability benefit reform. It finds that Parliament has been given only a partial view of the overwhelming opposition to the Coalition’s planned reforms of a key disability benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It finds that this opposition was previously not released to public scrutiny by the Government.

It is based on the responses to the government's own consultation on its planned DLA reforms, which were only made public once disabled people requested them under the Freedom of Information Act. Findings included:

· 98 per cent of respondents objected to the qualifying period for benefits being raised from 3 months to 6 months
· 99 per cent of respondents objected to Disability Living Allowance no longer being used as a qualification for other benefits
· 92% opposed removing the lowest rate of support for disabled people. "

The report has already been backed by organisations and disability experts including:
Disability Alliance, Mind, Papworth Trust, Scope, Bert Massie CBE & Ekklesia.

I am backing it too.

Oh yes, and just in case you wondered: The fraud rate for disability benefits is less than 0.5%, but the Government wants to reduce recipients by 20%!

[Illustration by Andrzej Krauze, first published in the Guardian on 8th January.]

Surviving Winter Appeal

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I am lucky enough to receive the Winter Fuel Payment, which I do not actually need. There is stuff in my life that I could easily do without, before I would have to think of doing without heat. But the numbers we read of old people like myself, who die each winter of cold, are dreadful - and it seems that they are likely to be worse this winter than ever before.

So I am donating my Winter Fuel Payment to the 'Surviving Winter Campaign', which is being organised around the country through local community foundations. Donations are channelled directly to local people who will benefit from them , and if you gift-aid your donation, admin costs will be taken out of the amount claimed back, and not out of your donation. If you want to donate, go to the Community Foundation Network website where you can find the foundation nearest to you, and look for a link to the appeal.

Help to keep someone else warm this winter!

Shalala It's Christmas

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This is my seasonal greeting to all my blog friends, just to show that I am still here and, incidentally, turning 84 today.

I think this is a lovely song, and the children perform it beautifully and with such confidence. (That must be some music teacher they have in St Saviour's!) I shall probably listen to it every morning till Christmas, as it really brightens my day.

A pacemaker implant in June has done wonders for my wellbeing, as this rather misty picture taken soon after attests. And I am still busy, busy, busy, albeit at a slower pace than when I started this blog six years ago.

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Yellow Bird

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Read

Yellow Bird Lyrics

here.