A 'Cruel Policy', Ruth? I'd Say It's Not Cruel Enough...

This morning, about 300,000 children woke up in households affected by the benefit cap. Lots of these children – enough to fill more than 1,000 primary schools – will be living in cold and damp homes, with food cupboards near empty; in deep poverty that leaves normal childhood activities, such as after-school clubs, swimming lessons and family days out, far out of reach. Since 2020, I’ve been working with colleagues at the universities of York and Oxford and the London School of Economics to investigate the impact of the benefit cap and the two-child limit (commonly referred to as the two-child benefit cap) on families with three or more children.

She doesn't mean the effect on us, the long suffering taxpayer, of course.

In our research with families affected by the benefit cap, we have spoken to parents such as Lucy, who pays £1,375 a month to rent a mould-ridden, rat-infested property. At times, the cap has left her family with as little as £65 a week to survive on once the rent and some of the bills are paid. £65. For five of them. It is simply not possible to get by on that.

We spoke to Lucy four times over four years, and she was always doing all she could to move out of that property. But as our analysis of Zoopla listings shows, the housing just isn’t there.

How far afield was she looking? That often proves to be the stumbling block. 

But there is a complete absence of affordable housing in many areas.

In the areas that these people want to live, usually. They don't see the wisdom of cutting their cloth to meet their funds. 

Statistics released today reveal that 123,000 households in England, Scotland and Wales were affected by the benefit cap in May 2024, a rise of about 46,000 in just three months according to government figures. Introduced by George Osborne in 2013, the cap means the most a family without regular work can claim is £25,323 in London and £22,020 in the rest of the country.

In many countries, you wouldn't get anything if you didn't work for it!  

Both the benefit cap and the two-child limit sever a foundational principle within our welfare state that people should be entitled to support based on what they need.

'Entitlement' is the real issue here, isn't it? 

Lifting the benefit cap would provide immediate relief to hundreds of thousands of families such as Lucy’s and Zauna’s, who are currently facing a long, cold winter. What better way, after all, to start investing in our future than by ensuring children’s basic needs are met?

We do. There's a little thing called 'child support'.  

The New 'Oooh, Me Back!' Has Been Discovered...

One in five patients registered to a pair of GP surgeries in the north of England have long Covid, according to a report that lays bare stark regional inequalities. The north-west of England had higher than average numbers of people reporting long Covid symptoms, with just over one in 20 people (5.5%), followed by the north-east and Yorkshire (5.1%).

The report also found the prevalence of long Covid among the most deprived areas of England was 6.3%, almost double the rate in the least deprived areas.

What a shocker, eh, Reader?  

Dr Stephanie Scott, the lead author of the report and senior lecturer in public health at Newcastle University, said: “Long Covid is a complex condition that goes beyond physical and mental symptoms, affecting other parts of people’s lives including their sense of self and professional identity. This can then lead to experiences of social isolation.

“Currently, there is little evidence-based treatment for long Covid and the health system focuses on symptom management. This needs to change. Our research has offered a glimpse into the reality of what it is like to live with this often-debilitating condition and the knock-on effects it has on people’s personal and professional lives.

“I hope that the evidence presented in this report cuts through to policymakers and gets the attention it deserves so more research into long Covid is funded, and so measures can be put into place which enables employers to better support their workforce with long Covid.”

Sounds a lot like 'Gissa job!' to me, Stephanie... 

Really? It Makes Me Feel Utter Despair...

...when I hear politicians talking about lifting the two-child limit, it makes me feel excited and hopeful.

I suppose it takes a particular mindset to celebrate the forthcoming opportunity to profit from others' hard work. I'm glad I don't have it. 

Even without the limit, we would only be living just a little bit better. The price of everything – gas, electricity, water, council tax – keeps going up, so things would still be very hard. Surviving is so difficult. I wish someone in power would assess the current price of everything and think about how much families actually need to not only get by, but to live on.

I wish that someone would remember that those 'hardworking families who want to live and not just get by' will instead be further impoverished by being taxed to support the feckless like you...

I did used to get some financial support from my children’s father, but that’s all stopped now. My relationship with him was very abusive, and I don’t want to ask him for anything now, as he always expects something in return. For the past 16 years, he and I were on and off – and there were arguments, fights and violence. We’ve separated now, and I’m trying to do what’s right for me and the kids.

You had three kids with him despite all that, and now you want the taxpayer to pay for them? GTFO!

Why can't the 'Guardian' ever find a genuinely deserving case to champion? 

For Once, Rishi's Right - This Situation Isn't Fair On The Taxpayer

The country has a “sicknote culture” that needs to be tackled, the prime minister said. Britain “can’t afford” its record levels of welfare spending and it’s “not fair” on the taxpayer.

Who could argue with this? Frances Ryan, of course!

Attacking sick and disabled people is a method that has been deployed time and time again over the past 14 years of Conservative rule. It is the equivalent of the party’s in-case-of-emergency button: if in trouble, ministers can sound the alarm and the rightwing press will churn out headlines about getting the “jobless” off the “dole”.

The notion that we have a 'rightwing press' is laughable. If we did have one, would we see males being treated as females in the pages and broadcasts?  

The plan to shift responsibility for issuing fit notes away from GPs to other “work and health professionals” in order to encourage more people to get back into work is a classic piece of Conservative welfare thinking. If there are too many sick people in the country, don’t bother dealing with the causes – just get someone who is not a doctor to declare they’re not actually sick after all.

What has largely slipped under the radar, though, is a major reform: a review of personal independence payments (Pip), the flagship non-means-tested benefit designed to help cover the extra costs that come with disability. Proposals include asking for more medical evidence before awarding the benefit, looking at whether some payments should be one-off rather than ongoing, and withdrawing money from some people living with mental-health problems and replacing it with treatment.

How terrible, trying to treat someone's illness so they can live a normal, working life! Oh, the humanity! 

And asking for actual medical evidence! OK, I'll give you that one, since we didn't seem to need it for the pandemic, did we?  

The bleakest part of Sunak’s plan is that there is a genuine crisis obscured by his misleading rhetoric. Britain is a significantly sicker and poorer country than it used to be. In the coming years, addressing the growing number of long-term sick people will have to be the priority of any government. To do that though, ministers will need to forgo the fiction that hordes of workers are faking illnesses and admit the facts.

But it's a fact that some of them do. Even people who don't need to for monetary reasons. The question is, surely, how many.  

The true sickness in this country cannot be found in a benefits office or a GP surgery but in Downing Street. It is a political culture whose default setting is demonising and impoverishing people who are already suffering, and a rightwing media that for decades has parroted the lies and bigotry it is fed.

And those who live alongside the sicknote brigade and wonder why they work when others don't, Frances? They can't all be 'hoodwinked' by our so-called right wing media. 

If You Were To Wake Up As A Labour Shadow Minister, Frances…

...we'd all have even more cause for concern than if Diane Abbot became chancellor!

If I were to wake up as a Labour shadow minister tomorrow, I’d pick these three priorities.

Oh boy, you know as soon as you see the byline this isn't going to be grounded in reality... 

1. End child poverty

Social security cuts and rising prices and rents mean almost one in three children in the UK are now in poverty.

Well, only because the definition of poverty has been perverted to the point that even some 'Guardian' writers blush to name it as such when talking about the UK. 

2. Scrap the work capability assessment

The work capability assessment (WCA) – famed for its cruel and inaccurate testing of disabled and chronically ill people unable to work – is one of the greatest social policy failures in modern times.

If we don't have a test, how can people be said to be unable to work? Should we just take their word for it? 

3. Close the Department for Work and Pensions

From the deaths of benefit claimants to the tens of billions wasted on the snail-pace rollout of universal credit, over the past decade the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has normalised a culture of punishment, waste and secrecy.

If we close the department actually dealing with all those disabled people claiming for things they need  want who will administer that, Frances? Will it be you? 

Do They Only Catch The Stupid Ones?

A woman’s £650,000 claim for injuries allegedly suffered during a car crash has been thrown out of court in Ireland after she was pictured winning a Christmas tree-throwing competition.

*boggle* 

Kamila Grabska (Ed: Surely not..?), 36, sued an insurance company and said injuries to her back and neck meant she was unable to work for more than five years or play with her children. She claimed she was left with the “disabling” condition after a car she was travelling in was hit from behind in an accident in 2017.

We really are being taken for mugs in this country, aren't we> 

Yes, It Is...

A woman has been sentenced to four months in prison after a XL bully mauled a dog owner and killed another dog in two horrifying attacks just two weeks apart. Jade O'Brien also verbally abused the owner of the dog that died, telling him: 'It's not my f****** fault.'

...sadly, we can't put you down as well, and save the taxpayer even more money.

The court heard that O'Brien has eight previous convictions for battery, excess alcohol and criminal damage. She was also banned from keeping dogs for three years in March after she failed to get treatment for her puppy's wounds leaving it in agony - instead asking her gardener for help.

Can afford expensive-to-feed large dogs she can't control AND a gardener as well? Strange we aren't told what well-paying job she has, eh, Reader? 

Jonathan Condor, defending, told the court that Narla wasn't her dog and its owner, O'Brien's ex partner, was currently on remand in prison for allegedly assaulting her. He said O'Brien had been the victim of domestic abuse and had also suffered a stroke in 2018 but she accepted she was responsible for the two attacks.

I guess Jonathan managed to convince her that telling the police and the judge to 'Fuck off, dickhead, it's not my fault!' wasn't a winning strategy... 

District judge Thomas Mitchell said he had considered O'Brien's circumstances and that she had 'to some extent been imposed upon' by her ex and wasn't the 'best person' to look after dogs.

Jailing a sobbing O'Brien for four months, he said it was a serious case' that could only be dealt with by immediate custody. He also banned her from owing dogs for five years, handed her a £154 victim surcharge and made a destruction order for Narla.

Once again, we see the reason this ban had to come in - the very sort of people drawn to these beasts are exactly the sort that shouldn't have them.  

H/T: BullyWatch via Twitter

It's Not Going To Be A Labrador, Is It?

The attacked dog suffered minor injuries and both Bozo and a second dog belonging to Walters were seized by police.

No details of Walter’s second dog have been released by South Yorkshire Police .

Those things take a lot of feeding. Just how is a 'homeless man' earning enough by begging to feed them? 

Following the hearing , the judge deemed it safe to return Bozo to Walters under the condition that he isn’t walked off his lead or by anyone under the age of 16 and must wear a muzzle to prevent further biting of a person or dog.

Walters was also fined £150 and ordered to pay £85 in court costs and a £60 surcharge.

I guess, like the tins of Pedigree Chum, the taxpayer's footing the bill for that too? 

H/T: The Jannie via email

Why Is A 23 Year Old A ‘Child’..?

A cash-strapped Lewisham mother has spoken of her despair as she and her children face their second eviction in two years.

Sarah Shaw, 52, and her four children were ejected in 2021 from their Downham home of 11 years, under a Section 21 “no-fault” eviction notice. They have since spent almost two years in dilapidated “temporary” accommodation in Lambeth, but now face a no-fault eviction from that property as well.

There's no 'Mr Shaw' mentioned, I see. There hardly ever is. So who's keeping them? Reader, you know. Don't you? 

Sarah struggles to find work because a rare skin condition makes her allergic to the sun and to lots of substances commonly encountered in indoor workplaces, such as soaps, oils and cleaning products.

She receives £949 per month in benefits, from which she must pay £469 towards the monthly rent on her mouse-infested temporary flat, a short walk from Oval station.

I can't help but think that money would go further elsewhere than London... 

Sarah’s oldest child, 23-year-old Shane, has depression, anxiety and PTSD. They were supposed to start a two-year course of intensive psychotherapy in 2021, but after being placed in Lambeth they were no longer eligible for the service.

A 23 year old is 'a child' now? 

Sarah’s other three children, all still in education, faced a 90-minute commute to school or college every day – but it was important to her that they not have to leave all their friends behind.

More important than being able to afford better living conditions? *shrugs* Oh, well...  

How Many More Of These Are There..?

A man who used a letter from the UK Border Agency to create a false identity and claim £349,000 in benefits has been jailed for fraud. The Crown Prosecution Service said Hossein Ali Najafi received a letter to Hussein Ali Nagrafi in 2010.

No checks on accuracy before they pay these huge sums out, then? Clearly not. It's only taxpayer's money, after all....

Prosecutors said his claims for employment support allowance, disability living allowance, personal independence payment and housing and council tax benefits included stating that he had extensive physical disabilities, "which surveillance disproved".

I wonder what prompted the surveillance? And why there's no mention of asset recovery?

He was also found to have 26 bank accounts in his two identities.

/facepalm 

H/T: Ian J via email

No, It's Just Limiting Their Ability To Stick Their Hand In My Pocket, Rhiannon...

Here we go again. You'd think she was the only female in the world to have given birth...

Essentially what we have here is the legislating of the female body, in plain sight, yet with none of the outrage and fury that we see over abortion rights. In forcing women to choose between abortion and poverty, the policy appears specifically designed to limit women’s reproductive choices.

No, not at all. Just the ability of these women to get other people to pay for those choices. You want kids? Go right ahead. But they are an expensive proposition. 

As Sian Norris, the author of Bodies Under Siege, tells me: “The two-child policy seeks to legislate over women’s bodies, treating women’s wombs as something that can and should be arbitrated on by the state. It ties into ideas of women’s wombs being public property, which in turn links to anti-abortion ideology – ironic considering the policy is pushing some women to terminate wanted pregnancies as they can’t afford to care for a third or fourth child.”

She added: “There is a specific class-based element to this that states that if you are on a low-income, then you are not entitled to make your own decisions about pregnancy, fertility and your family.”

You're perfectly entitled to make your own reproductive choices. That hasn't changed. But make them with your own money.  

It's Another Exciting Round Of 'Guess The Redacted 'Guardian' Headline'..!

People are eating their pets? Children are starving in the streets? Mothers are selling themselves on street corners to buy bread?

*sighs*

Many in Lydon’s generation went to university or art school without paying anything; others had their fees heavily subsidised by the state.

No, Alex. By the taxpayer.  

Budgets for local drama and public art projects were far more generous. Beneath all this was the safety net of full employment, dole and affordable housing. These conditions made postwar Britain an ideal breeding ground for confident and adventurous new forms of art...

Until we ran out of money... 

It is not necessarily a question of increasing government funding for creative initiatives, welcome though that would be.

Perish the thought! 

Instead, we need to think at the deepest level about what it takes for a society to be able to regenerate itself and allow the new to be born. Just as the declining birthrate among younger Britons seems far more likely to be due to a hostile social environment than any sudden change in attitudes to parenting, so too we need to look at the fundamental inability of our society to provide basic forms of security – in education, housing, welfare and employment – if we are to understand why it is now so difficult for young innovators in all the arts to achieve breakthrough.

That's not independence. That's being kept. As a pet.  

And It's Not Just The Vegans!

*blinks*

Thousands of people in Brighton and Hove do not have access to food that is healthy or culturally appropriate.

What, they are barred from shops? There aren't shops in Brighton and Hove selling bushmeat? What's this all about? 

Andrew Forsey, national director of Feeding Britain, said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must publish a strategy to ensure people can afford and access healthy food.

Aha! Of course. It's another demand to feed people out of my pocket again... 

He said that food clubs in Feeding Britain's network "have never seen so many people", including working families, seeking help with food. The Trussell Trust revealed more people in UK used food banks in the six months to September than ever before, with some 1.3 million food parcels handed out, an increase of one third on the same period the previous year.

Hand out free stuff and people demand more of it! Who knew? 

Well, She's Not Shelling Out For Two Lots Of Dog Food Now...

...so surely she can afford more?

Appearing in Southampton Crown Court in October 2020, Victoria Capon, the owner of the two Staffies, was ordered to pay £11,822 in compensation within two months.

However, Julie says she has still only received £5,000 from the insurance company, plus a £50 payment in October. Having contacted the court, she has been told to expect £50 a month - meaning it will take 12 years to pay off.

And they call this 'justice'... 

Capon, of Kensington Close, Bishopstoke, was also banned from owning dogs for five years and given a ten-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

The pussy pass strikes again, no doubt. 

During the hearing, it was said that Capon’s beasts had been involved in five previous attacks against other dogs.

And no-one did anything until, once again, it was too late for the victim. 

Looks Like It's The First Time It's Ever Stopped A Food Delivery...

A woman has been fined after her American Bulldog-cross bit a food delivery driver on the back.

Dawn Leadbitter's dog was in her garden when the victim pulled up to drop off groceries at her address. A court heard the animal jumped up a 4ft fence and sunk his teeth into the man's torso.

Poor woman, without her takeaways, she'll waste aw... 

Why are they always smiling?

OK, never mind.

The defendant appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court to admit having a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury. But she was spared jail and instead fined £300, ordered to pay £85 costs and a £120 victim surcharge, Chronicle Live reports.

I guess that's why she's grinning...

The dog was made the subject of a contingent destruction order, where it must be kept muzzled and on a lead at all times in public or risk being put to sleep.

The court heard the dog had been recused (sic) from an adoption centre and had never behaved in such a manner before.

Seem to have heard that phrase a lot lately... 

Not Just The Mutts That Were Inbred...

How do you do this and not face an attempted murder charge?

Breeder Hayley Stoker, 48, was stabbed in the throat on her doorstep on August 22 in 'revenge' after being blamed by the heartbroken couple for the death of their puppy.

In her interview, Rees said they were angry that the puppies were 'inbred' and her feelings had then 'boiled over'. Georgia Donoghue, prosecuting, said: 'The dog breeder told the couple the puppy had been healthy when she sold it.'

They bought three of these things - for £2,450! We aren't told what high-flying jobs they have that they can afford it, strangely enough.

It is unclear which puppy died, but Rees claimed the two other puppies were later put down.

'Claimed'..? Did no-one check? Surely someone did?

Kingston pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, and possession of a bladed article.

Rees also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent, making threats to kill, and possession of bladed articles.

Why is it not attempted murder? You stab someone in the throat and can't claim anything other than a desire to kill then, can you?  

She has 15 previous convictions for 33 offences including multiple batteries, common assaults, and assaults on police officers.

*sighs* 

John Allchurch, for Kingston, said though the defendant had not expressed any remorse during interview they were his instructions that his client was now expressing such a sentiment.

*rolls eyes* Sure, sure...

Andrew Evans, for Rees, accepted the pre-sentence report on his client made "disturbing reading". He said the defendant had grown up in care from the age of three, and later turned to drink and drugs as a result of "traumatic experiences" in childhood. He said Rees was an intelligent young lady and was seeking answers to explain why she had lived her life in the way she had so far.

Ha ha ha ha ha!  

So...Where Were You?

Ethan's father Luke Turvey welcomed the sentence of his former partner.

Writing on Facebook he said: 'So a long four and a half years has finally finished today, Stacey Davis has gone to prison for two years for cruelty and neglect of my son Ethan.

'Me and my family are extremely emotional and happy that she got what she deserved. And for anyone who backed her and stood up for her I hope you feel like complete and utter idiots and I hope you feel ashamed of yourselves, she is a child abuser and has paid the price by going to prison.'

Why was your son left with her? How can a single mother afford a car, mobile phone, cannabis habit, etc? Who thinks a two year sentence (which she won't serve in full, they never do) is fit punishment?

So many questions.

The Fact It's Bred Gives Me Depression...

Jason Patel, defending, said the 26-year-old accepted the number of offences meant he was facing an inevitable prison sentence. Mr Patel said the father-of-one, has depression and ADHD.

Of course he does... 

Mr Patel added: "He is young man with a poor record with assaults - he clearly needs to address that behaviour."

While Magistrates were deliberating, Bell held up notes to the videolink camera in the booth at HMP Hewell. And when Jonathan Wiltshire, chairman of the magistrates, returned prison staff explained Bell had left the room as he had sliced his leg open with his blood on the floor.

As one of the comments notes, what a pity it wasn't his throat.  

After Bell returned to be sentenced the chairman said the offences were "serious enough" for them to give him a prison sentence, jailing him for a total of 352 days. Bell was ordered to pay compensation of £50 to all the assault victims, £250 to the victims of the car damage, and told to pay a victim surcharge of £187.

Bell said "I'm not that rich" as he learned he would have to pay a total of £1,237. After leaving the booth at the prison Bell was then ordered to return back, the chairman explaining the bench had heard him swearing.

 Back to the comments for one that sums this sorry tale up:

 /applause

Maybe She Should Have To Live Next Door To The Judge..?

A woman who beat up her neighbours in a "ferocious and unprovoked attack" has been spared jail after pleading guilty to two counts of assault and criminal damage.

Sheleta McKenzie, 39, of Carslake Road in Putney, appeared stony faced as Judge Anne Brown sentenced her to an 18-month community order on Wednesday at Kingston Crown Court.

'Stony-faced'..? Does that just mean she didn't celebr... 

Yikes! 

McKenzie had been forced to live in Croydon after she was arrested, as part of bail conditions, but defence lawyer Charles Digby pleaded for her to be allowed back to her home of 23 years rather than be forced out by a restraining order.

Hah, like that's going to be allo... 

One of McKenzie's victims, Helena Perestrello, was inconsolable as she learned her attacker would return to live next door.

*speechless* 

McKenzie was slapped with a restraining order (Ed; As well as being beaten with the ugly stick..?) - while staying at home - which means she could be resentenced with jail time if the long-feuding neighbours begin warring again. She was also handed 15 days of rehabilitation and mandatory mental health treatment which she meekly agreed to comply with as the judge demanded a verbal response.

Presumably because one wasn't forthcoming? Such contempt for a court bending over backwards to be lenient to an undeserving cause once again... 

She also managed to avoid paying compensation of around £1,000 after the judge deemed it would place her under further financial strain as a mum on benefits of around £1,100 a month, which goes towards rent, bills, student debt and feeding herself and her son.

Why not give her a handful of fivers from the poor box while you're at it? 

Mrs Perestrello appeared visibly distressed by this ruling.

As, no doubt, were all the taxpayers reading this.... 

Actually, I Think You're Wrong...

A mum has spoken out about how she can't find employment because she is 'addicted' to getting tattoos.

That seems a bit unfair, what's a few... 

Oh.

Mum-of-two Melissa Sloan says she can't land herself a job due to her extreme look - but that won't stop her from getting more designs, admitting she currently gets three new 'prison style' inks a week.

The 45-year-old from Wales has ink all over her body, including bold designs with flowers and an England flag all over her face. She says her inkings are mainly done in a "prison style" by her boyfriend at home.

We don't get a picture of the boyfriend, and Reader, I think that's all for the best, don't you? 

"I can't get a job. They won't have me. I applied for a job cleaning toilets where I live and they won’t have me because of my tattoos.

The first job I had was cleaning ages ago, cleaning toilets. People have said I have never had a job in my life, I have had one once and it didn't last long."

Never had a job, yet has raised two children, clothed herself, clearly not starved, all on no income save what the state gives her. Is it me, or are the tattoos not really the issue here? 

H/T: IanJ via email