All they now have left is cruelty and nastiness.
Westminster Politics
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Thank you, and sorry for the late reply. Much better, although medicated to the gills!
Help for disabled people in England and Wales to get jobs is axed amid benefits crackdown
A major scheme to help disabled people into work has been quietly scrapped – just as the prime minister announced a crackdown on disability benefits.
https://www.theguardian.com/society...le-england-wales-jobs-axed-benefits-crackdown
The £100m Work and Health Programme, operating in England and Wales, will end in the autumn, providers have been told, at the same time that Rishi Sunak wants to cut benefits for 420,000 sick and disabled people in an attempt to force them into work – a move that charities say would instead leave people destitute.
The blow to disabled people comes after the prime minister unveiled a plan to hand power to officials with no medical training to decide whether an employee is sick, raising the possibility that decisions about workers’ health will be taken to hit targets rather than on clinical need.
Charities condemned Sunak’s plans as a “full-on assault on disabled people” last week, after he announced a consultation on the future of the personal independence payment (PIP), which helps cover the extra costs of living with a disability or ill health.
The prime minister wants to cut the disability welfare budget of £69bn a year, amid rising levels of sickness. The charitable Health Foundation said last week that by 2040 health inequalities meant that 3.7 million adults, many in deprived areas, would be living with a major illness such as type 2 diabetes, chronic pain or depression.
Sunak said that Britain had a “sicknote culture” and blamed the problem of “young people … parked on welfare”, although the majority of people receiving statutory sick pay are women over 50 working part-time, according to the Resolution Foundation.
He said there was “a moral mission” to help people return to work. Yet he did not mention the end of funding to help people return to work through the Work and Health Programme (WHP). It was launched in November 2017, with some EU funding, and was primarily a voluntary scheme aimed at helping disabled people into work. By November 2023 it had helped 300,000 people, with 31% still in their jobs after two years.
A major scheme to help disabled people into work has been quietly scrapped – just as the prime minister announced a crackdown on disability benefits.
https://www.theguardian.com/society...le-england-wales-jobs-axed-benefits-crackdown
The £100m Work and Health Programme, operating in England and Wales, will end in the autumn, providers have been told, at the same time that Rishi Sunak wants to cut benefits for 420,000 sick and disabled people in an attempt to force them into work – a move that charities say would instead leave people destitute.
The blow to disabled people comes after the prime minister unveiled a plan to hand power to officials with no medical training to decide whether an employee is sick, raising the possibility that decisions about workers’ health will be taken to hit targets rather than on clinical need.
Charities condemned Sunak’s plans as a “full-on assault on disabled people” last week, after he announced a consultation on the future of the personal independence payment (PIP), which helps cover the extra costs of living with a disability or ill health.
The prime minister wants to cut the disability welfare budget of £69bn a year, amid rising levels of sickness. The charitable Health Foundation said last week that by 2040 health inequalities meant that 3.7 million adults, many in deprived areas, would be living with a major illness such as type 2 diabetes, chronic pain or depression.
Sunak said that Britain had a “sicknote culture” and blamed the problem of “young people … parked on welfare”, although the majority of people receiving statutory sick pay are women over 50 working part-time, according to the Resolution Foundation.
He said there was “a moral mission” to help people return to work. Yet he did not mention the end of funding to help people return to work through the Work and Health Programme (WHP). It was launched in November 2017, with some EU funding, and was primarily a voluntary scheme aimed at helping disabled people into work. By November 2023 it had helped 300,000 people, with 31% still in their jobs after two years.
Cut the NHS to the bone. 14 years later..."Why are so many people ill?"
Also - spend those 14 years making life more difficult and more expensive for everyone and wonder why chronic bad mental health is so widespead?!
Imagine if, instead of austerity and reducing NHS funding, we'd just did what a normal country would have done and paid for hede things during a time of zero cost borrowing, would we have as much of a "sick note" culture.
Is this Sick Note Culture even a thing?
Of course it's a thing! It's the biggest crisis hitting the UK beside foreigners coming over here on their fleet of dingies to steal our jobs and kebabs, or our schools trying turn our kids into wokes.
Can’t wait for Labour to agree with Sunak et al. that Sick Note Culture is a real thing and agree to not overturn any policy implemented, as the new holders of the “fiscally responsible political party” trophy.
The last time Rachel Reeves was trying to get a position in government she spent it saying she didn't want Labour to even be seen to represent anyone in receipt of benefits, nevermind actually do so, so you won't be disappointed.
It is exactly the position to govern from, if you have a large majority. It's if you have a small majority you are likely to find it rather uncomfortable.
Yes well done for missing the context of the statement.
Which was???
Getting into government with a huge majority because the country is protesting against the Tories, rather than getting into government on the merit of your own popularity and because the country believes in your policies and have granted you a mandate accordingly.
If Starmer does get in with a huge majority but ultimately Starmer and Labour are deeply unpopular, it will be completely unsustainable.
Currently they are the opposition and are being compared to a deeply unpopular government. As soon as they’re in government they’re held to their own standards and they begin to get polls on their own performance as a government and if they’re polling badly things will get ugly quickly.
https://www.theguardian.com/politic...087a5f2ec3fea8#block-662684178f087a5f2ec3fea8
Labour's Stephen Kinnock says ministers deliberately held up Rwanda bill to make 'grubby political capital from delay'
Today is 22 April. We were initially told that this was emergency legislation, and yet we’re now being told that there’ll be a 10 to 12 week delay in getting the first flight off the ground.
When Starmer thought he'd be renegotiating the Brexit Trade Deal - he probably didn't expect that he'd have to beg to have the current one back. Bye bye trade deals.
Labour's Stephen Kinnock says ministers deliberately held up Rwanda bill to make 'grubby political capital from delay'
Today is 22 April. We were initially told that this was emergency legislation, and yet we’re now being told that there’ll be a 10 to 12 week delay in getting the first flight off the ground.
When Starmer thought he'd be renegotiating the Brexit Trade Deal - he probably didn't expect that he'd have to beg to have the current one back. Bye bye trade deals.
They'll have no choice. The economy can't sustain the increasingly large numbers of young people getting signed off work. Almost a million since Covid. Whoever is in power will need to sort that situation out and quickly.
Almost like they should borrow some money to build good, energy efficient housing stock, invest in green technology to grow the economy, and to improve mental health services and social care. What will make people sicker is no help, no money and no support. And Labour aren't all that far off proposing all those things right now so they can meet some imaginary fiscal rules they imposed on themselves and look like they hate the population like all good governments seemingly should in this country.
Good on her, always liked her. Shame she has the wrong accent as I'd have loved to see her successfully become an MP.
No choice but to continue a manufactured bit of Tory outrage and move responsibility of signing people off sick from GPs to the DWP?
Although suppose it’s a cheaper solution to change the definition of “sick” rather than invest in the structures that improves health.
I haven’t actually seen Labour’s response… they’ve been too busy ensuring they’re draped in the George Cross I think.
What do you think are the primary reasons people are getting sick notes?
When people can’t work and don’t have any from benefits, what do you think will happen to the crime statistics?
It's almost like not investing in adequate national health service has economic consequences.
Just saying people hoping Labour get in and reverse policies like this are going to be sorely disappointed. They don't have that option.
I don't expect them to reverse this policy, but not because "they don't have the option". This policy isn't unavoidable.
I for one I'm utterly shocked @11101 has swallowed the sick note bullshit hook, line and sinker.
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I can really see why - if there isn't a genuine health crisis fuelling this - so many young people are not working, and it's because the balance has shifted too far away from work providing a clear path to personal freedom and security.
They want you to work in an environment where you start your career often having amassed tens of thousands in debt already, and compete against an aging workforce with in-work experience. So, you need to work your way towards a shrinking number of opportunities by cobbling together a living from zero-hour contracts or low-wage jobs for mega-corps with limited workers rights and zero benefits. And all so you can pay off some boomer's mortgage while never having enough to put into savings at the end of the month in order to break the chain and buy a place of your own, and as each day goes by the goal posts get moved further and further away.
That is the sad state of affairs young people in this country are dealing with, and it's inevitable that those circumstances will be enough to ruin lives and cause some to drop out of the whole charade. Successive governments have done absolutely nothing for the youth of the country other than to make things more and more difficult for them.
They want you to work in an environment where you start your career often having amassed tens of thousands in debt already, and compete against an aging workforce with in-work experience. So, you need to work your way towards a shrinking number of opportunities by cobbling together a living from zero-hour contracts or low-wage jobs for mega-corps with limited workers rights and zero benefits. And all so you can pay off some boomer's mortgage while never having enough to put into savings at the end of the month in order to break the chain and buy a place of your own, and as each day goes by the goal posts get moved further and further away.
That is the sad state of affairs young people in this country are dealing with, and it's inevitable that those circumstances will be enough to ruin lives and cause some to drop out of the whole charade. Successive governments have done absolutely nothing for the youth of the country other than to make things more and more difficult for them.
How is there so many stupid people who buy into this rubbish?
They're literally destroying the country, but a significant portion of thick cnuts in the UK are like, 'look, coloured people'
They're literally destroying the country, but a significant portion of thick cnuts in the UK are like, 'look, coloured people'
This is the bit that counts getting into Government.
With a large majority is the next bit, because it widens the options, popularity only comes into it when Starmer (or whoever) begins to roll out the policies. When the majority is small the range of policy options open is limited and the inherited condition from the previous government will weigh heavy.
I would expect to see Labour (realistically) canvasing on a two-term timetable, to make the headway required, this will be emphasised during the run up to the GE. It is imperative Starmer only promises what is possible for the first term, but can layout what will follow in a second term.
The wish for the country to rid itself of this present government is becoming increasingly palpable by the day, it therefore requires the Labour party to be circumspect in its approach, not trying to be popular with policies it knows it cannot achieve in one term, this is where the danger lies.
Right but that’s where the problem lies and the entire point. You can’t achieve anything in one term let alone turn this country around from the disaster path the Tories have put it on.
So you have a deeply unpopular Prime Minister that is only in power because the public is sick to death of the current Tories. He’s in power with no positive policies and only promises to do the same thing that the Tories have been doing for the last decade and a half. So while he spends the next 5 years or so laying the ground work but getting nothing actually done, the Tories are regrouping, the right wing media machine is going in hard on the Labour government and the public have the memories of goldfish have forgotten and forgiven the Tories and have once again been convinced that they are the ones to lead the county again with their tax cuts funded entirely by the groundwork Labour have laid over the last 5 years.
Rinse and repeat. The county is beyond saving.
"Laying the groundwork" is what gets done.
Part of that 'laying the groundwork' will be the emergency measures he can take, to ease problems, but it will be limited.
However, fourteen years of misrule ; including major unplanned economic changes (because they didn't expect a 'leave' result) like @Paul the Wolf will tell you about Brexit; dealing with pandemics, spending billions on 'stop gap' measures that made some rich but the majority poorer, panicking actions over 'small boats', failure to tackle housing issues that have dragged on for more than 14 years, all this is groundwork that has to be done-over.
Headway will not be made until, the second term, telling us anything else is telling the country lies.
Apart from all the other internal issues, the Rwanda bill get's passed he'll have some more work to do with legal challenges from the worldwide community , possible annulment of trade deals if the UK pull out of the ECHR and re-solving the Northern Ireland issue. One huge mess pounding the Uk from all sides and all self-inflicted. Starmer is not strong enough.
Thanks Paul can rely on you, but it's not all self inflicted, some were 'events' over which we had no control; however some Tory reaction to these events could be described as self inflicted... give you that!
I think Starmer just might be made of stronger stuff, he has turned the public face of Labour around in double-quick time, you might be under estimating him, he just might turn out to be the man who speaks softly but carries a big stick
And I for one have absolutely no idea who you are.
Taking out whether this iteration of Labour actually want to do anything, I think the overhaul that's needed in most sectors is not insignificant so rushing into policies probably isn't the way to go. We've had over a decade of a party looking at things at a level no deeper than headline stats (hence blaming young people for not working, and blaming immigration for lack of jobs) rather than looking at underlying causes. Investing the money in the right places rather than just blaming people needs to be done, but it also needs doing carefully into the right areas otherwise we'll end up no better off.
I agree about the public, and Labour will need more than one term to turn things around to any decent degree. Whether they get that, and whether they're interested in doing the right things with Starmer is up in the air wat the moment.
Thanks Paul can rely on you, but it's not all self inflicted, some were 'events' over which we had no control; however some Tory reaction to these events could be described as self inflicted... give you that!
I think Starmer just might be made of stronger stuff, he has turned the public face of Labour around in double-quick time, you might be under estimating him, he just might turn out to be the man who speaks softly but carries a big stick
Brexit was self-inflicted, the boats situation is self-inflicted by refusing legal routes. The handling of Covid was one of the worst in Europe. The Northern Ireland situation is self inflicted because of Brexit. The policies of the government are self-inflicted. Higher inflation than elsewhere is self-inflicted .
Starmer may use a big stick within his own party but on a national stage and certainly the international stage I just don't see him lasting very long.
https://www.theguardian.com/politic...08c73410851b30#block-662795818f08c73410851b30
Civil servants must obey ministers if ordered to ignore ECHR injunctions blocking Rwanda flights, Sunak says
The FDA, the union which represents senior civil servants, is threatening the Home Office with legal action over new guidance for civil servants which says that, if a minister decides to ignore an injunction from the European court of human rights (ECHR) saying a deportation flight to Rwanda must not go ahead, officials have to do what the minister says and facilitate the flight – even though ignoring an ECHR injunction is in breach of international law.
North Korea-on-Thames?
Civil servants must obey ministers if ordered to ignore ECHR injunctions blocking Rwanda flights, Sunak says
The FDA, the union which represents senior civil servants, is threatening the Home Office with legal action over new guidance for civil servants which says that, if a minister decides to ignore an injunction from the European court of human rights (ECHR) saying a deportation flight to Rwanda must not go ahead, officials have to do what the minister says and facilitate the flight – even though ignoring an ECHR injunction is in breach of international law.
North Korea-on-Thames?