{"id":7283,"date":"2015-03-31T11:44:12","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T10:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/?p=7283"},"modified":"2021-01-13T10:42:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T10:42:04","slug":"camerons-workers-v-shirkers-scam-has-at-last-exposed-the-tory-law-of-benefit-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/03\/31\/camerons-workers-v-shirkers-scam-has-at-last-exposed-the-tory-law-of-benefit-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Cameron\u2019s workers v shirkers scam has at last exposed the Tory law of benefit cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>I think we have been desensitised as a nation or is it perhaps just good old fashioned brain washing? \u00a0Whilst we continue to demonise people for what is often\u00a0essentially\u00a0bad luck like illness\u00a0infirmity, sudden redundancy&#8217;s \u00a0that leave people long term unemployed.<\/p>\n<p>Why also is there so much stress on work above \u00a0everything else? We work to live rather than live to work unless we are lucky enough to have a vocation of course. The\u00a0fallacy\u00a0that \u00a0can all work our way out of any hardships is simply not the case. \u00a0the universe\u00a0doesn&#8217;t\u00a0do equal\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><b><i>opportunities, but we as human beings can control some aspects and even things up.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><!-- GUARDIAN WATERMARK --><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2015\/mar\/31\/cameron-workers-shirkers-tory-law-benefit-cuts-deserving-poor\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=140%2C45\" alt=\"Powered by Guardian.co.uk\" width=\"140\" height=\"45\" \/>This article titled &#8220;Cameron\u2019s workers v shirkers scam has at last exposed the Tory law of benefit cuts&#8221; was written by Aditya Chakrabortty, for The Guardian on Tuesday 31st March 2015 05.00 UTC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was the raw early days of the coalition, and one of David Cameron\u2019s lieutenants was giving a frank answer to my blunt question: what would it take for the government to pull back on its planned cuts? You didn\u2019t need a Mensa membership to see that this topic would define the next five years.<\/p>\n<p>On that sunny autumn afternoon, the newspapers were full of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2010\/nov\/10\/student-protests-tory-demonstrations\" title=\"\">students besieging Conservative central office<\/a>, but Cameron\u2019s aide coolly judged that they\u2019d blown it by picking the wrong target. Had they swarmed on Lib Dem HQ \u201cthat would really have put Clegg under pressure\u201d. So what would change Tory minds? \u201cThe crunch will come when the Mail puts on its front page pictures of some Iraq war veteran in a wheelchair who\u2019s lost his disability benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail\">  <span>Related: <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2013\/jan\/09\/skivers-v-strivers-argument-pollutes\">Skivers v strivers: the argument that pollutes people&#8217;s minds<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>That ugly logic has underpinned this government. Cameron and Nick Clegg have justified social security cuts by reciting a litany of false oppositions. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2013\/jan\/09\/skivers-v-strivers-argument-pollutes\" title=\"\">Strivers v skivers<\/a>. Workers v shirkers. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/patrick-butler-cuts-blog\/2015\/mar\/16\/in-tenants-own-words-why-the-bedroom-tax-makes-you-ill\" title=\"\">bedroom tax<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2015\/mar\/25\/benefit-sanctions-regime-should-be-scrapped-independent-review\" title=\"\">arbitrary removal of benefits<\/a> from those infringing some bureaucratic small print, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2012\/nov\/12\/fit-for-work-tests-employment-support\" title=\"\">judging of sick people as fit for work<\/a> \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ifs.org.uk\/uploads\/gb\/gb2015\/Slides\/9_Hood_benefits.pdf\" title=\"\">\u00a317bn of cutbacks<\/a> have been sold by ministers, and bought by the public, as falling on the undeserving poor: the mickey-takers on a gigantic, taxpayer-funded bed-in.<\/p>\n<p>What my contact foresaw back in 2010 was that if this political link were ever broken, and money seen to be taken from the plainly deserving, the central plank of austerity would snap in&nbsp;two. However, that Mail front page has never appeared, and yesterday Cameron was able to warn of Labour \u201cchaos \u2026 higher taxes for every working family to pay for more welfare\u201d. Even so, the Law of Welfare Cuts has just taken two shattering blows.<\/p>\n<p>The first was delivered by the Conservatives themselves, in the form of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2015\/mar\/27\/potential-conservative-welfare-cuts-revealed-in-leaked-emails\" title=\"\">leaked paper discussing options to make more benefit cuts<\/a>. Commissioned by the Tories, written up by senior civil servants and already under discussion by ministers, the proposals include taking allowances from about 40% of carers for the sick; the scrapping of government compensation for those who\u2019ve suffered industrial injuries; and&nbsp;the taxing of disability benefits.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservatives have tried to stamp all over this story, and with excellent reason. Where\u2019s the justice in taking cash off someone who\u2019s mangled an arm on a construction site, or who\u2019s had to cut back on work to look after a sick child? These savings manifestly break the coalition law of welfare cuts: that they must be seen to be fair.<\/p>\n<p>And they don\u2019t even save that much money. As with so many \u201creforms\u201d since 2010, these reductions would turn people\u2019s lives upside down, plunge some into debt and tear families apart \u2013 and in some cases raise little more than loose change. It may be that we have passed the high tide of public support for cuts in social security \u2013 and it would be for exactly the reason predicted by that Conservative aide in 2010. The Tories have set a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2015\/mar\/27\/conservatives-face-pressure-to-come-clean-on-12bn-benefit-cuts\" title=\"\">goal of cutting another \u00a312bn a year from welfare<\/a> by April 2017. This target is so stupidly implausible that it will force any future government led by Cameron into ever more manifestly unjust benefit cuts. That fictional divide between deserving and undeserving poor may be on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n<p>How much of a fiction that divide really is can be seen in a new report published by academics at the LSE. <a href=\"http:\/\/sticerd.lse.ac.uk\/dps\/case\/cr\/casereport90.pdf\" title=\"\">Is Welfare Reform Working?<\/a> is based on two rounds of interviews, first in 2013 and again in 2014, with 200 people who live in the south-west of England, from Plymouth to Bath to just outside <a href=\"http:\/\/www.itv.com\/news\/update\/2015-03-30\/cameron-britain-doesnt-need-another-coalition\/\" title=\"\">Chippenham \u2013 where Cameron launched his election campaign<\/a> yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>In my years writing on this subject, I have read scores of reports and books&nbsp;on&nbsp;welfare reform \u2013 but I\u2019ve never seen anything like this. Here are hundreds of people, all living at the sharp end of austerity. Every interviewee is a social-housing tenant of working age, which makes them the number one target of this government. Last September Iain Duncan Smith, in an interview with the Express headlined \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/news\/politics\/515700\/Iain-Duncan-Smith-breaking-up-Shameless-housing-estates\" title=\"\">We are breaking up Shameless housing estates<\/a>\u201d, boasted: \u201cWe\u2019re making real progress into that stubborn part of the out-of-work group who are in housing estates \u2026\u201d The work and pensions secretary was talking about exactly the LSE interviewees \u2013 and this report allows them the right of reply: the LSE authors let their subjects do the talking.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing to come screaming out of the report is how many of the interviewees didn\u2019t plan to be out of work. They\u2019ve got a disability, or they were caring for children or a sick parent, or they were just laid off. You meet Mrs Spencer, who spent seven years out of the jobs market to nurse her daughter through cancer. The daughter died two months ago and the last of their savings went on her funeral. Now her husband has been made redundant after 27 years of work. He\u2019s 59 and has only one eye.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-pullquote\">\n<blockquote><p> &#8216;I\u2019ve got a dog and have to make sure he\u2019s OK,&#8217; one says cheerfully. &#8216;If need be I\u2019ll eat his biscuits.&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Well over half the respondents claim to be coping. This sounds like good news \u2013 until you discover what they mean by that. Getting by means falling behind on rent or into debt; managing means eating less or going without heat.&nbsp;\u201cI\u2019ve got a dog and I\u2019ve got to make&nbsp;sure he\u2019s OK,\u201d one says cheerfully. \u201cIf need be I\u2019ll eat his biscuits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Re-read that sentence, remembering that you and he live in one of the richest societies on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>How has the government helped? The bedroom tax \u201cis a tax on my disability\u201d, according to one interviewee who used his second bedroom to take oxygen. Respondents hate the jobcentre, which just holds up ever higher hoops to jump through \u2013 or else it sanctions them. Another interviewee tells of how his sanction meant that he lost his home, and now sleeps on a sister\u2019s couch.<\/p>\n<p>These people represent a society that has been cut adrift by politicians of all parties: a society that will go unaddressed by the election campaign, and uncourted by any major party. And yet these people talk just like you and me; they just have worse stories to tell.<\/p>\n<p>In that same Express interview, Duncan Smith claimed that he had moved the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2013\/may\/18\/farewell-shameless-gallaghers-austerity-uk\" title=\"\">Shameless<\/a> estate-dwellers from a \u201cdependency culture\u201d to independence. Here is a different version of events from one of the LSE interviewees: \u201cMy best friend committed suicide in March \u2013 she went through \u2026 relentless reassessments, and&nbsp;found the forms very confusing. She was disabled but they were questioning her over and over again. DWP hounded her for information. It\u2019s a horrible feeling, knowing that your friend was pushed over the edge like that. I\u2019m pretty certain that if these welfare reform changes weren\u2019t going on, I\u2019d still have her with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>guardian.co.uk &#169; Guardian News &amp; Media Limited 2010<\/p>\n<p>Published via the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/open-platform\/news-feed-wordpress-plugin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Guardian plugin page\" rel=\"noopener\">Guardian News Feed<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/the-guardian-news-feed\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Wordress plugin page\" rel=\"noopener\">plugin<\/a> for WordPress.<\/p>\n<p><!-- END GUARDIAN WATERMARK --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the fictional divide beween deserving and undeserving poor collapsing, the Conservatives\u2019 ugly logic is turning into the one story they truly fear<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[197,59,79,85,26,48,50,54,97,57,163,86,51,281,45,110,109,66,53,46,176],"class_list":["post-7283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings","tag-aditya-chakrabortty","tag-article","tag-austerity","tag-benefits","tag-business","tag-comment","tag-comment-debate","tag-conservatives","tag-david-cameron","tag-economics","tag-general-election-2015","tag-iain-duncan-smith","tag-main-section","tag-opinion","tag-politics","tag-poverty","tag-social-exclusion","tag-society","tag-the-guardian","tag-uk-news","tag-welfare"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6NRDR-1Tt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":580,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2009\/12\/03\/dont-strike-up-the-band\/","url_meta":{"origin":7283,"position":0},"title":"Don&#8217;t strike up the band","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"By Nigel Hawkes :: Wed, 02\/12\/2009 - 09:41 Visit a pub and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s every chance you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hear background Muzak, or high-volume Sky Sports coverage of Premiership football. But what are the chances of hearing live music? At least as good as they have ever been, says the Department of Culture,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elephant Shelf&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elephant Shelf","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/elephant-shelf\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4990,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2014\/08\/03\/gaza-is-not-as-i-expected-amid-the-terror-there-is-hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":7283,"position":1},"title":"Gaza is not as I expected. Amid the terror, there is hope","author":"diana Stone","date":"August 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The world is not so blessed that it can afford to waste the lives of the 1.8 million Palestinians who live there","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Powered by Guardian.co.uk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":153345,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2019\/12\/13\/it-is-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":7283,"position":2},"title":"It is bad","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"We have just emulated Trump's America. This requires no further comment really.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8304,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/04\/17\/tom-and-barbara-are-my-good-life-guide-not-camerons-marie-antoinette-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":7283,"position":3},"title":"Tom and Barbara are my good life guide, not Cameron\u2019s Marie Antoinette version","author":"diana Stone","date":"April 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"David Cameron is banking that we\u2019ll all be so blissed out on our own good lives we won\u2019t vote to help anyone with a bad life. He shouldn\u2019t count his chickens","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Powered by Guardian.co.uk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":177421,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2024\/06\/06\/well-i-did-try-honestly-i-did\/","url_meta":{"origin":7283,"position":4},"title":"Well I did Try Honestly I Did","author":"diana Stone","date":"June 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, from the live music side of things I seem to be a little stuck. I have a few gigs with various people, but sadly nothing regular enough and it's quite depressing to be honest. I can't see it getting any better really either. There is just not enough going\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tavistock.jpg?fit=604%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tavistock.jpg?fit=604%2C436&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tavistock.jpg?fit=604%2C436&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14430,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/07\/11\/there-are-limits-to-our-empathy-and-george-osborne-knows-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":7283,"position":5},"title":"There are limits to our empathy \u2013 and George Osborne knows it","author":"diana Stone","date":"July 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The chancellor\u2019s budget was not about caring for the poor but wooing those who like to think they care","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Powered by Guardian.co.uk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}