Disabled activist in court to challenge benefit assessment reforms
DISABLED activist Ellen Clifford began her legal challenge against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) today over the government’s “disingenuous” consultation on tightening the Work Capability Assessment.
Ms Clifford, represented by lawyers from Public Law Project, appeared at the High Court in London for the first of a two-day hearing to argue that the consultation was unlawful as it did not properly explain the conditions of the proposed changes.
The challenge also argues that the primary motive behind the consultation, which ran for eight weeks in 2023, was to reduce spending on disability benefits rather than to get more people into work.
Disability rights campaigners affected by the proposed changes also held a vigil outside the Royal Courts of Justice today.
Ahead of the hearing, Ms Clifford said: “More than 400,000 people will be worse off by £416 a month if the changes proposed in this consultation go ahead.
“And then there is the risk that people will lose even more money if they are sanctioned for not being able to comply with conditions they will now need to fulfil in order to receive their benefits.
“To be blunt, this would be cataclysmic for deaf and disabled people in the UK and would push many into destitution.”
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Thoughts of the Day 11 December 2024
Keir Starmer is still totting up the air miles, expect he’s got enough for a pension by now FFS.
I can’t help thinking that he’s getting desperate going to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus where all the spy flights supporting Israel’s Gaza genocide fly from.
On a different topic, I’d like to thank my anonymous benefactor for my gifts. I got a jumper and a huge box of chocolates from Amazon – I somehow doubt that they were from Jeff Bezos. I don’t expect presents from anyone but anonymous is the rule if you do. Years ago I wouldn’t have spirits in the house because I was scared that I would drink them all. I’m very glad that I’ve overcome that and don’t often drink much, seem to have that issue with chocolate now. 11.35pm GMT Forgot to say that I’m also quite happy with pre-owned ;) X
Reeves orders 5% cuts across all government departments in ‘efficiency drive’
CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves has ordered 5 per cent cuts across government departments in an “efficiency drive” that resembles austerity.
Announcing the spending review, Ms Reeves said: “I have no doubt that we can find efficiency savings within government spending of 5 per cent and I’m determined to do so.”
She said the cuts would be secured by cracking down on waste and focusing on the five “milestone” policies Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer outlined in his government relaunch last week.
Those were boosting living standards, building more homes, cutting NHS waiting lists, ensuring children are ready for school and raising military spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
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The 5 per cent reductions are to be achieved over three years, the Treasury said, adding that the Chancellor will “work with departments to prioritise spending that supports the milestones to deliver the plan,” indicating that areas not a “milestone,” such as welfare, will be squeezed.
Ms Reeves denied that her move replicated a similar announcement by her predecessor George Osborne at the height of Tory austerity.
Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: “Labour call their 5 per cent cuts across government departments ‘efficiency savings.’ We call it what it is: cuts to services.
“This amounts to the continuation of the same damaging, unpopular and unnecessary policy that has so devastated our country over many years.”
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Read the complete, original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/reeves-orders-5-cuts-across-all-government-departments-in-efficiency-drive
Morning Star Editorial:: Another set of meaningless milestones: Starmer’s desperate relaunch falls flat
This article was originally posted 6/12/24 but was deleted, probably my mistake.
GOVERNMENTS are never officially “relaunched” because the term is a tacit admission that something has misfired or gone badly wrong.
Nevertheless, relaunches do happen. The last one in British politics was Rishi Sunak’s bizarre and fruitless attempt to present himself as a change agent, challenging the “30-year consensus” at the Tory Party conference in 2023.
But seldom, if ever, has a government had to relaunch itself just five months after its election. The speech by Keir Starmer in a tent in Buckinghamshire is, therefore, a measure of how far his administration has fallen and how fast.
Yet a host of evidence points to Labour’s failure. Starting from an anaemic election result of less than 34 per cent, it is now polling in the mid-twenties.
And the Prime Minister’s personal figures have slumped from a plus 20 positive rating to minus 30 or thereabouts.
It is a political fiasco for the ages and one that only the Tories and Reform UK, both under hard-right leadership, look set to benefit from.
Starmer’s response is encapsulated in the six milestones unveiled today.
These six milestones follow the five missions and the six commitments launched before the general election, which, of course, succeeded the 10 pledges in Starmer’s number-salad of forgettable, or reneged on, policy promises.
This is leadership in the style of a corporate management seminar as if announcing a plan were equivalent to achieving anything. And the increasing velocity with which each initiative follows its unfulfilled predecessor indicates that we are now at the point at which football fans would strike up the familiar chant of “you don’t know what you’re doing.”
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