| Sounds like another contract for Serco. 08:23 - Apr 19 with 994 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/19/sunak-to-cite-britains-sicknote
'In relation to mental health, he will say he would “never dismiss or downplay the illnesses people have”, but also argue that there is a need to be “more honest about the risk of over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life”.
His language echoes that of Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, who has claimed that too often doctors “label or medicalise” conditions which in the past were seen as “the ups and downs of life”.
As part of a new drive to overhaul the system, Sunak will say one plank of the reforms will be testing whether responsibility for issuing sicknotes should be shifted from “overstretched” GPs to “specialist work and health professionals who have the dedicated time to provide an objective assessment of someone’s ability to work and the tailored support they need to do so”.
Edit....apologies as ever for triggering Lowers by referencing The G@#$@%^*n
[Post edited 19 Apr 8:24]
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 08:30 - Apr 19 with 937 views | GeoffSentence |
I would have thought that the obvious solution to 'overstretched GPs' would be more GPs. |  |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 08:30 - Apr 19 with 937 views | redrickstuhaart |
As with many of their schemes, there is a thread of truth and reality in there. Undoubtedly (imo) we are in an age where people very readily reach for "anxiety" as an excuse for not doing what they should and where every tough period equates to a medical condition, where people used to push on through and get on with things.
However, we know full well that this Government will go far beyond dealing with the relatively modest numbers in that category and apply blanket generic ideas designed to save money and hurt those they consider to be a bit soft. |  | | |
| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 10:24 - Apr 19 with 823 views | jayessess |
Nearly half a century of neoliberal approaches to employment centred around the state bullying/harassing people into jobs. Zero evidence that any of it works short term or long term, either on people who can't work or people who won't work. These programmes invariably cost the government more than they save in benefits, usually with the added effect of inflicting unnecessary cruelty on people who simply aren't fit for work by any criteria.
40+ years of chat about sicknote culture, benefits fraud yadda yadda yadda and total employment still tends to just follow labour market conditions. How long are we going to persist with these pointless schemes, simply because it plays well with much of the public? |  |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 10:26 - Apr 19 with 813 views | J2BLUE |
| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 08:30 - Apr 19 by GeoffSentence |
I would have thought that the obvious solution to 'overstretched GPs' would be more GPs. |
We need money for mental health, social care, physical health, defence, the endless pot holes and everything else the country needs so they instead decide to cut NI for a meaningless pre election bribe.
We need some grown ups in government. |  |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 10:39 - Apr 19 with 766 views | DJR |
| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 10:24 - Apr 19 by jayessess |
Nearly half a century of neoliberal approaches to employment centred around the state bullying/harassing people into jobs. Zero evidence that any of it works short term or long term, either on people who can't work or people who won't work. These programmes invariably cost the government more than they save in benefits, usually with the added effect of inflicting unnecessary cruelty on people who simply aren't fit for work by any criteria.
40+ years of chat about sicknote culture, benefits fraud yadda yadda yadda and total employment still tends to just follow labour market conditions. How long are we going to persist with these pointless schemes, simply because it plays well with much of the public? |
Well said that man.
As Lou Reed put it in an American context.
Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor I'll piss on 'em
That's what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses
Let's club 'em to death
And get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard |  | | |
| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 10:46 - Apr 19 with 735 views | Steve_M |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 11:01 - Apr 19 with 700 views | DJR |
The director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope has said that today’s speech by Rishi Sunak about his plans for welfare reform “feels like a full-on assault on disabled people.”
In a statement, James Taylor said:
These proposals are dangerous and risk leaving disabled people destitute. In a cost of living crisis looking to slash disabled people’s income by hitting Pip is a horrific proposal. Calls are pouring into our helpline from concerned disabled people.
Life costs more for disabled people. Threatening to take away the low amount of income Pip provides to disabled people who face £950 a month extra costs isn’t going to solve the problem of economic inactivity. Sanctions and ending claims will only heap more misery on people at the sharp end of our cost of living crisis.
Much of the current record levels of inactivity are because our public services are crumbling, the quality of jobs is poor and the rate of poverty amongst disabled households is growing. | | | |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 11:26 - Apr 19 with 631 views | jayessess |
"Scrounger-bashing" seems to be one of those things that's just hard-wired into British popular politics and has been even going back to the 19th Century (organised then around the idea of deserving/undeserving poor). Yet we've always had far graver problems than the very small minority who'd rather live on the meagre dole than work | |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 15:08 - Apr 19 with 478 views | BlueBadger |
| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 11:26 - Apr 19 by jayessess |
"Scrounger-bashing" seems to be one of those things that's just hard-wired into British popular politics and has been even going back to the 19th Century (organised then around the idea of deserving/undeserving poor). Yet we've always had far graver problems than the very small minority who'd rather live on the meagre dole than work |
If we're TRULY interested in clamping down on scroungers sponging off other people's hard work shouldn't we be looking at the obscene amounts of money being made by landlords? |  |
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 16:41 - Apr 19 with 404 views | Churchman |
| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 11:26 - Apr 19 by jayessess |
"Scrounger-bashing" seems to be one of those things that's just hard-wired into British popular politics and has been even going back to the 19th Century (organised then around the idea of deserving/undeserving poor). Yet we've always had far graver problems than the very small minority who'd rather live on the meagre dole than work |
This is true. The concept of the undeserving poor is very Victorian and part of conservative philosophy. It doesn’t matter whether you think the poor are a different breed, to the point of being insensitive to pain and hardship as they did in Victorian times and before, to ‘get on your bike’ Tebbitt in the 80s to now, it’s all the same view of the world.
The economic failure post war is blamed on an idle workshy workforce, disruption, Unions and today Reece-Mogg believes the workforce needs to be in the workplace supervised - driven to work and work harder. No respect for the lower orders, treat them like dirt. It’s all part of the same thing and largely divorced from reality.
They are focussing on this and lazy dead hand of the public sector as their main planks for the next election. Their own incompetence, ignorance and downright nastiness says more about them than the people that they are banging on about.
Are there people defrauding the system? Yes. How many? No idea. Is benefits a lifestyle choice? Possibly, but I don’t know if there’s that much truth in that or whether it’s narrative to serve another purpose.
If there are people out there living that way, defrauding, workshy etc, first be specific and identify them. General is don't wash with me. Improve benefits processes, improve education, incentivise people, invest in solutions and there’s the core of their problem. Like they don’t do experts, they don’t do investing in anything (the true cause of post war failure). Cuts cuts, blame and rhetoric. We are a country eating itself.
On scrounger bashing specifically, I’d describe people not paying their taxes as scrounging or stealing if you like. Why should the rich specifically pay 10% when the majority pay 20% plus? How do you deal with it? Invest in technical solutions like MTD and employ people to chase non tax payers and where possible the criminals. Not get rid of 1000s of them as the tories have done.
So yes, scroungers and idle people will be out there, but I agree there are far graver, deeper things to deal with than a problem that may or may not exist. [Post edited 19 Apr 16:43]
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| Sounds like another contract for Serco. on 21:02 - Apr 19 with 322 views | DJR |
This made me laugh.
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