Dear friends, please attend court to show your support: Tues 27 November 2018, from 10.30am: go into Court 1 to support the claimants. High Court, Strand, London WC2A 2LL Continues Wednesday, check court listing here Single mums are in court to challenge the government over the Universal Credit (UC) payment system which is inflexible and doesn’t reflect reality. The rigid UC ‘assessment period’ causes wildly fluctuating benefit and debt. Part-time dinner lady Danielle Johnson from Keighley, West Yorkshire, is paid on the last working day of the month. But her monthly UC assessment periods are … Read more
Our friends Mental Health Resistance Network (MHRN) have published their own wide-ranging list of demands by people with mental distress, “We Demand”, ahead of tomorrow’s conference of high-up NHS professionals, Care Quality Commission and Mind, on: “Next steps for mental health services in England – funding, care quality and efficiencies” (20 November 2018). MHRN are calling a protest outside from 8am-11am (early so as to be seen by people going in): https://www.facebook.com/events/544653469293319/ The booklet “We Demand” tackles what is wrong with mental health services, how someone’s mental distress is treated out of context of their … Read more
Some women who lost severe disability premiums (SDPs) have been in touch with us since the judge ruled in favour of the two disabled men who lost severe disability premiums after they moved area and were made to change from ESA to Universal Credit (UC). It’s so frustrating that despite winning in court, other disabled people affected by the same cut have not been reimbursed. There is no DWP process at the moment to apply for the money up until compensation comes in — only bringing a legal case individually. Those who have already lost … Read more
We submitted evidence to the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, ahead of his visit to the UK in November. This has now been published by the UN alongside other submissions. According to the Guardian newspaper, Philip Alston who is an ’eminent international human rights lawyer called for submissions from anyone in the UK to establish “the most significant human rights violations experienced by people living in poverty and extreme poverty in the UK”. He is interested in the impact of austerity, universal credit, the advent of computer algorithms making decisions on welfare matters, and … Read more
This page covers: Response to Universal Credit (UC) What is UC? When will I be affected? ESA claimants ‘Transitional Protection’ Before starting your UC claim Ways to start your UC claim Getting paid immediately Vulnerable claimants and first interview (claimant commitment) Other reasons why you should be exempted from work conditions Work Capability Assessment interview RESPonse to Universal Credit (UC) Compared to previous benefits and rules, most people are worse off with Universal Credit. For example, because of the waiting time, claimants are having to “borrow” an advance, and the DWP makes benefit deductions to … Read more
More legal challenges to Universal Credit are on the way: by a man whose ESA was stopped when he was unfairly found “fit for work”; and by a single mother who lost her carer benefits as her daughter’s DLA did not continue smoothly. More information from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) representing the claimants, is below. Thanks to John Pring, Disability News Service, for this report, which quotes DPAC and WinVisible. DWP facing court over claimant’s universal credit ‘fit for work injustice’ BY JOHN PRING ON AUGUST 23, 2018 BENEFITS AND POVERTY A disabled man who was unfairly … Read more
In July we were delighted to meet Feliza Ali Ramos and Marcelo Vásquez, disability campaigners from the organisation New Hope in Bolivia, at the alternative international solidarity summit, and later the festival of resistance against the hypocrisy of the UK government’s Global Disability Summit. The courageous and imaginative Bolivian disability movement fighting for a living benefit gives a lead to everyone. Watch the gripping film of their 2016 struggle here. After dramatic actions in the city of Cochabamba were ignored, disabled people and their supporters embarked on a gruelling 300-mile march through the Andes mountains to the capital … Read more