John Mason has been out campaigning in Glasgow for something that he should not even need to campaign for. It should be there as a matter of course.
The Independent Living Fund offers additional financial assistance to people already in receipt of support from social services to provide them with sufficient funds to access essential support. It does what it says on the tin. It helps people to go on living independently when the alternative might be to live in a home, or hostel of some sort.
However, in Labour’s proposed savage Thatcherite cuts, the number of Scots eligible for the benefit will drop from 3,645 to ....wait for it....4
Qualifying conditions have always ensured that ILF payments are targeted at those adults with the severest disabilities and those in the greatest need. However, the UK government has now tightened its financial eligibility and is only accepting applications from people in paid employment of 16 or more hours per week. In effect this will mean that as of May 1, that’s only a couple of weeks away, the ILF will be entirely closed to new applicants throughout the UK, apart from those very few in paid employment.
That is how Labour wants to repay the massive debt it has run up after allowing the likes of SIR Fred Goodwin (for services to banking... imagine) free range to make money and make more money for with not a thought to the consequences.
So Fred pops off with his knighthood and his immense pension and some poor person relying on the Independent Living Fund, can no longer afford the help that allows them to live in their own home.
Of course providing the places for these people in homes across Scotland will not be the problem of the Labour government in London. No. That will fall on the Scottish Government in Edinburgh.
Savage and Thatcherite.
John Mason said: Alistair Darling has already said Labour's cuts will be 'tougher and
deeper' than those of Margaret Thatcher. By slashing funding for a vital support scheme for some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland, Labour has demonstrated there is no difference between them and the Tories.
"Instead of cutting vital support schemes, Labour should scrap their obscene vanity project, Trident. Spending £100bn on nuclear weapons which the people of Scotland do not want, whilst slashing benefits for the most vulnerable, is indefensible.
And he’s right. Is this the kind of Scotland we want? It’s certainly not the kind I want, where the Fred Goodwins of this world wreck the economy and waltz into new jobs with obscene pensions with money aplenty like Hollywood movie stars. And disabled people are herded off into homes to pay for it. It makes me want to vomit.
Thank heavens we have some local champions to vote for.
The Independent Living Fund offers additional financial assistance to people already in receipt of support from social services to provide them with sufficient funds to access essential support. It does what it says on the tin. It helps people to go on living independently when the alternative might be to live in a home, or hostel of some sort.
However, in Labour’s proposed savage Thatcherite cuts, the number of Scots eligible for the benefit will drop from 3,645 to ....wait for it....4
Qualifying conditions have always ensured that ILF payments are targeted at those adults with the severest disabilities and those in the greatest need. However, the UK government has now tightened its financial eligibility and is only accepting applications from people in paid employment of 16 or more hours per week. In effect this will mean that as of May 1, that’s only a couple of weeks away, the ILF will be entirely closed to new applicants throughout the UK, apart from those very few in paid employment.
That is how Labour wants to repay the massive debt it has run up after allowing the likes of SIR Fred Goodwin (for services to banking... imagine) free range to make money and make more money for with not a thought to the consequences.
So Fred pops off with his knighthood and his immense pension and some poor person relying on the Independent Living Fund, can no longer afford the help that allows them to live in their own home.
Of course providing the places for these people in homes across Scotland will not be the problem of the Labour government in London. No. That will fall on the Scottish Government in Edinburgh.
Savage and Thatcherite.
John Mason said: Alistair Darling has already said Labour's cuts will be 'tougher and
deeper' than those of Margaret Thatcher. By slashing funding for a vital support scheme for some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland, Labour has demonstrated there is no difference between them and the Tories.
"Instead of cutting vital support schemes, Labour should scrap their obscene vanity project, Trident. Spending £100bn on nuclear weapons which the people of Scotland do not want, whilst slashing benefits for the most vulnerable, is indefensible.
And he’s right. Is this the kind of Scotland we want? It’s certainly not the kind I want, where the Fred Goodwins of this world wreck the economy and waltz into new jobs with obscene pensions with money aplenty like Hollywood movie stars. And disabled people are herded off into homes to pay for it. It makes me want to vomit.
Thank heavens we have some local champions to vote for.
I do worry about his chances of holding that byelection seat. He may work hard, but when it comes to Glasgow, it is very hard to get people to think before they vote- it is tribal, emotional and instinctive in Glasgow: Labour Labour Labour.
ReplyDeleteAnd now with Murphy scaremongering about shipyard jobs etc, it is likely Labour will win it back.
Sad, but true. I wish John Mason all the best for holding the seat for the SNP.
#Labour out 2010
Yeah Dean, I agree with you, although the quality of John Mason's work may yet be rewarded with another spell in London. Like you, I hope so. He's the kind of guy we should have an an MP.
ReplyDeleteIt's always the poor and the marginalized that pay for government fiscal irresponsibility. How much did the British taxpayer's give the banksters in bonuses again?
ReplyDeleteMore money than Britian is worth. An awful lot more than they were worth. And sick folk trying to hang on to a wee bit of dignity by living in theior own homes are to be punted into the awfulness of an institution so that the Sirs and their "Lady" wives can hot the party circuit in Monte Carlo. And the shame of it.... under LABOUR government.Pass me the bucket
ReplyDelete