James Purnell’s new Bill, a farrago of oppression and persecution of the chronically sick and disabled community was ushered through the Commons with minimum impediment. The newspapers make mention of the bill at all - why is that, I wonder? Even the Daily Mail, which never passes up a chance to put the boot into the sick and disabled, is silent.
Purnell was heard to say that absolutely nobody should expect to get benefits while doing nothing for them. It is not money for nothing, it’s for being unable too ill to work - it’s for being in severe, intransigent pain!!
Unemployed people, it has been announced, should do a 9 to 5 day looking for work or undertake community service style duties such as digging gardens under moves to tackle joblessness, the author of a Government-commissioned report, Professor Paul Gregg said that virtually everyone on benefits - and that includes the chronically sick and disabled, on Incapacity Benefit, whom Gregg specifically targets -should be required to take steps towards finding a job and should face having their benefits stopped for up to four weeks if they repeatedly refuse to co-operate with attempts to find them work, it was suggested.
Unsurprisingly, Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said he “strongly welcomed” the report, adding: “The direction of travel is the right way.,” and “The approach that virtually everyone should be doing something in return for benefits is the right one.”
They’ve also announced they’ll force lone parents on benefits back to work and they will roll out the polygraphing of benefits claiments. Note they didn’t polygraph the bankers about their fraudulent dealings before handing over billions of our cash to them and they don’t intend to polygraph people sending in their tax returns (much greater fiddle than benefit fraud).