Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day.
There is a new breed of hatred doing the rounds since 2016. The biggest perpetrator’s seem to be those in power in the UK and the US. It seems so weird that all the inroads to human rights made over the last half century are gradually being pushed back and if we don’t stop this now things will get worse until no-one who is in a minority will be safe to go out of their doors (if they still have one to hide behind).
It started as it always does with allegations of improper conduct against their rivals in the elections and ended with them winning anyway. They try to hold onto power in any way possible so they feed on those who are weak and unable to defend themselves, in the US blacks, LGBTQ community and other minorities are targeted and anyone killing people in those communities are hailed as conquering heros protecting the white way of life and stopping crime (what crime was committed against by the young unarmed youth who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Is it any coincidence when the POTUS defends the KKK and calls their leaders strong patriots? All the good work done by his predecessor has been washed away and he is making the US the biggest joke in the Western World. Allied with the Russians (who may or may not have interfered in the 2016 election) he thinks he is stronger than any other President since the formation of the US but he is a laughing stock to his own people and those who respect life and human beings who are different.
Here in the UK our government fuelled by the losses sustained in the snap election called to prop up a disastrous Brexit plan which will leave every company in the UK vulnerable have started picking on the mentally ill who are often unable to give voice to their feelings.
This is putting a lot of strain on an already struggling area of charities trying to help those who are most at risk. With the bedroom tax forcing people onto the streets because they can’t pay their rents, people can’t afford to live so their debts are being passed to debt collectors who only want their cut so they add more costs on to build up the debt until a £200 bill has gone all the way up to £1500 and they have the blessing of the government to carry on adding costs for every visit, removing belongings which aren’t worth anything like the amount they are looking to collect. They have agreed guidelines which they should adhere to but they will call round to see people and if the door is opened they will push their way in (against the guidelines). Once they are in there is no way to stop them moving goods and taking a list of belongings which they say they will come back and collect the next day. They don’t care if anything is on HP, rental or belongs to someone else they will take it away because they hope people will be to frightened to complain.
The government have also said that anyone who has mental health issues should be treated the same as other disabled people but they tell the companies carrying out the assessments for them that if mentally ill people exhibit signs of mental illness to lie in the report as it is very rare for anyone to want to wait for 9 months to a year for a tribunal hearing.
There was a team who looked into the reasoning behind this about face behind locked doors and they found that someone with mental health issues is receiving approximately £75 per week in benefits which they won’t claim if they have to sign on every two weeks (every week for the first 3 months) so that is a saving there. It costs the government £20 for a mandatory reconsideration by someone inside the DWP to take time out to read the additional evidence provided and uphold the original decision, that cuts their savings down in the first 6 weeks but it is still worth doing. The tribunal case for an appeal costs the government £140, the tax payer picks up the remaining costs but it will take at least 9 months to be heard by a tribunal so most of the time those being denied benefits they rely on to live will drop out before it gets to the tribunal, leave their homes, if they haven’t already, and live on the streets.
Any case pursued all the way to the tribunal and having support from an overstretched charity like Citizens Advice or Age UK has an 80% chance of success. Even if the tribunal are faced with paper evidence and don’t actually see the person denied any state help for the duration of their desperation. Picking on the weakest in society is a mean thing to do, picking on those minorities who make up the bulk of the prison inmates because people either don’t look hard enough at them or their lawyers don’t care enough to try to ensure they are given a fair shake. I’m pretty sure that even though life is hard for blacks, Asians, LGBTQ’s and others they are no more likely to commit crimes than their white neighbours.
If anyone can tell us how to end suffering and bring peace to everyone where those guilty of hate crimes will be brought to justice even if they are white and hide behind the walls of the White House or 10 Downing Street, mental illness can affect anyone at any time and it is worse in many ways than a physical disability because of the harm it causes to others.
barclaydave 