The Work Capability Assessment

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) which was introduced in 2008 is the primary assessment for Employment and Support Allowance, the main social security payment for ill and disabled people. In the above documentary advocates, lawyers and claimants outline the fundamental problems with the (WCA), and the adverse effects it has on claimants. They show how the WCA fails the disabled and fails on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) terms; it can worsen people’s health and does not help them return to work. The WCA is carried out by private companies (initially Atos now Maximus). Although some assessments can be carried out smoothly and professionally, others are in buildings that do not have disabled access, require people in pain to sit for hours on hard chairs, and are carried out by cold or even cruel assessors.
The film director Ken Loach  made a film "I Daniel Blake'  to show the harsh reality of applying for benefits .This month  the government plans to cut the new Employment Support Allowance (ESA) for ill or disabled claimants who are judged to be able to work in the future.The allowance will be reduced by a third to £73.10 per week, the same as Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and is designed to give an incentive to disabled people to find work.
Ken Loach says the most vulnerable are being targeted by the new 'benefit reform'.His film "I Daniel Blake' followed two benefits claimants plunged into poverty.The Department of Work and Pensions says, "Our welfare reforms are increasing the support and incentives for people who move into work, while keeping an important safety net in place for those who need it." yet many people who rely on it, in their time of need find it degrading and cruel, and reducing disabled and vulnerable peoples incomes even further is only going to make life harder.
Legal advocates say the assessment system for benefits is getting to many decisions wrong, forcing thousands of claimants to go to court.More than 1,600 complaints have been made against nurses carrying out fit-for-work assessments in the last five years.Read more at http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/tfn-news/new-information-reveals-huge-number-of-complaints-against-pip-fit-for-work
These crude tests have caused horrifying suffering and led to homelessness, ill health , despair and tragically even suicides as people with serious health conditions are found fit for work and left without enough money to eat or keep the heating. There is also evidence that these tests have caused relapses in  claimants who also happen to be patients with serious mental health conditions. People witl long term mental health issues get very distressed about being assessed, because they don’t feel they are being listened to in their interviews or treated as  even as human, just as another tick on a box.There are also cases  of claimants who can barely leave their homes due to anxiety, depression, PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] or obsessive compulsive disorder being deemed fit for work and therefore having their benefits cut or removed, as a result there have been many reported cases of people relapsing as a consequence of getting distressed
Debbie Abrahams, the Shadow Work and Pensions Minister says 'it's a punitive system designed to get people off benefits, even if it has the effect of making people feel they have no choice but to take their own life'.The Work Capability Assessment is totally inhumane for people with invisible, but well documented mental health issues, especially for people with a factual  history recognised by their Consultants and General Practitioners.
It’s important to acknowledge that there are many people  who simply cannot work, and to force them through degrading assessments is simply appalling.I personally live in a state of fear and anxiety , just waiting to see if a brown  letter will  arrive, ordering me for re-asseesment. It is of many peoples opinion that  the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), no matter how much it may have been rejigged and  re-designed, is deeply flawed and  is simply not fit for purpose, and that no-one has any faith in it because of the appalling damage already inflicted on so many vulnerable claimants across the land. Many also  believe it needs to be scrapped, but the Tory's with no soul would never agree to this, and will probably as I write be thinking up more draconian measures, in which to inflict their brand of conscious cruelty.
The people who made the above video would like to thank everyone who their time to talk about the WCA. Some people have requested anonymity, therefore they have either used their voice only or got actors to record what they said (a lot of claimants are scared of the DWP).

(Music:http://www.bensound.com/ )

Here is a link to Disabled People Against Cuts Website ( a very valuable resource ):-

http://dpac.uk.net/ 

This post is dedicated to all those who are suffering , have suffered and those who have died whilst going through this inhumane process. 

Strength to Love - A poem for Martin Luther King Jr ( 15/1/29 - 4/4/68)

Just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr was  fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennesse. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.
 For his entire adult life, until the very day he was assassinated in 1968, he was under constant surveillance from the federal government, under constant threat from millions of people who actually hated the causes and ideals he stood for, and, in his last days on earth, seemed to frequently suggest to his closest friends that he was aware he wouldn't make it much longer.
King also  fought against police brutality and actually even mentioned it by name in his celebrated speech. Dr. King did not just vaguely fight against the idea of poverty, he fought for equal pay, he fought for better work conditions in cities across America, he fought to protect workers who were regularly abused by corporations.
He did not just vaguely fight for peace in the world; he stood up and spoke out against the Vietnam War when it was still tremendously unpopular for a man of his stature to do so. He did not, in fact, fight for integration, as much as he fought against segregation.
 In  the months before his assassination, Martin Luther King became increasingly concerned with the problem of economic inequality in America. He organized a Poor People’s Campaign to focus on the issue, including an interracial poor people’s march on Wahington and in March 1968 traveled to Memphis in support of poorly treated African-American sanitation workers. On March 28, a workers’ protest march led by King ended in violence and the death of an African-American teenager. King left the city but vowed to return in early April to lead another demonstration. On April 3, back in Memphis, King gave his last sermon, saying, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop…And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”
One day after speaking those words, Dr. King was shot and killed by a sniper. As word of the assassination spread, riots broke out in cities all across the United States and National Guard troops were deployed in Memphis and Washington D.C On April 9, King was laid to rest in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to pay tribute to King’s casket as it passed by in a wooden farm cart drawn by two mules.Martin Luther King  is now best  remembered  for his ' I have a dream ' speech,but we owe him more than that,  this man  of great  purpose, humility and wisdom was also a radical and revolutionary by both deed and action. As injustice continues in this world of ours , we can still find the courage to stand up and say enough.

 " Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love  without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is  love implementing the demands of justice,  and justice at its best is power
correcting everything that stands against love.”- Martin Luther King Jr

Strength to Love

Martin Luther King had a dream
That still today stirs our conscience,
He rejected violence to oppose racial injustice
Spread a message of peace, love and understanding,
His only weapons were his words and faith
As he marched in protest with his fellow man,
A force for good, but radical with intention
Pursued civil disobedience  but was not afraid
                                            of confrontation
We are all born equal under skin
This noble struggle never stops within,
The causes of division must still be eradicated
There is so much more room for change,
As fresh iniquities call, lets keep hope alive
Standing firm let our voices ring out,
Keep sharing deeds of deep principle
In the name of pride and in the name of love,
We are all still citizens of the world
Let's stand up for the voiceless all around us
As Martin Luther carries on reminding
His words echoing down the corridors of time
“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.
The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.”
We must continue to resist and overcome,
One day soon, all our dreams will be realised.

One Hour of Spanish Republican Music

In 1931, Spanish King Alfonso XIII approved elections to decide the government of Spain, and voters overwhelmingly chose to abolish the monarchy in favor of a liberal republic. Alfonso subsequently went into exile, and the Second Republic, was proclaimed. During the first five years of the Republic, organized labor and leftist radicals forced widespread liberal reforms, and the independence-minded Spanish regions of Catalonia and the Basque provinces achieved virtual autonomy.
The landed aristocracy, the church, and a large military clique increasingly employed violence in their opposition to the Second Republic, and in July 1936 General Francisco Franco led a right-wing army revolt in Morocco, which prompted the division of Spain into two key camps: the fascists and the Republicans. Franco’s  fascist forces rapidly overran much of the Republican-controlled areas in central and northern Spain, but Catalonia became a key Republican stronghold.
During 1937, Franco unified his  forces under the command of the Falange, Spain’s fascist party, with the aid  of Nazi Germany and Italy who supplied them with  an abundance of planes, tanks, and arms, while radical men and women  took up arms to defend Spanish democracy against the right-wing uprising, rallying to the Republican cause forming what is known as the International Brigades.The most significant contribution of these foreign units was the successful defense of Madrid until the end of the war.
In June 1938, however the fascists managed to cut  the Republican territory in two, and later in the year, Franco mounted a major offensive against Catalonia. In January 1939, its capital, Barcelona, was captured, and soon after the rest of Catalonia fell. With the Republican cause all but lost, its leaders attempted to negotiate a peace, but Franco refused. On March 28, 1939, the fascists entered Madrid in triumph, and the Spanish Civil War came to an end. Sadly many  members of the International Brigades were lost  fighting for the noble cause they believed in.
The  music above though is not lost and hopefully still inspires and resonates deeply within, still capable of igniting passion, enduring flames in our continuous battle against the dark forces of fascism. A companion piece to a few earlier posts, that are also sources  of constant inspiration.To this day, generations later, these songs of the Spanish Civil War are still sung across the world, and are no less urgent, as we continue to follow liberty's breath and stand up to the enemies of freedom that are no less dangerous. 

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/one-hour-of-iww-music.html

 http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/one-hour-of-yiddish-communist-music.html

Seeking Nirvana- Jane Elizabeth Husband (9/5/60 - 8/1/17)

The following poem is the only piece of writing that I have left of my beloved faithful departed, and reminds me that she had a deep creative bent  and a rather cynical sense of humor, this was written back in the day, before i'd encountered her, after she herself  had come to Wales seeking something, ironically she discovered me, a Welshman who never escaped, who had somewhat dropped out myself, adrift in  a haze of dope and brew, before she helped me move slightly in another direction, well she certainly awakened my senses . I miss her incredibly. Cheers mighty furbster x.

Seeking Nirvana

They came from the East in their Buses and Vans
Seeking fate in the bottom of stale Beer cans,
Over the border belching woodsmoke and pot
This place is cool man, here we must stop,
Pagans, witches and God knows what
Long hair and beards all in a knot,

The great unwashed clad in Rainbow hues
The Welsh very wisely took to their pews,
For 30 odd years and it's still not over,
The hippy invasion still trampling Welsh clover,
"Hey man it's heavy, that rat race at home,
Here's hill and coast where we might roam,
Let's move to Wales the New Age Eldorado
The Welsh have considered a complete embargo,
"Seal the borders! No more must come here
Stoned out of their heads and reeking of beer,
The hippies pursued by personal fear
Many of them shedding the occasional tear,
A different problem chasing each one
Their grip on humanity almost gone,
They came to forget and sort out their heads
Now they just spend all day in their beds,
Passing their time sloshed or stoned out their mind
Nothing gets done, not a brain cell to find,
It only takes 2 minutes to have a wash
And now they're all complaining they've got no dosh,
They're not happy here and trying to move on
Can't raise the money, motivation gone,
Because they're all followed by personal ghosts
And now the Welsh are sick of playing the host,
The Benefit agency have had enough
Of all this New Age Hippy stuff,
The problems they will never solve
Because their world will always revolve,
Around blotting out their troublesome pasts
And still they haven't found a solution that lasts,
If they'd just stay sober and face their Karma
They'd have no need for Eden and feel a lot calmer. .

Burger King - King of Destruction

Burger King, the company that sometimes thinks that crispy chicken is a vegetarian option, that poses as a good corporation citizen is now having to contend with a scathing report by environmental protection group Mighty Earth.
Entitled "The Ultimate Mystery Meat," Mighty Earth investigated the impact of soy crops used to feed the animals that go into 11 million Whoppers, Crispy Chickens Jr., Bacon Kings, and other sandwiches every single day.
Turns out that the global burger chain is flame-grilling more than just beef patties. According to the report, the company’s two main soy suppliers—Bunge and Cargill (Cargill which  has also sponsored Burger King’s annual convention in 2015, and donated a five-figure sum to the Burger King McLamore Foundation in 2014.) are "systematically" burning tropical forests in Brazil and Bolivia,  to make way for industrial soy farms to feed cattle leading to the disappearance of more than 1.7 million acres of forest land between 2011 and 2015.
The trees of tropical rainforests make up critical habitat, for an incredible diversity of amazing wildlife like sloths, jaguars, golden lion tamarins, macaws and many others.This alleged rampant deforestation is a devastating impact on these species that rely on the rich ecosystem for survival.
The connection might not be immediately apparent, since Burger King sources its beef regionally. Nevertheless, your local Burger King restaurant is also driving deforestation.As one of the world’s biggest fast food corporations, Burger King has the clout to demand that its suppliers produce soy feed without harming nature – but it doesn’t.
Instead, it is granting them a 13-year grace period during which they can continue to destroy forests. 13 years! Not a single tree will remain standing in many regions by then.We  simply can't wait another thirteen years to save crucial rainforests and habitat.
By using aerial drones, Mighty Earth claims that they witnessed tractors "ripping up" the ancient savannah as well as soybean farmers using "systematic fires to burn the debris and clear the land—sending acrid smoke across the whole region."
Burger King are not the only corporation currently raping our planet, so, why target Burger King when so many other fast food chains rely on soy crops? Apparently, Burger King is the worst of the pack, scoring a big, fat zero on the Union of Concerned Scientists' 2016 scorecard of major beef sellers' deforestation profiles, way behind Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and Wendy's.
"Unlike many of its competitors, Burger King has repeatedly turned down requests from civil society organizations to commit to only buying from suppliers who don't engage in destruction of forests, or to provide information about where its commodities originate," the report states.Burger King, which is owned by the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, does not disclose details of its suppliers but has refused to rule out buying products produced on deforested land.
Last year, nearly 2m hectares of land was deforested in Brazil – up from 1.5m in 2015 – while an estimated 865,000 hectares of forest was cleared in Bolivia, compared to 667,000 a year in the 2000s.
Not all of the forest clearing was linked to soy production, but Mighty Earth says food companies are not doing enough to prevent deforestation in areas they operate in, and offer financial incentives that spur the process in the first place.

 Burger King - King of Destruction

Burger King sells 11 million burgers daily at the cost of the environment. It is systematically  destroyng  rainforests and with it, its wildlife, including endangered species. Although protesters have urged the burger giant to stop using these suppliers, it has refused. Their actions are simply irresponsible, wrong and unacceptable and smacks of pure greed, we urgently need to get the word out to  Burger King and tell them they can't get away with it.
Please tell burger King to get deforestation out of its supply chain now.

https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/1091/tell-burger-king-to-get-deforestation-out-of-its-supply-chain

Waiting to go go ( some reflections on Death)

(I am currently grieving deeply for a loved  one, but in the meantime thought it would be cathartic to release the following poem that has recently arrived.)

Waiting to go go ( some reflections on Death)

What is it about Death
That makes us hold our breath,
We are all waves of consciousness
Passing through the corridors of time,
From the moment of birth you and me
All of us waiting to go go,
It can't be hidden, sadly there's no escape
Try not to pretend not to see, or be afraid,
It might be tonight or some time tomorrow
So while we can, best laugh and smile,
Until it's time for our very last dance
When the music and lights start to fade,
In the meantime lets talk about the weather
Cling on to Love and peace and all things nice,
Seize the day and carry on resisting
Show some allegiance to noble causes here on earth,
Until that fateful day Mr Reaper man comes
And releases our grip makes us take that final bow.

Palestine land day

Today, 30th March, is Land Day in Palestine and is marked by Palestinians wherever they live. Land Day is held on the anniversary of March 30, 1978,when Palestinian villages and cities across the country witnessed mass demonstrations against the states plans to expropriate 2,000 hectares of land in and around the Arab villages of Araba and Sakhnin as a part of a plan to "Judaise the Galilee".Israel's Galilee region. In coordination with the military, some 4,000 police officers were  dispatched  to quell the unrest. At the end of the day, six Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed, and over one hundred injured by state security forces.
The Day of the land - or Land Day marked the first mass mobilization of Palestinians within Israel against internal colonialism and land theft. It also signalled the failure of Israel to subjugate Palestinians who remained in their towns and villages, after around 700,000 of them were either expelled or forced to flee battles or massacres committed by Zionist armed groups in 1948.It's commemoration is a reaffirmation that the Palestinians who remained in the area on which Israel was declared in 1948, are an inseperable part of the Palestinian people and their struggle.
This important day in Palestinian history commemorates the Palestinians sense of belonging to a people, to a cause and a country, to stand united against racial oppression and rules of apartheid,and the discriminatory practices of the Israeli government, giving continual potency to the Palestinians cause , its quest for justice and Palestinian rights, and its resistance to injustice,who never cease to fight for their land while holding passionately to their history and identity. It is the right of return, recognised in the United Nations Resolution 194, that drives Palestinians to continue with the commemoration of Land Day - regardless of their geographical location.
The day is commemorated  annually by Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and further afield in refugee camps and among the Palestinian diaspora worldwide, with demonstrations, marches and by planting olive and fruit trees. Land Day is typically met with violent Israeli repression. Today many of the Land Day protests  against the theft of their lands focus on the Negev region, since much of the land that has been marked for appropriation in the Galilee has already been confiscated. The Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel also now face the appropriation of 800,000 dunams of the Negev by the Israeli state.The housing situation for the Bedouin remains dire. Settlements that house 160,000 people are deemed "illegal" by Israel, and risk demolition. The issue of land allocation and housing for Palestinian citizens of Israel has now reached crisis point.
Land Day therefore  continues to be poignantly relevant as Israel continues to confiscate land, expand their colonies, and continue to build their illegal settlements in flagrant violation of all international conventions, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.Land day is  a Palestine day, a day for its people to  proudly declare that they are one from the River to the Sea.
The Land Day strike  inspired the following powerful poem by Tawfiq Zayyad, Palestinian poet, writer, scholar and politician, that continues to resonate across the Palestinian generations.

Here we will stay - Tawfiq Zayyad ( 7/5/ 29 - 5/7/ 94)

In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain
like a wall upon your chest,
and in your throat
like a shrad of glass,
a cactus thron,
and in your eyes
a sandstorm.
We shall remain
a wall upon your chest,
clean dishes in your restaurants,
serve drinks in your bars,
sweep the floors of your kitchens
to snatch a bite for our children
from your blue fangs.
Here we shall stay,
sing our songs,
take to the angry streets,
fill prisons with dignity.
In Lidda, in Ramla, in the galilee,
we shall remain,
guard the shade of the fig
and olive trees,
ferment rebellion in our children
as yeast in the dough.

Link to poem by Mahmoud Darwish on the same theme :-

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/to-our-land-mahmoud-darwish-13309.html 

Article 50 - Not in my name

So Theresa May has now signed the official letter, article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which formally begins the process of leaving the European Union. For many milllions of people, this appears to be a colossal act of self harm. Ending decades of integration with our neighbours. May has also chosen the hardest and most divisive form of Brexit, choosing to take us out of the Single Market before she has even tried to negotiate.Membership of the Single Market was not on the ballot paper last June, yet without a mandate she has chosen to rip Britain, our businesses and our people out of the world’s biggest market. I was always a Euro sceptic,always thought that it was in need of reform, but thought we should stay, these were my own thoughts on the subject earlier :- https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/europe-should-we-stay-or-should-we-go.html
The following is from our unelected Tory Prime Minister. Who with her party have now taken us back 60 years.The following words if they don't scare you, well you need to look up what the Tories have done so far.
"This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back - Britain is leaving the European Union - we're going to make our own decisions and our own laws, we're going to take control of the things that matter most to us. And we're going to take this opportunity to build a stronger and fairer Britain that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home."
We  already live in a divided nation run by an incompetent government that is encouraging  the rich to become richer, and the poor to becoming poorer, while trying to kill our NHS and welfare state. Once out of Europe they will feel they have mandate to do anything they damn well like.I do not stand by a Brexit deal that will punish the most vulnerable in society even further, I do not stand by a Brexit deal that will put more people into poverty, I do not stand by a Brexit deal that will destroy our country, and take away our already basic human rights! It is simply a failure of epic tragic proportions and a sad day for Britain as we leap into the abyss and become a poorer, small-minded xenophobic place to live. Britain has  now officially stepped into the worst decision its ever made as Donald Tusk receives UK's article 50 letter.
A new European Parliament report though  shows that the UK can still change its mind on Brexit, so if Theresa May’s deal is not good enough, the people of the UK should have the chance to say so.We should remember too, that it was not a mere minority who declined to support this event that we are all supposed to be celebrating now, it was nearly half of the country, many of whom will today be experiencing an immense feeling of sadness. Brexit is simply not the will of the people. As May continues to refer to the 48% ( of which I was one) in her quotes about unity, we must resist. We must  say NO, Theresa. Not only do we not see or support your chaotic views, we don’t support this callous, needlessly extreme Brexit  one bit and we never will. Now more than ever we must stand with migrants and continue our fight to defend the freedom of movement for all .Brexit. Not in my name. Please sign the following petition and show Theresa that she is not speaking for you!

https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-article-50-not-in-my-name

To the Politicians

The following poem can also be found here :-

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2017/03/28/to-the-politicians-by-dave-rendle/

They will offer you
a handful of inflated emotion,
tie you up in knots
having eaten their fill,
will not do anything you ask for
whilst continuing to deliver soundbites,
eager to show that they do really care
will carry on giving you handshakes,
full of lies and deceipt
with warped sense of logic,
as the pain frosts over our breaths
offer us scraps of austerity,
whilst  hours draw by keep us unsatisfied,
continue their games to bend and shape us
apart from a few, most of collassal self-importance,
with their rhetoric full  of emptiness
deliver to us, utter complete disrespect,
it is up to us to stir their will
in sweet sheer defiance,
carve a new domain
into which, us they must serve,
instead of corporations and lobbyists
and others with a lust of power,
deliver us human foundations.
built on concepts of truth
that can be seeds of future's rebirth.

Good morning Britain

Aztec camera/ Mick Jones Good morning Britain.


Brilliant piece of culture and art - The powers that be make this song so relevant , many years since this record came out, fair gain for the elites, this song sums up Britain so much.
Here in Britain, politics is racing at breakneck speed. We have Theresa May as an unelected prime minister.The PM also stands  accused of closing the door on child refugees after reneging on a pledge to allow 3,000 stranded in Europe into Britain.The Tory's are ploughing on  with the benefit cap and other measures which are driving working-class families into the dirt, and no plans to seriously tackle this were made in Hammond's autumn statement. It is planning £22 billion-worth of savage cuts to the NHS, using the mechanism  of the so called ' sustaainability and transformation plans' (STPs). The end result, if they are allowed to get away with it, will be the wholesale closure of local hospitals. We are also wirnessing the rise of the  far-right and xenophobia on the rise again, combined  with  Post Brexit we could be living in a nightmare  that we can't escape, it will see many people waking up to the political economic consequences of leaving Europe, and realising they have been duped.We are currently sailing into a  future that does not look too rosy.Scary times indeed.
Yet the Tories will be screwed if Scotland and Northern Ireland still decide to remain in the EU. Scotland, having previously voted to remain in the UK and the EU, cannot now do both. The irony if the unintended consequence of Brexit could be a break up of Britain , with the result  a new Anglo-Welsh world super power that we could call Wengland.We are certainly  facing more days of shock and waves of uncertainty.
In the immediate future, the defense of migrants, including those yet to come, celebrating diversity is fundamental to opposing the swing to the right post-Brexit. Let or future not be steeped in shame..Only saying.
.