But ahead of Goldsmith "Kit Malthouse, the MP for North West Hampshire, was forced to resign from his position as patron of the Multiple Sclerosis Society after its members said his voting position “prevented him from being an effective patron." The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the cut to people who use specially adapted equipment will affect 370,000 disabled people, who will each lose an average of £3,500 a year. £3,500 a year is a huge amount of money when you are living on a restricted income and have special needs but even that is a drop in the ocean to many Tory MPs.
Long live the Freedom of Information act and websites such as They Work For You that enable the electorate to get a clear picture of their MP without any spin.
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 IDS DWP boss with an agenda After actions resembling the 'hokey cokey' social security cuts have been pushed through in the House of Commons. The Independent goes with ‘black day for disabled people’ and it would be impossible not to agree. The Tories have shown their commitment to the work and welfare bill and its associated cuts by being prepared to spend time and thus money on pushing changes through parliament. The £30 a week ESA cut is a slap in the face of people with disabilities. The cost of DWP bureaucracy as they slash benefits should not be forgotten; the same goes for the money paid to MPDs to spend hours in parliament debating. Changes made their way through the House of Commons to the House of Lords but that other place threw the legislation back for further consideration. Following another House of Commons debate the legislation tootled back to the Lords but was rejected again. In order to push the legislation through Speaker of the House of Commons attached a 'financial privilege' to the Welfare Bill and sealed its fate and that of many people with disabilities living in the UK. But that will not be the end of cuts. More will follow. The tory government is looking at further attacks on democracy; it has already looked at preventing the House of Lords rejecting legislation and also at stuffing the Lords with more Tories to enable that party to fulfil its crippling agenda. The PM already has an option to use the Royal veto and now we learn he has a 'financial privilege' get out of jail free card available. The Independent reports Tuesday;
The conclusion then has to be that the Tory government knows full well the impact on claimants but doesn't care one jot.
Also at NEWTEKWORLDNEWS: Tory onslaught on welfare is not an austerity agenda Paralympians speech halts ESA cuts for a second time Nothing pretty about Priti Patel as she attacks ESA Online: MPs get pay rise of nearly £1,000 despite one per cent public sector wage caps Tories force through ESA disability benefit cuts as Lords run out of options to block them Charities slam Tories for forcing through disability benefit cuts despite House of Lords defeat  Op-Ed: One week ago we wrote "Nothing pretty about Priti Patel as she attacks ESA" but the saga of the proposed Tory cuts to ESA and other disability entitlements goes on. Last week it was a second debate of the proposed work and welfare bill after it had made its way from the Commons to the House of Lords but been sent back for further consideration. If the Tories hoped the Lords would simply rubber stamp legislation that will mean people with disabilities take yet another financial hit they were out of luck? MPs voted at the end of the debate and the ESA cut was approved by 306-279 votes. The bill tootled off to the Lords again where it was defeated Monday. The defiant action against the ESA cut was helped along by one member of the HoL, Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson. As the Daily Mirror reports "The eleven-time gold medallist begged peers to stop the “ideological” £30-a-week cut to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)" "Peers voted 289-219 to halt the move until Iain Duncan Smith reviews how it will affect claimants' mental health – which could delay it until 2020 costing the government £1billion." Ms Grey-Thompson is a cross bench member of the House of Lords who knows first-hand the challenges people with disabilities face along with the employment bias they have to fight. PM David Cameron and his DWP ministers Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith are left spitting feathers with Cameron looking at shoring up Tory Lords and Lady numbers in the House of Lords to win future votes. That will cost us all a great deal of money and again highlights these cuts are not about austerity but rather a long-term plan to fulfil an ideology and a vision of the UK in the years ahead. And while members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons shuffle proposed legislation back and forth vulnerable citizens living in the UK have the additional stress of not knowing if their income is about to be slashed. Find out how your MP voted in the last ESA cuts debate at the Daily Mirror Below - Watch Dame Tanni Grey-Thomspon's speech to the HoL. |
