Reblogged
from Beastrabban\'s Weblog:
I was in the Job Centre myself a few weeks ago. Looking along the desk of one
of the interview staff, I noticed that right in front of the tray for his
documents and papers was a stack of cards for the Samaritans. This is a mute,
but shocking sign of the real nature of the DWP under Cameron and Clegg. Mike,
The Void, and many, many other left-wing blogs and sites have already
described how the staff in some Job Centres are being trained to deal with
suicidal claimants. These are the poor and desperate, whose claims have been
disallowed and sanctioned. I don’t know if the Job Centre in Bristol offers
similar training to its staff. The stack of cards on this clerks desk
nevertheless bore witness that this staff member, at least, knew there was a
problem and was prepared for that eventuality, if just in this small, trivial
way.
Now I am certainly not blaming that particular clerk for the despair the
system inflicts. As far as I could see, he was courteous and doing his best to
be genuinely helpful. The system, however, does not seem to reward kindness and
courtesy. Under Blair there were already secret directives in some Job Centres
stipulating that a certain number of claimants should be sanctioned. The
Void has reported that under Cameron, some offices have been running
competitions to see who can deprive the most unemployed and disabled of their
benefits. In one office an Easter Egg was the prize. In this environment, it is
the callous and abusive, who will find work in the DWP, and advance up the
corporate ladder.
That stack of cards, and the training of benefits staff to deal with threats
and attempts of suicide just scream how bad the benefits’ system now is. They
indirectly confirm the reports of the unemployed and particularly the disabled,
who have killed themselves following their benefits being stopped. IDS has
refused to give the exact figures, but obviously if staff are being given such
training, and have cards for the Samaritans ready and waiting on their desks,
then it follows that suicide is a real, persistent danger throughout the
nation’s Job Centres. And if this is the case, then it is revolting and grossly,
wilfully incompetent for the DWP not to acknowledge the scale of the problem by
releasing the true figures.
But that would be to admit that the DWP’s policies are fundamentally wrong,
and need changing. Ian Duncan Smith and Cameron are basing their entire
government on the giant Neo-Liberal lie, and so cannot do that.
Despite their claims to be helping people, clearly the system is not doing
so. Instead, it is killing them.
This should be a national scandal. It should be on the front pages of every
newspaper, along with the stories of Osborne smugly pronouncing his catastrophic
economic programme to be a success. It should be debated in the press and on TV
and Radio. It is a savage indictment of the sheer callous indifference, and
cruel desire to persecute the poor and disabled, underpinning IDS’, McVey’s and
the entire coalition’s welfare policy. Instead, it appears that the press is
doing its best to stifle all this. Despite their smiling faces and their bland
assurances, they aren’t listening, and don’t want anyone else to hear
either.
IDS and McVey clearly don’t want to see the problem, don’t want to be held
responsible for the problem, and so they pass this on to their staff on the
office floor. And rather than give people a living income based on a realistic
assessment of the realities of unemployment, they’re reduced to emergency
counselling and handing out cards. And it’s not enough.
