First Entry

This blog is about the life of a single man living in the fast paced city of London.

This will chart many things that are going on in London, in my life, in the UK, and what is happening in the government and others lives that I know. I guess a mix of many things, really.

I started this blog with the intention that there are things I want to share with the world, and some will be good, others will not be so. And today's entry focuses on the bad.

For those of you who don't know much about the UK, I would recommend the BBC website, it gives you an idea of what life is like, and just how insane of a government we have as well, always looking for the next sound bite.I know I am probably not allowed to do it, but I am going to include links to other sites for your reading if you want to
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4224721.stm

This is about the supposedly high level of Incapacity Benefit (IB) being claimed, and the so called new idea to deal with it. I for one, as a disabled am dismayed by these ideas, and lets be honest, they are just ideas, which if implemented will cause the hell for all those who are disabled and struggle to work, despite our best efforts, which the government doesn't help with a toothless DRC.
To get on incapacity benefit, isn't exactly a piece of piss, it is damn difficult to do, your doctor has to say you are incapable of working, and they are forced to be very harsh in their judgement. Just like with DLA (Disability Living Allowance) they are able to turn around and say you aren't disabled, even though you have been since birth, and being deaf is a disability and impacts on what you can do. I know of many who have been denied DLA, who should have it, and it isn't even a lot of money, there has been numerous reports saying it is far from enough. Those who are disabled have higher living costs, obviously, just to function in the world. This idea with IB, is another one of these cooked up by those who are in perfect health, but god forbid they ever suffer a problem, they will have no worries, MPs wages aren't exactly low, and they aren't exempt for insurance or charged very high premiums for being disabled, no, they have it easy. The comments made by some on the BBC site, on have your say, suggests that people are work-shy, maybe there is a minor, and I mean a minor amount that are, but to get IB isn't an easy task, no matter what people think. The comments I have seen, suggest that we go back to the idea of poorhouses, and throw people out on the street if they are unfortunate enough to be born disabled or suffer a disability later in life, even worse advocating that people are thrown out on to the streets, what next, going to the idea of the Nazis, where we gas people because they are disabled, or unable to work.
And these proposals are just as bad, they are a way to try and reduce the amount of money spent. If they want to reduce the money spent, help those on IB, by making sure operations are done on time, don't have to wait 2+ years for an operation like I have, and then people would get back to work faster, and for those who operations can't help, give them sufficient training, the disabled are the most poorly educated generally, and thus they can't even get good jobs, because the employers don't want to know. To give an example of government thinking, I am degree educated, once worked in IT, until I was made redundant by a company that outsourced my work to India, and since then, nothing, getting back in, is impossible. So when you go to the Job Centre and as a disabled person ask for help, response is, we can't help you, you are too educated for us to help you, oh wonderful, this is what Mr.Blair wants, someone who is educated, who needs help, but they aren't prepared to help, talk about talk being cheap, and whilst on it Mr.Blair, cutting funding for those who are trying to make a new career through part time study because they already have a degree, but are unemployed, and disabled, is a cheap shot. When you grow balls, how about you come and take it up then, you are okay in your glasshouse.

On another issue, this idea of sham marriages, I know of people who fell in love with someone from abroad and was lucky enough to get married before these stupid proposals are coming in. I myself was in a position where I was considering and looking to marry someone from abroad, someone from the US, and these new rules would make it impossible, because the default thinking would be they were marrying me for residency, how stupid can you be. There are sham marriages, just like there are all over the world, but to suggest by default, anyone marrying someone from abroad, not in the EU is a sham marriage is extremely offensive and down pathetic.

This country is supposedly going down the pan, well newsflash it is already there, and I am a born and raised Londoner, who can't believe the place is disappearing like it is. Where has compassion for our fellow people gone?Mr.Blair when you learn to live in reality like the rest of us, and actually realise that you are just going to make those who are already suffering pain through disability even worse, then maybe, just maybe, I won't consider you more evil than Mrs.Thatcher