The Conservative Party

[bluethrunthru]

No shit Sherlock

No 10 had head-in-sand mentality at start of Covid crisis, says ex-minister

James Bethell says Downing Street did not want to prioritise pandemic in early 2020 even as evidence was mounting

www.theguardian.com

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

I see Mel Stride, secretary of state for the DWP is consulting on WCAs

If you are sick or disabled be prepared, the shit is coming your way.

I see they are having yet another revamp of the disability benefits system

You'd have to be a special type of psychopath to make work capability assessments tougher.

 

[Summerbuzz]

Meant to share this yesterday. Yougov's big debate of the day:

Should mental health treatments such as counselling or therapy be free on the NHS?

Scraping the bottom of the barrel or what?

Previews of future topics:

Why Spend All This Money On The NHS When People Just Die Anyway? We've Got Too Many As It Is.

and

Disabled People: Isn't It True Half Of Them Could Just Get Up And Walk?

 

[Bodicoteblue]

You'd have to be a special type of psychopath to make work capability assessments tougher.

This lot only do ‘special types’.
Though they prefer ‘world leading’

 

[bluenova]

You'd have to be a special type of psychopath to make work capability assessments tougher.

I can understand the argument, and it was one that I had a lot early in the Blair administration.

At that time, the Tories had pushed unemployment up and up, and for many who had given up hope of getting a job, disability benefits made sense (and of course, being unemployed for a long time can take its toll on your health). The Tories had been happy for the unemployment figures to come down, but do we really want to leave these people behind?

I don't have any hope that a Tory government is considering this for caring reasons, but if the numbers have increased at the same time as the opportunities to work from home have become available, then I'd consider it the state's responsibility to do everything they can to help people from incapacity benefits and into work.

The key word is HELP, but given the links between poverty, inactivity and isolation with poor health, I'd hope that it's something any government would target.

 

[west didsblue]

fuck me - the Army is now actually led by a donkey

Although it goes against the grain being fair to him, I bet the average soldier or even officer in the army doesn’t know how many ranks there are without looking it up or spending 5 minutes working it out, and it’s probably not at the top of the list of things that would have been briefed to him.

 

[stonerblue]

You got a link mate?

Gimme a min mate

 

[Brewster's millions]

I can understand the argument, and it was one that I had a lot early in the Blair administration.

At that time, the Tories had pushed unemployment up and up, and for many who had given up hope of getting a job, disability benefits made sense (and of course, being unemployed for a long time can take its toll on your health). The Tories had been happy for the unemployment figures to come down, but do we really want to leave these people behind?

I don't have any hope that a Tory government is considering this for caring reasons, but if the numbers have increased at the same time as the opportunities to work from home have become available, then I'd consider it the state's responsibility to do everything they can to help people from incapacity benefits and into work.

The key word is HELP, but given the links between poverty, inactivity and isolation with poor health, I'd hope that it's something any government would target.

A DWP study from a few years back suggested that obesity is the root cause of about a third of all disability and mental health benefit cases, and by extension a key driver of the rise in overall claimant figures.

When you consider the direct costs obesity places on the NHS, and the fact that obesity is most prevalent in deprived areas, then the case for action only gets stronger. It’s probably the most important issue any government can address over the next decade, so to dismiss the current plans for action as an extension of ‘Tory austerity’ - as many on here will inevitably do - really misses the point. As a country the UK can’t afford to ignore it.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

Although it goes against the grain being fair to him, I bet the average soldier or even officer in the army doesn’t know how many ranks there are without looking it up or spending 5 minutes working it out, and it’s probably not at the top of the list of things that would have been briefed to him.

If it’s more than 2 hands, it’s not happening ;-)

 

[bluethrunthru]

Meant to share this yesterday. Yougov's big debate of the day:

Scraping the bottom of the barrel or what?

Previews of future topics:


and

Its YouGov - par for the course