Benefit bullies
A man with chronic health problems died after the hated 'work capability assessment' found him 'fit to work'.
Lawrence Bond had a heart attack after leaving a job centre in London this January. He had to attend because of the decision to end his disability benefit.
Meanwhile, the private firms doing this for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have made over half a billion from it. The Socialist commented on this last issue in 'Them & Us'.
But many benefit cuts don't even save the bosses money. One exceptional case is Janet Davis from Ayr in Scotland.
The DWP took away the car it had provided Janet after deciding she could live independently without it. This will save the government a measly £8,000 over three years.
But the DWP also decided she was still eligible for help getting to work. The cost of the taxis it authorised instead? £65,000.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
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In The Socialist 26 April 2017:
What we think
A bold socialist campaign could get rid of the Tories
Socialist Party news and analysis
40% of GPs plan to quit - reverse all NHS cuts and sell-offs!
Cuts, profit and bureaucracy lead to 50% rise in mental health deaths
200,000 empty homes - 250,000 homeless - end property speculation
May Day
International socialist news and analysis
Mélenchon result shows potential for building a mass left force
Socialist Party workplace news
Strikes can end nurses' poverty pay
Len McCluskey re-election - a defeat for the right
Usdaw ADM 2017: Left challenge needed to end assault on retail jobs and conditions
PCS Left Unity says get rid of the Tories!
BMW strikers determined to win pensions dispute
Forest Hill School demonstration
20 years since Blair's election
How Blairism sank its claws into the Labour Party
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Jobstown trial begins - call on Corbyn to support the defendants!
Health Campaigns Together meets to chart the way forward
Protests in solidarity with LGBT+ people facing persecution in Chechnya
Doncaster TUSC: TUSC's programme for local jobs and Services
Peter Taaffe speaks in Birkenhead
East London tenants fight 40% rent hike
Socialist Party comments and reviews
May Day greetings
Solidarity greetings in the Socialist for International Workers' Day 2017
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01/05/21


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