So Nick Clegg has stood in front of the Liberal Democrat's Spring Conference and told them that he stands for 'Alarm Clock Britain', a phrase repeated no less than five times in his speech. Apparently 'Alarm Clock Britain' stands for 'basic rate taxpayers who get up in the dark, get their children ready for school and then go out to work'. So presumably because my disability now means I can no longer work, because I can't sleep to any set pattern, because I no longer earn enough to pay basic rate tax, to the Liberal Democrats I no longer count, what happens to me and to the tens of thousands of disabled people in similar positions, does not concern them. The support we need can happily be gutted to make sure the alarm clock users don't feel the pinch.
Clegg promised his party faithful that "We will never lose our soul", but, Mr Clegg, the moment the Liberal Democrats stopped caring for every member of our society was the moment they sold their soul to the Devil.
I wish I could get up to an alarm clock. Unfortunately if I was compelled to get up at a certain time each day I would not sleep *at all* until the point when I broke down completely, then it'd be Hello, Laughing Academy. Clegg wants that, he can have it. Along with the formative years filled with psychological abuse, neglect and rape. I'll take his decent income and comparatively "normal" life. Twat.
ReplyDeleteThanks David.
I wonder if he is even aware of how offensive and sickening his words are.
ReplyDeleteOn a par with Osborne's "curtains drawn" statements-simplistic,patronising designed to inspire disdain against people who do not fit into this rather strange description-I have never used an alarm clock or really bothered whether my curtains were drawn or not throughout my life -in employment or not,"hard working taxpayer" is another one -plenty of lazy tax-payers and hard working non-taxpayers (Carers,parents,volunteers-many who are disabled) but hey the plebs know what we mean-a cynical ruse to engender the thought that the Gov is with us against "them"-rather awful actually
ReplyDeleteBritish society seems to be shifting more towards the Australian one of 'conform, conform, conform'. I left Australia because I couldn't do that - if it spreads here I'm in serious trouble.
ReplyDeleteI fear Clegg has already sold his soul to the farcical conservatives. He would give up everything for power. Its time to turn around and SHOUT NO!
ReplyDelete"I wonder if he is even aware of how offensive and sickening his words are."
ReplyDeleteNot only is he aware of it, he made clear what he thinks of anyone who might wish to point it out with his attack on "enemies of reason". If you don't agree with Nick, you're not just irrational, you're anti-rational.
I never before understood that the Liberal Democrats actually stood for the worst kind of Ayn-Rand-esque pseudo-rational justification for outright fascism. After this weekend, I stand corrected.
And very, very scared.
I feel utterly betrayed. I joined the SDP when they were first formed and became a LibDem when the parties merged. I stood as a LibDem councillor. I supported local LibDem councillors. I voted LibDem in the last election.
ReplyDeleteNever again. Next time, I will vote Respect. They don't ditch their disabled. I hope.
I heard this speech. It was precisely because I was an Alarm Clock person, got up in the dark, forced my son to school, worked hard all day, no all week for 72 hours a week for piddle pay that I have ended up disabled. Unable to work because I burnt out, and have got fibromyalgia, which incidentally I had at the same time as working. This man is an irritating silly little sod.
ReplyDeleteAnyone notice how silent the 8 million people who do not get IB are, the 8 million people who get income support or now JSA, I hardly see them on sites at all.
ReplyDeleteFor years we have had people who worked some as little as two years happy to be on IB, one year we thought it was wrong that people who were born disabled should not get the same benefits as us, but of course the government has now turned the table on us by saying look you should be getting the same benefit as those that have never worked, people who end up on JSA or have ESA for a year.
The alarm clock theme was the same as Blair's use of tax payers and the work shy.
The simple fact go to any country within the EU and you will see welfare reforms.
I'm thinking of putting my money into opening a work house, it might work now we are heading back wards.
But none of these so called political parties have any interest in disability not at £129 billion.
I can barely parse any meaning from your comment Robert, but I'll say one thing - there's not a single person out there "happy" to be on IB.
ReplyDeleteI can't even understand what the rest of your words are trying to get at. Are you saying you don't believe those 8 million are genuine, and that people who were unable to work for very long, if at all, are undeserving of help? I could only work for 5 years, and I guarantee you it's not my £100 a bloody week bankrupting Britain, yet there are apparently people insisting that I don't deserve even that because I'm 'guilty' of getting ill before I was 65.
Whatever. Going to go and look at the research that states that £14k net is sub-poverty level, and remind myself that my £5200 a fucking year GROSS, is apparently my punishment for being unable to put in 30 years before succumbing to a potentially fatal, incurable neurological disorder.
@colder: I'm not quite certain of Robert's point either, but ultimately I can't see what working has to with benefit entitlement in any ethical system. Working determines your ability to contribute, entitlement should be based on need alone.
ReplyDelete