A call to arms for the citizens of the UK

People of the United Kingdom,

You have been systematically lied to by the current Government headed by David Cameron.  The Prime Minister himself has lied to you about the deficit[1].  The Conservatives lied to the voting public before the election in order to gain power and then did the opposite of what they were elected to enact[2].  The Conservatives have taken steps to hide their duplicity by purging their website of all speeches and videos dating from before the General Election in 2010[3]. 

Many high ranking members of the Cabinet have cherry-picked statistics to back up their assertions and ignored the Government’s own statistics that show the truth; the biggest culprit being Iain Duncan Smith and the DWP[4] [5].

George Osborne claimed that austerity would lead to economic recovery and steadfastly kept to his policy even when it was obvious it was failing[6] [7].  Osborne also claims that people are better off when it is quite clear that they are not...unless they are rich[8].

The current Government claimed that the austerity measures would only last for a few short years but they now claim that austerity measures will not only last longer but will be permanent despite Cameron’s claims that he “didn’t come into politics to make cuts”; the fact of the matter is that austerity has always been ideological for the Conservatives and that they will continue with their nefarious policy regardless of the damage it does[9].

The Government has stated that the nation’s coffers are empty hence the need for the austerity measures but then seemed to be able to find the money to pledge to spend “whatever money is needed” on flood relief[10].  If there’s no money in the coffers, where’s that money coming from?

Iain Duncan Smith shows not only contempt for the people who voted him into power but also the fellow members of Parliament who form the oversight committee for his department[11] [12].  Duncan Smith has also lied about the extent of the problems surrounding his flagship Universal Credit which has cost millions of pounds despite only being claimed by a mere handful of claimants[13].

This Government uses rarely used Prime Ministerial veto powers to prevent the publication of embarrassing or damning reports so that it may press ahead with costly and inefficiently run Government backed projects[14].

The current Government is wasting public funds hand over fist over wasteful media work[15], costly computer problems[16] and welfare ‘reforms’ that cost more than they save[17].

You have had your rights taken from you – the right to Legal Aid severely curtailed[18], the worker’s rights that have been long fought for eroded, the right to a free higher education that many members of the Government enjoyed has now been denied to the current generation, the freedom of speech taken away so that organisations and individuals may not campaign on issues deemed ‘political’ during the run up to an election[19] [20] (and any subject can be deemed ‘political’) and the social security benefits paid for by the people removed from those who need them.

The Conservatives are planning on taking away even more of your human rights by pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights if they gain a majority Government at the next General Election[21].  This will leave the door open to removing not just the rights of foreign criminals but also the rights that we hold dear for our own citizens, allowing the Conservatives to enact even more horrifying legislation.

The National Health Service, the jewel in the crown of this once great country, is being systematically dismantled and sold off to private healthcare organisations for them to profit[22].  Many members of the current Government have financial interests in those private healthcare organisations[23].

The welfare system once meant to protect the most vulnerable is being destroyed, piece by piece, leaving thousands to die[24] [25] or with no choice other than to commit suicide[26] because of the changes to the welfare system all in the name of austerity.  Some people have been left with little or no income at all[27] and little hope of finding a job.  These changes have also driven up the levels of poverty – child poverty, food poverty[28], fuel poverty[29] - and forcing many families into debt[30].  Even the working poor are being forced into greater poverty due to the rise in the cost of living[31].

The Government even denies the increase in food poverty and their part in creating it to the point that they turned down an EU food bank subsidy[32] and will openly attack and smear any organisation that draws attention to the problem[33] and the Government’s part in it.

The Government lied when it said that the most vulnerable people would be protected from the extra cost of the Bedroom Tax when it failed to set aside enough money for the emergency fund for those most in need[34].  And it is the most vulnerable and the poorest who are hit by the Bedroom Tax which allows the least amount of living space available and costs a percentage of their Housing Benefit for any ‘spare’ bedrooms even if those rooms are needed for things such as a medical clean room for home dialysis.  Meanwhile, the architect of this insidious attack on the poor luxuriates in a massive home – rent free[35].

This Government has the hypocrisy to have praised the UK’s paralympians during the London 2012 Olympics and then waged war against the disabled community with harsh and unnecessary benefit changes[36] [37].  Sanctions against disabled people are harshly enforced even when the claimant is complying with the rules[38].  The DWP have also taken people to court over the Bedroom Tax even when the claimant was ruled to be exempt on human rights rules by a judge[39].

Not only that but this Government has also closed a number of Remploy sites[40], pushing previously employed disabled people out of work and onto benefits and then slashed their meagre income.

The Government lied about setting targets for Jobcentre staff to get as many people off of benefits as possible[41].

This Government has created a new slave labour force with their welfare ‘reforms’[42] that have taken jobs out of the job market, removed many who were working in paid employment on minimum wage and pushed them onto the unemployment line to be made slaves for the unscrupulous ‘employers’ who the Government have chosen to benefit[43].

You have been used and conditioned to accept all these injustices by a constant stream of anti-poor, anti-disabled[44], anti-welfare propaganda in which the fraudulent few are held up as the norm in relation to those forced by circumstances beyond their control to rely on benefits.  This constant media propaganda has created a culture of hate against people on benefits[45] which is tantamount to a vicious Government-led hate campaign that has divided the citizens of the country.  They have also pulled and warped the English language into a parody of itself, into a kind of Orwellian New Speak[46], to make their insidious work more palatable to the general public.

This Government has done all this but have allowed billions in tax revenue to remain unpaid by corporations[47] [48] and individuals who use legal, but morally reprehensible, loopholes to save themselves a large tax bill[49].

This Government has enacted illegal legislation and then enacted retroactive legislation to legalise their wrongdoing[50].

This Government has stood by and accepted an 11% pay rise for MPs[51] whilst public sector workers are limited to a 1% pay rise[52] as have those on benefits (if they have managed to retain their benefit at all).  And, to make matters worse, the majority of their fellow Parliamentarians, regardless of party affiliation, voted for the increase in their own pay with only ten MPs opposing it[53].

This Government, led by David Cameron, have shown themselves to be purely in politics for their own personal profit[54] [55] (or that of their rich friends and benefactors[56]) and with their own personal agendas which conflict with their duty to protect the citizens of the United Kingdom.

It may be true that other administrations have also acted in such a cavalier fashion and with their own interests at heart but this is the only administration that has killed thousands of innocent people, people who should have been protected from harm due to poverty, illness or disability.

It now seems to be appropriate to quote from the American Declaration of Independence which states that:

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

In simple terms, the above quote says that if there is something wrong with your Government, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

Citizens of the United Kingdom,

This Government has shown itself to be corrupt and it should be removed from power.  It has shown itself to be rife with abuses and it has shown itself to be contemptuous of the people it is supposed to defend. 

The political system that bred such an administration is itself corrupt.  It is time for a change.  It is time for the people to take back control of our country and our Government.

We need to stand shoulder to shoulder and demand political change.  We need to stand up for justice, compassion and equality.

We need to create a new system of governance that does away with the breed of self-serving politicians that we have now and replace them with people who are willing to serve the citizens of the United Kingdom in the way that they should be served.  Replaced by people who are willing to lead by example and not force their personal agendas on the general population.

It is our time to rise, to take back our country from the despots who grind our faces in the dirt as they laugh at the people they step on.

We must commit acts of civil disobedience.  We must protest.  We must raise our voices so that they cannot be denied or ignored.  We must claim back our right to democracy.

---

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ramesh-patel/growth-cameron-austerity_b_2007552.html

[2] http://welfarenewsservice.com/twelve-david-cameron-quotes-will-make-blood-boil/

[3] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/14/tory-website-purge-youtube-webcameron

[4] http://ilegal.org.uk/thread/7258/serious-flaws-governments-statistics?page=14&scrollTo=21519

[5] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/18/mps-criticise-dwp-spin-statistics-benefit-claimants

[6] http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/12/by-george-britains-austerity-experiment-didnt-work.html?mobify=0

[7] http://mikesivier.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/osborne-wants-a-year-of-hard-truths-heres-one-hes-hiding-the-truth/

[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/alan-wyllie/george-osborne-uk-economy_b_4166633.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

[9] http://www.scriptonitedaily.com/2014/01/06/osborne-to-axe-welfare-state-with-25bn-of-new-cuts-whats-he-coming-for-next/

[10] http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/02/camerons-declaration-money-no-object-has-destroyed-his-austerity-message

[11] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26020025

[12] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/03/iain-duncan-smith-universal-credit

[13] http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/02/06/a-recap-of-the-gigantic-mess-that-is-iain-duncan-smiths-universal-credit-scheme/

[14] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/10518484/The-scathing-HS2-report-ministers-want-to-hide.html?fb

[15] http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/374698/Iain-Duncan-Smith-s-YouTube-channel-costs-over-30-000-despite-having-no-viewers

[16] http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240212145/DWP-to-spend-further-90m-on-much-criticised-Universal-Credit-IT-system

[17] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-taxpayers-fork-out-3300089#.Uzf-m7k7BR4.facebook

[18] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-legal-aid-reforms-end-justice-for-all-lawyers-warn-8591234.html

[19] http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-tory-gagging-bill-is-passed.html?m=0

[20]http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2261873/our_bosses_just_reduced_our_ability_to_oppose_them_by_66.html

[21] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10345499/Tory-manifesto-will-promise-to-scrap-Labours-Human-Rights-Act-says-Theresa-May.html

[22] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16337904

[23] http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/compilation-of-parliamentary-financial.html

[24] http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2012/04/32-die-a-week-after-failing-in.html

[25] http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/10/04/10600-sick-disabled-people-died-last-year-within-six-weeks-of-their-claim-ending/

[26] http://calumslist.org/

[27] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592214/We-wrong-Government-admits-not-axed-disability-benefits-Aspergers-sufferer-starved-death-just-four-months-later-weighing-five-half-stone.html

[28] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24536817

[29] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478114/Fuel-poverty-Britain-24k-die-winter-rising-energy-prices.html

[30] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/26/poor-families-welfare-reforms-new-debt

[31] http://rt.com/op-edge/britain-poor-denied-work-425/

[32] http://rt.com/news/uk-refuses-eu-help-467/

[33] http://politicalscrapbook.net/2014/04/tories-go-on-warpath-in-sickening-attack-against-food-bank-charity/

[34] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-new-chapter-in-bedroom-tax-saga--now-councils-run-out-of-emergency-funds-to-help-worst-cases-9239766.html

[35] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-iain-duncan-smith-1794517

[36] http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/11/5-benefit-changes-government-dont-want-you-know-about

[37] http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2013/04/disability-benefit-changes-will-cut-income-of-600000-people/

[38] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sick-benefits-claimant-heart-attack-3098219

[39] http://unequalmeasures.com/2013/11/01/ids-taking-disabled-lady-to-court-over-bedroom-tax-despite-human-rights-ruling/

[40] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-23183211

[41] http://welfarenewsservice.com/ex-jobcentre-worker-admits-staff-encouraged-protect-public-purse/

[42] http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/tory-minister-charge-cruel-benefits-3471636

[43] http://rt.com/op-edge/britain-poor-denied-work-425/

[44] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/hari-covert/criminalising-disability-in-the-media_b_4449308.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

[45] http://davidrobertshaw.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/the-great-british-hate-off/

[46] http://richardhutton.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/a-guide-to-dwp-euphemisms/

[47] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287216/Revealed-One-UKs-companies-pay-tax.html

[48] http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/greedy-big-businesses-avoid-35-3297927

[49] http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/11/tax-avoidance-justice-network

[50] http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/21/jobseekers-bill-cait-reilly

[51] http://www.guerillapolicy.org/politics/2013/12/15/mps-pay-how-will-an-11-pay-rise-help-voters-when-we-arent-exactly-getting-value-for-money-now/

[52] http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/budget2013/article3718495.ece

[53] http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/12/just-10-mps-sign-parliamentary-motion-opposing-pay-rise

[54] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/richest-mp-britain-slams-welfare-3178089

[55] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8442756/MPs-who-repaid-expenses-got-money-back-in-secret-deal.html

[56] http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/fury-tory-party-donors-handed-3123469#.UzCIeOF01Rk.twitter