Draft petition

[nickd]

Some suggestions on rework of Pat's petition


We the people affected by welfare reform call upon those affected to put their hand to this petition and demand that government holds an immediate debate in to matters of rising public concern:

In bringing this petition we are mindful that we represent a small proportion of the wider UK population of which around half claim at least one state benefit. If every claimant belonged to a Trade Union it would be the biggest union in the country and as such we believe we have a right to be heard fairly and with regard to our reliance on the state for support.

We call upon Parliament:

(1) To ensure stricter regulated controls are put in place to ensure the media and those responsible for signing off statistical releases are held properly accountable to benefit claimants whenever they may lead to statements which have the effect of damaging the credibility of those who are supported by the state.

For instance the statement "75% of those on the sick are faking it" caused immense harm to those affected and was based on information which transpired to be wholly inaccurate.

(2) To conduct an immediate committee based enquiry into the workings of the Work Capability Assessment and to report upon its cost to the tax-payer with firm evidence based findings on how many claimants have been transitioned from welfare into paid work.

(3) To take expert medical evidence from an audited sample trail of real life claimants who have been through the Work Capability Assessment which can then be used in making accuracy comparisons with the claimant records held by the DWP and their sub - contractor Atos.

(4) To order a temporary cessation of the remaining key phases of welfare reform (PIP/UC) until the DWP has satisfied a committee that the Work Capability Assessment is fit for purpose.

Signed

[nickd]

napoleonspetition.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/napoleons-comprehensive-e-petition-20nov12-drafts/

[nickd]

Edit of Draft 2 30th November2012
November 30, 2012
Can you really say Disabled People get the support they need? Challenge Govt’s piecemeal reform of their quality of life by signing #WOWpetition

Relevant department: Department of Work & Pensions

We call for
Cumulative Impact Assessment of welfare reforms.
End to Work Capability Assessments, as per BMA vote.
Free vote on repeal of Welfare Reform Act.

An Independent Committee Based Inquiry into
DWP handling of the benefits system, ATOS contract & IT.
Relationship with media use of slurs, selective statistics & relation to increased hate crimes, human rights abuses.
IB/ESA, DLA, PIP changes impact upon veterans, sick, people with disabilities/mental health issues & carers.
Health & care professionals evidence being disregarded. Use an audited sample of real life claimants using Work Capability Assessment then compare with claimant records held by ATOS.
Carehome admission rise due to reforms.
The Remploy closure & cuts to: Legal Aid and services including daycare centres, access, education
Sick and disabled people in WRAG sanctioned into mandatory unpaid work.
Liaise with Depts of Health & Education to support those who can work into jobs.

Within 2 months of reaching 100k signatures

[nickd]

We the people call upon government to put a Stop to the current war on welfare.


We demand an immediate inquiry in to the assessment of thousands of disabled and incapacitated claimants who are being wrongly assessed and being denied their lawful entitlement with a total lack of accountability to those most affected.


Around half of the UK population claims at least one state benefit and yet the press gets away with distorting statistics to reflect how a majority are 'scroungers', 'fakers, 'fraudsters', or 'cheats'. We want the media and all those responsible for the publication of these distortions to be held accountable with strict & punitive sanctions.


We demand better representation & consultation which takes in to account our challenging needs. We urge the government to engage directly with the claimant via suitably appointed claimant committees who must be allowed to approve or disapprove any impact assessments before legislation can be passed in to law.


Welfare reform cannot be allowed to pass into law without affording the claimant a proper opportunity to engage with the legislative process. We call upon the government to engage with claimant groups directly rather than through representative bodies who have become ineffectual due to political pressure or restrictions placed upon their funding.


We call for a full debate so that a committee can be formed and our evidence collected for further debate aimed at a cessation of government's relentless war upon those reliant upon the State.

[qinteq]

nickd my friend,

Are you aware that the Pat Onions petition closed 19 days before you updated your draft on the napoleonspetition site. It closed on the 1st of last month with 62,689 sigs.

[nickd]

I am aware of that my dear friend Qinteq. These are suggested drafts for a new one being rallied on Twitter still under the #PatsPetition tag although now changing to #WOWPetition which stands for 'War On Welfare'. It's only an ideas pool really which I tweet to those putting it together until we get one which can be agreed upon.

If you have any ideas on what you'd like to see in a petition then by all means throw them in the pot and I'll happily take them forward.

Best regards

Nick

[qinteq]

I'm all for it, I wasn't aware a new version of a new petition was in the pipe. I've long believed that whilst Pat was a stalwart, there were were two issues letting the campaign down. The wording was wrong and must motivate all sections of the masses and Pat herself was less than comfortable in front of the camera's and out of her depth when faced with pro's who easily 'shot her up'

Her message was right, her personal capacity to deliver it was wrong. You can't deliver a message if you can't be heard, and sadly the poor lass was very rarely able to respond ad-hoc and avoid being 'voiced out' by her opponent. I can't stand Nigel Farage but his capacity to deliver against trained assassins is worthy and his disarming countenance as a 'get out of jail card' when he''s wrong has to be admired as a professional.

Mk2 version, notwithstanding Pat's contribution needs a media savvy figurehead.

- no offence Pat, and no offence nicd

[qinteq]

The last two televised interviews I saw were in prime time, crucially within only weeks of of the end date of the e-petition. Pat was in news studios with polished trained debaters in Bernard Ingham adversarial style, not the more accommodatingly gentle breakfast TV sofa style environment, Pat was left almost unable to make any points whatsoever. The inattentive chair / host made no effort to facilitate a balance of air time and was easily talked over leaving the 'fact finder' [the general public in this case] without hearing her case. Entering a competitive debating arena at this level does require attributes and skills over and above the norm otherwise they are quickly silenced by an opponant.

- no offence Pat, and no offence nicd