the caring tories

A couple of good pieces in the Observer at the weekend re the Tories being all caring and their 'we're all in it togther' rhetoric. Bastards.

don't get me wrong, Labour should have done a lot more with their huge majority (ooeer) when they first got into power, but they still do help the less well off members of our society a lot more than the Tories ever will. Some would say they help the less well off too much, which l don't agree with, but even if it was true, l would still rather poorer people were assisted rather than increasing the wealth of the rich (which l know has happened as well).

Now the Tories want to 'help' claimants on long term sick by re-assessing them and 'trying' to help them back to work.

Let's face it, claimants would have tougher testing, then a load of them would have their benefits reduced, probably unless they took a crappy job with little pay. During this process, a lot of people with genuine problems that may not show up on tests would suffer.

A few years ago, l injured my back while playing football. I had only shifted in preparation of making a tackle, nothing too strenuous, and yet l could not move, as it was agony. l was off work for four weeks (there's always a good side!), but the doctor found nothing wrong with me, (although he did sign me off, as l was clearly in a lot of pain). Sometimes things do not always show up, even though people can be genuinely ill.

My own view is it should be like the justice system. Accused people have to be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, even if this results in some guilty people being freed. This is because the rights of the innocent party is all important, and the saying is something like "It is better for 20 guilty people to be freed, rather than jailing an innocent man".

The benefits system should also work like that. If a person is going to have their claim questioned and reduced, evidence beyond reasonable doubt should be produced to show that the claimant is faking, such as film of them playing football while off with a bad back. Otherwise, leave the poor buggers alone, to protect the genuine claimants who may suffer the stress and hardship of having their claim investigated and reduced.

Bastard Tories.

Nearly forgot, they also want to raise the inheritance tax to one million pounds. Who is that going to benefit l wonder?

toodle pip