Thursday is Mass Tweet Day Sign wowpetition.com #OneMonthto100k

Thursday 14th Nov is Mass Tweet day on #WOWpetition!!
To mark our four week countdown the theme will be "One Month to 100k"

So please join us to mark this momentous occasion by tweeting including :-#OneMonthto100k and the link epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 - use #WOWpetition only if you have room. Tweet any message you choose.

Times for the MT are 9 - 10am 12 - 1pm and 7 - 8pm

Please join us to make this, what might be our last MT, a memorable one!

Tomorrow is the start of the week 4 countdown so #WOW4 replaces #WOW5

Thank you……

- Include the #OneMonthto100k hashtag in EVERY tweet you send. We've got #WOWpetition trending lots of time in the past, but this one will be more likely to make members of the public curious if they see it on the trending list. Therefore, it will also be important to include the link to the petition site -http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 - so people can simply click on it to sign. Sign and Share http://wowpetition.com #OneMonthto100k

Example Tweets:-

FINAL COUNTDOWN: One month to go; 20,000 signatures needed for sick & disabled people. Can we do it?epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Over 80,000 people have already said "No!" to govt disability policy. Now we only have #OneMonthto100k Sign here! epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154

One month. 20,000 signatures needed in support of sick & disabled people. Let's get to 100,000! epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Just one month left for 100,000 people to say "No!" to unjust disability benefit changes: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Sick & disabled people need 100,000 signatures against unjust cuts. One month & 20k to go! PLS sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

UK govt cuts mean £2bn is being taken out of care budgets by local authorities! To say "No! sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Govt chose to raise some disability benefits less than inflation, while prices keep going up. Sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

78% of disabled people said their health had got worse as a result of the stress caused by unjust ‘fitness to work’ tests. #OneMonthto100k

Half a million people are expected to lose out on vital support as the Government scraps Disability Living Allowance (DLA). #OneMonthto100k

87% of welfare advisors say the frequency of disability benefit reassessments has a negative impact on people's health. #OneMonthto100k

450,000 disabled people could lose out under new Universal Credit. Many disabled people will get significantly less help. #OneMonthto100k

84% of disabled ppl say losing DLA would isolate them & leave them struggling to manage their health: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

9 in 10 disabled people fear losing Disability Living Allowance would hit their health. Say "No!": epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

65% of disabled people in work stated that they would no longer be able to work without DLA. Sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Three in ten disabled people say that without DLA their carer would no longer be able to work. Sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

75% disabled ppl say losing DLA wld leave them needing more social care support from local councils. epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

At least 39 in 40 people losing out on govt's new disability benefit = genuine & medically assessed! epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Government statistics show 0.3% fraud for incapacity benefits - yet they're cutting DLA by *20%*!! epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Government figures show that their own mistakes cost more than disability benefit fraud! epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Figures show that disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as other UK citizens. Sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Figures show over half of disabled people in the UK could be living in poverty. epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

UK govt cuts mean disability benefit claimants will be up to £9bn worse off between 2010 and 2015. epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

The govt are cutting disability benefits by *40x* the amount of fraud! To say "No!", sign: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 #OneMonthto100k

Tweet LibDem & Tory MP's to End #BedroomTax

Please tweet LibDem & Tory MP's ahead of Tuesday's bedroom tax debate using Paul's open letter & any other powers of persuasion you have at your disposal! We have information that privately many coalition politicians are despairing at the disaster that is bedroom tax. So persuade them to do the right thing.

http://wowpetition.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/open-letter-from-paul-rutherford-to-mps.html
 
Lists of LibDem & Tory Mp's on Twitter:-
https://twitter.com/tweetminster/libdems/members
https://twitter.com/tweetminster/conservatives/members

Open Letter From Paul Rutherford On The 'Bedroom Tax' Debate

Dear Members of Parliament,

I'm sorry I feel that I must write this today, but watching what is happening in this country makes me despair. It makes me upset and it absolutely appals me. And I am by no means alone in feeling this way.

What is happening to our society when ordinary people are being used as political pawns in what seems to be a 'rich man's game' over which they have absolutely no control?

Of paramount importance in the coming week, on Tuesday 12^th November, is Labour's Opposition Day Debate: 'Abolition of the Bedroom Tax'.

The 'Bedroom Tax' [as popularly known], may have begun as an idea by which it was thought some Social Housing could be freed up in order to positively affect 'overcrowding'. The very same idea was mooted by Margaret Thatcher's government back in the 1980s but dismissed as not only unworkable but also potentially politically damaging.

The 'Bedroom Tax' is causing so much worry, misery and hardship among many thousands of those affected. It has also directly contributed to suicide.

The 'Bedroom Tax' has without doubt hurt many of your own Constituents. I am sure that you have heard personal examples of the absolute unfairness of this policy at your own surgeries.

On a personal level, my family's 'Bedroom Tax' experience has been one of struggle and fear.

My wife and I care for one of her grandchildren, Warren Todd, who has profound and multiple disabilities, requiring 24 hour care and supervision. We live in a purpose-built, heavily adapted bungalow. Over £20,000 worth of further adaptations were added in September, thanks to a Welsh Assembly grant. We have carers to help with Warren and despite needing a room for them to sleep in and to store his equipment, we are considered to be underoccupying.

You can watch a short film made by the BBC about our case here:

After a long battle and a series of appeals, we were finally granted a Discretionary Housing Payment to cover the Housing Benefit we have lost: for a year.

To many, £14 a week may seem like a pittance. To us it is a lot.

What perhaps staggers us most, is that there is absolutely no recognition by the government that we actually save the Public Purse a minimum of £250,000 a year by caring for Warren. We don't seek praise, just help in difficult circumstances.

The amount effectively saved by kinship carers such as ourselves is assessed by some charities as well over a billion pounds a year. Carers need real understanding, compassion and help from those in power so that they can continue to help save the government such a huge amount of money.

Why then are people such as us, the chronically sick, the disabled and their carers forced into ever more penury by the imposition of 'Bedroom Tax' and indeed, other changes to Social Security?

There are plenty of 'fit' people adversely and unfairly affected by the 'Bedroom Tax' as well, and I hope they have been represented elsewhere.

What is so morally wrong with requiring space to store often bulky medical and other disability-related equipment that the government sees fit to penalise people for it?

What is so morally wrong with making sure that the vulnerable are looked after properly in a fair society?

How is it possible that people who are elected to serve their constituents are prepared to allow the most vulnerable and needy of them to be treated in such an inhumane way?

We see the government fighting to protect bankers' huge bonuses and arguing to keep meal allowances while simultaneously reducing social security for those most vulnerable.

That is not demonstrative of austerity in action. Politicians ought to be seen as role models, as caring individuals who put the people of this country first. That, unfortunately does not appear to be the case for many.

To me, it seems that the rich and comfortable are motivated by bonuses but the poor and vulnerable are expected to be motivated by sanctions.

I find this so very hard to understand.

I would, therefore, respectfully ask you to consider the real human impact of the 'Bedroom Tax'.

I ask you to consider fully what you, as an individual, ought to be doing to truly help those who truly need your help, but in many cases, do not know where to turn.

This single issue is perhaps now one on which the next Parliament will be decided. To vote in support of the 'Bedroom Tax' will be seen by millions as a vote against the welfare and dignity of this country's most vulnerable people.

Please vote to repeal this legislation before it is too late.

Stand up for the vulnerable.

Thank you.

Paul Rutherford

Film of our story from BBC1's 'Saints and Scroungers' [30/10/2013] is here:
http://t.co/VBAV57vMLV

Details of our legal challenge may be seen here:
http://cpag.org.uk/content/bedroom-tax-rutherford

A recent Daily Mirror article [6/11/2013] is here:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-discriminates-against-disabled-2679229

Open Letter From Paul Rutherford to MP's On Bedroom Tax Vote

The 'Bedroom Tax' Debate

Dear Members of Parliament,

I'm sorry I feel that I must write this today, but watching what is happening in this country makes me despair. It makes me upset and it absolutely appals me. And I am by no means alone in feeling this way.

What is happening to our society when ordinary people are being used as political pawns in what seems to be a 'rich man's game' over which they have absolutely no control?

Of paramount importance in the coming week, on Tuesday 12^th November, is Labour's Opposition Day Debate: 'Abolition of the Bedroom Tax'.

The 'Bedroom Tax' [as popularly known], may have begun as an idea by which it was thought some Social Housing could be freed up in order to positively affect 'overcrowding'. The very same idea was mooted by Margaret Thatcher's government back in the 1980s but dismissed as not only unworkable but also potentially politically damaging.

The 'Bedroom Tax' is causing so much worry, misery and hardship among many thousands of those affected. It has also directly contributed to suicide.

The 'Bedroom Tax' has without doubt hurt many of your own Constituents. I am sure that you have heard personal examples of the absolute unfairness of this policy at your own surgeries.

On a personal level, my family's 'Bedroom Tax' experience has been one of struggle and fear.

My wife and I care for one of her grandchildren, Warren Todd, who has profound and multiple disabilities, requiring 24 hour care and supervision. We live in a purpose-built, heavily adapted bungalow. Over £20,000 worth of further adaptations were added in September, thanks to a Welsh Assembly grant. We have carers to help with Warren and despite needing a room for them to sleep in and to store his equipment, we are considered to be underoccupying.

You can watch a short film made by the BBC about our case here:

After a long battle and a series of appeals, we were finally granted a Discretionary Housing Payment to cover the Housing Benefit we have lost: for a year.

To many, £14 a week may seem like a pittance. To us it is a lot.

What perhaps staggers us most, is that there is absolutely no recognition by the government that we actually save the Public Purse a minimum of £250,000 a year by caring for Warren. We don't seek praise, just help in difficult circumstances.

The amount effectively saved by kinship carers such as ourselves is assessed by some charities as well over a billion pounds a year. Carers need real understanding, compassion and help from those in power so that they can continue to help save the government such a huge amount of money.

Why then are people such as us, the chronically sick, the disabled and their carers forced into ever more penury by the imposition of 'Bedroom Tax' and indeed, other changes to Social Security?

There are plenty of 'fit' people adversely and unfairly affected by the 'Bedroom Tax' as well, and I hope they have been represented elsewhere.

What is so morally wrong with requiring space to store often bulky medical and other disability-related equipment that the government sees fit to penalise people for it?

What is so morally wrong with making sure that the vulnerable are looked after properly in a fair society?

How is it possible that people who are elected to serve their constituents are prepared to allow the most vulnerable and needy of them to be treated in such an inhumane way?

We see the government fighting to protect bankers' huge bonuses and arguing to keep meal allowances while simultaneously reducing social security for those most vulnerable.

That is not demonstrative of austerity in action. Politicians ought to be seen as role models, as caring individuals who put the people of this country first. That, unfortunately does not appear to be the case for many.

To me, it seems that the rich and comfortable are motivated by bonuses but the poor and vulnerable are expected to be motivated by sanctions.

I find this so very hard to understand.

I would, therefore, respectfully ask you to consider the real human impact of the 'Bedroom Tax'.

I ask you to consider fully what you, as an individual, ought to be doing to truly help those who truly need your help, but in many cases, do not know where to turn.

This single issue is perhaps now one on which the next Parliament will be decided. To vote in support of the 'Bedroom Tax' will be seen by millions as a vote against the welfare and dignity of this country's most vulnerable people.

Please vote to repeal this legislation before it is too late.

Stand up for the vulnerable.

Thank you.

Paul Rutherford

Film of our story from BBC1's 'Saints and Scroungers' [30/10/2013] is here:
http://t.co/VBAV57vMLV

Details of our legal challenge may be seen here:
http://cpag.org.uk/content/bedroom-tax-rutherford

A recent Daily Mirror article [6/11/2013] is here:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-discriminates-against-disabled-2679229

Kenny's Review of the PIP Assessment

WOW Campaigner Kenny Blong underwent a PIP Assessment recently, this is his review of what it was like:-

This week I had my assessment for PIP, and as there isn't really much information available about what exactly goes on in the assessment, I thought i would write up a brief review to help others who are expecting an assessment in the future.

First thing you need to know, is that this assessment is not like the Work Capability Assessment for Employment and Support Allowance. This assessment is not directed around work or work limitations, this is basically to see how your disability affects you on a day-to-day basis, taking into account both your "good days" and your "bad days".

PIP is made of two parts, the Daily Living  component and the Mobility component. We'll start with the Mobility component as its the shortest part of the assessment; This part is basically describing what your mobility limitations are, if you have any. This includes walking (not mobilising as it is in ESA assessments). Now the assessor for me, very rarely used the word "pain" when asking her questions, but I advise that you do. Describe how long you can walk, stand etc, before you start to experience pain and emphasise exactly how much pain you often experience doing these activities.

This then brings me on to the Daily Living component, which takes up the bigger portion of the assessment. Your assessor will ask questions on topics such as:

can you cook a meal or do you need help;

can you bathe/shower yourself or do you need help with it;

can you go out on your own or do you need someone to go with you;

can you dress yourself or do you need assistance from someone;

can you take your medication or do you need prompting or help from someone.

When answering these questions, always describe what assistance you need on both your good days and your bad days, whether you are asked to or not. That way, the assessor knows if you do need help, just maybe not all the time (e.g if you have a fluctuating medical condition)

You may be asked about any aids or adaptations you may have and use in your home. You need to describe these in detail and exactly how beneficial these are to you. If you are not asked about them, remember to include them in the above topics.

If you are on strong medication that causes side effects, make sure that these are brought up with your assessor, along with how they can affect you. If you need extra assistance from someone because of these side effects, make sure you explain this to your assessor.

All in all, the assessment will go on for about an hour, so there is plenty of time to make sure everything is included, so do not rush! I wish you all luck with your assessments and I hope you all get the assistance that you deserve and are entitled to.

In Actual Fact Counter Propaganda This Week

Two events coming up - we need you!

Event 1: [Join the Facebook Event Page] Tuesday 5 November is the People’s Assembly national day of action against austerity, tweeting on #burnausterity. Alongside the many events of the day, we want to raise awareness of In Actual Fact and enourage people to use it to back their anti-austerity campaigns.

We’d love you to tweet on and off throughout that day from the In Actual Fact site, adding the #burnausterity hashtag at the end of tweets (you might have to modify some tweets to squeeze it into the character limit).

Please also send out more general tweets, including the #burnausterity hashtag and directing people to In Actual Fact: the counter-propaganda site, giving actual facts about benefits and public services cuts.

Event 2: [Join the Facebook Event Page] Wednesday 6 November 9.00pm, BBC will broadcast ‘Britain on the Fiddle’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03hhvsr) (the first in a series of three). This is a chance to show In Actual Fact working to counter propaganda. We need you to join us, mass-tweeting on the #britainonthefiddle hashtag (you might have to modify some tweets to squeeze it into the character limit).

We’ll be tweeting throughout the hour of the programme and for the hour after, answering every single lie with relevant tweets from the IAF site. We’re also planning to use tweets to respond directly to misinformation and bile put out by other people on the #britainonthefiddle thread.

And of course direct people to sign WOWpetition.com!

Mass Tweet Tips:

1. Go to http://inactualfact.org.uk/facts/

2. Have a look around and find a fact you want to share.

3. Click on the share twitter symbol.

4. Review & click 'Tweet'

5. Repeat!

6. If you want to, submit your own facts together with their source by clicking Submit Fact on the bottom bar or going to http://inactualfact.org.uk/submit-fact/

NB.  Retweets DO NOT COUNT towards #hashtag trends! So if you want to RT anything, it would be so helpful if you could copy the text into a new tweet and add 'RT' to the front. Thank you so much for your support.

Disability Doesn't Discriminate

How often have I said "Disability doesn't discriminate"?

Some of you know I have been terribly upset and worried this week because my sister has been unwell and in hospital. Thank you for your support through this, frankly it's been awful and without my family, friends and "virtual" friends I don't know how I'd have coped. We've been waiting for the diagnosis, it's come.

Let me start at the beginning.

My sister is healthy, has decided to take early retirement from the DWP (yes, stop booing) because of the tremendous stress she is under. So with just one year to go she decided to bring to an end nearly 30 years of work for the DWP. My sister was really looking forward to finishing because she has a new grandson,her first, just 8 weeks old. My sister already has a swimming session booked in with him, has changed her car to accommodate all the paraphernalia that goes with having a baby these days. My sister was looking forward to the retirement she and her husband have worked hard for. The round Europe in a camper van type holiday. The round the world trip etc etc.

So. My sister was getting ready to board a plane for Vietnam on Wedsnesday. She "fell" - she cracked her head open and has four staples in it. She started to "fit" - she had eight "episodes" in an hour and continued to have episodes every hour or so, she still is. I knew immediately from what she said that it was Epilepsy, however the hospital have done many, many tests - a lumber puncture, taken bloods, monitored her for 24 hours, a CT scan etc etc (thank god for our NHS), all this time she has been losing consciousness, at one time the crash team were called and my brother in law stood by thinking he was about to lose his wife. Finally today at 6pm, the consultant came, finally today the diagnosis came...."you have epilepsy". Let me tell you being at the receiving end of that statement is horrendous. The clock stops. Time stops. Then it hits you. The enormity of that diagnosis.
The enormity for my sister. She won't be able to drive her new car to pick up her new grandson. She won't be able to go swimming with him (on her own), she won't be able to ride her scooter round Europe..... the ramifications are enormous.

So. My oft spoken and written words "disability doesn't discriminate" are proven true again. It didn't discriminate against me, it didn't discriminate against my sister.

What if it doesn't discriminate against you? What if your comfortable lifestyle is all of a sudden hit by disability? Maybe you'll realise then that you should have signed http://wowpetition.com ......

I'm not writing this to make mileage from my sister, or to make a dramatic difference to the signatures, I'm writing this to show you it happens, it really does happen. There are four of us, four siblings. Two have diabetes, two have epilepsy. What are the odds of that happening?

Please protect your future and the futures of those you love, sh*t happens - believe me, it does, and when the sh*t hits the fan wouldn't you like to think the state will be there to provide for you? Think again!!

Please sign & share http://wowpetition.com NOW, TODAY!

There are just 40 days till the petition closes. 40 days for us to make a fairer, better, safer future for all of us.

My sister is aware I am writing this and fully supports me with all I and all the WOW team, followers and supporters are doing to make WOW petition a success. In fact just two weeks ago, to help me in my "traipsing" around the country for WOW, trying to raise awareness and signatures, my sister drove me to Bangor so I could help @TenPercent. Most of my family have met Rick. All my family support WOW petition. All of my family know the urgency to succeed and the need/importance to sign http://wowpetition.com ......because all of my family know DISABILITY DOESN'T DISCRIMINATE.......

Written and reproduced with permission from Jane @WOWpetitionchat

Lost by Penny Mead

Lost by Penny Mead

I feel lost.
Does that sound strange? 
It does even to me but after a few weeks of wondering how I felt and why I felt this way I have decided the primary feeling is one of being lost.
So why do I feel this way? 
You may ask, or you may not but I am going to try to explain it anyway.
Many of you will know that the DWP and their partners in crime ATOS awarded me my ESA support group a few weeks back and have promised to leave me alone now until 2016.
A time for celebration? 
A huge relief?
An easing of the stress?
Yes yes and yes, all of these things but more, an underlying unsettled feeling too, a niggling not quite right feeling, not unhappy by any means but not quite happy either.
Why? 
Why do I still have the dread? 
Because others are still going through the trauma
Others are still facing an uncertain future
Others are still dying whilst awaiting an appeal
Now I am no saint, I can be as selfish as the next person I'm sure,
 I can feel smug because the fight for me for the moment is over.......
NO,  no you see I can't and there is the source of my discontent, my restlessness.
I tried to ignore the stories, the articles, the tweets, I stayed off twitter and Facebook, I wanted to bask in the relief that it was no longer desperate in my own situation.
I covered my ears and my eyes, sang over the cries of others and walked away from 'the troubles'
At least I attempted to but you see that is not me, 
it is not who I am or how I think, feel or behave.
My own health took a turn for the worse with the arrival of ear infections that just wouldn't respond to treatment, this in turn led to the withdrawal of funding for the new medication I was supposed to be trying to slow progression of this disease down.
This then meant trips to the doctors practically weekly for the past few months and I tried really hard to concentrate just on that for the moment.
It wasn't being selfish to look towards my own health and my needs during this time was it?
NO,  no of course it wasn't and yet still this unsettled feeling persisted.
Gradually I allowed the reports to filter back in to my consciousness,
Gradually I heard again the cries of others fighting for their benefits and their lives.
Gradually I saw again the pictures of those that meant sick/disabled harm.
And gradually I again felt the rage, the fear, the hopelessness and the fight return.
You see I can't be all cosy and smug in my safe little world while many many others are in fear, in pain and dying at the hands of this cruel government.
I can't smile and pretend all is well with me while friends are going through the stress I went through.
I can't turn my back and walk away not even for a while
It's not me, it's not in my heart to ignore the battle being faced by others.
Every time I see/hear the latest figures, the latest fiction put out by this government I am consumed with anger. 
Every time I talk to someone going through this unfair system I am consumed with grief for them.
Every death touches me
Every wrong decision enrages me
Every lie told infuriates me.
How can I sit back and not feel, not do, not fight and not care?
How can I celebrate my small victory when so many others are still fighting?
Simple......I can't
Not because I am some sort of activist, not because I enjoy the fight, not because I want attention or any back patting etc....
Because I am human and I care
Do you?