The Right To Reply

I was under the impression that here in the good old UK we enjoyed the right to freedom of speech.  It is one of the things that our fearless leaders are constantly bleating about when trying to impress upon the rest of the world – and indeed upon us – that Britain is a model democracy.  Then I heard a vague rumour, a rustling in the grass, to the effect that websites, discussion forums and blogs like this which are critical of Atos and the ESA system were being taken down and in some cases the authors threatened with legal action.

Now as a mental health sufferer, I know how easy it is to become paranoid about things like this, but there is truth in the old joke that says “Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you!”  It seems that Atos are indeed on the lookout for criticism on the web and are prepared to go to great lengths to silence their opposition!  “Tentacles of Doom” lists a number of incidences of Atos’ attempts to suppress free speech, many of them successful.  So Marriott Edgar may have had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote in his monologue “The Magna Charter” [sic] that ‘In England today you can do as you like, as long as you do as you’re told!’ but there is yet another old saying which applies here – “There’s many a true word spoken in jest!”

And all this links back inevitably to my original post on this subject, concerning the derogatory and hate-filled headlines trumpeted by the organs of the tabloid press and endorsed by the ConDems.  [And I am thankful to note that I am not the only person who is incensed by this propaganda.]  Once you have successfully turned one half of the population against the other, who will care enough to support those whose welfare rights are being withdrawn and even their right of free speech suppressed?

So where do we go from here?  What can we do to arm and protect ourselves against this avalanche of invective and the suppression of our rights?  The answer is I’m not entirely sure BUT there are a number of campaign groups and organisations we can support or take part in.  I highly recommend a website called “National Protest Against Benefit Cuts” by ‘benefitclaimantsfightback’.  Check it out and see what YOU can do to stem the tide … There is also an excellent on-line petition directed to the Minister for Health at “Against DWP Reforms for the Genuinely Sick & Disabled” – I urge you to sign it!

These small actions may seem like a drop in the ocean but each little drop we add will increase the strength of the whole.  Thanks to the incitement to indifference, if not to outright hatred, propagated by our government and their toadies in the press and media, we can’t look to the healthy, working population of this country for support – we are on our own and we must help ourselves however, wherever and whenever we can! 

THE JOURNAL OF A "PARASITIC WANKER"

Unless you have been on Planet Mars for the last 18 months, you can’t have failed to learn from the press, media and our esteemed Government, that England – nay Britain – is at the mercy of a large group of dangerous subversives who are systematically draining its life-blood.  I refer, of course, to the recipients of state benefits. 

You cannot open a newspaper, hear/see the news or watch a TV ‘infotainment’ show without seeing evidence of how “scroungers” and “benefit cheats” are living the high life at the honest tax-payer’s expense.  Indeed, so widespread now is the belief that anyone unable to work must be a feckless, dishonest ne’er-do-well, that when employees of the French company, hired by the Department for Work and Pensions [DWP] to “screen” claimants of the new Employment Support Allowance [ESA], recently referred to those claimants as “down and outs” and “parasitic wankers” on a well-known social networking site, no-one turned a hair.  Atos – the French company in question – were not even reprimanded by the DWP.  The government, whose first duty under the law is to protect and defend British subjects, smirked, sniggered behind its hands, and did nothing.

But should we be surprised by this?  No – I don’t think we should.  It seems to me that this wave of hateful invective against some of the most vulnerable people in Society is actually what the Government want.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they actively incite this kind of witch-hunt.  After all, what could serve their purpose better than turning the working population against those who, for whatever reason, are unable to work?  If the working population of this country felt or demonstrated sympathy with the sick and disabled, the appalling cuts to services and benefits would cause a huge outcry which might force a Government change of policy – and in the Government’s view that cannot be allowed to happen at any price!  So, the DWP drip-feed inflammatory statistics to the press and media and encourage the nationwide reporting of those minority of cases where benefits are claimed illegally.  This makes the working population angry and indignant and successfully nips any sympathy they may feel for real sufferers in the bud.  A truly elegant piece of political manipulation by propaganda which would have made Herr Goebbels very proud!  What next for the sick and disabled – Concentration Camps?

Well, now that you know where I am coming from, perhaps it’s time to tell you a little about myself.  I am 58 years old and suffer from what are known in these enlightened times as “mental health issues”.  I’ve been variously diagnosed over the years (47 of them, to be precise) as suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder, Bi-Polar Disorder II, and chronic clinical depression and anxiety.  I made my first suicide bid when I was 11 years old and was self-harming on a regular basis from 1964 until 2004, when I was finally lucky enough to come under the care of a really excellent Clinical Psychologist.  Thanks to her, I haven’t self-harmed for nearly 7 years, although the urge to do so is ever-present and has been very hard to resist in recent months.

Some of the most significant symptoms of my illness are an inability to cope with unfamiliar people, places or circumstances “in the flesh”.  I can talk for England via the internet – but ask me to do the same thing in a face-to-face environment and I become anxious to the point of paranoia.  I can’t travel alone because in the past, when faced with any kind of conflict or difficulty, I have experienced “fugue” states, whereby I lose whole chunks of time and find myself in places with no knowledge of how I have got there or what I have been doing in the meantime.  The slightest perceived conflict triggers wholly disproportionate responses in me, likewise any perceived criticism is apt to either send me flying off the handle or into floods of tears.  [Past workplace appraisals have been known to make me ill for days!] 

One of the few activities in which I can safely take part outside the safe “bubble” of my home and garden has been 1940s re-enactments – a recent discovery in that when “dressed-up” in 40s clothing I am in disguise, not actually myself, and find I can interact almost normally with the people I meet.  But only if my husband or a close friend is with me at the time.  The thought of going anywhere alone is enough to make me run off screaming into the jungle!  Other than that, I have to remain in the safe place I have created for myself – my home and garden – and share it ONLY with the people I know and love best, and who I am confident will treat me with kindness and consideration.

I have not been able to go out to work since 2004, and my husband is 72 years old and in spite of having served in the Royal Navy for almost 10 years, receives only the basic State Pension.  [When he joined up you had to sign-on for 12 years or more to qualify for a Royal Navy pension!]  I have been receiving Incapacity Benefit since 2005 and I am now undergoing the transition process from IB to the new Employment Support Allowance [ESA].  Hence the title of this blog – I am one of the “parasitic wankers” whose capability for work or work-related activity is currently being “assessed” by Atos Healthcare UK on behalf of the DWP.

So that’s me, gentle readers.  If you would like to know what it’s like to be a “welfare scrounger” in the 21^st Century, on a day-to-day basis, then follow my blog from now on.  I may miss days – my illness does still get the better of me at times and some days are harder to deal with than others – but I am going to do my best to blog regularly and share the good and bad days, as well as my random musings on the politics of the day!  Talk more tomorrow?