via Video: May declines to pledge even one fewer homeless child by Xmas 2018 #PMQs
This doesn’t surprise me, as the amount of homelessness since the Tories took office, seven years ago, has grown beyond any civilized country’s embarrassment, and has gone into the total Shame that it is.
May seems to be living in a world of her own, padded against the results of her austerity programme – an ideology which is forcing so very many people into the homelessness we are all crying out against, and into a life of penury, hopelessness, starvation, desperate choices, and an impoverishment not seen in the UK since Victorian times! These were the Good Times, when the Tories made their bucks by living off the backs of the poor – does this sound familiar at all?
Now our children are having to cope with living in B&B’s, despite the government saying, ad nauseam, that this isn’t the case – and that’s if the children are lucky enough to have even that!
The continuing rollout of Universal Credit, is one of the worst contenders of this homelessness epidemic, as it is forcing so many people out of their homes, especially those living in the Private Sector, where landlords are, generally, only in the business to make a profit, and so won’t tolerate so many weeks without their rent.
Even the Social sector are in on the act, and are changing into yet more private companies, totally after profit, at the expense of the tenant.
All of this is almost entirely due to Tory policies, that made sure that there was an in-built wait of 6 week’s delay in getting Universal Credit payments to the person claiming – and don’t forget, people, that this is something that is supporting more people who are working nowadays, than those not working – mainly, because the wages paid to workers now are NOT a Living Wage, and companies use this, as they know their workers will have to claim Working Tax Credits to make their wage up to a livable standard!
All of this, then creates a spiraling debt problem, that ends up with the homelessness happening every day now – and this is only on a six-week wait – if the people are lucky enough to only have to wait 6 weeks, as so many of them have at least 12 weeks, and more, before they see a penny – normally far too late to stop the process of being made homeless!
I can just imagine, in the New Year, the Tories announcing a solution to the problem:
They’ll re-open a Work House in every Parish, to house all those shiftless people who weren’t lucky enough to be born rich!
The Night Owl 
Hi, Katy! I found you via The Snail of Happiness and have read and enjoyed a few of your recent posts. Not much time now, due to the run-up to Christmas, but I’ll be back. I apologise in advance for leaving such a long comment. I couldn’t think of a shorter way to say it all. ~ L
I live near Salmon Arm, BC, Canada. I grew up in BC, but spent just over 17 years living in Alberta with my parents. Dad died in 1999 and Mum just under two years ago. I moved back to BC a few months later, in Sept. of last year. I had planned to rent a place, get my things out of storage and make something out of whatever time is left to me. But, while I was away, the so-called Liberals have been in power and now our situation here is so much like what you describe. I say so-called because we had a very right-wing conservative party called Social Credit; when they lost popularity most of them moved into the Conservative party; when that faded, they moved into the Liberal party. As they say, if it looks like a Tory, acts like a Tory, votes like a Tory . . . But, they lost the last election and we have a more left-wing party in power for now. I’m hoping they make some changes here.
Here we have a near-zero vacancy rate and what little there is is not in my budget. So, technically, I am now ‘homeless’. Luckily for me, I have a cousin here and he and his wife invited me to stay with them until I can resolve things. We are a half-hour drive from the town where my things are in storage (long story). I spent last winter in Tacoma, Washington State, living in a friend’s caravan, then returned here in May of this year. I was unable to sort through my things due to the severity of the fire season this summer and now we are into winter again, with plenty of snow. M is a double cousin; our Mums were sisters and our Dads were brothers. He is only a bit over a year younger than me and we were close while growing up, then had no contact for over 30 years, then only a handful of visits. So, in spite of it all, I consider myself very blessed.
Anyway, this long story to give you some idea of me and to explain why I understand what you in the UK are facing.
One simple solution would be to require that those running for office in any country be required to undergo a series of tests to determine their suitability for the work. Not only a business resume, but an evaluation of their problem-solving skills, empathy, etc. I feel that anyone whose decisions affects people should have to undergo such an assessment; medical professionals, education professionals, police, etc.
Did you know that in Norway one member of the cabinet is a philosopher? That person’s job is to ask the right questions and help guide the decision-making process. I honestly thing all governments would improve their performance by adding that position.
Well, I’m enjoying your writing, Katy and I’ll be back. I don’t follow blogs via email, as I already have more of that than I can deal with. But I’ve added you to my Reader.
I do have a plan for 2018 – 2019. Watch for the news by the end of this year. I’m generally pretty excited about it.
Warm hugs to you, Katy, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. ~ Linne
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Hi there Linne 🙂
I was so sorry to read about your circumstances, and am as thankful as you must be, that you have a loving cousin who is willing to help you while you need it 🙂
I think that there are far too many countries, especially in the western world, that are being run by right-leaning politicians, mostly in it for the power and prestige they garner in their various posts – posts that very few indeed are actually trained to actually work in, especially if it’s something that is meant to help the very people who they are supposed to be working for 😦
I really do think your suggestions on making it compulsory that the person offered the post should be actually qualified to run it, and that there is, like you said, someone who will be there to point out when they are doing things only for their own good!
In one of his books, Terry Pratchett wrote of an island that, when they voted in a politician to power, then made sure that the person had all their worldy goods confiscated, and the value of them invested into the country, so that the politician, if he – or she- wanted to have anything left at the end of their term in office, would have to work hard, to make sure their country made a profit while under their care – it was fiction, but wouldn’t that solve so very many problems we are all facing with such greedy people in power right now?
As for the homelessness being felt in all our countries right now, at a level not seen since Victorian times, the solution will always be one that Labour faced after the second world war – rather than pushing austerity, they borrowed heavily, and invested in our building trades, along with many others, and they built a plethora of affordable homes for people to rent at a reasonable cost – and they came out of this in fine financial fettle – it has been proven time and time again, by those who know about this subject, that you will make a lot more money by investing properly into your country, than by starving your people, and making so many of them homeless!
Unfortunately, the Tory mind always seems stuck in that groove which tells them to think of themselves first and formost, and never mind about the thousands of people whose lives are deliberately ruined by their selfish policies 😦
All we can hope for, here in the UK, is for enough people to wake up to the tory evil, and demand a general election, so that Jeremy Corbyn and his party can at least give his manifestoes a go for a change.
I really hope you can sort out your own homeless situation in this New Year coming, Linne – and I wish you the best of Christmases this year – hoping you find a new home soon 🙂
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