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Subsidiarity and the UBI vs UBS debate
This post is a response to Simon Duffy’s critique of a debate between Barb Johnson (from Basic Income UK) and Anna Coote (from New...
Jun 12, 20194 min read
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(satirical) UBI critique – when the robots take over
UBI imagines a world in which all jobs are carried out by robots. The increased use of robots in work is assumed to mean that we can...
May 25, 20193 min read
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(satirical) UBI critique – what happens when no-one needs charity or earnings?
Let us imagine that a UBI is paid that is at the minimum income standard (MIS). The MIS is enough money for social participation and...
May 25, 20192 min read
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Where does all the money go?
I haven’t blogged in a while, though I’ve been meaning to. I’ve been meaning to write about the unexpected expenditures that make a big...
Mar 18, 20195 min read
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How is PIP expenditure high, when disabled people are struggling?
The Office for Budget Responsibility has recently reported that spending on PIP, the Tory’s new extra-costs disability, was 20% higher...
Jan 17, 20194 min read
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Consequences of cuts 2010-2018
I wanted to find data on the consequences of Conservative cuts since 2010, in the hope that I might remember some of them to use in...
Jan 8, 201920 min read
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UC budgeting nightmares
I logged in to my UC journal today to see where DWP-UC is up to with paying me the right amount of money. They’ve made one correction –...
Nov 22, 20182 min read
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PIP appeal – overprepared fraud?
I had a PIP appeal today. I’ve been waiting for it for ten months. I don’t think it went well. There are some points in my favour: the...
Nov 12, 20186 min read
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Missed telephone appointment – might I be sanctioned?
Some moments of sick apprehension today. I remembered, some time after the appointment time, that today was the day for my monthly UC...
Oct 23, 20183 min read
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Some good news – I think
I’ve received some good news. My UC journal today had an letter added to it saying that they have decided that I have limited capability...
Oct 18, 20182 min read
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The Tories have messed up my council tax
Naturally, when I’ve just got in from visiting my church’s office to ask for help because I can’t manage without paying someone to do...
Oct 15, 20183 min read
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Money matters
DWP-UC has apparently now told DWP-ESA to stop paying me. I have received, in three separate envelopes that arrived on the same day, a...
Sep 27, 20182 min read
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Why am I the mediator for ESA and UC?
Having phoned ESA a couple of days ago, today I phoned UC to tell them that ESA had told me that they needed to send a form to ESA to say...
Aug 31, 20183 min read
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ESA and UC aren’t talking
Phoning ESA again. It has a long spiel followed by ‘please press 1 to continue’. Why not just carry on without having to press 1? After...
Aug 28, 20183 min read
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Universal Credit and ESA transfer
I started my claim for UC on 16th July. I told ESA on the same day, or possibly a day or two before, that I had moved house, no longer...
Aug 27, 20183 min read
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Universal Credit and Support for Mortgage Interest loan
I’ve received from Universal Credit a form that I am supposed to complete and send to my mortgage lender so that I can get a Support for...
Aug 24, 20182 min read
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Universal Credit standard shenanigans
After getting a letter from ESA last week, this week I logged on to my UC journal and found that I had – at last – got an award...
Aug 20, 20183 min read
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What they don’t tell you about council tax
Applying for council tax support is nearly as much hassle as Universal Credit. They too want my most recent bank statements, and they...
Aug 15, 20182 min read
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What they don’t tell you about the JobCentre
Yesterday I had three (!) JobCentre meetings. • One to show my housing details – the one that in my last blog I’d had to ask my housing...
Jul 26, 20185 min read
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What they don’t tell you about (applying for) Universal Credit
I didn’t know when I applied for Universal Credit that they would require three meetings to be arranged within that week, let alone why....
Jul 24, 20184 min read
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