Here's the text of an e-mail I received a short while ago about an e-petition I signed.
The e-petition 'Repeal the Welfare Reform Act 2012' signed by you recently reached 15,776 signatures and a response has been made to it.
As this e-petition has received more than 10,000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response: The Government believes that it should be encouraging greater responsibility and fairness in the welfare system. That means providing help for those who cannot work, and training and targeted support for those looking for work. The 2012 Welfare Reform Act introduced a wide range of reforms to make the benefits and tax credits system fairer and simpler by creating the right incentives to get more people into work, protecting the most vulnerable in our society, and delivering fairness to those claiming benefit and to the tax payer. The nation’s finances also need to be put on a more sustainable footing – while this means making difficult decisions on tax and spending, we believe it is possible to do this and help people lift themselves out of poverty, and stay out of poverty, through work and saving backed by the right support and encouragement. This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100,000 signature threshold.
View the response to the e-petition
Thanks,
HM Government e-petitions http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/
All they really needed to say was "We hear what you're saying but don't really give a fuck about a bunch of skivers because we're a bunch of taxpayer-funded scrounging strivers".
What they neglect to say is that their reforms are killing up to 73 people a week, causing untold suffering and financial hardship amongst the section of the community that depends on benefits for survival and throwing more people into poverty and onto the scrapheap than even Thatcher did during her reign of terror.
As one picture circulating on Facebook puts it "reform suggests improvement" and these reforms are doing nothing but harm.
I run a little food bank in what looks like a middle class town in the South West and I see more and more people who need help. I cannot even express my anger and fear over the policies this government are inflicting on people. I keep going and try not to get too down doing a little to help but not really changing anything. I find it hard to sign any petition now as it is obvious they are not listening but it is important to keep going.
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