CORRESPONDENCE WITH CHRIS GRAYLING MP

With apologies to any readers overseas, for whom this post must seem somewhat arcane I post the full correspondence, to date with Chris Grayling minister at The Department of Work and Pensions, (DWP).
I promised Mr Grayling right of reply and hereby produce his response to my open letter and my response to his response.

From: Alex Talbot [mailto:alextalbot116@gmail.com]

Sent: 21 February 2012 04:24

To: GRAYLING, Chris

Subject: WORKFARE


Dear Chris Grayling,

 It used to be the greatest of all slurs to accuse a ‘gentleman’ of lying; indeed there was a time when men fought duels protesting the accusation, some dying in the process. Those times have gone, now recourse is more readily made to the courts in the form of libel actions, to be accused of lying in public still therefore carries some ignominy. So with this in mind I accuse of you of being a liar. I quote you in full:-

 “We won’t and don’t force anyone to take a work experience placement. Where we use mandation in our welfare policies, it will be to do useful work on community projects. We will never mandate anyone to work for a big company. They wouldn’t take them if we did."

 This cannot be dressed up as being ‘economical with the truth,’ as being disingenuous or telling half truths, it is a bare faced lie. Unemployed persons as I write are being used as unpaid labour under compulsion, i.e. the threat of loosing their benefits, in the following ‘big’ companies Poundland, Tesco, Argos. Cait Reilly is taking the government to court precisely over having faced this kind of compulsion. Just one of several new workfare schemes is called the ‘Mandatory Work Programme,’ (the clue Mr Grayling is in the name).

So just in case any ambiguity can be detected in my remarks thus far I repeat, Mr Grayling you are a liar.

 The above is posted on my bloghttp://alextalbot.blogspot.com/ as an open letter and I hereby offer you the right of reply.

 Alex Talbot


GRAYLING, Chris chris.grayling.mp@parliament.uk

 21 Feb


I’m afraid you are just plain wrong. Our work experience scheme is voluntary, and it is oversubscribed. Large numbers of unemployed young people are finding work as a result.

Our mandatory work activity programme is completely different, and only involves projects with a public and community good.

You can accuse me of whatever you like, but the fact is that you are wrong.


chris.grayling.mp

chris.grayling.mp@parliament.uk




TO Chris chris.grayling.mp@parliament.uk

27 Feb

Well since you dispensed with the courtesies so will I.

First I think it as well to get rid of a slur; I am not a member of the Socialist Workers Party,* never have been and never would. I do not need a front organisation to express my views I am more than capable of looking after my self.
So let me get quickly to the nub of the matter, this is my statement that you lied when you stated “We will never mandate anyone to work for a big company. They wouldn’t take them if we did."

You say that the scheme is voluntary and indeed I concede that the gateway to ‘the work experience,’ component is voluntary, I’ll leave aside here arguments about the sort of pressure that has been brought to bare in some cases, since I like my arguments to be clear and unclouded, I therefore accept that entry onto the scheme is voluntary and that there is even a one week grace period, after this however the scheme becomes in that hideous Orwellian phrase ‘mandated’, that is failure to complete the placement could lead to loss of benefits. This sounds like coercion, looks like coercion, smells uncannily like coercion; I think we are looking at coercion here. But hey don’t just take my word for it listen to the voices of Sainsbury’s, Poundland, Waterstones, even Tesco are calling a spade a spade, why is it so difficult for you?
So, rather wearily I repeat my charge, you are telling lies Mr Grayling.

Alex Talbot

 *NB Mr Grayling had suggested on television that all opponents of The Work Programme were far left members of the SWP. Is Poundland also not a big company?


Having visited this page I would be grateful for your feedback, either tick one of the boxes below or make a comment via the comments button.

Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t
Read more

LONDON BELONGS TO ME PART ONE

Image
. I. I have lived in London now just over thirty years, having moved here on 4 th July 1983 . I don’t know how long you normally have to wait to claim squatter’s rights but thirty years seems a good enough period to me. The glory of London is its parks and open spaces, you are rarely ever far away from a London park, common or heath. I am within fifteen minutes walk of Kensington Gardens or Holland Park , much closer to several smaller areas with grass and flowers and benches on which to sit, all maintained by Kensington and Chelsea council who also still believe in the value of trees. Those who would see what they call ‘the state’ shrink rarely mention such items in their calculations. What does it cost to maintain a tree? Too much by far for the likes of those right wing think tanks whom and I fear the phrase is soon likely to break under the strain under which it is now being placed, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Holland Park is one of t
Read more