Does Blunkett remind you of Normo Tebbit?

[mr blur]

Remember Tebbit's "Get on your bike and find work"?

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,1589467,00.html

<snip>
David Blunkett yesterday promised to liberate benefits claimants from dependence, insisting the way to overcome depression and stress was to stop watching daytime television and get back to work.

"If people ... reassociate with the world of work, suddenly they come alive again," the work and pensions secretary said. "That will overcome depression and stress a lot more than people sitting at home watching daytime television."
</snip>

<snip>
Disability groups at the meeting however expressed fears that some disabled people might be forced into inappropriate work. Conditions that might seem fair now, in a period of full employment, might be excessive in an economic downturn, they said.
</snip>

I have to declare an interest - I have Secondary Progressive MS and there's no way that anyone but me and my GP and neurologist can tell if I can go to work each day. (I can't)

There are indeed many abuses of the benefits system but I (and others like me) am not one of them. I helped pay for the system for years, and now I need it.

Or am I just overreacting?

[non sociopath skin]

1. It's stereotyping of the worst kind and as a disabled person himself ...

... Blunkett does not even have the defence of ignorance.

He is the worst "Champion" the disabled have ever had.

The Skin

[T_i_B]

2. Well...he tries

He does seem to be very keen on the Tebbit brand of politics, but then again we all knew that from his time as Home Secretary.

But still I don't think that even that can persuade Tebbit-lovers not to desert the Tory Party. Not in my experience of the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade.

[Taxloss]

3. He strikes me as a bit of a flake.

I can't stand him. He makes Charles Clarke look liberal.

Sorry to hear about your condition mr blur, what an awful shame.

[mr blur]

4. Thanks, but it's OK,

I only mentioned it because it seemed relevent to my point of view.

(probably explains why I'm a grumpy old bugger, though - some of the time, anyway }( )

[fedsron2us]

5. Symptomatic of the current government

New Labour like to beat up on the weak, the elderly and the sick whilst they abase themselves before the rich and powerful. Although I do not usually approve of the prurient interest of the tabloid media in politicians private lives, it is fair to say that they have exposed more than one high ranking ministerial hypocrite over the years. Blunkett's difficulty is that every time he appears pontificating on some issue like invalidity benefit, people will start reprising the problems of his private life. In political terms he is a busted flush who is entirely dependent on Blair's favours for his survival in the cabinet. He probably only has his current post because the Prime Minister did not want it to fall into the hands of one of Gordon Brown's cronies. As a consequence his policy initiatives are probably being orchestrated by his master. My guess is that one way or another Blunkett will be eased out of government permanently in the next few years

[LeftishBrit]

6. YES!!!

He's been reminding me of Tebbit for ages! He's right-wing, panders to the Daily Mail readers and their ilk, and, like Tebbit (and Davis) reacts to having experienced disadvantage himself by being harsher than ever towards other people with disadvantages.

He is to the right of many Tories.

And let's remember that the Blair government forced many disabled people into unemployment by removing benefits for disabled people in work.