Whatever happened to open policy?
The Government’s civil service reform plan published last year promised to “make open policymaking the default”, however progress since has been limited. Implementing open policy will require new methods for engagement, but also ways of requiring that policymakers develop policy openly. Is the Government wrangling with implementation – or are its intentions waning?
Six months in… disability
It’s six months since we launched this version of Guerilla Policy. Here’s a selection of some of our favourite posts we’ve published in disability – from the personal impact of the Government’s reforms, to grassroots campaigns for the rights of disabled people.
An open letter to Esther McVey MP
Dear Esther McVey MP We the undersigned have been shocked and appalled at you and your Minister’s persistent use of dubious facts and statistics regarding DLA. We ask that you make use of the raft of factual statistics and desist from twisting evidence; your misrepresentation presumes some sort of illegal activity regarding DLA claimants, this [...]
PIP faces legal challenge!
“Please join us in countering the propaganda and mis-information our government are churning out today… Every challenge shows a few more people what is really going on in their name.” Sue Marsh sets out the facts about the Government’s welfare disability reforms.
Guerilla Voice: Government and the grassroots – the issue is power, not politeness
The importance of ‘constructive engagement’ is often used as an excuse for government to avoid engaging with grassroots groups. The real issues are power, money and influence. If you’ve got these, you get heard – even if you are difficult.
Extraordinary! DWP refuse point blank to engage with Spartacus
A few weeks ago, Michael Meacher MP (Labour) came to see me in hospital. I had emailed him following his remarkable Atos debate, (the first to see cross party condemnation of ESA or Employment Support Allowance) to point out how much of the failure was the fault of Atos, and how much was actually controlled by [...]
Frontline Friday round-up 8th March 2013
Here’s our round-up of frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 5th March 2013. This week, the power of personal stories – from the Bedroom Tax to the closure of the Independent Living Fund, the smoking ban in prisons to the privatisation of the NHS.
PIP: What have we won?
“We’ve won some important battles but we’ve not yet won the war. …Independent mobility matters to all of us, including disabled people, so we keep fighting.” Jane Young takes stock of the grassroots campaign against the Government’s “ill-advised and incompetent” welfare reforms.
Guerilla Voice: #esaSOS
“…the sustained pressure from the grassroots campaign Spartacus has kept the Atos WCA on the mainstream political and media agenda long after other issues have fallen by the wayside.” Chris Sherwood, writing in a new series ‘Guerilla Voice’, argues that the #esaSOS campaign is the latest example of ‘guerilla policy’.
Imaginary wheelchairs & other ESA changes
“Bitter experience has taught me that the NHS doesn’t give wheelchairs to a lot of people who would benefit from them.” Pseudo Deviant argues that the changes to ESA are being made in isolation to the rest of the health and social care system.
The latest assault on disabled people’s benefits
“These new rules will lead to 960,000 fewer people getting help with the extra costs of coping with disability and 400,000 fewer will qualify for an adapted car from the Motability scheme.” Richard Exell describes the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms on disabled people and notes how they are having a wider social and economic impact.
Not asking for permission
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, is to act as an unpaid adviser to the UK government to support its “agenda to open up policy-making to the public.” His ideas on how technology could be used to give the public a greater say in policymaking might be very valuable, and government should certainly try to create better platforms for public [...]