The message I get from ‘Alarm Clock Britain’ is that as a disabled person who can no longer work due to my disability and the rampant discrimination in the workplace, as someone who doesn’t use an alarm clock because as often as not I’m in too much pain to sleep at all, and because I no longer earn enough to pay basic rate tax, to the Liberal Democrats I no longer count; that what happens to me and to the tens of thousands of disabled people in similar positions, does not concern them. The support we need from ESA and DLA and other disability benefits can happily be gutted to make sure the alarm clock users don’t feel the pinch.

I’d invite Johnny LeVan-Gilroy and anyone who truly cares about the Liberal-Democratic party’s policies to come and look at the stories on http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/ and see what effect Liberal-Democratic policies are really having on disabled people. Clegg promised today that the Lib-Dems will never lose their soul, so shouldn’t you take the effort to find out what that Liberal-Democratic soul actually stands for?

No worries mate, I read/post in haste myself especially after reading the tosh above from Johnny-Levan-Gilroy. It would be a very humorous article but for the fact he is patently serious !

Full apologies extended for my error

If you take the care to read my comments above you will see that I said nothing of the sort and was quoting SMcG.

“Well mate when this Tory Coalition government is tossed out I have no doubt that it will be done by a monolithic block of working class voters reborn in their belief that the Tories and now the LibDems do not represent their best interests.”

Basically the gist of what I said above and couldn’t agree more sadly. At best back to the old two party system. Labour will do very well over the term of this coalition (and are demonstratively doing so if you believe the polls barely a few months into the coalition).

Well mate when this Tory Coalition government is tossed out I have no doubt that it will be done by a monolithic block of working class voters reborn in their belief that the Tories and now the LibDems do not represent their best interests.

Sucking up to Murdoch as a key tactic!

Rarely has an LDV post triggered such an acute allergic reaction.

My understanding is that legal aid is available for initial advice and preparation but not actually for representation at an Employment Tribunal and that it is also available for cases which go to an EAT although I have to confess that I am unsure of any recent restrictions as I haven’t covered hearings for the last 5 years after 30+ years on and off covering Industrial and Employments Tribunals as well as other tribunal hearings as a jouno.

“Nearly all workers in the public sector are represented by very capable and well funded unions, who will defend them at tribunals if necessary. That’s as it should be.”

Not every worker is a member of a union. there are millions of workers out there who are not

And besides that would’t help those who are unfairly dismissed within 2 years, if the government is changing the law.

Nearly all workers in the public sector are represented by very capable and well funded unions, who will defend them at tribunals if necessary. That’s as it should be.

These cuts are not about saving the public money.

They are needed by the government to support a right wing ideology, to prevent those that are about to be effected the most from this Government from seeking help and legal advice.

That much is very plain to see.

I very much hope Liberal Democrat supporters will put pressure on their MP’s, to make sure that these cuts to legal aid do not happen.

Also, ‘alarm clock Britain’ sounds stupid. I didn’t know what Clegg was talking about when I first heard it, and I had to have it explained to me. Therefore, it is, by definition, a poor soundbite.

The proposals for cutting legal aid for Employment Law is
“All legal aid funding will be cut, except in cases of discrimination.
Employers can pay for lawyers to represent them at employment tribunals but ex-employees would have no free legal advice or representation – leaving them at an unfair disadvantage”

Debt Advice
“Legal aid will only fund debt advice when a person’s home is at ‘immediate risk’.”

Education law advice

“All legal aid funding will be cut, which issues like appeals against exclusions or admissions, out of school provision, bullying, and special educational needs and disability discrimination appeals.
Parents would no longer be able to get legal aid to secure the most suitable education for their child, particularly for children with special educational needs.”

Family law advice

“Legal aid will only fund advice on family problems in cases of domestic violence. In all other cases, legal aid will not fund advice on issues like divorce, contact with children, adoption or family maintenance.”

Housing law advice

“Legal aid will only fund advice on homelessness or serious disrepair threatening health.
Advice on all other housing issues will no longer be funded through legal aid, including issues like protection for tenants against harassment by their landlord.”

Welfare benefits advice

“All legal aid funding will be cut, including issues like appealing decisions for sickness benefits.”

So at a time when 500’00 Public sector workers and 700’000 + private sector workers are set to lose their jobs, Millions of people, being thrown on to welfare, Hundreds of thousands of home owners, whose homes may be at risk,
Millions of people on sickness benefits who are being reassessed with an “unfit” for purpose medical assessment,
At a time when the Government are going to be reducing Local Housing allowances from 50th Percentile, to the 30th Percentile,
Cutting peoples housing Benefits, including to those who have been on JSA for 12 months or more by 10%
Cutting sickness benefits and other disability benefits and services to the sick and disabled.

Whilst all this is happening. The government is removing legal aid for all those people to appeal these decisions and get legal advice.

You could legal aid, for a solicitor to advise you on your legal rights and to help you prepare your evidence for case, You just could’t get legal aid for representation in court.

On housing, you could get Legal aid and “representation” in court, if you faced eviction or repossession, I believe this is set to stay.

However Legal aid for other housing issues, like issues a tenant may have with a Landlord are being cut.

Whilst we are on the topic, Today is the start of t”he campaign against cuts to legal aid” being led by the Justice for all campaign.

Please visit http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/News/Campaign-lobby-launch-12th-January to lend your support

http://www.justice-for-all.org.uk/News/Campaign-lobby-launch-12th-January

“um ,perhaps you have never heard of the millions of working class people who voted for Mrs Thatcher or indeed who still vote Tory. The idea that there is a monolithic block of working class voters who should vote according to their class was dead a long time ago. ”

Where did I say that working class people vote in monolithic blocks according to their class or indeed allude to such an idea in my comment above? Working class to me means people who work. Yes they can be Tory. Lib Dem. Labour. Green whatever. As I said above people vote based on policies and watch to see what happens when those voted into government take charge. I always work on the principle that people are not as stupid or sheep like as demographics suggest.

My comments are not aimed at the history of the 1979 GE and the subsequent swing to the Tory party but in the real world of the here and now and the right wing coalition of which the Lib Dems are a partner.

In the next few months as “Alarm Clock Britain” get their P45s or reduced wage packets if they are lucky (due to unavoidable inflation) the only monolithic class you will see are very angry ordinary C1 voters who will punish the coalition and most likely at the weakest side, the Lib Dems.

Mrs Thatcher’s government was nowhere near as right wing as the coalition is proving to be. Let’s see how many C1s who voted for the Conservatives do so in the locals to come.

“there is no legal aid for employment tribunals so the Coaition can’t have cut it”

Actually that is not correct, You could get “legal advice” from a solicitor on Employment Tribunals and to help prepare your case, through legal aid,
You just could’t get Legal aid for a solicitor to represent you at the Tribunal.

If you disagreed with the employment tribunals decision, and you had grounds on a point of law, to appeal the tribunals decision, Then you could get Legal aid for a solicitor to represent you to appeal an employment tribunals decision.

So I am afraid you are mistaken.

@ecojon – there is no legal aid for employment tribunals so the Coaition can’t have cut it

We need to “think outside the box” (to use a phrase they love) and get away from thinking that politics has to be as the ad-man sees life – about people like him finding out what these strange creatures “alarm clock man” or whatever they have decided to call them this year are like, and how they can con them by the use of ad-man’s trickery. We wouldn’t need to invent strange names for what are really “ordinary people” if our party really was run by ordinary people – and the whole point of mass membership political parties was that they would be.

“Nick Clegg remains the only asset the party has to offer with this demographic”. What utter fatuous rubbish. What a bloody insult to all the rest of us in this party that we’re regarded as worthless, that only this one thing in our party, Nick Clegg, is an “asset”.

We are told we contributors to LibDem Voice must not be personally abusive to others, so I shall leave it at there.