We are rapidly approaching a General Election year, with that in mind here is a rough guide to Toryspeak, what they actually mean, as opposed to what they actually say- for example when a Tory says hardworking people what he really means is someone on more than £100,000 a year. Here are a few more examples: ‘Reintroducing fairness to the welfare system’ – introducing means-testing in order to dismantle the welfare system. ‘Fairness’ – discriminating against people. ‘Creating a system based on fairness’ – ignoring need, in favour of targets. ‘Work experience’ – unpaid labour. ‘Fit to work’ – somebody suffering from an incapacitating condition, whose heart still beats. ‘Tough’ – punitive. ‘Tough but fair’ – punitive and arbitrary. ‘Employment Support Allowance’ – financial support for people incapable of retaining employment due to illness/disability. ‘Unconditional support’ – strictly conditional support. ‘Scrounger’ – somebody who is poor. ‘Striver’ – somebody who works for a low salary, and who doesn’t object to a pay cut. Alternatively, somebody who works for a high salary, and who doesn’t object to a pay rise. ‘Skiver’ – somebody who is temporarily too ill to work, and therefore in receipt of statutory sick pay. ‘Shirker’ – somebody who prefers to work in return for a salary, rather than in return for no salary. ‘Reform’ – (I) to terminate something. (II) To sell something. (III) To pay a private company to do something. ‘Independent Review’ – pamphlet written by a partisan hireling to reaffirm policies, and whitewash potential problems. ‘Consultation’ – seeking expedient approval. ‘Unreliable’ – inconvenient expert testimony. ‘An inconvenience’ – a person who has committed suicide. ‘Abusing the system’ – exercising rights. ‘Delivering change’ – encouraging people to protect their own interests at the expense of a scapegoated minority. ‘Making the welfare state fair to both the people who use it and the taxpayers who pay for it’ – making legislative protections more precarious. ‘Cultural transformation’ – creating new opportunities for delivering public finance to private companies. ‘Radical transformation’ – beginning to implement poorly-planned methods of delivering public finance to private companies. Welfare savings’ – social security cuts. ‘Successful court outcome’ – a lost court case. ‘Stock’ – a human being. ‘The taxpayer’ – (I) HM Treasury. (II) A figment of political imagination, which functions as a touchstone to justify policies. (III)Somebody who begrudgingly contributes the bare minimum to society, and vociferates a vein of parsimonious condescension via the pages of tabloid publications; while simultaneously bemoaning others for lacking a sense of societal obligation or modesty. ‘Spiralled out of control’ – the level of social security expenditure has risen in tandem with the level of economic difficulty. ‘Lifestyle choice’ – an impoverishing set of circumstances beyond anybody’s control, such as severe illness, or providing full-time care to relatives. ‘Something for nothing culture’ – a social security system in which support is based on need, and receipt is subject to strict conditions. ‘Ending the Something for nothing culture’ – exploiting public miscomprehension and encouraging envy, in order to diminish aspects of the social security system, so that it no longer protects anybody from being left impoverished – whether those currently in need of its insurance, or those who will need it in the future. ‘Claimant commitment’ – an onerous set of strictures designed to generate pitfalls, purposely designed to become breached unwittingly, resulting in sanctions. ‘Off benefits’ – sanctioned. Off benefits and into work’ – sanctioned. ‘Trapped on benefits’ – provided with a limited degree of financial support, on the basis of circumstantial need. ‘Making work pay’ – leaving pay rates unaffected, and reducing the level unemployment support. ‘Capping benefits at a fair rate’ – eroding the financial resilience of the poorest families. ‘Simplifying the system of support’ – undermining the range of support available to people. ‘Targeting support to those who need it most’ – taking support away from people with complex, fluctuating disabilities. Improving work incentives’ – pushing people who are unemployed into such a depth of poverty that even in-work poverty is a step-up. ‘Positive behavioural effects’ – encouraging people who are poor to regard social security with the same level of snobbery and disdain as wealthy people are liable to do. Hopefully that will make things a bit clearer.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 23:15:57 +0000
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