Governments response to carers petition

Replies

By sofie

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Mon 18 Aug 2008 21:44

Hi, Let's face it. Carers are not even treated as if they have human rights.I promised myself I would not moan on this site but the things that have happened to me and i've witnessed whilst looking after my mother have proved to me that carers do not hardly have any rights and are not treated properly.Everyone else has holidays ,breaks and a proper minimum wage as a right but we have to live on virtually nothing and be super human and not need rest or holidays.The saying who cares for carers comes to mind. The answer is people make noises but still not much is done to help us. There is surely a case to be answered in the court of human rights, as we don't seem to have any

By mrs pan

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Thu 21 Aug 2008 13:02

I too got the same e-mail from 10 Downing Street and was disgusted with the response. What I gleaned from the response is that once again the government is paying 'lip-service' to Carers by appearing to do something new but what they are proposing isn't new and won't help us with regards to living in poverty.
When I received Downing Street response I was so angry I e-mailed Mr Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron. Nick Clegg was the first to respond followed a couple of days later by David Cameron's office - but once again neither reply actually stated how their parties were going to help lift us out of poverty, particularly those of us who only get the underlying qualification to CA but don't actually get any payment for all the hours we care for our loved ones.
I have never received a reply from Gordon Brown's office at all - so what does that tell us all except that he's too busy to respond to individuals who contact him about important issues like this or that he really doesn't care at all (wouldn't be able to do our unpaid job would he?)
To top it all I then received a letter from a company saying that JobCentrePlus had passed mine (and my husbands) details onto them as people who may be interested in looking for work! My husband has Huntington's Disease and I care for him 24 hours a day - is this what the government call 'Caring for Carers'! Or are they really trying to get us on our knees by making us care 24 hours a day x 7 days a week and going out and working just so that the government can save a bit more money but hitting one of the most vulnerable sectors in society?

By CHERYL THE PERIL

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Thu 21 Aug 2008 19:09

Hi mrs pan
I'm not surprised your angry, speaking to politicians is a very frustrating business.
No matter how much they proclaim to be "listening" the don't seem to understand the meaning of the word never mind actually listen.

Cheryl x

By kerry.

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Sun 24 Aug 2008 14:27

I haven't read my email as yet, partly as I have been too busy and partly because I knew I would be angry once I had read it!

I shall now go and trundle through what sounds like a load of eye wash as usual.

By graham

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Tue 26 Aug 2008 12:55

None of this surprises any of us does it ? The credit crunch biting, the UK weeks away from recession ( if we're not in one already ) & a general election just around the corner with a Tory Government a ' dead cert'........Of course their not 'listening'. To be honest you would be better concentrating your efforts on Tory Central office rather than this lame & limping Administration that is on the verge of one of the biggests electoral defeats of modern times........

By Tonyd1

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Wed 17 Sep 2008 22:11

We all have to keep on as much as we can, at all politicians no matter what party they are from, if carers keep quiet they think we are happy,

By coffee

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Thu 18 Sep 2008 09:16

hi tony right we carers must keep speaking up although they governments etc wont give us much along and fabricated excuses but if don't speak out we will always be treaded on coffee

By ColinB

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Thu 18 Sep 2008 11:23

i wonder if the politicians would listen to us if we banded together, and with an election looking more n more likely..told them carers will vote en mass for the party which comes up with the best package for us. with the number of carers, it would be a sizeable block of votes...lol

By Parsifal

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Thu 18 Sep 2008 12:21

It's certainly a very good idea, six million carers plus the people they care for is one hell of a lot of voters, the problem as always is that not all of them realise that they are carers and not all of them are part of online or offline groups so it's difficult to communicate ideas like this to them. Hopefully the protest march in April next year will not only raise public awareness and raise the political profile of carers but also raise awareness in those carers who do not have contact with any organisation that we do have a voice and we can make it heard.

Annie

By glynne

Re: Governments response to carers petition
Thu 18 Sep 2008 21:24

Then something before the big march to enlighten the general public looks like a good idea.