Friday 28th November
Andrew
“We need to get control of the situation now gentlemen; waiting a few days for the curfew to kick in is not an option,” Andrew stated once more. It was 2am and they were just going round and round in the same old circles.
“That may be all we can do, any escalation in our response would mean calling troops back from abroad,” Chivers said. Andrew could hear the irritation in his voice as he restated his position, almost as if he were addressing a petulant child.
“Then perhaps that is what we should be doing,” Andrew replied, suck on that Chivers.
“Sir, that would send out a disastrous message to the many terrorist cells our men and women face. I agree we need to re-think our use of resources, but bringing back some of our armed forces could leave those still stationed abroad in an extremely vulnerable position. Not to mention planting the idea that increased terrorist action here, on home soil, could be seen as a means to getting rid of unwelcome, ‘occupation,’ in places like Afghanistan.” Beston said.
Andrew avoided looking back at Chivers, but he imagined his face to be smug.
“Be that as it may General, the fact remains that we are losing the battle for our streets, we need more feet on the ground,” the Commissioner added. Andrew knew he was anxious for his force, they were exhausted by the endless rounds of confrontation; not to mention their numbers being depleted by injury.
“It’s a difficult position of course,” the Home Secretary concurred, “but we don’t want to rush into anything.”
“What none of you seem to grasp is that yes, we do need to rush into something. We are being far too slow in our response, we need to get ahead of this thing. Christ we have large areas of our towns and cities occupied by mobs of protesters,” Andrew stated.
The evening news had been full of it, insurgents had actually taken control of commercial areas, and erected barriers announcing their intent to stay.
“Reporters are blaming the curfews for christ’s sake, saying instead of trying to break through them these, yobs, are merely staying put. What happens tomorrow, when no-body turns out for work?” Andrew shook his head, he’d had several lively discussions with his EU partners, and any temporary allegiance had well and truly broken down, it would now exist in name only. The main sticking factor had been Andrew’s inability to agree to harsher sanctions against his own people, not because he felt they were unnecessary, but because he doubted parliament would agree. Sod it, time to act and find out. Andrew placed his hands flat, palms down on the table and very deliberately spread his fingers until they were all an equal distance apart.
“Commissioner can you confirm that firearms and IEDs have been used against your police force tonight?” he asked.
“Yes I can, I can lay them out for the press to see if necessary.”
“General Beston, is it your position that we have as many troops on our streets as you can supply us?” Andrew asked.
“Yes it is.”
“Then we use what we can, employing maximum force,” Andrew stated.
“And when you say maximum force?” the Home Secretary sought clarity.
“I mean we use tanks to break through their barricades, and water cannons to break up their numbers. Once you have them on the run we send in armed police to round up as many as they can.”
Silence.
Andrew looked at the faces around the table, tried to gauge their response. Only Nigel looked at him and nodded, the rest turned to each other to see who would commit first. Andrew decided to be nice.
“Obviously a move of this magnitude needs to be sanctioned, we will have a special meeting of the House tomorrow and try and get cross party support.”
He almost heard the sighs of relief, thank god they hadn’t had to make such an immense decision on their own. No one wanted a share of the responsibility if it all went wrong; if it was passed by the House, at least there could be no personal recriminations. “I suggest we seek a mandate of a seventy-five per cent yes vote in order to proceed.”
Everyone murmured their agreement, but not too loudly, just in case they were damned by one of their colleagues as too eager.
“Let’s break for now Gentlemen. We’ll get this before the House first thing and if it passes meet to discuss implementation, if it doesn’t, well…we may as well hand the country over and be done with it.”
Andrew’s comment raised a few week smiles, but as no one was quite sure if he was joking or not, the response did not go beyond that.
“Nigel can you stay behind, I’ll need a draft of the bill within the hour.”
It was going to be a hell of a long night.
*****
“Drink?”
“Not for me, thanks,” Andrew replied. “It’ll just make it even harder to stay awake.”
Andrew looked atrocious, fatigue and stress marked his face once more.
“Go and get some sleep,” Nigel urged. “It’s going to be a hard day tomorrow, you need to be on form for the House.”
“Maybe.” Andrew yawned widely. “Amazing, the human body, everything that’s going on you’d think you’d be hyper alert, but instead you just want to sleep.”
“I think you may have passed through the, ‘hyper alert,’ stage several nights ago; I think we’ll just be grateful for alert, which you won’t be if you stay up all night. I’ll check the statement to the House, I know the tone you want to set, you go and get some sleep.”
“Okay, I’m too tired to think of a reason why I’m too tired to do or…whatever; wake me at seven-thirty, I’ll sleep here instead of waking Mols and Elaine.”
“I’ll wake you at nine, still time to get showered and ready to be in the House by ten,” Nigel stated.
“Do you think they’ll go for it?” Andrew asked.
“I don’t see that they have a choice, the country is pressing for a more decisive response. It will be a popular proposal and I don’t think any MP will dismiss it lightly.”
“Good,” Andrew nodded as he spoke. “That’s good.”
“Oh, and what about the Estates?” Nigel asked, just as Andrew was about to leave the room, he turned, puzzled by the question
“What estates?”
“The benefit’s estates Prime Minister.” Nigel resisted the urge to smirk at the look of complete incomprehension that passed Andrew’s face; he’d already written off the estates and their inhabitants.
“Oh, of course and yes…what about them?” Andrew asked.
“Will your tougher measures be replicated in the estates? In order to protect the homes and properties,” he clarified.
Andrew paused for a second and then lifted his head a fraction. “No, it will not. The police will maintain their perimeter, and that’s it.”
Nigel nodded. “Wise decision.”
*****
Sue
Ruby’s announcement seemed like a mere echo from the past, yet it had only been the previous day. As soon as she’d left they’d all clung onto each other and then quickly gone their own way. It was devastating news and each of them had to process its personal impact. Sue had been searching for some way to turn the negative into a positive and had kept repeating to herself, often out loud, that she could not control how others behaved, but she could control her response to it; and she chose not to feel absolutely wretched, even though that emotion had pulled at her gut all morning. No, their first attempt may have failed but what…what was the next move? What was the positive message…that it was possible, of course, at least they knew it was possible, to challenge the government in its action on welfare. But that in itself wasn’t enough to educate people to their position, they had to turn the possibility of doing so into reality and the only way to do that was to pay a lawyer to take on their case. Unfortunately the means to do so were sorely lacking for everyone in their position. So, they must fund raise, and that was the proactive result. But how…in the present climate those on benefits were vilified more than ever…s
o they needed to get their voices heard, not through violence but…but through other means, and that was where her thinking had brought her; a positive solution, but also a seemingly impossible one. She’d have to chat to the others over it, see if they had any ideas because something or somebody had to show they were not the mindless idiots creating havoc in the cities. But then that was wrong too, some of those people were troublemakers jumping on the band wagon, but the majority? The majority were just absolutely desperate, caught up in a situation that had spiralled out of control because each side, those on welfare and those in government, were so far removed from each other’s world that there would never be any common ground.
Sue sighed long and hard, just as Lottie came into the lounge, a bowl of cereal in one hand a cup of tea in the other. It was after nine but she still wore her pyjamas, there’d be no work today.
“Morning, no work I take it,” Sue said.
“Nope, the manager text to say he couldn’t see us opening for the foreseeable future, not unless things change drastically,” Lottie replied, it had only been four months since she’d changed jobs; it still wasn’t a career goal, but working in a book shop had felt much better than a fast food restaurant.
“I’m sorry, I know you and Luke were trying to save.”
“It’s not just that mum, the owner at work reckons this could be it, he doesn’t think he can ride out the troubles. In all likelihood he’s going to have to close the place down,” Lottie’s voice raised in frustration as she spoke. “I mean it’s ridiculous, these protesters are supposed to be unhappy about the way they are being treated because they’re unemployed or whatever, yet their action is going to result in more people being out of work.”
“I know, it’s just-”
“I know its hard mam,” Lottie interrupted, “I know it’s a cause you’re sympathetic to, but it’s ridiculous.”
Sue looked at her daughter, she could see how close to tears she was. “I may be sympathetic Lottie, but I would never condone the violence, it’s not at all helpful in portraying our cause to the general populace.”
“Oh, I know mam, it’s just hard, you know?”
“I know,” Sue replied.
“I mean Luke’s job could go next if the violence continues to spread. As it is there’s not a soul comes into the shop all day. The manager wanted to keep it open on principle, but he can’t afford to do that for long.”
“I know,” Sue repeated.
“But then what happens?” Lottie asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if I’m not being paid, if Luke’s work has to close temporarily, we won’t have any money coming in. Yet, presumably we won’t be able to sign on because we have jobs, how does that work?”
“I don’t know Lottie, I really don’t. I guess it’s something we need to look into.”
“You see,” her daughter stated, rising to her feet and heading out of the room. “No-one is thinking about that.”
But Sue was now, how on earth would they manage? How could she stretch to feeding three of them? And then of course the majority of job centres were now closed until further notice and the phone lines were permanently engaged. Shit, worry and stress wormed back into her stomach, she put her half drunken cup of tea to one side.
*****
Sir George
It was one of those rare occasions when it was deemed appropriate to have the television set on in the club. Word had spread about the Prime Minister’s proposal and the members were keen to hear the debate, after all the violence was now only streets away and no-one wanted their peace to be interrupted.
Sir George, of course, knew the exact nature of the bill, but he was still interested to see Andrew play his part; even if he was unaware of his real role in everything. As the Prime Minister rose to his feet Sir George allowed himself a smug feeling of a job very well done, things were escalating out of control in the exact manner they had planned. He supposed he should feel a little sorry for Andrew whose every move had been so carefully engineered by others, right down to the tough response he was about to announce. He actually believed this latest raft of measures would make a difference, that he was about to re-gain control from the protesters.
Silly fool.
The Prime Minister stood.
“I think we can all agree that we are living in unprecedented times, in terms of the civil disobedience seen on our streets, and that the actions of some in our society…”
He looked the part, Sir George would give him that, but events ensured he was no longer the bright eyed poster boy of his Party.
“…it is with a heavy heart that I put these proposals before the house, but I believe them to be both necessary and…”
Sir George wondered how close the vote would be, it would be passed, of that there was no doubt, but the margins didn’t allow for any slip ups.
“…temporary measures will be enough to restore…”
It was possibly the only time Sir George could remember a statement being read to the House in complete silence, not a sound, no jeering, mocking, shouts of encouragement, nothing. It was quite extraordinary.
“Can I ask the Prime Minister what action is being taken to protect those who live on the social housing estates?”
Some obscure opposition back bencher had decided to poke his head above the parapet, to jeers of shame on you.
“The estates continue to be patrolled by members of the armed forces,” Andrew stated, short and to the point.
“Patrolled yes, but protected, no. I’m getting reports of people made homeless, only just escaping from their burnt out houses. Only last night a child almost died from smoke inhalation, as none of the emergency services would venture into the estates. And so again, Prime Minister, what is being done?” the back bencher persisted.
“And again, I can reassure my right honourable gentlemen that the estates are being protected by members of our armed forces.”
“They are being abandoned, while…”
Whatever else the back bencher said was drowned out by the heckles of others, the speaker did not attempt to regain order.
Sir George sipped his tea and smiled, yes, everything was progressing rather nicely.
Saturday 29th November
Sue
It was a brown envelope and so Sue felt the familiar trepidation as she opened it. Inside she was informed that she was now eligible to take part in the government work programme, the phraseology suggested she’d won some sort of fantastic opportunity. Sue unfolded the accompanying instructions and panic rose, the DWP more than anything else caused that sort of reaction for her, like a Pavlovian sense of doom. She read on
From the date of receipt of this letter to continue receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and/or National Insurance credits, you must take part in the work programme…
…so far, so clear…
…the claimant is given such support as the provider of the Work Programme considers appropriate…to assist the claimant to obtain and sustain employment which may include work search support, provision of skills training and work placements for the benefit of the community…
…shit, they were going to send her to work in Poundland, and how would she cope, she wouldn’t, she’d lose her benefits and…better read on, maybe it’s not that bad, they may actually find her something she could do, which would be fab, but…
…Totens will support you whilst on the Work Programme…they will help you find work…draw up an action plan…advise you what duties you will be expected to perform…you must complete any activities Totens tell you to do…you must take part in the work programme… if without good reason you fail to take part in the work programme your jobseeker’s Allowance and National Insure contributions will be stopped…
Yep, that sounds about right, on with the stick, to hell with the carrot…
…will be stopped for:
Four weeks; or
13 weeks, if previously sanctioned, or if you commit any of the fa
ilures listed below:
Failure to attend an adviser interview
Do not take the opportunity of a place on such a programme
Fail to attend or give up a place
Fail to comply with Jobseeker’s Direction
Nice positive letter, now onto the Work Programme rules themselves…
.About the Work Programme…it aims to help you prepare for, find and stay in work…your provider will discuss your individual circumstances with you and develop a plan that is tailored to meet your needs…
…well, that sounds more like the support needed, if a little patronising. Sue was pretty sure she was more than capable in doing that on her own, in fact had been doing so. The only thing that had stopped her from being successful and retraining was the DWP and the government’s near sightedness.
…As part of the work programme you can expect…help you need to prepare for and find work…be treated politely, fairly and considerately…your responsibilities whilst on the Work Programme are to;
Make the most of your help
Treat the provider politely
Attend meetings
Complete any activities the Provider tells you to
…your benefit may be affected if you don’t meet these responsibilities...if you fail to complete any activity the Provider tells you to do…your benefit could be affected…this is called a sanction…if applied you will lose benefit…
…here we go again…
How a sanction affects you…if your Jobseekers Allowance is stopped because of a sanction you aren’t automatically entitled to get help…you will have to show you are suffering financial hardship, and meet other conditions…
…and so on, well there you go. First she went on-line and did a little research into TOTENS, and then she phoned her dad.
“Hello.”
“Hi dad, I don’t know what to do. I’ve received a letter from the DWP.”
“Okay, what about?”
Sue could hear her dad’s voice stiffen, he too had become naturally wary at the mention of any correspondence that arrived in a brown envelope, Sue gave him the condensed version of the letter.
An Ordinary Working Man Page 47