People often say sport and politics dont mix but I am going to attempt to do so. As you will probably know I have been out of work for over 18 months. While I would much rather be in work it does give me time to indulge in my passion for watching cricket and this is what I want to write about.
Yesterday an icon of English sport and cricket retired from the 1 day and twenty20 form of the game. Kevin Pieterson will still play test matches for England. This is a very strange turn of events because many people retire from tests to play more of the short version of the game. He has retired so he can play in the lucrative IPL where he is paid millons of dollars for 6 weeks work.
Let me explain what this has to do with politics. it is linked with politics because I think that the 24hr news cycle has made politics and politicians a twenty20 style sport. this is the case because twenty20 cricket is over in a matter of hours where as test matches take days. so players have a short time to make an impact and so cricketers now are hitting the ball further and scoring more in a limited amount of time 24hr news has put politicians in a similar mindset with them keen to make a good impression or say the right sound bite because it can work in their favour. Just look at what the TV debates did for Nick Clegg
I have a strategic brain and like to see how things unfold. That is why i prefer Test matches because it can take a few days to see how the game takes shape. while twenty20 is a crowd pleaser. The two games need each other but i fear that twenty20 will reduce the skill level in the longer form of the game. In my views its the same with politics. Debating things in parliament is like a test match it takes time and there is an art form to it. I fear that this will be lost as the media generation of MPs comes in because they will know short snappy sounds bites rather than longer debates so i fear the art form of debating will be lost.
Friday, 1 June 2012
Saturday, 21 April 2012
a tribute to jack Ashley
Today a pioneer a pioneer of the disability movement Jack Ashley has died. Others will be able to write more eloquently and knowledgeably about his achievements but i wanted to say without his tireless work on disability issues I would not be where I am today. His work 40 years ago in helping to pass the first disability legislation which then led to other legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act is something for which I will always be grateful.
With out his work I doubt I would of been educated to the extent I have been or been able to live in America. His work led to disabled people being able to integrate into society and have a normal life. For the past 3 years I have been working on a campaign to improve disabled access information about pubs. It is work that i feel is unfinished because the law change I secured only applies in Scotland so my tribute to Jack Ashley is not this blog, but finishing the campaign that I started so that all disabled people have access to the same level of access information about pubs so they can enjoy a social life where ever they may live.
With out his work I doubt I would of been educated to the extent I have been or been able to live in America. His work led to disabled people being able to integrate into society and have a normal life. For the past 3 years I have been working on a campaign to improve disabled access information about pubs. It is work that i feel is unfinished because the law change I secured only applies in Scotland so my tribute to Jack Ashley is not this blog, but finishing the campaign that I started so that all disabled people have access to the same level of access information about pubs so they can enjoy a social life where ever they may live.
Monday, 16 April 2012
green shoots of recovery but not everything is rosey in the garden
As I start another week of job hunting I have had some good news, no i haven't found a job but the job market in Edinburgh is picking up. The latest Bank of Scotland jobs report says that the rise in the number of permanent job vacancies is the biggest since last August. this is welcome news.
As a disabled person is that I face further barriers to employment, not just a lack of jobs to apply for. Until these barriers are overcome disabled people will not be able to fully integrate into society.
I have been unemployed since November 2010 and in April 2011 I found and was offered in a job in London which i was unable to take because i could not find an accessible place to live which I could afford. The government is trying to get as many disabled people who can work back into work, but i very much doubt that all the disabled people will be able to find jobs in their locality so some will have to move, but they will not be able to because they will face the problem I did.
I am a social tenant which means I live in a council flat (or housing association property). Mine has been adapted for the needs of a disabled person. e.g. it has a wet floor shower and lower worktops in the kitchen. This type of accommodation is very rare in the private sector at an affordable rate. so being a social tenant is like having a golden ticket to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory and not something that one gives up easily. When I tried to move to London I found I was not entitled to help to find accommodation in the social sector until I lived there which is fare enough. But that meant I had would have to leave my Edinburgh flat, if i did this I would be declaring myself homeless which meant i would not be entitled to any help at all, because in the eyes of the law i had chosen to move. There are house swapping websites but that can take months to find somewhere. so if someone is offered a job where they don't live the employer will not wait a long time to withdraw the offer. In the end I had to choose my house over my job
the example of housing which I have just given illustrates how disability is viewed in Britain and it needs to change. In my view disability is viewed through the model, which sees disability as something the individual can cope with. and they can be helped by providing things like DLA and physio.
In my view disability should be viewed through the social model of disability which argues that disability should be dealt by society and disabled can be helped by removing barriers to them integrating into society. In my case my barrier is the inability to move to find a job. there maybe green shoots of recovery in the economy but I cant take advantage of them unless i find a job on my doorstep. I am a plant who wants to grow but am stuck in the shade when i should be out in the garden taking in the sunlight.
As a disabled person is that I face further barriers to employment, not just a lack of jobs to apply for. Until these barriers are overcome disabled people will not be able to fully integrate into society.
I have been unemployed since November 2010 and in April 2011 I found and was offered in a job in London which i was unable to take because i could not find an accessible place to live which I could afford. The government is trying to get as many disabled people who can work back into work, but i very much doubt that all the disabled people will be able to find jobs in their locality so some will have to move, but they will not be able to because they will face the problem I did.
I am a social tenant which means I live in a council flat (or housing association property). Mine has been adapted for the needs of a disabled person. e.g. it has a wet floor shower and lower worktops in the kitchen. This type of accommodation is very rare in the private sector at an affordable rate. so being a social tenant is like having a golden ticket to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory and not something that one gives up easily. When I tried to move to London I found I was not entitled to help to find accommodation in the social sector until I lived there which is fare enough. But that meant I had would have to leave my Edinburgh flat, if i did this I would be declaring myself homeless which meant i would not be entitled to any help at all, because in the eyes of the law i had chosen to move. There are house swapping websites but that can take months to find somewhere. so if someone is offered a job where they don't live the employer will not wait a long time to withdraw the offer. In the end I had to choose my house over my job
the example of housing which I have just given illustrates how disability is viewed in Britain and it needs to change. In my view disability is viewed through the model, which sees disability as something the individual can cope with. and they can be helped by providing things like DLA and physio.
In my view disability should be viewed through the social model of disability which argues that disability should be dealt by society and disabled can be helped by removing barriers to them integrating into society. In my case my barrier is the inability to move to find a job. there maybe green shoots of recovery in the economy but I cant take advantage of them unless i find a job on my doorstep. I am a plant who wants to grow but am stuck in the shade when i should be out in the garden taking in the sunlight.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
a degree of success
I have just had my easter break when my parents came to visit. during my break I saw my twitter feed was full of my student friends saying they were busy revising for their upcoming exams. I wish them all good luck and for those of them who graduate welcome to the world of graduate unemployment a place which i know very well. I graduated in 2007 and have been unemployed for 4 out of the last 5 years
Last week the Citizens Advice Bureau launched a survey to find out about to find out about graduates and their experiences of struggling to find work- you can fill it in here www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/news/graduate_employment_survey_s.htm
The problem is not just the job centre which is not fit for purpose and should be turned into a careers service which helps everybody regardless of their qualifications. The major problem is that there are too many graduates. In the early 2000s there was a big push to get 50% of the population through university. The policy was not thought through properly because they should of seen the current graduate crisis coming and made sure the system can cope because it isn't doing so.
That may sound a snobbish thing to say and it is not my intention to be so. I believe if people want to go to university they should be supported to do so. But i would advice people to think about why they are going to university and for their chosen degree subject look at employment prospects. I wish i had done this. Are you going because everyone else is? do you really want 3 or 4 more years of essays. By the end of my degree i had lost my mojo and couldnt wait to finish so ended up with a 2:2 which has proven to be useless because there are so many graduates employers are after a 2:1 so if like me you have a 2:2 you face an even harder battle to find a job and really wonder why you bothered.
I went to university because I believed i would get a better job with a degree and I chose to do Politics and International Relations because it was sold to me as a flexible degree so i could do anything i wished. But upon graduation all of the jobs i looked at the employers wanted specific degrees e.g. business management or I.T. so i was stuck.
I should not have gone to university i failed all my exams in S6 and would probably put the fact I was accepted down to my disability to fill in a statistic. So the desire for the country to be educated a good one but it will only be successfull if the system is designed in a way that makes having a degree worth while and people should take time to think is that really what they want to do.
Last week the Citizens Advice Bureau launched a survey to find out about to find out about graduates and their experiences of struggling to find work- you can fill it in here www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/news/graduate_employment_survey_s.htm
The problem is not just the job centre which is not fit for purpose and should be turned into a careers service which helps everybody regardless of their qualifications. The major problem is that there are too many graduates. In the early 2000s there was a big push to get 50% of the population through university. The policy was not thought through properly because they should of seen the current graduate crisis coming and made sure the system can cope because it isn't doing so.
That may sound a snobbish thing to say and it is not my intention to be so. I believe if people want to go to university they should be supported to do so. But i would advice people to think about why they are going to university and for their chosen degree subject look at employment prospects. I wish i had done this. Are you going because everyone else is? do you really want 3 or 4 more years of essays. By the end of my degree i had lost my mojo and couldnt wait to finish so ended up with a 2:2 which has proven to be useless because there are so many graduates employers are after a 2:1 so if like me you have a 2:2 you face an even harder battle to find a job and really wonder why you bothered.
I went to university because I believed i would get a better job with a degree and I chose to do Politics and International Relations because it was sold to me as a flexible degree so i could do anything i wished. But upon graduation all of the jobs i looked at the employers wanted specific degrees e.g. business management or I.T. so i was stuck.
I should not have gone to university i failed all my exams in S6 and would probably put the fact I was accepted down to my disability to fill in a statistic. So the desire for the country to be educated a good one but it will only be successfull if the system is designed in a way that makes having a degree worth while and people should take time to think is that really what they want to do.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
thank you for the music
People cope in different ways in a crisis, some people turn to drink or hide away in a dark room. I do two things firstly I phone my sister and secondly i listen to ABBA. I phone my sister because big sisters are meant to know everything. and i listen to ABBA because its meant to be the ultimate feel good music.
So what is my crisis? well it is the fact that 16 months ago today I became unemployed. why is this a crisis now given that it has been so long? well the answer is i am fed up. for my last 4 interviews I have been in the top two and at the last one I was told that it was so close if there were two jobs then I would be employed. that has hit me hard I really wanted the job and to be told I was that close is heartbreaking. I wonder what more I can do to gain employment,
In 2008 I was directly affected by the Lehman Brothers collapse as I had just secured employment there. when it collapsed i was gutted and went with a friend to see Mamma Mia at the Cinema to cheer up and it worked so ever since when I have felt low i have turned to ABBA.
I speak regularly to my parents and at the end of every conversation with my dad he says "keep going as I know you do" well that is getting harder and harder as months go on. to quote an ABBA hit I have a Dream, and that dream is to work and When All is Said and done that dream cannot be realalised until some one will Take A chance on me
So what is my crisis? well it is the fact that 16 months ago today I became unemployed. why is this a crisis now given that it has been so long? well the answer is i am fed up. for my last 4 interviews I have been in the top two and at the last one I was told that it was so close if there were two jobs then I would be employed. that has hit me hard I really wanted the job and to be told I was that close is heartbreaking. I wonder what more I can do to gain employment,
In 2008 I was directly affected by the Lehman Brothers collapse as I had just secured employment there. when it collapsed i was gutted and went with a friend to see Mamma Mia at the Cinema to cheer up and it worked so ever since when I have felt low i have turned to ABBA.
I speak regularly to my parents and at the end of every conversation with my dad he says "keep going as I know you do" well that is getting harder and harder as months go on. to quote an ABBA hit I have a Dream, and that dream is to work and When All is Said and done that dream cannot be realalised until some one will Take A chance on me
Monday, 9 January 2012
the welfare reform bill is a missed opportunity
Welfare Reform is an issue which successive government have tackled. In February 2011 the Coalition Government at Westminster introduced its Welfare Reform Bill which it argues is the biggest shake up of the Welfare System in 60 years. It has been very controversial with disability groups uniting in opposition to the Bill in a way that I have not seen before. The Scottish Parliament protested against the Bill by voting against the consent motion. This is a big event as it is the first time the Scottish Parliament has withheld its consent.
The bill affects me directly in two ways firstly I have been unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 14months and secondly I am disabled and receive Disability Living Allowance which pays for my home help and transport. but the purpose of this blog is not to moan about how I am affected. but to point out where the government have not been as radical as they could have been.
According to the home page of the Bill one of the objectives of the bill is to deliver fairness to those claiming benefits and to the taxpayer for more details see http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/
This objective is what i want to focus on and where I think the opportunity has been missed. I am a university graduate having obtained my degree from the University of Aberdeen in 2007 and since then I have been unemployed for 3 out of the 4 years since. I am a talented hardworking guy and I do not think that that stat is fair on either me or the tax payer.
The current bill is dodging the root of the problem which is the Jobcentre system. What I am about to argue is not an attack on the staff who have been very supportive of me but I think the system they operate in is wrong and that is what truly needs reforming instead of attacking the benefits which help some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
So how would I reform the job centre. Firstly I would turn it into a careers service and encourage more employers to advertise there. Presently the vast majority of jobs are for administrative jobs or jobs for skilled trades such as chefs or builders. In the current economic climate more and more highly qualified are signing on and the job centre does not help them find jobs because they are not advertised there. Highly qualified people are taking the jobs which less qualified people could do, so the people who need help to find work are finding even harder and it is not fair on those people.
I have claiming JSA for 14 months I have been put on a Back to Work program which is welcome but why should it happen now and not at the start of my claim. I feel that this will give people the support they need to find work and thus reduce the length of a claim, if people are trained earlier in interview techniques and other skills.
So the Welfare Reform bill is a missed chance because it does not reform one of the biggest barriers to employment for people which is the jobcentre its self.
The bill affects me directly in two ways firstly I have been unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 14months and secondly I am disabled and receive Disability Living Allowance which pays for my home help and transport. but the purpose of this blog is not to moan about how I am affected. but to point out where the government have not been as radical as they could have been.
According to the home page of the Bill one of the objectives of the bill is to deliver fairness to those claiming benefits and to the taxpayer for more details see http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/
This objective is what i want to focus on and where I think the opportunity has been missed. I am a university graduate having obtained my degree from the University of Aberdeen in 2007 and since then I have been unemployed for 3 out of the 4 years since. I am a talented hardworking guy and I do not think that that stat is fair on either me or the tax payer.
The current bill is dodging the root of the problem which is the Jobcentre system. What I am about to argue is not an attack on the staff who have been very supportive of me but I think the system they operate in is wrong and that is what truly needs reforming instead of attacking the benefits which help some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
So how would I reform the job centre. Firstly I would turn it into a careers service and encourage more employers to advertise there. Presently the vast majority of jobs are for administrative jobs or jobs for skilled trades such as chefs or builders. In the current economic climate more and more highly qualified are signing on and the job centre does not help them find jobs because they are not advertised there. Highly qualified people are taking the jobs which less qualified people could do, so the people who need help to find work are finding even harder and it is not fair on those people.
I have claiming JSA for 14 months I have been put on a Back to Work program which is welcome but why should it happen now and not at the start of my claim. I feel that this will give people the support they need to find work and thus reduce the length of a claim, if people are trained earlier in interview techniques and other skills.
So the Welfare Reform bill is a missed chance because it does not reform one of the biggest barriers to employment for people which is the jobcentre its self.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
so near and yet so far
2010 began and ended for me in the same fashion I watched fire works on TV. I was celebrating Hogmanay in two of the great cites on the Planet I saw in 2010 in Venice and saw it out in Edinburgh. This example demonstrates what a year it has been for me so near and yet so far away. I was so near to St Marks Square in Venice to bring in the year (I wasn’t there because it was flooded) and was so near to Edinburgh Castle and the centre of Edinburgh. Both of these venues are famous for their Hogmanay celebrations and although I was there I wasn’t really.
I look back on 2010 with a huge sense of pride not many people can say they stood for parliament and changed the law in the same year but I have a sense of so close and yet so far. My parliamentary campaign went well feel looking back on it I was close to being in parliament. Sitting on the platform waiting for the returning officer to declare the result I was one sentence away from being the Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland. So near and yet so far.
The Barred campaign has been part of me for nearly two years it gave me a job, new friends and even more belief in myself. The 27th of October was my finest achievement it is even more important to me than my degree. That night the Barred campaign won the devolved campaign of the year prize at the Public Affairs News Awards the Oscars of the Public Affairs Industry I thought I had finally arrived. But like so many others I cant find work and again I have a feeling of so near after that fantastic achievement and so far because I cant find work from a professional point of view Barred was meant to be the final push off the diving board into a professional life of work I am still teetering on the edge waiting to get pushed in. So near and yet so far.
2011 will be a big year for me and for the whole of the UK. For me personally I have to take the next step in my life. I would love to stay in Edinburgh but in the current climate beggar’s cant be choosers so I am open to work anywhere. One day I would love to work in America. I lived in New Mexico for a Semester as a student and loved it. In the UK as a whole it will be a big year. The Coalition faces its first big test in May with elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly as well as the AV referendum. If it fails will Nick Clegg be thinking so near and yet so far? Closer to home the Scottish Parliamentary elections will be taking up a lot of my time. I am not standing this time round but I will be campaigning hard for a Labour victory. But I think it will be tight and expect there to a handful of seats in it. For who ever wins it will be a case of so near and yet so far!
I look back on 2010 with a huge sense of pride not many people can say they stood for parliament and changed the law in the same year but I have a sense of so close and yet so far. My parliamentary campaign went well feel looking back on it I was close to being in parliament. Sitting on the platform waiting for the returning officer to declare the result I was one sentence away from being the Member of Parliament for Orkney and Shetland. So near and yet so far.
The Barred campaign has been part of me for nearly two years it gave me a job, new friends and even more belief in myself. The 27th of October was my finest achievement it is even more important to me than my degree. That night the Barred campaign won the devolved campaign of the year prize at the Public Affairs News Awards the Oscars of the Public Affairs Industry I thought I had finally arrived. But like so many others I cant find work and again I have a feeling of so near after that fantastic achievement and so far because I cant find work from a professional point of view Barred was meant to be the final push off the diving board into a professional life of work I am still teetering on the edge waiting to get pushed in. So near and yet so far.
2011 will be a big year for me and for the whole of the UK. For me personally I have to take the next step in my life. I would love to stay in Edinburgh but in the current climate beggar’s cant be choosers so I am open to work anywhere. One day I would love to work in America. I lived in New Mexico for a Semester as a student and loved it. In the UK as a whole it will be a big year. The Coalition faces its first big test in May with elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly as well as the AV referendum. If it fails will Nick Clegg be thinking so near and yet so far? Closer to home the Scottish Parliamentary elections will be taking up a lot of my time. I am not standing this time round but I will be campaigning hard for a Labour victory. But I think it will be tight and expect there to a handful of seats in it. For who ever wins it will be a case of so near and yet so far!
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