Monday 4 April 2016

How Barnet Council treat disabled people part 1 - is this fair?

Hi Roger, How are you? How's the Save London music campaign, your blog & the Mill Hill Music Complex?

Since you are a blogger, I want to tell you Roger. Something both personal & politically. You are not going to believe it.

On Wednesday 16th March when there was staff development day (staff training) at the college, I was making my way to pick my brothers at the school. I went on the bus, I swiped my freedom pass on the reader & it said "Card not accepted" I thought I didn't swipe properly but then on the next day (Thursday 17th March) I was making my way to the college for the level 1 maths exam on the Tube. I swiped my freedom pass on the reader. It said "Seek Assistance" so I kept swiping it & it reads the same thing. I stopped at Finchley Central station. 

I asked the ticket inspector what is wrong with my faulty freedom pass card, he said to me, "Have you received the letter from the council?" I replied "Yes". He said to me the freedom pass is stopped, cancelled & it will no be longer used in the Tube lines, buses, Tram, overground & national rail trains so I told him the reason I hold the freedom pass because I have learning difficulties/disabilities. He understood & he said there is nothing he can do because of the stupid selfish Tory government treating the disabled people like garbage by implementing ridiculous policies that affects them like bedroom tax & ruining the welfare system. 

Since then, I told my mum about it & she called London councils who issued freedom pass cards for disabled & older people, she told them that why my freedom pass is deactivated & blocked. They said to her on the phone it wasn't them (London Councils) who blocked me from using my freedom pass. It was the Barnet council who did it. the expiry of my freedom pass is 31st March 2020. 

When mum called the council on the phone, it was the female staff, mum wanted to call the manager of the council, female staff said "no, there is no manager, only me" my mum said to her, I want to appeal against the deactivation of my son's freedom pass card. The staff said no. 

The staff was being disrespectful to my mum for wanting to appeal against the blocking my freedom pass. Before my freedom pass card was stopped working, I received the letter from Barnet council, what it said on the letter is that I need to have photo taken which I did recently. On the letter, it said "Are you diagnosed with learning disabilities & SEN (which includes autism which I am high functioning). I ticked "yes" so I posted the letter in the postbox & I received no response from the Barnet council at all. It did not say on the letter that my freedom pass will be stopped working or will soon to expire, it did say not on the letter. 😞 

What it said on the letter with a simple question. " Do I have learning difficulties" I ticked "yes" so that I received no letters from the council with responses (it also said that I have to be photo taken for freedom pass). That's how my freedom pass was deactivated because of the selfishness of the Barnet council & The Conservative government. 

They blocked my freedom pass without me knowing that my freedom pass card will be no longer work at the tube stations & buses. This is a complete obscene & disgraceful. I have been holding the freedom pass from very long time since I lived in Barnet 18 years ago. The Tories & the Barnet council have treated me unfair although i am normal despite I went to Oak Lodge School (secondary special school) but yet, this is a new low for David Cameron's government or so I say David Cameron's regime. 

How dare them for stopping my freedom pass, what I do to deserve this? This country is really behaving like a strict authoritarian country like China & Russia. For 6 years the Tory government have been treating disabled people including people with special needs (SEN stands for special educational needs) crap, with austerity measures, cutting the independent living fund for severely disabled people including those who are non-verbal, they cut DLA (Disability Living Allowance) & replaced with PIP (Personal Independent Payment) & they cut ESA 30%  by voting in favour of getting rid of Employment Support Allowance.
😦
That's how we despise (another word for hate) them for their rubbish politics. David Cameron, Geroge Osborne & the rest of the Conservative MPs should be ashamed of themselves including voting in favour of disability cuts. At least there were 7 Tory MPs who did not voted in favour of it. The rest should be ashamed. I don't understand why we are living in the country which is a democratic but doesn't have a true democracy at all. 

That's why the public voted for the Tories last year at General election to continue the austerity programme by implementing cuts & dismantling us & the disabled with the politics of misery. Unbelievable!! 😡 The Tories are corrupt & opposers, they don't care about us the British people, neither Is the workers, the migrants, the Scottish, European nationals (like poles, Romanians & Bulgarians, non-European workers, the youth, the elderly & the disabled. That's how my freedom pass is blocked because of them. 

Now I have Oyster card & discount Bus & Tram photocard which I get 15%. Mum & myself had been working on the letters as I went to GP with her to confirm that I do have learning difficulties (& autism even I don't really want to admit it). She had sent the letters to the Tory Barnet council 4 days ago. 

I assume they received the letters by now (3 days ago) so they can reconsider & restoring my freedom pass card so I can get it back & get it to work again.

So that's how I want to tell you about it as I know you are dyslexic blogger & that we dislike the Tory party & their ridiculous politics towards everybody & the disabled.
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This is an unedited message received from a young man with Autism living in Barnet. I have withheld his name to safeguard his privacy. Is this right? Is this fair? Can you imagine how humiliating this is for him?

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