A mum who was diagnosed with stage four cancer during the pandemic has said the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift has been vital in her access to care over the past year. Judith Neptial, 49, said she will struggle to attend medical appointments from April when the Chancellor withdraws emergency support. Neptial is one of 100,000 cancer sufferers who have struggled to afford food, rent and bills in the past year due to their inability to work. The total number of people struggling, according to charity Macmillan Cancer, is half a million in the UK. The figures come as the Chancellor prepares to withdraw the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift introduced as a lifeline for millions of people last April. Judith is currently living with Stage 4 bile duct cancer. The mum-of-one from London was forced to give up her career as a psychotherapist due to her illness. She said the government's £80 a month Universal Credit uplift has helped her attend crucial treatment during the … [Read more...] about Mum who lost job after cancer diagnosis says £20 Universal Credit is “vital” support
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420,000 more kids in poverty if Government axes £20-a-week Universal Credit hike
Stripping families of £20-a-week in Universal Credit will plunge 420,000 children into poverty, researchers warn. The Government announced a temporary hike in its flagship welfare payment last March to help hard-up households battle the coronavirus crisis. The rise is worth £1,040 a year for six million households but costs the Treasury £6billion annually. It is due to be axed at the end of next month. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to extend the rise beyond April when he delivers his Budget on March 3. Research by the House of Commons Library, seen by the Mirror, shows 420,000 kids would fall into relative poverty after housing costs are calculated if it is scrapped. A briefing note issued by Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck and Feeding Britain director Andrew Forsey says the £20-a-week UC lift “has offered some protection against poverty and hunger for millions of people”. It adds: “With the social and economic consequences of the pandemic likely to … [Read more...] about 420,000 more kids in poverty if Government axes £20-a-week Universal Credit hike
Statue of Queen Elizabeth is DECAPITATED in British Columbia and police are now hunting for the missing head
Police in British Columbia, Canada are searching for the head of Queen Elizabeth II after a statue of the monarch was decapitated by vandals. 'Investigators are asking for those with information to come forward after the Queen Elizabeth II statue in Beacon Hill Park was 'beheaded' in an act of vandalism,' police in Victoria said in a statement. 'The head has not been recovered.' The statue, a version of a bust first erected in 1960, was vandalized overnight on Tuesday, at roughly the same time the city's nearby bylaw offices were targeted with graffiti reading 'Support Beacon Hill', 'Stop Lying' and 'FU Pig'. Tensions have been increasing in Victoria after a massive homeless encampment sprung up in Beacon Hill Park when the pandemic shut down the city's shelters. Police in British Columbia, Canada are searching for the head of Queen Elizabeth II after a statue of the monarch was decapitated by vandals The bronze bust has stood in Beacon Hill Park since … [Read more...] about Statue of Queen Elizabeth is DECAPITATED in British Columbia and police are now hunting for the missing head
France: Meat-free school lunches in Lyon spark controversy
Lyon is one of France's culinary hubs. It's known throughout the country for its bouchons, or traditional restaurants, serving high-end hearty fare. But now Mayor Gregory Doucet has decided that the city's schools should only serve meatless meals during lunch breaks — a sacrilege to many in this city. Farmers from the Rhone region suspect that Doucet's political beliefs — he's a member of the Green Party — are behind the meat ban. The Greens, after all, have always been critical of conventional agriculture . Doucet's decision was met with protests by local farmers It wasn't long until representatives from two agricultural associations gathered outside Lyon's city hall to express their displeasure with the meat ban. They even brought along cows for extra effect. Local controversy splits national government The local dispute has now come to the attention of lawmakers in Paris. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin of the governing Republic on the Move party decried the … [Read more...] about France: Meat-free school lunches in Lyon spark controversy
‘I was sold as a sex slave at 19 and forced to watch a girl be murdered’
Aged only 19, Sarah Forsyth travelled to Amsterdam on the promise of a job as a nursery nurse – and instead was abducted at gunpoint and sold as a sex slave. She was forced to sleep with up to 20 men a night to line the pockets of vicious pimps. Every night when Sarah closes her eyes the memories of those days in the notorious red light district play out like scenes in a horror film. And she always sees the same face first – that of a trembling young girl from Thailand. She had been trafficked like Sarah but hadn’t made enough money for her captors. As a punishment the girl was taken to a squalid warehouse on the edge of the city and shot dead. Her horrific death was filmed – while Sarah was forced to watch. “Her face just exploded,” Sarah recalled. “I stood and I watched as the bullet literally took half her head off her shoulders. “And then, just as the noise registered in my ears, she dropped to the floor beside my feet. I wanted to scream but although my mouth opened … [Read more...] about ‘I was sold as a sex slave at 19 and forced to watch a girl be murdered’