#uk government systems

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

my favourite thing in the world is when you get a letter from the government accusing you of essentially being fraudulent when youre not, so you send an email to the email listed on the letter that explains how it isnt fraud and you attach documents to prove it, and then months later they send another letter saying you did not reply to the last letters (they only sent the one) and as such you are subject to a penalty of £125 and oops if you dont pay today, it goes up by £50, and thats just not an amount of money most people have handy to pay off false fraudulent claims. so this time, you email them again and you then go through their website to send another email, and then you call them and explain it, and their workers tell you that its all sorted and youre no longer subject to the penalty.

and then, a month later you get another letter saying that youve been picked up on the false fraudulent thing again and warm you about the penalty you have to pay. because apparently the worker on the phone removed the penalty but didnt change the incorrect information on the system like they were meant to.

so then you have to email them again, explaining everything again, attaching all the evidence again, and also call them again just in case and explain everything again, and this time she does change it on the system and says shell have a corrected certificate sent to your email within the hour.

and then two hours later, you get an email saying youll be emailed the corrected certificate within 24 hours.

[neighbourhoodtwo]

usamericans please stop putting your "congrats uk!! hope this happens to us in november!!" posts in the uk politics tag please please you have no idea

[nando161mando]

Palestine Action shuts down supplier of Israel's largest arms firm

Palestine Action group occupied Grid Defence Systems, physically destroying part of the supply chain for weapons that supply the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza.

The targeting of Grid Defence Systems, was cracked down upon by riot police. The company is a military hardware suppliers for several arms companies including Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems. While the U.K. government continue to arm Israel’s ongoing war crimes, Palestine Action escalates its attempts to prevent such weapons being creating in Britain to begin with.

[vryivs]

I always forget that monarchists exist and then I see someone with the username duchessofmyheartforever or williamisababe posting about how it's mean to giggle at an ultrarich economic leech experiencing just a fraction of struggle and inconvenience (because lets be honest, he probably wont kick the bucket—his doctors are paid to keep his corpse animated long after it ceases to be humane)

[violent-femmess]

imagine if we put the kings coronation money towards fixing food poverty in the UK, the cost of the queens funeral + the coronation is enough to solve the child food poverty crisis in the UK but instead tax payers money was wasted on a dead woman and a dying princess in a golden fucking cart. the potholes in the road were temporarily filled with sand because they "didnt have the funds" because apparently £100 MILLION POUNDS of TAXPAYERS MONEY is better spent on a cunt in a cart than itd be if it was spent on fixing our roads for our safety or saving children in poverty from dying due to malnutrition, they wont get a fucking gold cart, they wont even get their gcses because the government DONT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE THEY CARE ABOUT THE PROFIT.

THEY DO NOT CARE IF WE DIE AS LONG AS THEY ARE LIVING IN LUXURY

[taliejane]

Omfg UK and US 18-25s I'm begging you to vote in the general/presidential election 😭😭😭 young people already don't vote and then to actively abstain (I get it, all your options suck) but then politicians will have zero reason to appeal to you ever! You're entirely excluding yourselves from the conversation! Vote strategically to vote OUT the worst dude but just vote fr

I know they're all doing genocide and it's fucked but like you literally are not preventing genocide by not voting you're just sitting on your hands

[declanisms]

if u r not pro palestine u r pro genocide and pro war crimes xx

[karliahs]

hey so after reading through your entire ao3 account i just have to tell you that you’re hands down one of the most moving writers i’ve read in a long long time?? i guess i was just wondering what kinds of things influence your writing style and if you have any favorite books you’d recommend!! basically your prose is incredible and i would absolutely eat up more of it/anything like it

💛💛💛💛💛💛 this is such a sweet message and i can't tell you how happy it made me!! that means a great deal to me that you like my stuff enough to want to read more things like it

i don't necessarily know that there are writers who i feel like i'm emulating with my prose/writing style, or who i feel are similar to me. it's kind of hard to see that stuff with your own work, maybe? BUT i will absolutely ramble about some of my fave authors/books that i think everyone should read

i do think my stuff is influenced by the fact that i have read a lot of children's fiction - i studied children's lit a fair bit at uni and it's what i wrote my undergrad dissertation about. and while i know adults read/enjoy my work as well as teens, i think i take a fair bit from the children's/YA world in terms of writing about big/intense topics but gently

one of my fave children's authors and authors in general is frances hardinge. she is just...christ. her imagination, her world-building, her characters. one of the best things a book can do imo is take you to a really dark place and then back out of it with equal conviction, and the lie tree is one of the best examples i've seen of that. and i think about a face like glass and its worldbuilding constantly, and a skinful of shadows has the sickest premise on earth and absolutely delivers on it

i do also read a lot of short stories! they are underrated imo and very much their own artform. in the fic world if you lean towards oneshots/shorter works like mine then i'd recommend trying them out! i will say my taste in short stories tends to lean towards the weird and unsettling...like mouthful of birds by samanta schweblin, how to gut a fish by sheila armstrong, salt slow by julia armfield, eyes guts throat bones by moira fowley-doyle

hmmm people have previously commented on my writing being quite introspective and grounded, more about people feeling things than about plot, and my favourite book along those lines is very cold people by sarah manguso. it's so vivid and emotive and well-told. i have recced it to several people by being like listen nothing happens in this book and also it slaps.

i try to infuse my writing with a sense of compassion, and authors who do this really well imo are becky chambers, a long way to a small angry planet especially, and martha wells with murderbot, too.

uhhh these next ones i don't think i can draw even a tenuous connection with my own writing, but i think they're so good and everyone should read them. the mercies and the dance tree by kiran millwood hargrave are gorgeous and devastating. so is idaho by emily ruskovich, one of those books that's too good for me to even really talk about it coherently. piranesi by susanna clarke also - too good, can't say anything about it. courtney summers writes with uncomprising vivid rage, and i come back to her work often because of it: the project and sadie are my biggest recs, though maybe look up content warnings for sadie first because it's...a lot. actually lots of the ones in this paragraph have some very heavy subject matter so read with caution/possibly look up warnings first

i don't know that i answered the question you asked exactly but thank you very much for asking it, and happy reading!

[magiclovingdragon]

I saw this post on facebook from an organisation that helps people with their PIP applications last night

I have my PIP reassessment tomorrow, they know I have anxiety and today I have received 3 phone calls, every 2 hours from a withheld number… I haven’t answered. I fully suspect its the DWP trying this tactic and even despite my thinking that, its still succeeding in triggering my anxiety

Update: Turns out it was PIP phoning, it was one of the first things they said to me on my phone assessment. Supposedly the 4 phone calls (another happened after I made this post) from a withheld number were to remind me for my appointment today but they sent me a text during the day inbetween 2 of the calls and you’d think they’d leave a voicemail so yeah its crafty and the worst part is it worked, today its not only triggered my anxiety but its also made my fibro & ME flare up today with increased pain and fatigue (not helped by me not getting any sleep last night), its flared my ibs and gave me a migraine after the call ended

[poisonandpages]

My GP: This woman is physically ill. She can barely stand without the assistance of a cane and we're still figuring out why. The teeniest movement throws a disc out in her back. That's why I'm happy to sign off on a fit note and say she can't work right now.

Universal Credit office: m'kay but are you like sure sure tho

[allthetime-allthetime]

it was the POOR PEOPLE who did not get the emergency alert

people with sim cards that use the "three" network such as three or smarty (like i use), did NOT receive the emergency alert test today. these networks are known for being a lot cheaper than other networks such as O2. the government is once again prioritising those who can afford more expensive mobile data as these are the people that vote for them. this is essentially the government saying that the working classes are second rate citizens that do not deserve to be warned of fires, floods, or terrorist threats near them. do NOT vote conservative if you wish to be allowed to know if your life is in danger.

this system is meant to warn you of fires, floods, terrorist threats, and other danger. this is not a privilege it is a right.

vote for a party that does not discriminate (hard to find these days i know).

take the tories out of power.

public safety is a right not a privilege.

I hate asking for reblogs but we NEED people to know that the government does not care about them. people NEED to know that the government will leave you to die.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

Having some feelings today.

[starfleetwitch]

AM I HAVING A FUCKING STROKE?!

or did Rishi Sunak really basically just admit IN FRONT OF THE WORLD that taking the UK out of the EU was a terrible decision? Also what I heard: "This country we took but dont acknowledge until it benefits us is in the best position in the world in terms of access to the market"

[nando161mando]

[Glascoed, Cymru]

Early this morning on January 3rd, over 60 activists from the Cymru Peace Coalition have shut down BAE Systems PLC Glascoed site, one of the UK's largest munitions factories.

[awkward-teabag]

It's an odd feeling to be a fan of an actor but instead of wanting to talk about characters/business, want to get their view on political terms. Can't just slide into their DMs with that and also not something for cons where time restrictions could cut it short (and talking politics in line doesn't seem to be the best idea anyway). Also something that would probably be flagged and not allowed for cons anyway.

[daisy-mooon]

"Nooo the teachers can't go on strike, what about the teenagers that need to study for their exams?"

Teenager studying for exams here. If the government can't give a single flying fuck about our teachers, why should I give a single flying fuck about my grades?