Perhaps the Department for Work and Pensions will understand YouTube videos

For four weeks now Declan and I have been dealing with A4E (Action for Employment), a private sector company that has £300 million of Government training contracts and controls 25% of the long-term unemployment budget for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - with zero success. Emails and registered letters to the chairman and owner, Emma Harrison CBE (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight) are not acknowledged and even our jobcentre, Highgate Jobcentre Plus, which is part of the DWP, tells Declan they know nothing about hand-delivered letters to the manager of the jobcentre that have also been sent to her by registered post (see previous blog A4E seek to have our benefits suspended/terminated with a telephone call).

Clearly, if we don't step our game up, we are back to the street - where the DWP has already had us for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan didn't "sign on" TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (see blog of 21 June 2010 Department for Work and Pensions double breaches the Data Protection Act: Letter to the Information Commissioner). So I am starting to produce YouTube videos with the intention of reaching out to other targeted individuals, people who, like us, are at the receiving end of covert action. The New Internationalist pointed out only last year that police surveillance and intimidation of political activists in the UK is hitting new heights!

More specifically, I want to make public some of the things that targeted individuals are routinely subjected to, over years, and to interview reliable activists and scholars au fait with aspects of this insidious invasion of privacy and family life. My intention is to get some videos done quickly before we are taken out. We actually don't know if our benefits have been suspended or terminated, and may not know until well into next week. I am pushing for my first video on Monday night.

This video was made by a part time peace volunteer for Palestine when two agents of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) came knocking at her door. The video, recorded on 21 April 2010, has gone viral and copies have been deleted from YouTube:



This is Declan's latest to the manager of Highgate Jobcentre Plus:

A4E stay mute

This is a self-explanatory letter that Declan sent this afternoon to the chairman and owner of A4E (Action for Employment), Emma Harrison CBE (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight), copied to one of the company's advisers, none other than David Blunkett MP, a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (see blog of 15 August Formal complaint against A4E for unfair treatment). A4E is a private sector company that has £300 million of Government training contracts and controls 25% of the long-term unemployment budget for the Department for Work and Pensions. Declan has been dealing with Harrison, 43, Britain's richest female entrepreneur, for near on three weeks now.

Police tell Declan he can't enter A4E premises

This morning a security guard acting on behalf of A4E (Action for Employment) Holloway branch told Declan he had been instructed by the manager not to let him enter the building or allow him to sign his name and the time of his arrival – Declan has to spend 8 hours a week in this branch under his contract with A4E or our benefits will be at risk of being suspended. So, as instructed by the police in the event of the use of physical threat or force (see blog of 18 August Declan’s statement to the police against A4E - Crime reference number: 2721162/10), Declan phones 999 and waits.

Two police officers turn up – PC NI 601 and PC NI 685. As PC NI 601 is talking to Declan, PC NI 685 is having a chat with Michael Maloney (see previous blog More A4E abuse). This is private property and therefore they can tell you what they want, Declan is informed. And the police officers haven’t heard any racial remarks, so Declan shouldn’t bother calling back to the police station on this one. When Declan asks if the manager is putting anything in writing, he is told no.

So that is it! And all of this under the nose of the manager of our local jobcentre, Highgate Jobcentre Plus (see blog of 16 August A4E try it out again - one step away from an Appeal Tribunal!). And I shouldn’t forget that Declan has already lodged a formal complaint for unfair treatment with the chairman and owner of this company, Emma Harrison CBE (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight), copied to two of its advisers, one being none other than David Blunkett MP, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (see blog of 15 August Formal complaint against A4E for unfair treatment).

As far as we are concerned, this is just another scam by Jobecentre Plus, an executive branch of the Department for Work and Pensions, to put us back to the street. Declan currently has them before the Information Commissioner for a double breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 (see blog of 21 June Department for Work and Pensions double breaches the Data Protection Act: Letter to the Information Commissioner), and the Independent Case Examiner for failing to take timely and appropriate action to consider his request for access to a Starting a Business course that would enable him register NAC as a company limited by guarantee (see blog of 25 July Declan replies to the Independent Case Examiner). Moreover, this is the same Department which forced us to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan failed to “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (see blog of 21 October 2008 European Court of Human Rights declares application inadmissible).

Well, when I say above that that is it, it’s not really it. Declan has already spoken to two legal advisers today, with a third to possibly see on Wednesday afternoon. It is also possible that the solicitor to see on Wednesday will be raising preliminary enquiries on behalf of Declan over the next couple of days. Declan also hopes to see at least 2 or 3 more solicitors before Wednesday afternoon. The bottom line here is he needs to find a solicitor prepared to make our case to a First-Tier Tribunal or almost certainly we will have to do it ourselves - nothing new in that! Actually, Declan also went this morning to the Tribunals Service Office to get leaflets about their appeals procedure but he wasn’t given much help!

More A4E abuse

There seems little doubt that Declan is heading straight for an Appeal Tribunal, perhaps even sooner than Wednesday week (see blog of 16 August A4E try it out again - one step away from an Appeal Tribunal!). In the previous blog I published a statement Declan made last night in Holloway Police Station against A4E (Action for Employment), a private sector company that has £300 million of Government training contracts and controls 25% of the long-term unemployment budget for the Department for Work and Pensions - crime reference no. 2721162/10.

The chairman and owner of this company is Emma Harrison CBE. Harrison, 43, also happens to be Britain's richest female entrepreneur (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight). Declan has been dealing with this woman for two weeks now. Nonetheless, had he not reported the company to the police last night most certainly he could well have found himself physically removed from A4E Holloway branch today. This is the chronology of his time spent at the centre today, which he has just emailed to Harrison (she received the morning chronology by email at lunch time!):

Declan’s statement to the police against A4E - Crime reference number: 2721162/10

It seems I am a 120% right: A4E (Action for Employment) - a private sector company that has £300 million of Government training contracts and controls 25% of the long-term unemployment budget for the Department for Work and Pensions - are not only attempting to have our benefits suspended, but seem very confident that it is going to be a cakewalk (see the previous blog A4E try it out again - one step away from an Appeal Tribunal!). That they have to break the law to succeed seems neither here nor there. In fact, before Declan went to the police station tonight, he was looking at being physically removed tomorrow morning from their Holloway branch - to which he was transferred last Friday by text! According to the police, if security lays one finger on him, he should phone 999 and hand to one of the officers who turn up a copy of this statement and the crime reference number:





All of this is happening right under the nose of the chairman and owner of A4E, Emma Harrison CBE, 43, and Britain's richest female entrepreneur. Declan has been dealing with her for nearly two weeks now (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight). Anyway, a video here of the late George Carlin wouldn't go amiss. This is one that is doing the rounds in Facebook. Apparently he is so spot on, the video keeps disappearing.

A4E try it out again - one step away from an Appeal Tribunal!

A4E (Action for Employment), a private sector company, have £300 million of Government training contracts and controls 25% of the long-term unemployment budget for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and they are very much in our faces. They seem to think that the suspension of our benefits is going to be a cakewalk. Declan has already lodged a formal complaint for unfair treatment with the chairman and owner of this company (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight), copied to two of its advisers, one being none other than David Blunkett MP, a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (see previous blog Formal complaint against A4E for unfair treatment).

They also seem eager to get the job done quickly, but having been to the European Court of Human Rights and back from the street - the DWP put us to the street and kept us there for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan did not “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (see blog of 21 June Department for Work and Pensions double breaches the Data Protection Act: Letter to the Information Commissioner) - we are familiar with the law.

On Friday at 5.30pm, Declan received a text message informing him he had been transferred from the company's Camden branch to the its Holloway branch and had to attend an interview at 11.00am this morning. "Have a great weekend" were the A4E worker's parting words. By 11.30am this morning, Declan had them looking straight down the barrel of an Appeal Tribunal! This is his letter this afternoon to the manager of Holloway branch, who was making all the calls for an employment officer who took issue with Declan's reading of Section 9(6) of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (this letter relates to what A4E refers to as your "My Deal" contract, whilst the complaint I published in the previous blog makes reference to what they call a "Journey Plan"; both My Deal and Journey Plan together constitute what the Act terms a jobseeker's agreement; basically, A4E are now targeting both in Declan's case):



Section 9(6) of the Jobseekers Act 1995 states that "The employment officer may, and if asked to do so by the claimant shall forthwith, refer a proposed jobseeker’s agreement to an adjudication officer". The employment officer Declan was dealing with this morning made a meal of the word 'may' in this extract and said that she was under no obligation whatsoever to refer what she was proposing to an adjudication officer. When Declan informed this woman that she was in fact acting in breach of the Act, she didn't come across concerned at all. Declan, of course, was entitled to his opinion, she told him.

As for the BT Home Hub we are waiting for, our live-in landlady Belinda McKenzie - a 2006 article in the New Statesman about MI5 whistleblower David Shayler, who lived in one of the rooms below us at the time, states that Belinda's house “doubles as the hub of the British and Irish 9/11 Truth Campaign” - has promised me we will have it on 26 August, when Haringey Council has to pay her rent increase (see blog of 14 August Declan pays £100 to be linked to the cable TV network in the house).


Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler after he was evicted from Hackhurst Farm on 20 August 2009.

Formal complaint against A4E for unfair treatment

Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, May 2005–November 2005

At about 9.30pm I discovered that the 27 Categories and 77 Tags I have created for the NAC site at churchandandstate.org.uk had been deleted! It meant that the website was out of action and no postings were showing. As I was assuring Declan that I had back-ups of all my data, they all reappeared - somebody had exported the categories and tags, deleted them, and then imported them back to my WordPress! I have now changed all passwords, not that I believe it will have much of an affect. Anyway, this is Declan's formal complaint against A4E (Action for Employment) for unfair treatment, to go by registered post to the chairman, Emma Harrison, first thing tomorrow morning:



A4E, a private sector company, have £300 million of Government training contracts and controls 25% of the long-term unemployment budget for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Declan has been dealing with them non-stop for two weeks now, and with Harrison for the last week (see blog of 12 August Chairman of A4E in the spotlight). Hopefully, it will not be lost on Harrison that the above letter has been copied to David Blunkett MP, A4E Adviser and former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

It was, of course, the DWP that put us to the street and kept us there for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan did not “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (see blog of 21 June Department for Work and Pensions double breaches the Data Protection Act: Letter to the Information Commissioner). This is what the NAC website looked like at 9.30pm:

Declan pays £100 to be linked to the cable TV network in the house

Four TV blow-outs in the first ten months of our tenancy and our brand new fifth TV a virtual write-off from day one (see blog of 2 June More electronic harassment? Fifth TV rendered useless)! Such was the situation last Wednesday when Declan paid our live-in landlady Belinda McKenzie £100 to connect our flat to the cable TV network in the house. Well, what we've got so far is a digital TV Receiver Box linked to the same outdoor aerial, but no hub for it to work! See an article in the New Statesman stating that Belinda’s house “doubles as the hub of the British and Irish 9/11 Truth Campaign” here.

The deal Belinda struck with Declan last Wednesday is that he will get the £100 back as soon as she receives her full rent from Haringey Council. The problem is that we don't know whether the Council will pay our full rent this month or not (see blog of 16 July Declan appeals Haringey Council's eviction notice). As I have mentioned in several previous blogs, MI5 whistleblower David Shayler lived for a couple of years in one of the rooms below us. According to the BBC's Panorama programme, Shayler “caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair”. Hopefully, it is not a squat that the Council has in mind for us (Shayler is the one sitting on the chair):

Great!

Chairman of A4E in the spotlight

A4E! This is the same employment agency against which Declan had to lodge an application under the Jobseeker's Act 1995 on Tuesday (see blog of 10 August A4E one step away from an Appeal Tribunal), insist that the chairman and owner Emma Harrison complies with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 yesterday (see previous blog Declan insists that the chairman of A4E complies with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998), and today has to enquire of Harrison whether her company is now suggesting that I have to lie in my CV:



Declan sent the content of the above letter to Harrison by email this morning, and has received this by way of reply from her:



I'm puzzled! Here is a bit of an application form that I filled in only a few days ago:



Perhaps Harrison's point is who is going to employ us when clearly everybody can see the British government is harassing us. And perhaps she is right. So why doesn't her company help us get new documents and refer us for work experience to non-profits like Amnesty, Greenpeace, Liberty, Oxfam, Index on Censorship and dozens of others, organisations only too well aware of governments' abuse of civil and human rights? Surely Declan and I bring unique experience and insights into the world of police surveillance and the harassment and intimidation of targeted individuals. The New Internationalist pointed out only last year that police surveillance and intimidation of political activists in the UK is hitting new heights!

A4E are actually contracted by the Government to help us find work experience: on-the-job training and support. So why doesn't the company lift the phone and do it instead of hassling us from one end of the week to the other? And what about reproductive rights organisations like Marie Stopes International and others whose centres are being closed down in Africa and other places because of Catholic lobby groups and Church pressure? Surely, running NAC, I could be a valuable member of such staff.


Secret Millionaire Emma Harrison goes to Dagenham, one of Britain's poorest areas and home to Europe's largest council estate. A steel worker's daughter, 43 year old Harrison is Britain's richest female entrepreneur.

Declan insists that the chairman of A4E complies with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998

In the previous blog A4E one step away from an Appeal Tribunal, I mentioned that Declan has the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) before the Information Commissioner (see blog of 21 June Department for Work and Pensions double breaches the Data Protection Act: Letter to the Information Commissioner). Next, he will be seeking legal advice as to how to take formal legal action against the DWP for a double breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. This is his email this morning to the owner of the employment agency A4E, Emma Harrison, insisting that she complies with the provisions of the same Act (copied to Sir Hugh Sykes, Non-Executive Director):



A4E Who We Are. They are well connected, at least one ex-Labour cabinet minister!

As for our loss last night of the fifth TV in no more than a year (see previous blog), this morning Declan paid our live-in landlady Belinda McKenzie £100 to connect our flat to the cable TV network in the house. The arrangement is that Declan will get the £100 back as soon as Belinda receives her full rent from Haringey Council (see blog of 16 July Declan appeals Haringey Council's eviction notice). Great!

A4E one step away from an Appeal Tribunal

Tonight Declan hit the roof! He came home to see on Channel 4 the woman who owns the employment agency - A4E - which gave him an absolute nightmare yesterday. Not a chance! In the first ten months of our tenancy we had four TV blow-outs. Our brand new fifth TV has been a virtual write-off from day one (see blog of of 2 June More electronic harassment? Fifth TV rendered useless; this blog contains a shocking photo of MI5 whistleblower David Shayler who lived for a couple of years in one of the rooms below us); but tonight, unprecedentedly, it is a total write-off. Only two TV channels, neither one watchable ... no Channel 4! Our live-in landlady Belinda McKenzie (see an article in the New Statesman stating that Belinda’s house “doubles as the hub of the British and Irish 9/11 Truth Campaign” here) has just promised Declan that tomorrow morning she will make enquiries about linking our flat to the cable TV network in the house. He is a little bit cooler now!

The woman who owns A4E is Emma Harrison. When Declan had his second formal interview at our A4E branch yesterday afternoon in respect to his job searching - we've only been with A4E two weeks! - little did he know that in less than two hours A4E would be one step away from an Appeal Tribunal. This letter from Declan to the manager of the A4E branch where he was ambushed yesterday went to Harrison by registered post this evening:



It never seems to stop with Jobcentre Plus, an executive branch of the Department for Work and Pensions. Declan currently has them before the Information Commissioner for a double breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 (see blog of 21 June Department for Work and Pensions double breaches the Data Protection Act: Letter to the Information Commissioner), and before the Independent Case Examiner for failing to take timely and appropriate action to consider his request for access to a Starting a Business course that would enable him register NAC as a company limited by guarantee (see blog of 25 July Declan replies to the Independent Case Examiner). And, of course, this was the Department which forced us to live rough on the streets of London for more than 2 1/2 years because Declan failed to “sign on” TWO DAYS BEFORE he was due to do so on 29 September 2006 (see blog of 6 May Department for Work and Pensions rewrites our history).

An Appeal Tribunal ... sounds good to me!