“We’ve found Barney!” shouted the youth triumphantly. Miller laughed. It suddenly felt that as though things were starting to look up.
*****
Stewart Grimley was sitting up on the hospital trolley in the A&E corridor, he looked as though he was in high spirits. His wife was by his side, she looked considerably less pleased about things.
“She told me I was mad, shoving the chopping board down my keks. I must admit, I was only taking the mick, like. But I’m not complaining now!”
His wife looked like she was close to tears, and not in the mood for her husband’s daft jokes. What had happened had really shook her up.
“I don’t suppose you got a good look at him?”
“Nah, I was just walking along, coming back from the shop and Barney started growling so I was looking down at him, and then bang, I was on the floor. I went down like a sack of spuds.”
“And was anything said?”
“Not a word. I was screaming and shouting, and all I heard was his footsteps banging on the floor as he legged it. My dog went chasing after him, for what good he’d do!”
Miller smiled. He couldn’t help but warm to this bloke, and he was reminded of how warm and pleasant the other victims had been, too. They were all really nice people, he mused, which added an extra layer of suspense and intrigue to the whole thing.
“Well, don’t worry about Barney, some young lads found him.”
“Oh, thank God!” said Stewart’s wife.
“They said you always sort them out on Halloween, so they went off searching for Barney. They picked him up in no time. He’s with the old lady whose paper you deliver in the morning.”
“Oh Hilda, God, she’ll be boiling him up a chicken! He won’t touch his pedigree chum after a night with her!”
“Well, I’m glad this has had a happy ending. It was a bloody good idea putting that chopping board down your pants.”
“Hey, it was only a cheap one as well!”
“Yes, well, it’s been harrowing visiting the other victims, and seeing their injuries.”
“I know.”
The jovial mood suddenly dropped.
“So, there was absolutely nothing you can remember about the attacker?”
“No, like I say, it was dark, I just heard the dog getting stressed, then a big bang, felt the pain in my back and went down. I made it sound a lot worse than it was, obviously. He just ran away, very very quickly.”
“Well, thanks a lot. And I’m glad you’re alright, and in such good spirits.”
*****
“Welcome to Sky’s Midnight News and our major, unfolding story this hour. The DWP attacks have continued this evening in Manchester, with another two DWP employees being targeted this evening. Sky sources have informed us that the victim of the first attack, which happened at around five o’clock at Middleton Jobcentre, has left a woman in her fifties blind. The second attack, which we believe happened at around eight o’ clock in the Shaw district of Oldham, was much less serious and we are hoping to speak to the victim, Stewart Grimley in the next few minutes. But first, let’s cross to our North of England Correspondent Paul Mitchell, who is at the crime scene in Middleton. Paul.”
The screen changed from the newsreader’s face, to the familiar looking reporter who was standing outside the Jobcentre.
“Yes, thank you, we have indeed seen another horrendously violent act here tonight. This disused mill on my right overlooks this DWP building. The attacker crept inside here as the DWP staff were preparing to leave for the evening and shot one member of staff in the face. We have since learnt that the lady, who hasn’t yet been named, has lost her sight in this attack.”
“And this happened as the army were arriving on the site to increase security, Paul?”
“Yes, that’s right. The government’s response to provide soldiers at the DWP buildings was tragically completely futile here this evening.”
“Any updates from the police?”
“Nothing of substance as yet, although the Manchester Police Twitter account has announced that the Chief Constable, and the leading detective on this case, DCI Andrew Miller, will be holding a press conference at 11am.”
“What can you tell us about the second attack that took place this evening, Paul?”
“Well, this is a very unusual situation, as the attack which took place at around eight ‘o’clock, involved a DWP employee on his own residential street. He is named as Stewart Grimley and we have been communicating with Stewart, who is now back home after being checked-over at the Royal Oldham Hospital this evening. Stewart is the first victim of this attacker who appears to have escaped any serious injury. All of the other attacks have of course occurred outside or nearby a DWP building, so although the injuries are not thought to be very serious, it is still extremely concerning that this attack has taken place where it has.”
“Well, if I can interrupt you Paul, we actually have Stewart Grimley live, via Skype, good evening Stewart.”
The newsreader sounded quite excited to be interviewing the victim, just a few hours after the ordeal.
“Hiya, aright?” he said, he looked tired and pale but he was smiling.
“It sounds like you had an extremely lucky escape this evening, Stewart?”
“Aye, well, you can say that again!”
“Can you talk us through what happened please?”
“Yes, well, I went to the fridge to make a brew after Coronation Street and one of the bloody kids had used all the milk again, and not said anything. I was bloody fuming, and I said to my wife, I’ll have to go down the shops when I take Barney out, that’s our dog. Any road, my wife started saying I shouldn’t go out on my own, you know, that’s what work have advised because of these attacks. So, for a laugh, I got this chopping board.” Stewart held up the white, plastic block to the camera. “As luck would have it, I shoved it down the back of my pants, to make the wife laugh. Anyway, look at it now.” Stewart held it close to the camera and the Sky News viewers were shown the chopping board, and a crack which had split it down the middle. “That’s where the axe hit it. If it weren’t for this little piece of plastic from IKEA, I’d be bloody paralysed now. And it was only two-quid.”
Chapter Nineteen
Friday
“Good Morning, Britain, I’m Piers Morgan!”
“And I’m Susanna Reid. In the spotlight today are the awful, shocking DWP attacks in Manchester. Today we meet one former member of staff, who warned three years ago that this was bound to happen.” The attractive, dark-haired presenter had a very serious look on her face as she stared into the camera. Her co-presenter continued with the programme’s introduction.
“That’s right, this morning we are talking about the Department for Works and Pensions staff being viciously assaulted in the street, causing them devastating injuries. We are joined by Helen Heath, who worked for the DWP for fifteen years, but left three years ago when she realised that her job had changed. She says that under the current government her role went from trying to help people, to trying to persecute them. Good morning Helen.”
“Good Morning.”
Britain’s most popular breakfast TV show had over a million viewers and this exclusive interview with the Jobcentre “whistle-blower” was bound to attract a few more this morning.
“So, you left your job in 2014 Helen. Tell us why?” said Susanna.
“Well, it’s simple really. I was being told that I had to put as many jobseekers on sanction as I could.”
“And to enlighten our viewers who are lucky enough to have never claimed Jobseekers Allowance… a “sanction” is the procedure of taking away somebody’s benefit. Is that right?”
“Yes, it basically means that you stop their income which includes rent payments and council tax payments. Basically, you’re stripping them of their money and their home, just setting them up for severe hardship, and more-often-than-not, it was for childish, petty reasons. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. S
o, I was put on a disciplinary, basically a warning. It was the last straw, and I handed in my notice that day.”
Piers Morgan looked interested in what Helen was saying. “Obviously, you must have felt very strongly about the situation, to take such drastic action.”
“Yes, and, well I know a lot of my colleagues at the time wished that they could do the same but with bills to pay, mortgages to keep up with, it wasn’t such an easy option for them. The thing was, as the new, nasty tactics were being brought in by the coalition government, there was a sense that the Conservative’s partners, the Liberal Democrats would put their foot down. There was just a real sense that this nastiness wouldn’t last very long, that it couldn’t last very long. I know that a lot of my colleagues felt that it was only a matter of time until the government realised that they were making a mistake and things would return to normal. But I couldn’t stand it, not a day longer, and I was very lucky that my husband earned enough to keep us both afloat for a bit. I managed to find another job within a few weeks.”
“And what is it that you do now?”
“I’m a housing officer. It’s a job where I get to help people, that’s what I wanted to do in life, and that was what I really wanted to achieve with my work at the Jobcentre. And I did, I had so many clients that I helped and encouraged. It was such a wonderful feeling when they came in to tell me they’d got a job.” Helen looked as though she was becoming slightly emotional as the memories of happier times at the DWP came flooding back.
“Now, this is such a difficult subject to report on due to the absolutely appalling injuries that the victims have suffered. It’s been well documented in the press just how evil the person is who is carrying out the attacks. The over-riding priority is to catch the man responsible and the police up in Manchester are desperately trying to figure out who this crazy person is. There are reports this morning that the British Army are guarding the entrances of all DWP buildings in the UK. There are also reports that it’s all a waste of time because after last night’s appalling attacks in Middleton and Oldham, no DWP staff will be turning up for work this morning.”
“Yes, I….”
“Sorry, but I was going to finish up by asking you whether you might think that coming on here, to say ‘I told you so’ is just a little bit insensitive to those poor victims who won’t be able to stand up again, or drive, or see?” Piers Morgan didn’t care if he shocked and upset guests, in fact that was his primary objective.
“Well…I… you invited me on…” Helen had looked a little wrong-footed at first, but came back with a razor-sharp reply which left Piers Morgan stunned momentarily. Helen continued, she was used to talking back to gobby pricks, it was all in a day’s work for the forty-eight-year old mum of three teenagers. “That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever been asked. Am I insensitive because I agreed to do this interview when your producer rang me, and get in the taxi that you sent, accept a cheque for two-hundred and fifty pounds, and a taxi home, to talk about a subject that I’m an expert about? God, no wonder people think you’re a doorknob, Piers.”
Susanna decided to change the topic. “Helen, what do you think about the fact that DWP staff are refusing to go to work?”
“It doesn’t surprise me, not in the slightest. I wouldn’t want to go… if I still worked there, I’d be calling in sick as well.”
“What kind of impact will this have on the DWP in general, do you think?”
“Oh, it will be massive, I mean, the nation relies on benefit payments to carry on, we spend one hundred and seventy billion pounds a year on benefits in this country. That is a lot of money, and it all has to be processed. There are eighty-five thousand people employed to do the various jobs involved in providing that sum of money. So, what we are looking at here, apart from an evil, pathetic psychopath with a misguided agenda, is a financial crisis which is unparalleled. If benefit payments are unable to happen because DWP staff won’t go into work, this country will grind to a stop. No pensions, no tax-credit payments. No job-seekers allowance, no personal independence payments. The country will genuinely, totally, grind to a halt. Now, if you consider the vile acts of this government over the past seven years, the absolute hatred that they have forced DWP staff to deliver against the weakest and
most vulnerable people in society, there should be resignations, from the head of the DWP, to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Ian David Smythe. Even the PM should go. This is a colossal cock-up, and now, the cat is out of the bag, and everybody is going to see what an unimaginable crisis these scumbags have created, by being nasty, horrible, faceless little bullies. Like Brexit, like the stupid snap-election, like the Tory conference shambles in Manchester, this too is going to come and hit them where it hurts, and I for one couldn’t be more pleased about that fact.”
Piers Morgan had recovered from letting in his own goal, and hit back with a new question.
“That sounds as though you are congratulating the attacker.”
“In your ears, it may do Piers. But hopefully your audience are a bit brighter and have a slightly better grasp on reality. Anybody with half a brain will know that I haven’t said that at all. I just called him a pathetic psycho. But you’ve got to try and twist it up to get it going viral Piers, I get it.”
Susanna Reid laughed. She loved the confident manner in which Helen was handling her adversary, it was a rare treat to see Piers being treated rough.
“I’ll tell you what though, this is how bad they are,” Helen continued, “all these Jobcentres are closed, so people can’t sign on. When they re-open, people will come in to sign on, and the DWP staff will say ‘you missed your appointment last week.’ And the claimant will say ‘oh, the Jobcentre was closed because of that pathetic psycho,’ and I’ll tell you what will happen. They will be sanctioned. Because they didn’t keep their appointment.”
“Now, that’s just utter dross!” said Piers, laughing dismissively.
“Is it really Piers? We’ll see. I was told I had to sanction somebody, strip him of his benefits for three months, because he missed an appointment. Do you know why he missed? He was on the pavement outside the Jobcentre giving CPR to a man who’d just had a heart-attack.”
Susanna Reid looked stunned by Helen’s passionate speech.
“He’d saved the man’s life. An ambulance came and took the guy away, and the claimant came in looking tearful. He was shocked and weak and exhausted from doing chest compressions. We gave him a glass of water, and told him to calm down and take deep breaths. We’d all watched this going on for half an hour outside the doors, several other staff members were involved. And then, I was told by my manager that I had to tell him that he’d missed his appointment and he wouldn’t receive any benefits for thirteen weeks. That was the day I left.”
“That can’t be true!” Susanna Reid really did look shocked and agitated by this extraordinary story.
“It is true, I resigned that day because of it. Why are people always so shocked about these stories? This is what is happening, right now in our country, to our people, just because they haven’t got a job, or they have a disease that prevents them from working, or they are mentally incapable of working. They are being killed off by the government, and its high-time that it was stopped. But it’s not being stopped, it’s being lied about by the government and it is getting ignored by the public, because they just see programmes like ‘Britain’s Most Shameless Mum,’ and they assume that everybody on benefits is taking advantage of the system. It couldn’t be further from the truth, and it has got to stop.”
“What exactly has to stop?” asked Piers, with a smug look upon his face.
“The terrorism that the government are committing against people who can’t fight back. It has got to stop, just as hacking dead kid’s phones had to. Eh, Piers?”
*****
“Good morning to everybody waking up in the red rose county. This is BBC Radio Lancashire. Our top story this morning is the DWP attacks. Big Jim in
Clitheroe has an opinion about these shocking, disgusting attacks. Jim?”
“Yes, good morning. Thanks for having me on.”
“You’re most welcome. What are your thoughts, Jim?”
“Well, firstly I’d like to start off with a message to the attacker, if he’s listening. Please stop. If you wanted to draw attention to the sanctions and what have you… well, you have done, the whole nation is talking about it.”
“You can say that again,” said the presenter.
“But violence is never the answer. It never has been and it never will be.”
“Well said Jim. The news this morning is possibly of some comfort to DWP staff, as it has been announced that all DWP buildings will be guarded by armed soldiers until the attacker is apprehended by police.”
“Yes, well, maybe it would have been an idea to keep that a secret. Maybe the soldiers could be hidden from view, and would stand a better chance of catching him. It would be better than simply deterring him.”
“That’s a very good point. Big Jim, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the Welfare Reforms, the Universal Credit and what-have-you. It’s a topic which divides the nation. What do you make of all of this?”
“To be perfectly honest, I’m dead against the welfare cuts, it’s just lazy, backwards thinking.”
“But let me play devil’s advocate for a moment. We do have a growing number of working age people who rely on benefits, people who have slipped into the habit of taking hand-outs and are now in the precarious position of not having any work experience to put on a CV. The government’s thinking seems to be that these people need a wake-up call and need to think of an alternative way to fund their lives.”
“Yes, and that’s all well and good if you were actually putting them into work. Listen, there would be far less of an outcry if people were given a training course rather than having their benefits cut. Why don’t the government sanction people with free driving lessons? Sanction them with free college classes in brick-laying or plumbing, car mechanics, hair-dressing. The simple fact of the matter is that this is not a solution that achieves any results. All the government are actually doing is making matters worse for people who are already down on their luck. It makes no sense, the government are making fools of themselves and being made to look like the nasty party once again.”
The Final Cut Page 15
