Good Day, Dear Friends! It is wonderful to see you as always! Well, it has just gone midnight and I thought that I should write down these ideas while they are in my head… Hello again, Wonderful Friends! I am now looking at editing this update before I post it! In this update, I am going to extol the virtues of self-employment and why you should consider going through the Self-Employment Gateway! LET’S RECAP BRIEFLY ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES WITH SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN THIS BROKEN TORY LED SYSTEM 2010, I discovered that the “Working Tax Credit Scam”. Essentially, enterprise agencies would persuade the clientele to sign up to Working Tax Credit without showing clients how to capitalize on their business ideas. I was with such an agency called InBiz. I became very suspicious when the “adviser” kept complimenting me on the work that I had done for my online magazine. He made me feel like we were on a date and that he was charming me for the purpose of getting into my panties so-to-speak. It was all well and good to receive compliments, but I am a grown man, I know that my PDF magazine was good… No! I am not bragging and/or being arrogant, I had a good following at the time and I just needed an expert to show me how to monetize the magazine. This guy was not having any of it. I spent about 6 months waiting for this “advisor” to show me the money! Anyway, to cut a long story very short, I received my InBiz certificate and it must have a couple of weeks later when, by watching the BBC’s The Apprentice, that it dawned on me that I had been scammed. Look, despite what you might think, I was willing to sign off back in 2011. My Jobcentre Plus advisor, before they were renamed as a “work coach”, advised me not to sign off if there was no money coming in from my business idea. I took my advisor's advice. Believe me when I tell you that I so wanted to sign off! Without a clear way of making money from my business idea, it would have been brave but stupid to have signed off at that point. The Back to Work Programme After I had finished with InBiz, I was placed on the Back To Work Programme – despite being told that I would be eligible for the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme. So, I did this Back to Work Programme for 2 whole years. Again, I picked the self-employment option… I had high hopes! Let me tell you something right now… This Back to Work Programme was pitiful! I must have gone through about 8 – that’s right, eight – different “advisors” who were progressively worse than the other. In the end, I had to part ways with a so-called “business advisor” who tried her best to get me to sign up for Working Tax Credit. I was perturbed because this “business advisor” did not care if I had a viable business model, she could not give a shit! All she wanted to know was, “Are you ready to sign up for Working Tax Credit?” Of course, I wasn’t ready! I had no bloody business model and therefore, no plan! So, I spent the last 5 or so months looking for a business model that could work without much finance. Initially, I had a fantastic idea that did not pose as a problem until later. As a result, I had to abandon my original idea. Every time I would see my “business advisor” she had not done any preparation and we went over the same things from the previous week, she wasn’t helping. I decided to not let the 14 months go to waste and concentrated on the last 6 months to produce a viable business from a proven model. When I came off the Back to Work Programme, I wanted to go on the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme in order to sign off to delve into the business model that I had found. Of course, this did not happen. This is when I encountered the “Tricky Vicky” character. This Tricky Vicky character fancied herself as some kind of SS officer. I was so frustrated talking with her that I just became monosyllabic. This Tricky Vicky woman is so awkward because she is essentially pathologically stupid but she does not seem to know it. To quote from the Blade Runner movie, “How can she not know what she is?” Anyhoo… After being “processed” by Tricky Vicky – yes, that term was used, “processed,” I was assigned a new advisor. I told him that I had wanted to go on the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme so that I can sign off. Again, my life couldn’t be that simple. Dim Tim, as I called him back then, had decided that I was going to go on the Mandatory Work Programme. I wouldn’t have minded in the slightest if I had nothing else better to do, however, I had a business plan that I wanted to finish and execute (which would have had me sign off). Dim Tim or Malfunctioning Malcolm, was not cooperating. He kept repeating, “You are doing the Mandatory Work Activity...” “Sorry, I can’t do that. I have a business plan that I need to finish with the NEA so that I can sign off.” “You have to do the Mandatory Work Activity...” “Er, no! Didn’t you hear what I just said?” To make this story very short, I stood my ground and got on the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme but I received a sanction for a month or so, this was September 2013. I tried to fight the sanction but, being true to my word, I signed off at the end of November 2013 and I did not get to do the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme (NEA). Ironically, I signed up for Working Tax Credit by my own volition. I managed to get the form right the second time around for January 2014. Come October 2015, I learned from the council that since my Working Tax Credit had stopped, I would no longer get any rent and council tax assistance. I simply could not believe it! After calling the Tax Credits Office, I was told by a third advisor, that I should reapply. From October 2015 to end of February 2016 I had no income. The Tax Credit Office strung out my reapplication only to inform me, “I feel that you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit,” January 2016. Do you see what I was dealing with? This “decision maker” did not arrive at a decision using truth, logic, and fact. No! The “decision maker” based his decision upon a feeling. To make this story even shorter, I won a tribunal against the Tax Credit Office. But my business was in ruins. I remember having to sign up for Universal Credit, albeit reluctantly, in January 2016 and as soon as I did that I received a letter from the Tax Credit Office to state that because I had signed up for Universal Credit, I could not be eligible for Working Tax Credit as I was not able to claim them simultaneously, which was odd because they did not want to give me Working Tax Credit anyway! I remember talking to another “decision maker” who told me, “You can’t be good at what you are doing because you should be earning at least the minimum wage...” Now if I were able to earn the minimum wage with my business then why on Earth would I need Working Tax Credit. Full Circle So, there I was, in my former Jobcentre Plus office sitting opposite the repulsive Tricky Vicky character. No! She was not repulsive in looks but in her personality, mentality, and mannerisms. I dubbed the woman “Tricky Vicky” because she proved to be an impossibility to relate to on any level – I did try! But after the illegal sanctions, she set up I had to ask to work with another work coach. WHY SELF-EMPLOYMENT? Believe it or not, I have tried my hardest to get a job in Customer Services. Previously, I had done some telesales work. Please do not tell me that telesales is Customer Services, having irate people screaming “get off the f**king line and get a proper job, you c**t,” is not my idea of Customer Services. In fact, I wanted to move from the telesales division into the Customer Services department and they – my former employers – would not let me transfer. Apparently, I was good at telesales. I hated telesales - especially knowing that the company I worked for was duping people. I have tried to apply for Customer Services positions elsewhere to no avail. I digress... Anyway, the plan was to create a body of work e.g. websites that could be a part of a portfolio when I was self-employed, January 2014 to October 2015. However, I did not get to complete the websites that I had started due to my Working Tax Credit being pulled right out from underneath me unexpectedly! I was trying in vain to tell Tricky Vicky the above, and that it was essential for me as a Graphics & Multimedia Designer to have an online portfolio. I was getting some interest and replies from potential employers asking to see a portfolio. As you know, sadly, Tricky Vicky figured she could create a false narrative to impose an illegal sanction based upon the work I had started on my portfolio - I even have a domain name for it just sitting there. Fortunately for me, Tricky Vicky, as pathologically dense as she is, left a paper trail of inconsistencies. My CV must have been good for prospective employers to have taken the time to have written to me. Usually, I would receive an automated message as follows: - “Thank you for your application. Due to the high volume of applications received for this role, we will be in contact if you are shortlisted for the role.” Or... “Thank you for your application. Due to the high volume of applications received for this role, if you do not hear from us it means you have been unsuccessful. Good luck.” In a nutshell, I went from getting positive responses from potential employers by the way of original emails and phone calls to automated responses. Tricky Vicky, through not letting me create my online portfolio, destroyed my career in Graphic & Multimedia Design. That is a load of horseshit, yet some people can’t understand why I am furious. Let me put it in a simple context: Graphics & Multimedia Designer with Social Media Marketing = Up to £35k per anum. How much do you think I’d get for Customer Services? How much do you think I’d get for stacking shelves at night? If I am lucky, in either Customer Services or shelf stacking, I'd be getting something in the region of £16k per anum at best! If that weren’t enough, Tricky Vicky sabotaged my bid for self-employment whilst I was on the NEA, and when I came of the scheme, the woman kept, to put it in laymen terms, f**king up my s**t! Tricky Vicky would take my initiatives, put her idiotic spin on them and render them useless and not before creating false narratives to impose illegal sanctions! Yes, I know I repeat myself a lot, but, this information is going to be recycled on the road to justice. Excerpts will be used in my testimonies to come. Also, I hope to bring new supporters up to speed! There is a method in my thought processes. You should discern that I was sabotaged by a so-called “work coach” who should have been able to have understood my needs and let me get on with it. What Tricky Vicky did was to profile me based on my age and perceived race and dictate to me what job roles that I should go for. I say, “NO!” I have got a functional brain in my head and I do not need the likes of Tricky Vicky or a Malfunctioning Malcolm to make decisions for me. I never needed a “work coach” before and I do not need one now. Again, the “work coach” is really a “work coax,” someone with no qualifications trying to coax people into menial jobs – with confidence trickery – as it makes the work coax look competent in the role. I am not saying that there is no place for the work coax, but I and thousands of other people do not need someone claiming to be a “work coach” squandering my potential. If you have skills and your own plan to get the kind of work that you want to do then why should an unqualified work coax f**k it up and sanction you for it??? I am telling you right now that Universal Credit translates into Slave Labour. The fallacy that is the “work coach” will eventually be replaced by AI. The Google Assistant is practically there already! What these work coaxes do not realize is that they are on borrowed time. This miserable government wants to create a dystopian nightmare, so far, so good. This is why it is essential that you understand that I am not “petty name-calling” by using the terminologies: Trick Vicky, Malfunctioning Malcolm, Stephanie Stepford, and so on. They really describe the kind of personality constructs that will be easily mimicked and surpassed by AI fairly soon! “Okay, Google! Find me a job in Graphics & Multimedia Design.” “Here we are… Based on your age and perceived race, I have found you a nice Customer Services job...” “That’s not what I asked for, Google...” “You have been sanctioned for 28 days for talking back and not for applying for the position that I found you straight-away. Have a nice day! See you in 28 days time – if you are still alive. Ha Ha!” I was going to say, “That’s the future,” but it is taking place right now! Like I have tried to explain to you time and time again when you talk with a “work coach” it is like conversing with a machine, I would prefer to take my chances with AI! You have to watch the Sci-Fi movie, Elysium starring Matt Damon to see where the Tories are going with automation. The Tories want to shut down Jobcentre Plus buildings in order to sell them off to the highest bidder! Anyway, to bring us back to topic… The reasons above is why you should consider self-employment. BEHIND THE CURTAINS You can tell that the Jobcentre Plus staff are just scamming the clientele because they purposely keep initiatives and/or “gateways” away through stonewalling and/or by not telling you anything. It is only by accident that a Malfunctioning Malcolm let slip the “Self-Employment Gateway”. Now, this could mean the following: - 01. There is a dossier on me that says that I am deemed unsuitable for self-employment. 02. The work coax gets a bonus for sending the clientele to programmes such as the over 40 + and ultimately confidence tricking the clientele to accept menial jobs such as Customer Services, shelf stacking jobs, and so on. From August last year, I was placed on a programme run by the Somalian community to help people find employment. I can’t name the organization, but they recognized my Graphics & Multimedia Design talents straight away and encouraged me to go self-employed. Initially, I was going to look for work in the Vegan Cooking Industry. As a result, I took the advice from the organization and decided to go self-employed – especially as the organization claimed that they could find paying clients for me. Get ready to laugh… As I said, a Malfunctioning Malcolm let slip about the Self-Employment Gateway and I grabbed on to it based on this Somali run organization! So, I go back to this organization that reckons they can find me clients in need of design work only to be told, “Have you thought about driving a taxi?” I am like, WTF??? What the hell happened to these clients???? I am looking at this guy, and I am trying not to make a face that betrays my thoughts at the time… This guy went on to say, “You need a license and certification to do Uber, it’ll cost you about £400 to get a license to be an Uber driver or to work with a taxi firm...” In my head I am going, “You f**king a$$hole! If I had £400 I would put it into my business! Where do you think I am going to get £400 from to get a license and qualifications to be a f**king taxi driver when I can’t find the money to renew my f**king driver's license, you f**king knob??? You f**king idiot!!! Of course, I was very calm, polite, the perfect gentleman, I got my Food Bank voucher and got the hell out of there! I was laughing my head off on the streets… I must have looked like a lunatic! But, you know what? I am a very good Graphics & Multimedia Designer, I am confident that I will be able to find some clients in the not too distant future. Plus, I know that my Vegan based food products can and will sell! At the moment, I am raising funds via Go Fund Me: www.GoFundMe.com/Veganergize If you could help that would be fantastic! In part two, I am going to give you some serious concrete reasons to consider self-employment. Understand this, my useless team of work coaxes knew for months that I was looking to take the self-employed route. What did they do (apart from stonewalling me away from the NEA)? I was tricked into applying for a shelf stacking job, and when I did not get the job, they placed me on an over 40s programme. Now, if I had gotten the job, saved up some funds for the business, and left the shelf stacking job, do you think I would have been still entitled to claim the Working Tax Credit equivalent of Universal Credit??? I think the answer would have been: You left a perfectly good job and therefore you cannot claim Universal Credit. This is how my team of useless disingenuous work coaxes were and still are. They are reptilian in nature. They smile like a crocodile as they talk their s**t to convince you that they are on your side, but it was as clear as day that their actions weren’t amounting to honor my skills, experiences, and ambitions. My former Jobcentre Plus may as well have been called Derision Plus (Illegal Sanctions). Get ready for part 2! I will try to keep my waffling to a minimum! LOL! Thank you for your amazing support and for reading this! This one is pretty long! Best wishes, Blue :)