Deborah Padfield has been a Citizens Advice benefits adviser, trainer and supervisor in Cambridge, Peterborough and north Essex, where she still works. In the past she lived and worked in London's East End. She has considerable experience of mental illness and is on the steering committee of The Cambridge Commons.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKNo right to despairAs we enter into five years of Conservative rule, those of us who are relatively privileged need to be reminded of a...
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Published in: openDemocracyUKWho benefits from benefit?The UK "benefit" system is about ensuring that people play the part alloted to them by economic and political elites.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKUniversal Credit: the fantasy of a tidy worldThe coalition presents its benefit reforms as fair, rational and efficient. For many, however, the world is not as...
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Published in: openDemocracyUKBasic Income - basic respectBasic Income is not a panacea for our woeful economic structure but it could certainly be a big step forward.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKThe Work Programme, people and economy part 4 - 'failure' and 'success'
The final part of a four part series on the Work Programme, examining what the programme means by 'success' and 'failure'.
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Published in: openDemocracyUKOur parasitic economy: joining the No campaign
A society dependent on the financial, social and existential insecurity of its people has failed in one of the basic...