Casa Loca in Impossible

Every time I go out with this one particular friend she somehow works her charms and blags VIP for the group, and I end up not going home until 7am. Last night was one of those nights. (I ended up drunk alone in a casino watching Scott Quigg get beat.)

We started in Dirty Martini and made our way over to Impossible for the Casa Loca party. The stunningly-lit venue plays home to a retro circus act, but one featuring a man hammering a nail into his own face and a skinny bloke in striped pyjamas sword-swallowing and juggling at the same time.

Eyebrow-raising, stomach-churning entertainment. Not for everyone, but I loved it. Apparently, Wayne and Coleen Rooney were there. I didn't notice. But I was drunk.

Incredible scenes at Casa Loca @IMPOSSIBLE_Mcr pic.twitter.com/DE6lrTCdf5

— Matt Tuckey (@matthewtuckey) March 11, 2018

I'll return.

Well, the Tory government have kicked me in the teeth.

This week I met with a Welfare Rights officer to try to get to the bottom of why my Working Tax Credits were stopped. It took a bit of explaining on my part, but the officer, we'll call him SA, described clearly enough what had happened and what the situation is.

Until the end of 2016 I was on both elements of DLA, WTC and the DLA element to WTC. My DLA was stopped and I was asked to apply for PIP. I applied, was offered an interview, was assessed, and was flat-out refused. I applied for Mandatory Reconsideration, with the help of SA and his colleagues (and my parents, and Independence and Prevention Officers), and I was awarded one element of PIP- the Mobility element at £20 a week.

Not long after this, my WTC were stopped. This was, according to the HMRC letter, due to 'a change in my circumstances informed to us by a third party.' I inquired. It turned out my WTC were 'under review,' and that I should phone back in a month. I did. I got the same message. I waited another month, and got the same message again. Eventually I got a letter saying that I'D informed THEM of a change, and that my WTC (which had already been stopped) would be 'stopped.'

I sent a letter of complaint to HMRC asking why this was. Of course, the letter did not garner a response.

After meeting with SA this week, I've found out why all this happened, and it's something that HMRC could very easily have told me if they wanted.

Some people were moved automatically from DLA to PIP. I was not. Because there was a break between these two benefits, that break notified HMRC of a change, and hence my WTC were looked into. I had been on both elements of DLA- Care and Mobility. The Care element was the part that allowed me to receive WTC, despite working fewer hours than would normally be allowed. (30 hours is standard; I work 22.5.) As ATOS only awarded me the Mobility element, I don't qualify for WTC any more. If I worked 30 hours, I could apply for WTC at the normal rate (dependant on my income). I would not qualify as a 'disability claimant' though, despite being on PIP, because the Mobility payment doesn't cover that.

I'm one of thousands of people who were moved from DLA to PIP. DLA was the least-abused benefit of all of them, and it's been well-documented that there was no need to scrap it other than cost-cutting. Therefore it's fair to assume that there will also be thousands of people who also lost that Care component, and can now no longer claim WTC. This will save the government millions. As many news outlets have covered, including The Independent, nearly half of all claimants- including myself- saw their income reduced or stopped altogether. That's how you know this isn't about 'updating a failing system,' or 'making the benefits system more appropriate for the individual,' or whatever Newspeak the Tories want to reel off- it's about cost-cutting, plain and simple.

I now need to look for another job. I either need a second job that fits around my current, part time one, or another job with more hours. Either that, or my current employer needs to offer me more hours. I just wish someone would have told me this earlier.

Symposium Cheshire Katz Club Open Mic Jam Session

Did you ever think, when you woke up this morning, that you'd be watching Scott Thomas (Love Island, brother of Emmerdale's Adam and Corrie's Ryan, as was) performing The Prince of Bel Air?

I didn't expect to witness this impromptu karaoke performance either, but when I dropped into the open mic night at Wilmslow's cosy but tidy Symposium last night I wasn't sure what to expect- partly because I'd lost the email invitation from the talented Steph at Ledigo PR and I couldn't remember what it said.

Scott also busted out some Biggy Smalls and BB King, and to follow this, Nicole Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen in Hollyoaks) duetted with Duncan James from boy band Blue for a rendition of Mustang Sally.

So @SymposiumWilm @ashoztd @stephledigo @MrDuncanJames @nicolebarberlan aced it last night! Great evening and The Mad Hatters were fab!! 💃🏻🕺🏻👏🏼🎤🍸 #inmyelement #lovetodance #getondown pic.twitter.com/hQGPy5y9hs

— Mary Fogg (@mezfogg) March 9, 2018

Providing the acoustics, and a few covers of their own, were The Mad Hatters. Great manic music, including a high-speed indie version of Sisquo's Thong Song.

Duncan James

Nicole Barber-Lane screen left- I forgot who the girl on screen right is! Any ideas?

Scott Thomas

A great evening, with friendly guests. I found it easy to chat to people, male and female, verified and unverified, after rolling in solo. I would have jumped on the karaoke myself, only they had no screen for lyrics. That was the only thing missing. Get in touch with Ledigo PR to keep up with their next events!

Go Away, Snow.

Social life: on hold. The only interesting thing I've done is drop into Club LIV for a Couture Clothing sale. The club opened up on Friday morning selling men's and women's sportswear. Great gear, including my purchases: a fluffy zipped hoodie and a bomber jacket. Was hoping for a full tracksuit- maybe next time!

The Sonique Night didn't happen- the weather put people off, and getting people to come to a dance music night is hard these days. RnB has got way too popular and has pushed out a lot of house music events and clubs. Plus the house music people are, more often than not, having babies.

Also, one inevitability has happened: swanky nightclub Suburbia has closed. It might have looked all posh, but I had the place sussed out early- the John Dalton St venue was full of plastic gangsters, and played the same RnB music as most other places. I got a bad vibe whenever I went there. Too many dickheads fighting.

Online, celeb gossip email system Popbitch included my 'Muggy' Mike Thalassitis gossip. Awesome.

Things are quiet at the mo- I'll have more to say when the snow fucks off.

Typical Challenges Facing Those with Memory Difficulties

One of the reasons I started blogging in late 2006 was that I couldn't keep track to what was happening in my life. I was forgetting what I had done, and what I needed to do, and there were problems I was facing that I felt sure others would be dealing with too. I wasn't particularly confident enough to properly describe them online, though, that being part of the problem. Eventually, though, my parents encouraged me to write about these issues, seeing as after years of NHS treatment, I was a fair bit more capable than I used to be.

Rather than complain about the problems I'm facing, I'd prefer to explain them and describe the situation, and possible routes forward, or lack thereof. A day at a time, I'm jotting down these concerns when they come to me, using Omninotes, an app on the Google play store. I can put all these ideas in one bullet- point-listed note titled Psychology Saturdays, whenever they come to me, wherever I am. Every Saturday I look at my calendar and see what has happened, and what will happen, to come up with ideas for a post. If there's nothing that relates to events at this particular time (e.g. depression support group Andy's Man Club taking over a Parkrun, something I've covered a couple of times) then I can fall back on stockpiled ideas saved in the app.

On the issue of OmniNotes- there is one problem I've found with the incorporation of multimedia. With Microsoft's OneNote, I could drag pictures into the middle of a block of text, or to the end. With OmniNotes, any picture I add to a text note gets slammed in right at the top. This means I I want to write something about that particular picture, and then perhaps include another picture with a different paragraph of accompanying text, they get separated.

This week there are a few small points to make. I managed to get another NHS fine refunded on the grounds of memory difficulties. I appreciate their understanding and their acceptance that I wasn't trying to rip them off. I was getting confused between PIP, which doesn't cover prescriptions or dental treatment, and Working Tax Credits, which were stopped. There has been no explanation for this stoppage.

In fact, I've filed a complaint against HMRC over the way they have handled my case. I've waited over a year to find out why my WTC were stopped- I've received no explanation. Is it to do with my hours of work, which haven't changed? Is it the fact that I was allocated PIP, which would have been a change in my circumstances, albeit one that came from HMRC's own office? Is it some other thing I'm completely forgetting about? Nobody knows. HMRC won't tell me.

I've made numerous calls to the HMRC helpline, which has frequently been engaged- no ability to queue, no recorded message- just an engaged tone, as if there's one handset receiving all the calls from the UK. When I have got through, I've been told my case is 'under review'- but eventually they sent me a letter saying that I'd 'informed them of a change,' so they were 'stopping' my WTC. What was this change THIS time? And did they not know they'd stopped it already? Do they not realise how insulting that is to some one who has already told them their disability stops them understanding formal documentation anyway?

What a joke. I have a Welfare Rights appointment on Thursday- I hope I can explain my situation properly to him, and I hope I understand what the officer advises me to do.

Meeting Muggy Mike

Love Island's 'Muggy' Mike Thalassitis dropped into Manchester's Birdcage club on Friday for a meet-and-greet. Love Fridays, The Birdcage's weekly Friday party, is a great fun night with young clientele.

I got into the queue early and asked Mike the eternally divisive question that Popbitch likes its readers to inquire about: who do you think would win in a fight between a baboon and a badger? Mike is decidedly team baboon.

The queue for pictures was much shorter than when Love Island's Dom and Jess dropped in back in July. It was still a fun night. More RnB than on previous nights, guys wearing trainers, one guy who looked like Tom Sizemore, and a girl wandering around in her underwear. Can't complain.

I went with Manchester Cool Bars. We'll be back in Birdcage soon!

Come see Sonique in Bliss

2000's singer Sonique will be performing her hit Feels So Good in new club Bliss, on Saturday. 

Free tickets are available here for a short time! I've not been to the club yet but, from their Facebook, it looks great and a little different from the norm. Manchester Cool Bars is going, and you should join us! Let's start in Knott bar, near where Deansgate Locks links onto Deansgate.