Today has seen fourteen job applications go in, painstakingly typed on this Jurassic mobile phone, for care work, shop work, factory work, minimum wage work, any kind of work, because quite simply, this doesn’t work. For reasons unbeknownst to me, this month my Housing Benefit was over £100 short. I didn’t get a letter that … Read more
Well well well. It appears that Tony Cox and I agree on something, according to todays Echo: I’m sure I recognise his words from an Echo letter back in September (and an article on my blog in May) where I said: “I wrote back in May on this blog, mooting this as an idea, to … Read more
‘An unemployed Southend mum who has applied for more than 300 jobs has sold the contents of her home in order to get on top of her spiralling rent arrears. Jobless Jack Monroe, 24, held the open house sale on Saturday, 18 August after being confronted with final notices and increasing arrears on utilities. The … Read more
For John S. Hadjicostas, in memoriam. John Hadjicostas – or as I called him, Grandad – passed away this morning at Southend Hospital. The man that we thought was invincible, who survived strokes, heart attacks, and cancers, has gone. I spent summers down at his guest houses on the seafront, folding bed linen and washing … Read more
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Billy from the socialist rhythm and blues band Thee Faction, described in their own words as ‘blistering, unpleasant, socialist RnB’ and by the Guardian as ‘bringing down the Tories, one song at a time’. To say I was nervous about meeting an explicitly political band that don’t … Read more
Dear Richard Littlejohn, I’ve read your trash non-journalism ‘comment’ piece about me in the Daily Mail this morning – not because it is a newspaper I read, but because a friend forwarded it to me. Firstly, I have to commend you for managing to get so many facts completely wrong in a comparatively short article. … Read more
First published in the New Statesman on 20 October 2015. “URGENT: Legal warning: Jack Monroe has requested you do not publish her birth name (*******) in the future.” I love a Google alert. That particular nugget of joy pinged into my inbox courtesy of political gossip blogger “Guido Fawkes”, less than an hour after lawyers … Read more
Dear Edwina; It’s 9 o clock on Tuesday, the morning after the night before, where we were both on a panel on The Big Benefits Row on Channel 5. I haven’t watched it back, I was there, and know what I look like when I’m angry. I need to get this out – because it’s … Read more
While typing my previous post, I had a bit of a brainwave. And I wonder if I can get something going here, with almost 10,000 Twitter followers, 5,000 Facebook fans, 2,000 Facebook friends, 3,000 email subscribers… I wonder if… If, instead of spending £3 on a coffee today, tomorrow, this week, you could do this … Read more
TwentyTwenty productions are looking for applicants for a new television show that has been described as ‘Benefits Street meets The Hunger Games’. Are you thinking of applying for the chance to win that staggering £15,000 sum? Here’s what you should know first – and I am probably doing myself out of ever getting another job … Read more