In yet another cheap marketing gimmick A4e are attempting to portray themselves as nobles saviours of Britain’s underclass by offering advice such as “Jobcentre Plus – this is a great place to look for jobs.”

The shoddy organisation, who have several contracts to deliver legal advice, have disclaimers under many legal advice posts warning that: “Any reliance you place on (this) information is therefore strictly at your own risk.”

And getting involved in A4e is risky business.(2)

The good news is that this site features a way to rate posts and whilst moderated it is possible to leave comments. So even if they don’t publish it you can at least tell the bastards what you think.

Having recently won a huge contract to roll out the upcoming Flexible New Deal, A4e will continue to save the poor from themselves by forcing them to sit in yellow painted rooms for 30 hours a week doing nothing.

There may however be a chink in the matrix.

In the provider guidance (3) for New Deal 25+ it states:

“In addition, without prejudice to this obligation, the Department shall in carrying out its functions have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group. The Department requires all organisations delivering New Deal 25+ to act in accordance with the spirit and letter of these statutory duties.”

This clause is certain to be included in all New Deal contracts, mostly because it’s the law.

Now we wonder exactly how illegally operating in the occupied territories in East Jerusalem is in accordance with the spirit and letter of these statutory duties.(4)

A4e operates across Israel, including the occupied territories, under the name Amin. This makes A4e ancillary to Apartheid and other Crimes Against Humanity under the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

Whilst unlikely, it may be possible for anyone referred to A4e to refuse to attend on the grounds of conscience. A4e often work with refugees for example. Could a Palestian refugee really be forced under threat of benefit sanction by Job Centre Plus to attend a training (sic) company that profits from the misery of the occupation of their homeland?

Sadly the answer is probably yes. Whilst it may make an interesting test case, few claimants can afford to risk the loss of benefit to make such a principled stand. But if you are currently undergoing the misery of an A4e course we suggest you ask them about their activies in Israel. Ask them often.

Or ask them about the current fraud investigation underway which is looking into some of the shadier practices of this bunch of crooks. (5)

A4e don’t like this kind of criticism. The website WatchingA4e was recently forced offline after their web hosting company was contacted by someone (presumably A4e) who said the site was defamatory.

Now we’ve mentioned that A4e’s legal knowledge is flaky but they might like to know that telling the truth is not defamation.

They may also like to be aware of the principle of ‘Fair Comment’. This is the defence against defamation which allows us to call A4e a bunch of blood sucking, parasitical cunts.

Perhaps now is the time for both activists against the Palestian occupation and anti-poverty activists to turn their attention to the activities of this shady bunch of bastards.

The good news is that WatchingA4e are back online at  http://watchinga4e.blogspot.com/

Also worth checking out is  http://newdealscandal.wordpress.com/ who report on general dodginess in the New Deal system in general as well as A4e.

(1)  http://community.mya4e.com/
(2)  http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/a4e-more-from-the-poverty-pimps/
(3)  http://www.delni.gov.uk/nd_25__ops_guidelines_april_08.pdf
(4)  http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3757.shtml
(5)  http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/28/fraud-inquiry-government-jobs-scheme