Bad back brigade

[spideyman]

Lets hope, with these benefit changes the government focuses on the "Bad Back Brigade" and leaves us GENUINE incapacity cases alone.

[brighton88]

I agree that bad back is a hard one to prove

[bikerlifestyle]

i do support the government in them having to do something about benefit fraud, but i also think they are targeting the wrong people

most disability benefit fraudsters know the system, know what to say and do to make sure they get the benefits, the trouble is, the government are going after the easy targets, the ones who are honest about the fact about having good days, and those who are to proud or ashamed to admit how bad they are.

they would only have to sit at the supermarket and monitor the disabled spaces and see how many disabled people using them who are not disabled (yes and before someone goes off on one, i know there are invisible disabilities) but i for one would have no objection being stopped and questioned about my disability if it helped crack down on fraud.

the amount of people in motability cars, who use disabled bays yet they can walk round the whole store unaided and still carry their shopping is disgusting

and lets argue that 20% have invisible disabilities which is probably higher than it actually is as don't forget I am basing this part on the actual mobility side of a disability rather than non mobility issues. that leaves 80% who are abusing the system.

[Danslatete]

I agree that a bad back is hard to prove...unless like me you have had surgery twice and have permanent nerve damage and then get further spinal injuries due to a car accident that gives you ANOTHER invisable illness/disability.

Funnily enough my 'bad back' was never questioned by the disability benefit people because there was evidence like a dropped foot and no reflexes etc.

When it came to claiming for the head injuries it was turned down and had to go to tribunal to get an award.

Both are invisable and both will never get better but because i worked i only got the 365 days of ESA, my condition has not changed and i am in a worse state now than ever before, but i cannot get benefit for another 21/2 years, and all because i had no idea that the 'nice benefit man' did not have my best interest at heart. I was desperate to be normal again and was overjoyed that they said i was able to go to work again after being told by all the specialist that i wasn't going to happen.

Gulliable me? maybe, then they said you can appeal this decsion but i didnt know what i was appealing because i never did a medical or anything, it was done over the phone and they sent a form to fill in.... because they know that we are vunerable and they know that as a bad back brigade i must have been swinging the lead all these years, (even though i have worked)

[bikerlifestyle]

i am confused, how come you cannot get benefit for another 21/2 years

[Danslatete in reply to bikerlifestyle]

Because if you go to work after claiming out of work benefits then you have to get 3 years of national insurance contributions to be abke to claim for sickness or injury, unless its different from the original problem or the original problem changes enough to qualify for support group.

I didnt know either until the man at the job centre told me.

It used to be that if you tried and wasn't able to manage then your benefit was protected at the old level.

[bikerlifestyle in reply to Danslatete]

ohh i didnt know that

[spideyman]

My sister was once at a carnival and noticed a woman there dancing to the music. Nothing wrong with that but shed been claiming IB for a few yrs after having a bad back.

I would have had the video recorder on my mobile running if i was there.

These are the idiots who need to be targeted

[supertwizzle]

This is what the government wants us to do ... blame everyone but them ... they are the ones doing this no matter what the reasons ... they are trying to make us blame immigrants too ... and the latest is to blame us for cuts in the defence budget ... lets not give in to their schemes ... they are the ones at fault no one else

[bikerlifestyle in reply to supertwizzle]

whilst i agree in one way.

but something has to be done about a benefit system (which they let get abused)

and we all know benefit fraud is rife especially disability benefits,

i do blame immigration, (by blame immigration, i mean blame the government for letting it get this bad) because the country is overpopulated as it is, it cant cope with the NHS, housing and everything else how are our children going to get housing, the lack of housing is one thing, but the cost of housing is terrible too.

I for one would report one of the bad back brigade, the sort that uses a stick to go to the doctors, but climbs on his roof and lays slabs the rest of the time.

and whilst i get angry at the abuse and the strain put on the country by immigration, its not racial, but enough's enough when a country cant financially cope then they should not be allowing more immigration, let alone be paying benefits to immigrants who have not paid into our system

but again i do not blame immigrants for this, its the government (s) all of them, for allowing it to get this bad.

[spideyman in reply to bikerlifestyle]

Come back Enoch Powell. All is forgiven LOL

[Danslatete in reply to bikerlifestyle]

Yes it is strange that the government still want to give away cash to foreign countries like India, to help the poor, when india is in a much better financial position than us. It is hard to see immigration being massively abused because there are not enough border agency staff, and even if there were, illegal immigrant very rarely goes through the propper channels. Yes housing is at a premium, NHS is struggling, education is squeezed to the nth degree. Defence is bared to the bone, so what to do? Stop the charity funding to the poor countries? cut more welfare? close some hospitals? Stop putting criminals in jails to save money there? combine police fire and ambulance services?

We could try taxing the rich, but the rich can just leave the country if they wish because they have the means to do it. They also have the maens to pay someone to make sure they pay minimum of tax.

Maybe we should close all the tax loop holes and make sure that any company trading in the uk pay uk taxes on all transactions in the uk.

Maybe we need another government party in power.

[kayjay12000]

My lower spine is extremely badly damaged. to such a degree that bits of bone are impinging on the spinal cord. This was relatively easy to prove with the aid of an MRI. My high dose of morphine every so many hours helps, at the moment...But essentially, I will never walk more than a yard or so for the rest of my life, and will never really be free of pain.

Perhaps that's why I'm not LMAO at reference to the bad back brigade, who knows?

[Lubilu01]

Yes I agree kayjay12000, i think we need to be careful not to judge as it it easy to group everyone together and it really isn't that simple. However I do fail to see why the powers that be struggle to differentiate between someone who has had a brain injury and someone who isn't genuinely claiming. But I know of people who have other ongoing genuine conditions who have struggled to retain their incapacity benefit. I can see why you don't want to LYAO! X

[kayjay12000 in reply to Lubilu01]

First, thank you. I was beginning to consider leaving this group, what with -as you rightly point out-the easy judgement of others, and the definite racist undertones. So thank you for some good sense. I totally agree with everything you have said, and am involved up to top of me head with the various groups trying to combat these outrageous changes to the benefits system.

[bikerlifestyle in reply to kayjay12000]

i guess you are referring to my comments about immigration

i have a mixed race daughter and am not racist, so if you have read racist undertones into my comments then it is your misunderstanding of the point i am making.

this country cannot cope as it is, yet immigration keeps expanding, i couldn't care less about a persons colour or nationality, what i do care about is that, there is so much poverty and homelessness in this country as it is without adding to it,

do you allow infinite immigration to the point where the country collapses?

so the government are targeting the sick and disabled as we are an easy target, so yes immigration affects us all, and i like that we have a multicultural nation.

i did not respond to the Enoch Powell statement, because i don't agree with Enoch Powell or racist behaviour. but it doesn't mean that every person who disagrees with continual immigration is a racist, it just means we are honest about our opinions and we are not scared to approach the subject for fear of being classed as racist. and in fact that by thinking people who are talking about immigration are racist then that's as judgemental as you can get.

also, we all know what is meant by the bad back brigade

the bad back brigade is those that can walk for miles and do heavy lifting and work, but use a stick when it is publicly necessary to pretend they are unwell, and we have all seen them or known them in our lifetimes.

i for one don't believe i have judged other disabled people, my point was that benefits fraud is all too real and the term, the bad back brigade, has been around as long as i can remember and i am 46 now, (so ok if you don't like the term bad back brigade (remember its just an old saying) replace it with benefit cheats and re read my comments again in which case i am judging benefits

i have damage to my back, and am in a wheelchair so surely in that case i should be equally offended as anyone else, but i am not.

and whilst i am on my soapbox, may i point out that having a disability gives you a different outlook on life to realise what is and isn't important.

words are just words, they mean nothing and its not 'WHAT' someone says, but its how they say it.

i have had the term cripple, spacca retard and much more said against me, and some of these from good friends.

if someone stranger come up to me in the street and said 'you spacca' retard or whatever, then whilst its not nice thing to do to anyone, its just a word it means nothing, and in fact it shows them up as being an A%^&$£E.

however i can get a call from my mate saying well spacca you coming out for a drink, and there is not a problem with that, i give as good as i get and have a laugh, and i am yet to find something that offends me enough to get upset about.

life is too short to be worked up over words, they are nothing and the only power words have is the power you assign to them in your head

(and yes for the record i have been therapied to death, hence my attitude)

and to top off my soap box rant, i think that people getting offended on my behalf is probably one of the most discriminatory things that can happen, people don't know how i will react to things, so the fact they assume that i am in a wheelchair with a brain injury means i will be offended at things they think i should be offended about, is disgusting

its a good job this soapbox is wheelchair accessible

i would also like to point out that my perspective on racism is this, racism will exist for as long as we are not allowed to celebrate our difference or we are not allowed to joke or have a laugh at each others expense

whilst cultural difference are taboo there will always be racist elements, but open acceptance that there are cultural stereotypes and differences and that's what makes us all great, that fact we are all different, and the sooner we can laugh, talk and celebrate these without fear of being called a racist or labelled as hateful, then the sooner society will get along.

ohh and after writing this it has occurred to me that kayjay12000 is just going on about the Enoch Powell bit being racist, if so, i still meant everything i wrote, but its just not aimed at you

if however you wrongly assumed that i am a racist then please re read it after i have clarified my position here

[cat3 in reply to bikerlifestyle]

I don't believe anyone would think you racist ,biker. Lubilu(my daughter) and I were discussing only today what a measured and reasonable person you seem. I think she was agreeing with kayjay's point about the dangers of stereotyping people. And now, I'm just guessing, but I'm betting kayjays reference to "racist undertones" WAS in response to the Enoch Powell comment.

Sorry for butting in but I tend to stick up for the people I respect & I'm sure you'll be getting further support from Lubilu when she finishes work.

Best wishes, cat.

[bikerlifestyle in reply to cat3]

thank you

I always try and better explain when i am typing, as i cant say all that if i am trying to actually speak as it would not come out

i tend to write how i would speak, hence there tends to be ok's and so;s starting sentences and i usually repeat my point,

but i can take my time to try and say what i think

again thank you

Mark

[kayjay12000 in reply to bikerlifestyle]

You made it very clear in your original statement here that you did not have a racist agenda. I believe you. I believed you when I read what you wrote originally. Further more, there is much good sense in what you say, we cannot have infinite immigration. Some kind of control is required. My concern was far more with the (probably light hearted) comment regarding Enoch Powell. Regarding the place of language being "just words" I in part agree. Allow me to explain: at the personal level, yes-they are just words. However at the societal level, the power of words is hugely increased, becoming articulating principles for all kind of unsavoury groups, elements etc. Regarding the paragraph that begins it's a good job... I totally and completely agree with all you say.

[bikerlifestyle in reply to kayjay12000]

sorry i may have over reacted, i Just hate racism, and would hate to be thought of as a racist, i do apologise

[kayjay12000 in reply to bikerlifestyle]

Please don't feel ANY need to apologise whatsoever. You have not done anything to apologise for, You have clearly stated what you believe to be true-and I agree with what you have said! It is so important that we do not fight amongst ourselves, but rather the appalling cruelty and heartlessness of the benefit cuts, "bedroom tax" and all the rest of it. In fact -given that the "Enoch" reference may have been in jest, perhaps I should apologise!

Once again I totally agree with all you have said in your reply above. I too hate racism, again total agreement.

You are clearly someone of great integrity. Please be assured of my respect.

[Lubilu01]

Phew, so glad that's sorted! Love and best wishes to you all xx

[kayjay12000 in reply to Lubilu01]

Thank you!

[bikerlifestyle in reply to Lubilu01]

thank you x

[spideyman]

Im not a racist.

Enoch Powell in the sense that the country is jam packed with immigrants. Nothing to do with their colour or nationality

[Lubilu01]

We all agree nobody is racist, this was a debate and a half! Xxx

[spideyman]

Made me top blogger