Another eye opener from our favourite government , NOT - NRAS

NRAS

36,432 members45,077 posts

Another eye opener from our favourite government , NOT

Philip profile image
10 Replies

It's long but well worth reading about the lies and trickery of our benefits , DLA, INCAPACITY BENEFITS. Please share it with everyone you know or don't know.

Diary of a Benefit Scrounger

The Smoking Gun that shows the Tories lied about ALL of their Welfare intentions

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 07:33 AM PDT

And that's how it goes folks. Being me these days. Suddenly, out of the blue, someone sends me something so perfect, so shocking, so undeniable that my heart starts to beat faster.

So in an innocent little tweet from someone called Stephe Meloy sent me this wonderful, oh-so-detailed smoking gun.

conservatives.com/News/News...

Entitled "A Contract for Equalities" with (oh delicious irony) a foreword by Theresa May (Yes that's right, she IS the now Home Secretary who wants to abolish Human Rights) it is a detailed pre-election plan of what the Conservatives will and will not do if they win power in the 2010 election.

Theresa May assures us in her intro that

"Just as we are determined to fight poverty, so we are determined to fight prejudice and discrimination wherever it exists

No group, no minority, will be left behind on the road to a better future."

Which gives you the tone of pure fantasy of the rest of the document.

Initially, we are told, no-one too ill to work should be forced to.

"Central to our plans is a clear distinction between people who can’t work and those who can. of course, there are some people who due the nature of their disability or illness will not be able to work. These people who cannot work because of a disability or illness should never be forced to work."

So far, 22,620 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants in the

WRAG (Work Related Activity Group - people found to be severely sick or disabled and unfit for immediate work) have been sanctioned - some onto the government's work programme - under threat of losing their income between 1st June 2010 and 31st May 2012

"We are very much focused on

helping all who are capable of work, not just

those who are nearest to the job market."

Recent evidence to parliament's Work & Pensions committee shows providers ARE favouring those easiest to help

Here's where it get's really interesting. They WON'T be scrapping Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

"As disabled people themselves are best placed to judge how to meet their care needs, we will preserve Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance as cash benefits, which can be used to support family care and costs arising from their disability. "

Disability Living Allowance Mobility Component for blind people the current rules for people claiming the Higher Rate Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance mean that it is only available to people who are physically unable to walk. This is unfair to visually impaired people as they too face mobility difficulties. While the law has now been altered to enable these rules to be changed, it is still not a reality for people with no useful sight for orientation purposes. We will implement this change to help support people with visual impairments to live more independently"

Expressing the desire to EXTEND a benefit, would certainly imply you had no intention of abolishing it the moment you came to power. The Conservatives announced a new benefit to replace it just weeks later

They go on to say they will "simplify the assessment process for accessing services" for disabled children,

they say they will "increase the number of health visitors by 4,200" and that they won't abolish Child Trust Funds or the top up payments for disabled children.

But here's the real killer punch at the end :

Under a section entitled Changing attitudes towards disabled people :

"A Conservative government will tackle the stigma and prejudice that still persists towards disabled people, particularly those with mental ill-health."

In fact, a misleading scrounger rhetoric, knowingly engineered and sustained by this government, has left millions of disabled people living in fear and allowed the single greatest attacks on disabled people in living memory. Note the HUGE spike in negative language about welfare claimants and the disabled from 2010 when this government came to power.

There are literally countless lies here, and I've only focussed on the very narrow subject of welfare reform and adult disability. Other groups are infinitely better qualified than me to discuss the many many other sections to this document. I'm sure they will want to when they see this utter fabrication from our current government.

PLEASE SHARE THIS : SHOW THE REST OF THE COUNTRY JUST HOW FAR THIS GOVERNMENT ARE PREPARED TO GO.

You are subscribed to email updates from Diary of a Benefit Scrounger

To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google

Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Written by
Philip profile image
Philip
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
10 Replies
miss profile image
miss

Your right its long xx

Vonnie55 profile image
Vonnie55

Hi Philip,

Just read the article with seething interest!

It sickens me what this government is doing to the sick and disabled people.

Theresa May and her lot are comitted to fighting discrimination and prejudice wherever it exists, what are they talking about!!!

To my mind, what they have done to people needing Incapacity Benefit (now ESA) and DLA (now PIP) is totally prejudicial. Their selection process to determine who gets these benefits is highly discriminating, one has to be on their last legs practically to qualify!

I say 'selection process' as when i was filling in the forms to retain my Incapacity benefit, this feeling of dread suddenly came over me. It felt that i was living in natzi Germany during the second world war and because of race, disability etc i would be sent to the 'camps' to be thrown on the scrap heap, literally! Rather like when the majority of the sick and disabled, end up in the WRAG or are turned down, we eventually loose our benefits if we don't get back to work. Thrown on the scrap heap!!!

THERE, I've said it! I realise that it sounds a bit strong, but i stress they are just my feelings on the matter.

I wish I felt inclined to tell Vonnie that she is being over the top but I don't. I wouldn't compare Cameron to Hitler but there are definite moves towards the right that bode ill for lots of minorities. And it is hard to predict how it will pan out - the extremism of the 1930s could happen again in almost any country, in my view. It's really important to fight back - there seems to be very little organised resistance to austerity at the moment & that in itself leaves the way clear for more attacks on sick and disabled people. Mind you, Philip is doing his bit and I'm not. I'd like to know if there are any demonstrations coming up that I could attend - that would be a start at least. Will you please let us know Philip?

Luce

Vonnie55 profile image
Vonnie55

Hi Luce,

I feel so strongly about this,but feel my hands are tied. You are right, if there is anything that we can do, i for one would be interested.

Vonnie

cathie profile image
cathie

We just have to resist this in as many ways as we can. Just exchanging experiences and making sure that we don't hide things will help. And when we score a little victory we can all learn from it. I don't know if nras are compiling documents about unfair treatment but that would help. And we should all be writing to our mps - if we're feeling we'll enough.

Philip profile image
Philip

The place I started in order to get this info is called,

disabled people against cuts. dpac.uk.net/. There is absolutely lots of info and the dates and places where the protests are, thank you everyone for your replies.

dpac.uk.net/. Pass it round and tweet it put it on FB, what ever it takes.

Philip

I totally agree with all that has been said! Going through the Benefits system for the first time has been traumatic to say the least. We need to stand up for ourselves. We wrote to our local MP then the Health Minister. We also put formal complaints and named and shamed ATOS!! Also complained about the job centre. We made our voice heard and it worked as now in Support Group. Don't give up even if it's hard. Get friends involved and people who care about you. Have a good day Michelle

lifebeginstoday profile image
lifebeginstoday in reply to

Hi there, i have fibromyalgia and RA, took 1 mth to complete esa form due to the extreme fatigue, constant body pain and chronic 'circumstantial' depression. I have been put in work related group and im waiting for date for ATOS medical. I wake up feeling sick with 'pending doom' anxiety every day which hits me throughout the day also. At present this has escalated due to pending medical. I am terrified of medical cos it was so corrupt last time (i won appeal back then). Dont feel i can go through it all again and would rather end my life than considered to be a liar, scrounger, fraudster. All those things ATOS and Gov think us to be. It's humiliating,degrading and down right immoral. Last time at medical she told me to kneel on floor, i said i could but it would be extremely painful and i wouldnt be able to get up. she pushed a chair in front of me and then told me to kneel on chair, Feeling overpowered, I did... She ticked the box. She knew id just had major bowel/pelvic/abdo surgery and was about to have another op soon. I felt demoralised and de-humanised (if that's a word).

Can you email me copies of your letters to mp and health minister? You can ask for my email address through RHAS if poss. Let me know. Jess x

Dancingqueen profile image
Dancingqueen

I have to say I agree with everything said. I am facing a tribunal so I feel right in the middle of all this. Its hard not to take it personally when you know you are being disregarded & no one listens to you.Being given no help by the job centre or anyone else for that matter its hard not to let it worry & distress you. The C.A. B is overwhelmed by the numbers of people needing their help so trying to get help from them is difficult. I have worked & paid taxes all my life until I had to take medical severance. yet I'm made to feel like a criminal & burden to society. Its awful.

Hi Jess, My second ATOS medical I was really poorly and was told by the doctor that my GP could of given me a sick note and they would of continued my benefits. I said NO to a lot of the examination and as long as you say " NO IT WOULD CAUSE ME PAIN" THEN YOU DON'T NEED TO DO IT. Also your GP can write a letter outlining how you are and say that you are unable to attend a medical due to your condition and it would cause you undue stress. I saw a doctor who was very informative. Make sure you get a copy of your medical report and it make take a phone call but it is worth it. You need evidence. I always took someone with me, who took notes and again evidence. Don't be bullied and though hard say NO. I will try and get copies of the letters as I do not have them. My friend took on my fight as I didn't have the energy to do so for myself. She is still writing to the Health Minister as she wasn't impressed by his reply!!! It will take me a bit of time but keep going, though I know it is hard. Take care of yourself Michelle

You may also like...

NRAS consorting with Government again This time about our ability to work.

NRAS are working again with the government on the new green paper about our ability to work its...

Change to the headings on our favourite page...

Off topic Another government letter!

Message from our Twitchy

From one disaster to another

title is all about,well here goes. Hubby went to work at silly o'clock, I had a bad night with pain...