Don’t believe the stories – Tories will happily cut payments to the most disabled

Last Updated: March 17, 2016By
[Picture: Skwawkbox blog]

[Picture: Skwawkbox blog]

You know a story is rubbish when sources of information aren’t named.

This one, in The Guardian, would have us all believe that Conservative backbenchers are having a crisis of conscience (poor darlings) and don’t want to support the £4.4 billion of cuts for the UK’s most vulnerable disabled people that George Osborne just announced.

What utter rubbish. They’ll do whatever they’re told.

The plan is to take money away from people who need to pay for particular aids to help them perform normal functions, such as getting dressed or going to the toilet.

We may presume that, by removing their ability to do these things, Osborne intends to hammer their self-esteem so that they will soon consider suicide, in a manner that has been well-discussed on This Blog.

Labour reckons 200,000 people would lose access to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), with a further 400,000 having their benefit reduced.

Let us be clear: They would be just as disabled as they ever were – the cuts are because Osborne wants to make it harder for disabled people to qualify for the benefit.

People around the Tory Party, like David Kirkby of Tory think tank Bright Blue and Graeme Ellis, webmaster of the Conservative Disability Group, have voiced their concerns loud and clear, with Mr Ellis even quitting his job and renouncing his support for the Conservatives.

But the Graun could only suggest that “one Tory MP” had spoken to the paper – and no name is attached to this person.

Comments from the Department for Work and Pensions that this was the least harmful option offered by the Chancellor in the run-up are also made by Mr or Mrs Nobody.

These people do not exist, and nor does the backbench rebellion they suggest. It is simply an attempt to defuse public disquiet.

If you want to know the situation, look at the comments from real people:

The economist Jonathan Portes, who used to work at the DWP, accused ministers of making “a mess of disability benefits”.

He argued that the shift from disability living allowance to personal independence payment was done to reduce costs, but the savings had not been realised.

“They didn’t listen to economists, bureaucrats or doctors, nor did they listen to disabled people,” he said, calling on ministers to stop cutting the current system and instead have a proper review.

Research by the charity Scope shows that disabled people face an average of £550 extra costs a month, compared with the able-bodied.

Mark Atkinson, chief executive of Scope, said disabled people, who were already struggling to pay bills, were very worried. The charity had received many anxious calls to its helpline as a result of the announced cuts. He urged the chancellor to think again.

He said: “Today the chancellor confirmed benefit changes that will make many disabled people’s lives harder. Half of disabled people say that they have struggled to pay the bills because of the extra costs of disability that they face.”

Phil Reynolds, policy and campaigns adviser at Parkinson’s UK, described the cuts to PIP as “devastating” and said they would have a profound effect on the lives of people with the disease.

He said the disability benefit system was no longer fit for purpose: “Thousands of people with Parkinson’s, who rely on aids and appliances for basic tasks like using the toilet or dressing themselves, will now find PIP even tougher to claim. Instead of being able to receive the support they so desperately need, they’re being penalised and shut out at every turn.”

Source: Disability benefit cut: Tory backbenchers call for rethink | UK news | The Guardian

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10 Comments

  1. Terry Davies March 17, 2016 at 11:04 am - Reply

    this writer believes that public spending cuts is done not to pay the national debt now but to save money when people die before claiming their state pension.
    any monies remaining will go indirectly to funding the tory party and NHS england, OBR both set up to deliver negative messages re privatisation or to act as experts and apportion blame in the manner tories want at any given time. Tony Blair started this to avoid blame economic issues and intererest rates. Tories have taken the quango principle further after lesrning from the closet tory PM.

  2. Robert Fillies March 17, 2016 at 11:42 am - Reply

    The tories will cut benefits to the sick and disabled, as they have been doing for several years now under the pretence of targetting those who are in most need. This is the same warped principle that taking thirty pounds a week from sick or disabled people will help them find a job who are in the wrag group of esa precisely because they have been deemed unfit to work. They will do it with glee because they are bereft of any empathy for this group of people. If there are any tory mps who do not support the cuts to these benefits let’s see them put their heads above the parapet.

  3. Jim Round March 17, 2016 at 12:56 pm - Reply

    And so it continues, The Gentleman Ranker is still in his post, despite Mike’s sterling efforts, comments around news sites regarding cuts that affect those with disabilities come nowhere near the amount trivial news gets.
    The Tories will be in power beyond 2020.
    I wholeheartedly agree with those who say people who can leave the country should do so at the earliest opportunity.

  4. Florence March 17, 2016 at 2:09 pm - Reply

    Has anyone actually found any of these disabled ( or even sick, but we don’t seem to.merit such treatment) who are the alleged beneficiaries of these higher, targeted, and more generous benefits? Because all we heard yesterday was those grotesque stock phrases being trotted out, about “more being spent” “better targeted” and other crappy variations on the crappy propaganda?

    • kayD March 17, 2016 at 10:23 pm - Reply

      The higher rate PIP and ESA are exactly the same as DLA and ESA. No more than they are already assessed as needing. So no, there is no ‘more generous’ targeting of disabled in need. It just means they will get more than those who have their ‘award’ forcibly reduced.

  5. Jenny Hambidge March 17, 2016 at 3:16 pm - Reply

    It is obvious surely that if you need to rely on aids and adaptations in your home or elsewhere, or personal help to do what non-disabled people take for granted eg dressing and going to the toilet, or even if you have to make use of furniture to pull yourself along or for balance, that this indicates a significant level of disability or impairment. And this is what PIP tribunals have recognised. I worry the Tories are about to have another go at wheelchair users and say they have no need for money for mobility needs because we can get around in our wheelchairs.

    Another point . Although many of us have been fighting against the principle of Community Care Charges for years (as a tax on disability) we have been unsuccessful (except in WAles where the matter was considered in consultation with Disabled People and legislation put in place so that only a certain proportion of DLA, AA can be taken) If people lose PIP , DLA , AA. Local authorities wil have nothing to charge against and therefore even less money for services.

  6. Rupert Mitchell (@rupert_rrl) March 17, 2016 at 4:16 pm - Reply

    I don’t believe that anyone should leave the country due to the Tories disgusting lack of decency; instead they should stay and fight with all their determination to make certain that it is this disgusting Torrid Tory party which leaves.

    • Terry Davies March 17, 2016 at 4:48 pm - Reply

      freeze all their bank balances , and take away their passports. this should happen when they finally agree to debate the motion ‘ no confidence in the tories’
      an investigation into their performance and expenses with s view to exposing corruption should be held when this government resigns.

    • John March 17, 2016 at 8:22 pm - Reply

      I increasingly find myself (whenever I am watching a HoC debate), wondering what on earth half of the Tories are on, when a lot of them get up to speak, because quite often I find that what comes out of their mouths to be quite unbelievable. It’s like half of them are on another planet !

  7. rosemaryuk March 17, 2016 at 5:15 pm - Reply

    If PiP is paid at a level wherein carers allowance is paid too, a double whammy for some families if both benefits end up being taken away.

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