MP tells Theresa May how disabled man was denied PIP and died. Her lack of compassion is stunning
Outrage: Stoke-on-Trent MP Gareth Snell tells MPs how the Tories’ flagship PIP benefit was denied to a disabled man until after his death.
Mrs May’s response was to defend the system that failed Geoffrey Elwell so utterly.
After passing mealy-mouthed condolences on to the family of the deceased, she said the Tories had introduced PIP “to focus payments on those who were most vulnerable”.
Clearly, they’re not doing a good job of it.
The situation is a classic among those of us who know the kind of tricks the DWP carries out: Mr Elwell’s benefit was cancelled, and the result of his appeal delayed until after he died.
The result: A benefit saving going into the future. And was the backdated benefit handed over to his family, if he wasn’t alive to use it?
Was this what the DWP intended for Hazel MacRae, before her local newspaper raised such a public outcry that her own benefit (ESA) was restored?
This is nothing short of evil – a so-called “benefit” that in fact pushes disabled people into the grave. We should be taking the names of all those involved and preparing to try them for mass murder after a sane, Labour government is restored to office.
A Labour MP has told how his constituent died after a cruel benefit assessment denied him the money he was entitled to.
Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent, spoke in the House of Commons about Geoffrey Elwell whose benefits had been denied after he was moved over to the government’s new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system.
Mr Elwell was entitled to claim both the higher higher rate mobility payment and the standard rate for care due to his health needs under disability living allowance
But when he was moved over to PIP in October 2016 an assessor awarded Mr Elwell zero points meaning he was not eligible for any money despite his previous qualification.
In January 2017 he appealed that decision. Six months later on 21st June he passed away still without his appeal being heard.
Two days after he died the appeal awarded him posthumously higher rate for both elements and backdated it to January.
Source: Disabled man denied PIP benefits had decision overturned on appeal two days after he died
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So, according to May, a man who is close to death is not one of society’s “most vulnerable” – what odious people the Tories are.
if that her thoughts then as PM who takes whole responsibility for this policy her and her departments heads and civil servants and the wca assessor and decision makers in charge of this should be held responsible, it is high time they should hold accountability and if that means under criminal law so be it, the question of fitness to work over fitness to assess and fitness to govern and accept responsibility which every person with a degree of common sense knows this policy is not fit for purpose except if you happen to be a tory mp, in which case you think the sun is shining all the tine and this is working, but is it, cost of tribunals, cost of complaints, cost of hospital re-admissions due to incompetence and some of us are going to take the complaints all the way, so are they saving anything, well employ someone with mathematical skills and costings and do the maths, even someone with a abacus could work out the figures don’t add up,not when you spread the cost over different departments, simple solution get rid of the policy, sack all the three assessor companies, retrain all the staff to a NHS competency level and re-employ them in a struggling NHS, looked what a easy solution to a skills crisis, is that to easy or is it to hard for a tory to comprehend, probably is so it won’t happen, we need strong and stable government, not a bunch of BHS Mannequins that nod there heads and are absolutely clueless about real wrold
Compassionate people of any political persuasion must be appalled by this state of affairs. How on earth does this mans family feel. It must make you wonder just how this affected his health, the urge to give up must have been overwhelming in the face of such state intransigence. The accountability trail must be preserved to bring these heartless criminals to book.