Perhaps Esther McVey thought disabled people would be grateful when she announced that every claim for Personal Independence Payment would be reviewed, because the government was under-paying people with mental health problems. If so, SHE THOUGHT WRONG.

In fact, the 1.6 million PIP recipients whose claims are to be reviewed have greeted the announcement, not with gratitude, but with terror.

Vox Political commenter ‘Florence’ explains:

The decision to review all cases had caused alarm among the PIP base; we see yet another opportunity to be denied benefits. The DWP are not trusted, and the decision to review all 1.6 million claims will undoubtedly have some unpleasant side effects.

While [the] opportunity to gain extra data on the appalling Human Rights situation is welcomed, the simple fact we are all being put through a desk-based review before our existing review date just fills us all with dread.

It’s a fair point – as ‘Brian’ agrees:

Instead case managers will review people’s claims using existing information, and REDUCE their benefits if appropriate. Cynical aren’t I.

And of course, the u-turn won’t affect people who were disadvantaged by wrong decisions about their physical health. Here’s another commenter, ‘DiabolicalMe’:

Too late for my lovely friend who died aged 47 in March 2017 who had such severe diabetic complications, including severe nerve damage in her legs, had to use 2 crutches to swing her legs about in order to move VERY short distances, and who relied totally on cabs to get anywhere. Got her PIP result 3 weeks’ after her death – standard f*cking mobility rate. Not even enough to get out once per week (return fare). She went to her death worrying about her PIP result (her last email to me said it was making her ‘loopy with worry’, she was having dizzy spells and falling over in her own home…turned out she had undiagnosed (long story, should have been picked up twice at hospital visits in the days leading up to her death) pneumonia. Worry/stress = more impaired immunity on top of her already impaired immunity. She died. RIP Emma

I still take this as an opportunity – to find out how many people have died as a result of the DWP depriving them of money – but clearly all PIP claimants must be vigilant.

They treat the Conservative government with distrust for a very good reason – so many people have died that they, and I, consider the benefit system to have been perverted into a programme of genocide for anyone unable to work; a covert ‘Aktion T4’ for the present day, in which people are ‘nudged’ to their deaths by being deprived of the money they need to survive, rather than being herded into a mobile truck and gassed.

And it’s still going on. Look at the state of this:

Anmarie Williams’ condition has left her incontinent, vomiting and in constant pain.

She has spent weeks on end in hospital and struggles to look after her five children. Simple tasks like changing a nappy and doing the school run have become an ordeal. It’s even made the 34-year-old question whether she’s a “good enough” mother.

And after being signed off by her GP following invasive surgery, Anmarie approached the DWP to claim the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). But after an assessment she was shocked to be told she was “fit to work”.

So Anmarie, who suffers from the debilitating condition, Crohn’s, has been denied benefits despite her illness.

The former shop worker says it’s left her in a position where she can “barely cope” and struggling with depression.

After being told she would not be receiving PIP she ended up back in hospital for three weeks and was being fed through a tube in her nose.

The Tory plan is for this mother to die – either by the worsening of her health condition or by being driven to suicide. Then, as is common DWP practice, the government can deny having anything to do with the death. It is sickening.

I’d appreciate it if readers claiming PIP would keep This Site informed about the review’s effect on them – so I can report it to the world.

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