Tories launch court battle to strip severely disabled people of sorely-needed benefits
How can the Tories justify their determination to retain the discredited Universal Credit ‘benefit’ when the courts have ruled that it deliberately makes disabled people worse-off?
Not only that, but the courts also ruled that the Tory government lied to benefit claimants when they were told they wouldn’t lose money.
Judges ruled that the uneven rollout of Universal Credit makes the benefit system a postcode lottery, with people moving into areas with the new system likely to be seriously disadvantaged.
And – possibly worst of all – why are the Tories determined to waste public money appealing against those rulings in court when it is clear that, in legal terms, they don’t have a leg to stand on?
That is what the Tories are doing to two disabled men – known only as TP and AR.
They had been forced onto Universal Credit when they moved into a local authority area where the new system had been rolled out.
This meant they lost out on the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) and Enhanced Disability Premium (EDP), leaving them suddenly around £180 a month out-of-pocket, despite being repeatedly assured they would not be worse off.
A High Court judge found that this was unlawful because those that moved to a different local authority area were being treated differently to those who moved within their local authority area – the Tory government had created a postcode lottery.
Take note of this:
The judgment in this first case described a “striking” lack of evidence from the [then-] Secretary of State that she had understood or considered the far-reaching consequences for severely disabled people who moved into a different local authority and would be forced onto Universal Credit.
As a result of the case, the Tory government proposed that those who had already moved onto Universal Credit would receive transitional top-up payments – but at a rate of £80 per month rather than the £180 per month they had actually lost.
TP and AR again took the Tories to court, arguing that short-changing them was unlawful as they were being unjustifiably treated differently to those who had not moved onto to Universal Credit and would continue to receive the full amount of SDP and EDP. The High Court again found in their favour.
And now the Tory government is appealing against both decisions.
Rather than accept the self-evident facts that their flagship “benefit” system is deliberately depriving severely disabled people of the money they need simply to survive – and rectify the change…
The Tories are demanding that the courts rubber-stamp this act of governmental daylight robbery.
And they are currently campaigning to win a general election, with a claim that they will solve problems with Universal Credit, when in fact they are actively trying to make it worse.
These are all excellent reasons to vote Labour – that party will abolish Universal Credit once and for all.
Source: Court of Appeal to hear two Universal Credit claims
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i lost my severe disablement and premiums for disability since way back when i decided to take my pension at 60 as i was entited to do. that was 17 yrs ago. since then, i have had no disability premiums on my pension which is only a basic one with pension guaranteed credit.. nothing on any of my paperwork has ever said since i turned 60 that i am disabled. though i do get DLA top tier mobility and middle rate care. but bo premiums aprtaining to being disabled with DLA……apparently you cant get p[ension and severe disability payments 9or couldnt back in 2002
A great opportunity to clear this scum from the streets and offices of Whitehall. Vote the funny little fat guy out!
probably done out of spite,. . the last death throws of an incompetent Government… “we’ll take some of them with us”