Left behind by the cost of living: what about disabled people?
[Image: Black Triangle Campaign].
Here’s the relevant part of its editorial:
It will certainly be tough for many, particularly for larger and less-well-off families in larger, older properties; for the elderly, more at risk of hypothermia and less inclined to seek the help they are entitled to; and for a group of people who are too often neglected in so many areas: those with disabilities. Once again, they hardly figure in the national debate on the cost of living crisis. And once again, they are treated as an afterthought at best.
In the case of disabled people who are in receipt of social security, the outlook is bleaker than for most of their fellow citizens. In the first place, many have a lower income simply because they cannot work as easily as others, and society often fails to make the reasonable adjustments necessary to help them to get better-paid jobs.
Second, living with disabilities has always been expensive. There are often extra costs that must be met somehow, such as buying and running special equipment that requires electricity; transportation and mobility; the larger accommodation necessary to facilitate wheelchair use. So the cost of living crisis is already disproportionately affecting households that include a disabled person.
Under the January price cap as currently estimated, 1.4 million claimants will be presented with energy bills amounting to 132 per cent of their annual benefit. Families with a disabled child will face bills equivalent to 116 per cent of their disability living allowance. These figures also understate the impact of the energy price hikes on such households, because disabled people typically have higher-than-average energy needs.
It is morally wrong that those with disabilities, whose lives (and those of their families and friends) are already more difficult, should come off worst in this crisis… By definition, people with disabilities are the most vulnerable, and they should therefore be the first in line for exceptional help.
Absolutely right. So where is it?
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It’s a Cull to ease the “Welfare Burden” or should that be “Useless Eaters”?
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi says “nobody should be cut off” and pretends to care about the vulnerable, says the man willing to commit expenses fraud to keep his very expensive and valuable horses warm.
Perhaps we should all head down to Stratford upon Avon for a heat this winter?
With a physical or mental disability you are less able to leave the house and even to move around as much when you are at home. As a consequence you feel the cold more and are at home more to need heating/lighting. This compounds your other needs and is rarely understood by those who make decisions. But then I should correct myself. As a former Civil Servant I know for certain that politicians running departments are presented with all of the facts by dedicated professionals who work in those departments. Please never imagine that any Civil Servant is either unaware or uncaring, politicians make decisions and they are made WELL aware of the consequences of them. It’s not that they don’t know, it’s that they’ve decided it’s not important. Yes, your life is unimportant to them, whether it is made more difficult or even ENDS because of their decision to try and win more votes just doesn’t register with them.
I am positive that the tories want to kill off the elderly, the infirm, the mentally and physically handicapped, the homeless and vulnerable.