While the Tories tinker with benefits, this is the reality for claimants
Hazel MacRae from Walker who has been told she is fit to work despite being blind, epileptic and suffering from osteoarthritis [Image: Newcastle Chronicle].
Will she be able to survive on the reduced amount now available to her? The Tories don’t care.
Will she be able to find a job? Absolutely not, because firms simply would not spend money on adaptations for a disabled person who is unlikely to last very long in a job. The Tories don’t care.
Will she be stricken by the usual problems that afflict benefit claimants who are attacked by the Tory system – despair, mental ill-health, suicidal tendencies? Probably. The Tories don’t care.
If she doesn’t survive, the Tories will deny responsibility and enjoy the benefit saving. They consider her to be a “useless eater” and are probably looking forward to her becoming another statistic for their policy of chequebook euthanasia.
It’s all about money with the Tories, you see. They want it all, and don’t care who they take it from or how badly they will be harmed.
Blind since birth and stricken by a string of disabilities but told she is fit to work – this is the reality of Government benefit cuts.
Hazel Macrae, who also suffers from epilepsy, Type 2 Diabetes and osteoarthritis, was claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and was told she’d have to undertake a back to work assessment.
The 62-year-old filled in a questionnaire explaining she’s unable to leave her home without the help of her partner or son because she is afraid of falling, can’t use a pen or pencil, telephone, and would be unable to “move safely” in a workplace.
She was also required to meet with a health professional in Gosforth to undergo a face-to-face assessment where she was asked a series of questions about her daily activities.
Echoing the award-winning Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake – which was shot in Newcastle – Miss Macrae has been told she has “limited capability for work” and her ESA has been moved from the Support Group to Work Related Activity Group, and reduced by £15 per fortnight.
She said: “They think they can support me back into work but I can’t do it. There are no jobs that I can do.
“They have said that I can use my hands and I’m expected to apply for all jobs going… I can’t even make a cup of tea myself because of the boiling water.”
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Tories are unmitigated b*****ds.
The people who are unfit for their jobs are those Tories mal-administering the benefits system who thrive off their perks which the general public provide and it is time the general public got rid of them for a proper decent administration.