Or,
The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Disability Campaigners.
I'd been looking forward to seeing this debate ever since I'd first noticed it in Channel 5's schedule. They have managed, in the past, to produce programmes about the UK's minorities which were neither patronising nor sensationalist – in comparison to the tabloidesque offerings from some other television channels. I've seen a couple of pretty well-balanced debate programmes on Channel 5, too. So, as I said, I'd been looking forward to this debate and had tried but failed to find out how to get a place in the audience.
On the night, however, I checked the telly guide, spotted the dread name Katie Hopkins (right-wing, loud-mouthed, poor-hating, ex-Apprentice 'star') and, feeling somewhat under the weather, tired, and in pain, decided to go to bed instead. Now, I rather wish I'd watched it so will hunt it down on catch-up; but having read Sue Marsh's excellent article (see link) I'm rather glad that I couldn't find a way to get tickets. I'm a wheelie, too, and had I managed to get there, the building might have collapsed under the pressure of five entire wheelchairs, as you will understand, gentle reader, should you click on the link and, please, read on:
http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-big-benefits-row.html
Showing posts with label benefits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label benefits. Show all posts
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Suffering from Irritable Duncan Smith-itis or why my doctor is a liar
A Guest/Cross Post from my friend The Purple Fairy
"Apparently I am a fraud! Hey! How exciting, now I am labelled as something other than average or invisible! Not that I have been officially told I am a fraud. No, that would be to allocate a humanity to me that the Tribunal were incapable of expressing. It seems that not only am I unimportant enough not to benefit from assistance but they have written to tell my friend this is the case BUT NOT ME! How hard must it have been for her to have had to tell me over the 'phone?
So, there you go - you know those headlines that tell you your taxes are being wasted on wastrels; the ne-er do wells, the scroungers, those citizens that can't be arsed to get off their fat backsides and do a day's work? Those who are profligate with their reproduction resources and leech as permanent parasites from the State? Well according to three honest, upright citizens, I AM ONE OF THEM!
But! Wait! Not only that! I am also a benefit cheat! Under the rather wonderful Welfare to Work programme (thanks to the last government) I was encouraged to seek Employment Support Allowance. Only problem with that was that it was intended for individuals who did not have a job. I did. Not only did I have a job but I benefited from generous terms and conditions that saw me through the first part of my illness. As I went into the zero pay stage under my sick note (oh! sorry that's out of fashion now - they are no longer sick notes but fit notes) I was required to be screened by the wonderfully named Atos on behalf of the DWP, then referred to TNG (for some reason I want to call them TCP) another organisation employed by the DWP to assess me for any training needs I may have to encourage me back into work. To overcome my illness(es) and continue to contribute to the State.
The training I needed to get back to a job I already had was a diagnosis of one condition and the management of the excruciating pain of another condition to enable me to function nearly normally for a few hours a day.
Injunctions galore signposted the route back into work. I must do this: I must comply with that; I must co-operate with any and all who asked me; I must share my most intimate secrets with any 18 year old spotty Kevin or Kevinette who I was directed to. Failure to meet any such directions would result in hanging, drawing and quartering. Oh alright then! I exaggerate - a bit. Any failure to follow instructions you could not understand would result in benefit being withdrawn. To complicate matters further, if your ESA is granted on the basis of contributions paid via the National Insurance Tax you are precluded from seeking financial assistance with things like poll tax. If, however, it is granted on the grounds of income, then your poll tax is paid in full!!! So an income 50 pence higher that the minimum set for a person to live on per day trumps four and a half decades of paying contributions. A calculation process even the most greedy of bankers would have envied.
I am sure there are people in this Country who are managing to defraud the system; who know the right words to say, who know how to complete the relevant 46 page forms accurately. People who can adjust their bodies into the rigid boxes that have to be ticked by a faceless policy wonk who has no idea who or what you are. I almost admire them! They must be bloody clever to get around the system! Perhaps it is a skill that could be added to the curriculum so that erstwhile students can add it to their cannon of qualifications. I, clearly, have failed. Because I was daft enough to believe that TNG were acting in loco DWP and who shared my day to day information with them, and, because I was silly enough to report two weeks early aproposed adjustment to employment mutually agreed between me and my employer prior to it's formal implementation, I am now marked as a cheat for receiving £282.00 too much money. Oh and TNG still owe me the £50.00 shopping voucher they promised me for being a good girl and returning to work.
Having striven through the first age and the second age to make a decent life for me and my family, paying all my dues, obeying all the rules, I find myself progressing through to the third age discounted as a human being; called a liar, labelled a cheat and unworthy of help from all the State. If I was the only one then I could easily mange the rage I feel because after all, if you are called worthless long enough, you do believe it and there is no need to trouble with how others perceive you. But I am only one. There is a large, silently suffering population hidden away under the skirts of Mother England.
Mr Irritable Duncan Smith is quite right! The feckless and the foolish should be discouraged from milking the state. However the tools to be used for such a process need to be much finer than the blunt boxing of people into shapes that do not fit them. The decision process sidelines the GP's report (the one prepared for me clearly detailed my difficulties and my needs so she too must be a liar) the focus isn't even on any additional consultants' reports (ditto previous comment), it is on the ticked boxes, on strict narrow parameters. Step outside the line by a toe and you are automatically discounted as a cheat and a liar.
Am I vexed! Am I filled with rage! Too bloody right I am! Me and half a dozen people involved in my care have been called liars, but worse, thousands more are deprived or dissuaded from seeking help because the authorities cannot manage the handful of thieves who do plunder the system. Once more the tail wags the dog. I wonder if any of the people who sit on these appeal tribunals ever trouble to reflect and research on their decisions. Of course not. That would credit them with an empathy they clearly do not possess.
Love and Peace
THE Purple Fairy xxx"
So, there you go - you know those headlines that tell you your taxes are being wasted on wastrels; the ne-er do wells, the scroungers, those citizens that can't be arsed to get off their fat backsides and do a day's work? Those who are profligate with their reproduction resources and leech as permanent parasites from the State? Well according to three honest, upright citizens, I AM ONE OF THEM!
But! Wait! Not only that! I am also a benefit cheat! Under the rather wonderful Welfare to Work programme (thanks to the last government) I was encouraged to seek Employment Support Allowance. Only problem with that was that it was intended for individuals who did not have a job. I did. Not only did I have a job but I benefited from generous terms and conditions that saw me through the first part of my illness. As I went into the zero pay stage under my sick note (oh! sorry that's out of fashion now - they are no longer sick notes but fit notes) I was required to be screened by the wonderfully named Atos on behalf of the DWP, then referred to TNG (for some reason I want to call them TCP) another organisation employed by the DWP to assess me for any training needs I may have to encourage me back into work. To overcome my illness(es) and continue to contribute to the State.
The training I needed to get back to a job I already had was a diagnosis of one condition and the management of the excruciating pain of another condition to enable me to function nearly normally for a few hours a day.
Injunctions galore signposted the route back into work. I must do this: I must comply with that; I must co-operate with any and all who asked me; I must share my most intimate secrets with any 18 year old spotty Kevin or Kevinette who I was directed to. Failure to meet any such directions would result in hanging, drawing and quartering. Oh alright then! I exaggerate - a bit. Any failure to follow instructions you could not understand would result in benefit being withdrawn. To complicate matters further, if your ESA is granted on the basis of contributions paid via the National Insurance Tax you are precluded from seeking financial assistance with things like poll tax. If, however, it is granted on the grounds of income, then your poll tax is paid in full!!! So an income 50 pence higher that the minimum set for a person to live on per day trumps four and a half decades of paying contributions. A calculation process even the most greedy of bankers would have envied.
I am sure there are people in this Country who are managing to defraud the system; who know the right words to say, who know how to complete the relevant 46 page forms accurately. People who can adjust their bodies into the rigid boxes that have to be ticked by a faceless policy wonk who has no idea who or what you are. I almost admire them! They must be bloody clever to get around the system! Perhaps it is a skill that could be added to the curriculum so that erstwhile students can add it to their cannon of qualifications. I, clearly, have failed. Because I was daft enough to believe that TNG were acting in loco DWP and who shared my day to day information with them, and, because I was silly enough to report two weeks early aproposed adjustment to employment mutually agreed between me and my employer prior to it's formal implementation, I am now marked as a cheat for receiving £282.00 too much money. Oh and TNG still owe me the £50.00 shopping voucher they promised me for being a good girl and returning to work.
Having striven through the first age and the second age to make a decent life for me and my family, paying all my dues, obeying all the rules, I find myself progressing through to the third age discounted as a human being; called a liar, labelled a cheat and unworthy of help from all the State. If I was the only one then I could easily mange the rage I feel because after all, if you are called worthless long enough, you do believe it and there is no need to trouble with how others perceive you. But I am only one. There is a large, silently suffering population hidden away under the skirts of Mother England.
Mr Irritable Duncan Smith is quite right! The feckless and the foolish should be discouraged from milking the state. However the tools to be used for such a process need to be much finer than the blunt boxing of people into shapes that do not fit them. The decision process sidelines the GP's report (the one prepared for me clearly detailed my difficulties and my needs so she too must be a liar) the focus isn't even on any additional consultants' reports (ditto previous comment), it is on the ticked boxes, on strict narrow parameters. Step outside the line by a toe and you are automatically discounted as a cheat and a liar.
Am I vexed! Am I filled with rage! Too bloody right I am! Me and half a dozen people involved in my care have been called liars, but worse, thousands more are deprived or dissuaded from seeking help because the authorities cannot manage the handful of thieves who do plunder the system. Once more the tail wags the dog. I wonder if any of the people who sit on these appeal tribunals ever trouble to reflect and research on their decisions. Of course not. That would credit them with an empathy they clearly do not possess.
Love and Peace
THE Purple Fairy xxx"
Originally posted here
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Blame And Recrimination
Blame And Recrimination
(A Protest Song in a Reggae Style, inspired by Life, Aswad, Benefits, Disabilities, Prejudice - and a new typeface called Syncopate, which doesn't copy over!)
*One-a, Two-a, Three-a*(Nothing but) blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
They say no, no, we don’t wanna see you shirK
So pick up your broken body, take it to work
Nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
They say, you ain’t sick cause I seen you online
And that is the proof that you’re perfectly fine
They say no, no, we don’t wanna see you shirK
So pick up your broken body, take it to work
Nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
They say, I saw you went out on the town
Gonna report you so the judge sends you down
They say, you ain’t sick ‘cause I seen you online
and that is the proof that you’re perfectly fine
They say no, no, we don’t wanna see you shirK
So pick up your broken body, take it to work
Nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
But they don’t see how we crawl up the stair
The hour it took just to comb out our hair
How we don’t eat if there’s no-one to cook
The struggle to turn over the page of a book
That we need both hands just to pick up a glass
Have to ask for help to clean our own
Aah-ah-ah-aah,
Apparently the government gives us all a free car,
And electric wheelchairs and loads of money
The latest computer and a plasma TV
They send lots of people to do all our chores,
To cater every whim and to open doors
We take three holidays every year,
Expenses all paid, free wine and free running beer
And just to make sure that we never feel cold
They insulate our houses with 18carat gold! Hah!!!
Nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
Nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
Nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
No, nothing but blame and recrimination
On the disabled of our nation
Copyright (2011) vests in the writer here known as Rockhorse. The lyrics may be used for non-commercial purposes only but credit must always be given. For any other purpose, please request permission before use.
Monday, 14 February 2011
A Valentine's Gift to Current Welfare-To-Work Programme Contractors and Other Stories
Watching "Live Questions to The Work and Pensions Secretary and his Ministers" on BBC Parliament this afternoon I thought I heard Iain Duncan Smith say, in answer to a question from Dame Anne Begg MP, that the bidders for the new (future) Work Programme had been decided. In this I was mistaken as, according to Hansard, it was Chris Grayling speaking and he actually said that:
"...the Work programme bidding process closed this morning, and we have had a substantial number of bids, which is very encouraging. It looks as if the Work programme is going to go ahead according to plan, which is good news." (Question 18, Hansard: HoC 2.30pm 14.11.2011 )
Reading this relieved me of my belief that a decision had been made within hours of the bidding period closing; so, Good Times. Sort of. Since the new contracts for the new Work Programme were, I understood, due to start in April.
What shocked me was what he said next.
"I would also say to the hon. Lady that, shortly before the start of these parliamentary questions, I placed a written statement before the House, giving details of an extension to the welfare-to-work contracts under existing programmes through to next June."
Shock and horror. That might sound dramatic (and might be so) but I know a few people who are currently making weekly or twice-weekly visits to the offices of at least two of the existing contractors. Those people are actually quite looking forward to the end of March, as the replacement contractors might actually have some idea how to help them find decent training or jobs. Or, indeed, any training or jobs...
And then there is the question of when, exactly, is 'next June'? I've tried but failed to find an online copy of the written statement so no help there. Is it 'the next June due' which would be this June, 2011. Or is it June 2012? I know not. But perhaps the existing staff will no longer be overheard on the telephone to employment agencies seeking new jobs for themselves. Or they'll go and be replaced by people who'll try harder to help those they are meant to be helping. It'd give me a break from a fair amount of the tear-drying, calming-down, making properly constructive suggestions and even setting up of interviews for training or work which I do for my friends and acquaintances. I don't mind doing it, when I have the spoons, but people and organizations are being paid vast sums of money for a "service" they appear incapable of providing. And they get their contracts extended...
In Other News
A great array of questions were asked of the Secretary and his Ministers regarding Work Capability Assessments, DLA, ESA, Universal Credit, the Mobility Component for people living in Residential Care Homes and Special Boarding Schools; all of which makes a full reading of today's report instructive and often jaw-dropping.
In particular: during Topical Questions (at the end of the session's report) at "T:9" Atos rears its head:
"Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab): Recently, a constituent contacted me regarding his Atos Healthcare assessment. Three specialists had considered him to be unfit for work, yet it was suggested that he could be a bingo caller or a car park attendant. My local citizens advice bureau has identified many such cases which are resolved in favour of the claimant after an expensive review or appeal. Are there any plans to review Atos Healthcare’s delivery of medical assessments?"
Mr Grayling gave an answer but did not answer the question.
This did not surprise me.
Quotations are taken from the Hansard report on the proceedings in the House of Commons, Oral Questions, Work and Pensions at 2.30pm on Monday 14th February 2011 which can be read in full here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/01.htm
There are two pages and some of the questions do not relate to disability or sickness but all make interesting reading and there are some gems in there...
Sunday, 13 February 2011
On Revolution
This post started as a quick reply to a contributor on a discussion board who, quite rightly, castigated another contributor for comparing the need for protest here with the situation of Algeria. Like I said, "a quick reply". It sort of got longer so I'm reposting it here (with a couple of minor corrections of spelling and grammar and a few additions which are italicised) because it poured from my heart...
You're correct in that the situation here does not compare to Algeria's current or recent experience. Our last official civil war was hundreds of years ago. But the oppression of vast swathes of the population continued and the struggles, protests and conflicts we've had since The Civil War have just never been officially called Civil War. But people died or were beaten and imprisoned and starved. Brother set against brother, sister against sister, parents, families, neighbours all divided and torn asunder.
Some rights and freedoms were granted 160 years ago because those in power here were terrified that we'd launch a revolution like the French were having just across The Channel - it's only 26 miles to France by sea... we can see it on a clear day and the refugees and the instigators and the exiles all alike came here and told their stories. And some encouraged the (massive) underclasses here to rebel against the land- and factory- and mine-owners. And some warned the ruling class that they'd better make some improvements and quickly...
It is less than a hundred years since ALL men over the age of 21 were given the right to vote and women over the age of 30... women over 21 didn't get the vote until 1928. My grandparents and great-grandparents took part in the campaigns that helped achieve those rights. They, and then my parents, campaigned and marched and demonstrated for workers' rights. Life as a pacifist during the first and second world wars was hardly a stroll in the park! Then for a proper National Health Service and welfare system. I was taken as a babe-in-arms and then in a push-chair to protest against nuclear weapons and have since joined campaigns and marches against erosions of civil liberties and against wars and discrimination and racism and religious intolerance and so many other wrongs and short-sighted government policies.
We have laws now on equal rights and equal pay but there is still inequality and discrimination. And we see the things that were fought for in our own lifetimes, even very recently, being eroded, smashed, removed. We are being set one-against-the-other, yet again, to try to protect the things that make this country civilised, a safe and secure place to live.
A government 30 years ago took away many of our rights to protest, to congregate! We got those rights back - watered down but back. The freedoms our forebears risked their lives for still have to be protected and fought for again and again and again. Many of the assets and institutions that had been created through struggle were dismantled, sold off, industries decimated, jobs lost. Some few, through struggle and a change of political colour and policy, were revived but most? Lost. Seemingly forever. Many, many people thrown on the scrapheap remained there. Their scrapheap was cushioned, slightly; but many continued to argue, to protest to campaign whether for themselves or for their compatriots.
This continuing struggle for fair and equal treatment and opportunity is why so many of us support and hope for the peoples of Algeria, of Egypt, of Palestine, of Russia yesterday, of everywhere that people are standing up and saying, "WE matter. WE have a right to freedom. WE have a right to self-determination."
We don't know what it's like to live under a "State of Emergency" for thirty years. Under curfews, martial law etc., But we DO know that freedoms and rights won ALWAYS have then to be defended against encroachment. Always have to be protected against those who rise to power. Because even freely-elected representatives of the people STILL lose touch with the 'ordinary' lives and experience of the people they're supposed to represent. ALL the people. Not just their friends. Or people 'like them'.
And because the peoples of so many countries are standing up against MUCH more oppression than we feel, it gives us the strength and the will to remember that it is only when we unite, rather than fracture over save-the-NHS vs. protect the pensions of disabled people vs. save-the-libraries vs. no-university-tuition-fee-rises vs. everything else that is currently being 'reformed' and cut in such heedless, mindless haste, that we will TRULY succeed in saving or rescuing ANY of them.
Peace.
Edits to correct MORE 'misspronts' - blame the medication ;-)
You're correct in that the situation here does not compare to Algeria's current or recent experience. Our last official civil war was hundreds of years ago. But the oppression of vast swathes of the population continued and the struggles, protests and conflicts we've had since The Civil War have just never been officially called Civil War. But people died or were beaten and imprisoned and starved. Brother set against brother, sister against sister, parents, families, neighbours all divided and torn asunder.
Some rights and freedoms were granted 160 years ago because those in power here were terrified that we'd launch a revolution like the French were having just across The Channel - it's only 26 miles to France by sea... we can see it on a clear day and the refugees and the instigators and the exiles all alike came here and told their stories. And some encouraged the (massive) underclasses here to rebel against the land- and factory- and mine-owners. And some warned the ruling class that they'd better make some improvements and quickly...
It is less than a hundred years since ALL men over the age of 21 were given the right to vote and women over the age of 30... women over 21 didn't get the vote until 1928. My grandparents and great-grandparents took part in the campaigns that helped achieve those rights. They, and then my parents, campaigned and marched and demonstrated for workers' rights. Life as a pacifist during the first and second world wars was hardly a stroll in the park! Then for a proper National Health Service and welfare system. I was taken as a babe-in-arms and then in a push-chair to protest against nuclear weapons and have since joined campaigns and marches against erosions of civil liberties and against wars and discrimination and racism and religious intolerance and so many other wrongs and short-sighted government policies.
We have laws now on equal rights and equal pay but there is still inequality and discrimination. And we see the things that were fought for in our own lifetimes, even very recently, being eroded, smashed, removed. We are being set one-against-the-other, yet again, to try to protect the things that make this country civilised, a safe and secure place to live.
A government 30 years ago took away many of our rights to protest, to congregate! We got those rights back - watered down but back. The freedoms our forebears risked their lives for still have to be protected and fought for again and again and again. Many of the assets and institutions that had been created through struggle were dismantled, sold off, industries decimated, jobs lost. Some few, through struggle and a change of political colour and policy, were revived but most? Lost. Seemingly forever. Many, many people thrown on the scrapheap remained there. Their scrapheap was cushioned, slightly; but many continued to argue, to protest to campaign whether for themselves or for their compatriots.
This continuing struggle for fair and equal treatment and opportunity is why so many of us support and hope for the peoples of Algeria, of Egypt, of Palestine, of Russia yesterday, of everywhere that people are standing up and saying, "WE matter. WE have a right to freedom. WE have a right to self-determination."
We don't know what it's like to live under a "State of Emergency" for thirty years. Under curfews, martial law etc., But we DO know that freedoms and rights won ALWAYS have then to be defended against encroachment. Always have to be protected against those who rise to power. Because even freely-elected representatives of the people STILL lose touch with the 'ordinary' lives and experience of the people they're supposed to represent. ALL the people. Not just their friends. Or people 'like them'.
And because the peoples of so many countries are standing up against MUCH more oppression than we feel, it gives us the strength and the will to remember that it is only when we unite, rather than fracture over save-the-NHS vs. protect the pensions of disabled people vs. save-the-libraries vs. no-university-tuition-fee-rises vs. everything else that is currently being 'reformed' and cut in such heedless, mindless haste, that we will TRULY succeed in saving or rescuing ANY of them.
Peace.
Edits to correct MORE 'misspronts' - blame the medication ;-)
Friday, 14 January 2011
A Modest Proposal: Walking a mile in disabling shoes.
This is what I hope will be the first of many blogs. I'm launching it today in support of the One Month Before Heartbreak blogswarm.
A Modest Proposal: Walking a mile in disabling shoes.
A Modest Proposal: Walking a mile in disabling shoes.
The current government are keen to reduce spending on certain allowances and benefits, the current qualification for which depends upon the claimant having impairments, disabilities, diseases or conditions of such seriousness that they are prevented from leading a “normal” life. They must face considerable challenges in such areas as washing, dressing, eating, cooking, walking, working or taking part in “everyday social activities”. If you have a temporary back-ache or a bad day/week/month at work you would certainly NOT be able to get “free money” from The State.
If you are unfortunate enough to have a seriously limiting physical and/or mental condition you are expected to complete a series of extensive, in-depth forms and provide copious amounts of evidence (from doctors, specialists, physiotherapists, counsellors, carers and/or those who provide you with physical assistance) to support your claim. You are also, in most cases, required to attend a face-to-face “independent assessment” with an approved assessor who may or may not have any understanding of the condition which causes you problems. All these forms, the evidence you’ve provided, the evidence your own medical practioners have provided and the assessor’s conclusion then go to a “Decision Maker” who decides whether or not you fit into their interpretations of the statutory guidelines. Then you’re told whether or not you can receive payments, at what level and for how long.
If you are turned down and feel you have a strong enough case (and have the energy to fight another battle), you can then launch into the appeals process. Most people win their appeals, if they have professional representation from, for example, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
So, as I said at the top, this government are taking steps to increase the qualifying criteria for all benefits in respect of long-term sickness or disability. They are also planning to abolish some allowances (DLA, ILF) and replace them them with one named (Personal Independence Payments) and (perhaps) one as yet un-named allowance. I honestly don’t think that the majority of MPs are anywhere near qualified to tinker around with these things, so I’ve got a suggestion to make.
For the next year every MP, Minister and Government Advisor should be fitted with equipment which mimics the effects of a disabling condition.
One day in the next couple of weeks they should all turn up at Westminster to be issued with their disability at random. The equipment exists. I’ve seen it used in programmes on television and in films. Splints which restrict movement in particular limbs to mimic the effect of physical impairments. Special glasses to replicate various sight impairments. Ear-plugs or intentionally-badly-adjusted hearing aids for hearing impairments. Thick gloves would cover loss of sensation or dexterity. All sorts of clever tricks! Electric shock generators set to random to give a hint of how some conditions plague suffers with pain. I don’t think that there’s anything which would safely replicate the “like a cold ice-pick” or “like a red-hot knitting needle” or “a burning, tearing sensation” that some musculo-skeletal or nerve-pressure conditions treat us to. We could just use ice-picks and knitting needles... perhaps better not! And I’m not sure how you’d replicate amnesia or lack of reasoning capability. (Pick your own joke here ;-))
The rules of the “game” would also include: no simply paying someone out of your generous public salary and expenses or your private wealth to carry things, cook for you, dress you, help you move around, drive, read, write or any other “normal everyday activity”. They only get to keep a free travel-pass if they qualify for a Local Authority one already for reasons of age or existing disability. And no cheating!
If they feel their “disability” limits their mobility so much that they need a wheelchair, white-stick, walking aid, special software etc., they should check the criteria for getting a Local Health Authority issue one or aids or adaptions courtesy of the Local Authority. Then, if they find they wouldn’t qualify or would have to wait too long for the assessment, buy (or hire) a suitable equipment out of their salary which could then be returned, sold or donated at the end of their participation.
When it all gets a bit too much for them they can ask for exemption, for which they qualify by: filling in the application forms for ESA, DLA, Access to Work and also being checking to see whether their “disability” would qualify them for any support according to the rules of their local authority. They would be given the forms to fill in there and then. A random small proportion of them would be given a copy of one of the free guides published by CAB, DIAL or other relevent advice organisation but not the detailed guides that HMSO publish. They are excused from attempting to claim Independent Living Fund support because that’s been closed to new claimants since June this year.
The decisions to grant or deny their claims should be made by DWP staff in training or competency testing. I’m sure they do competency testing... don’t they? If I could make our elected representatives carry out this experiment while living entirely on randomly assigned wage levels (including minimum wage or Jobseekers Allowance) in ratios proportionate to the sources of income of the general public then I would but that would be really wandering into a dream world!
I wonder how they’d feel about abolishing benefits and allowances or restricting their availability once they had some experience of attempting to walk a mile in disabling shoes?
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