Well this is a new fucking low....

[CherryMyBrandy]

Tories are now proposing to stop benefit claimant's access to medicines if they have been deemed not doing enough to look for work....

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-heseltine-hate-politics-jobless-prescriptions-b2449412.html

It's not enough to sanction them, so they basically have next to no money to live on. Now they want to take away their access to medicines, some of those will of course be life-saving.

Because, like a decent Tory, they don't exist ....

Tories showing us that they are actually evil.

And yet with the proposed benefit sanctions (everyone on benefits can work apparently) then the people who are without their meds (pain, epilepsy, mental health, asthma, etc) will still be expected to work.
Errrr no.
Absolute fucking cunts 😤

Here's a gem from The Independent ....
"Senior Tories have condemned plans to strip the right to free prescriptions from benefits claimants who don’t look for work, warning that the government risks descending into the politics of “hate”.
At least some tories are objecting.

Much as I disagree with Tory voters, I think a lot will be aghast at the cruelty the party is proposing. Not all of them are right wing hate frothers.

Come on, there are people on benefits who are malingerers. Just like in every walk of life there are some less than honest people. There are people who really really don’t want to work, and are choosing not working as a lifestyle choice. You might not like to accept that, but it happens. People who have been deemed as not fit to work and therefore don’t have to apply for jobs, are safe. The ones who are fit to work, and are supposed to be putting in the effort to look for work are the ones this is targeted at. I’m no Tory fan, but it something needs to be done. And my comment re there nearly being more people on benefits than working was tongue in cheek. That’s not happened. Yet.

Worth noting as well that Wales and Scotland get free prescriptions for all.

Oh the old “something needs to be done” “this is something” argument.

Just stop and think about the consequences for a minute. If you don’t care about people because you’ve decided they are the undeserving (which is a whole other thread), at least consider the financial consequences of implementing this fuckwittery.

It won’t fly, but will earn votes from the gullible and vicious.

Heard on radio they thinking of cutting benefits to fund tax cuts. Wtf. I would probably benefit from the tax cuts but morally it is the wrong thing to do. The world has gone mad

I think if they consistently refuse to work or participate in work experience after six months, sanctions for refusing to engage in any type of work related activity they'd have their UC claim closed down, hence would not be entitled to free medication or dentist. They could still get medication, just not free prescriptions. If they are trying to engage with work or work experience none of it would happen.

Of course there are malingerers. Do you think it’s OK to punish everyone because of this?

Many of the vacancies are for no skilled or low skilled labour. Stuffing letters on envelopes types of jobs.

It's a bit desperate. Like the fag end of the Major government. Every week Michael Howard or Ann Widdecombe would announce some repressive measure and then dramatically ask whether Labour would support it.

But these 'gotcha' moments made no impression on the public. Dying wasps in winter always turn a bit nasty.

Just when you think they can't stoop any lower. I hate the Tories especially this current lot. It's telling when former senior Tories are slating their plans.
However, having had cancer, I am fit to work but have ongoing side effects both from the treatment and ongoing treatment to prevent recurrence. I feel about 90 some days and get tired easily dut to not sleeping well so can see how a lot of people could struggle with working. I do casual work which suits me but no way could I work full time in a physical or more stressful job now. However, my prescriptions, like other people who have had cancer, are free so it wouldn't effect people like me if I were a benefits claimant. I assume there are other conditions where people qualify for free prescriptions too.
It seems like one of those desperate attempts to keep their voters who think benefit claimants are scroungers.
I read someone another forum saying that cancer patients shouldn't get free prescriptions as it's self inflicted. Scumbag. Probably a Tory.

People who have been deemed as not fit to work and therefore don’t have to apply for jobs, are safe

This is not true. The government has a whole other set of plans aimed at making the lives of the sick and disabled more difficult.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/06/work-capability-test-changes-could-cost-some-claimants-400-a-month

Of course there is a small percentage of people who take the piss. Just like there is a small percentage of the general population who are criminals. We don't punish the whole population for that and benefit claimants should not be demonised because of the few who play the system.

I can't help wondering if this has anything to do with David Cameron coming back. He along with George Osborne dreamed up the benefit cap.

Anyone who is on PIP won't have to apply for jobs.

But why will ‘everyone’ be punished? There are people who are receiving benefits who can’t work, and are rightly on benefits. These people won’t be targeted for this, obviously. There are another group who have been deemed fit to work via the processes carried out, and these are the people who are supposed to be looking for work. There is a system in place whereby they have to spend so many hours a week on looking for work and applying for jobs, and have to document this. If they’re not doing so, they face being sanctioned, and should obviously have their rights to claim free perscriptions etc revoked.

Except genuinely ill claiments are erroneously deemed "fit to work".
Just look at the stats on appeals that go to crt 60% go against the DWP.
Take the case of a local man to me, this man in his 50s had COPD, emphysema, heart disease and osteoporosis who was deemed "fit to work". He wasn't, he couldn't even walk 100 feet with his oxygen bottle. He wasn't some workshy scrounger, he ran the local shop for decades until he became to ill. It took 18 months for a crt date for his appeal to come through and by the time it did he had died from COPD. (I know all of this because after his death his family went to the local paper with all the paperwork).
Then look at the atos scandals and please explain why genuinely disabled people don't need to worry about this.

Not being or being awarded PIP doesn't = being well enough or not well enough to work. It is an in work benefit.

People often have to fight to get PIP in the first place. Lots of people lose PIP when their case comes up for review and have to fight to get it back. Lots of people don't even apply for PIP because the process is so difficult.

Isn't this proposal for people who are choosing to not look for work as opposed to those such as yourself who can't work?

Absolutely devoid of any understanding of poverty and illness. Thick and entitled fucks.

The answer to people putting zero effort into looking for work is NOT removing their access to medicine. 'Find a job or we'll leave your next chest infection to kill you' is not good governance, it's performance evil.

Also re: PIP. If PIP becomes linked to ability to work how does this affect people who work and get PIP? Could this mean that PIP for working people will be eventually phased out?

True! They need to make working more appealing than benefits, unfortunately a minimum wage job barely covers the basics to live. That's where they need to start.