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Original poster

to think the Camerons are hypocrites?

381 replies

Pixel · 05/04/2015 15:51

I've always had the utmost sympathy for them and what they went through in losing their eldest son, but Sam has made me very cross today. She's going on about how difficult it is caring for a disabled child and saying 'it pushes you to the limits of what you can cope with', yet the other day I saw this article. It says that the BBC has seen leaked documents showing that the Conservatives are planning to cut carer's allowance and disability benefits should they get re-elected.

OP posts:
Littlemonstersrule · 07/04/2015 11:14

Giraffes, what cuts has he made to the disabled? The proposed leaked ones don't count as they aren't in force and may never be. All parties will have discussed cuts and savings.

The disabled were exempt from the capped limit of £26k, the bedroom tax has exemptions, carers allowances wasn't affected according to google so the only other thing can be changes to devices which are decided by each local authority and not DC. The way people talk it's as though they have stripped everything.

Most people have likely seen cuts or a change in living due to the state of the economy. Whichever party got in would have had to make cuts regardless of what they promised at election time.

Whilst not perfect and they have left some things alone which needed cutting and introduced a few daft ideas the rest is getting us back on track. Without a decent economy what future do our children and grandchildren face. Not everybody wants to bail and move abroad.

Kampeki · 07/04/2015 11:45

Grin suburban

Dawndonnaagain · 07/04/2015 11:46

Giraffes, what cuts has he made to the disabled? The proposed leaked ones don't count as they aren't in force and may never be. All parties will have discussed cuts and savings.
Changes from DLA to PiP, particularly the mobility component have excluded a great number of people from receiving the higher mobility component.

Cuts to services, the Independent Living Fund have penalised those with disabilities. Cuts to the finances distributed to local authorities have resulted in further cuts to respite care, care packages etc.
There are a fair few people with disabilities who have been evicted due to the bedroom tax. Google is out of date.

As for most people seeing cuts, most people are more able to deal with said cuts than those with disabilities, or their carers.
The rest is not getting back on track. We have a larger deficit now than when Labour left.

AllThePrettySeahorses · 07/04/2015 11:57

Littlemonstersrule - the economy has left the track and has fallen off the mountain. We are being told that it's great but it's really, really not.

My local council has had to save £55m a year over the last 3 years. There is little or no respite care. There are 2 sure start centres left open. These cuts affect disabled people as much as anyone and the Tories must be confident that their "scrounger" rhetoric is working to plan to cut the actual money that disabled people receive.

ArcheryAnnie · 07/04/2015 12:56

The building that was my local carers' centre was flogged off by the (Tory) council. It's now private office space. I used that carer's centre, and the services it used to provide are much truncated and dispersed now.

(They also flogged off the building used by the local MIND branch. It's now a boutique hotel.)

MrsFring · 07/04/2015 12:59

I was certainly no fan of Thatcher but I couldn't imagine her pulling a despicable stunt like this.

cestlavielife · 07/04/2015 13:12

I wish their son was still alive and was living in downing street...i wish for them they still had him...then, he might yes, be able to say I know what it is like. (but, they would have 24/7 nannies/carers for sure)

it was devastating for them that he died. yes they know that pain.

money doesnt take away the emotions but it sure can help if you can fund housing, carers, etcetc. most low and middle income parents of disabled children cannot.

and he must live in a parallel universe where their doctor (gp?) handed out overnight respite on a plate.... most people ahve to beg...

yes littlemonsters there were funds supposedly to cater for special cases - but people had to fight for them. why are we still seeing court cases ? www.leighday.co.uk/News/2015/January-2015/Bedroom-Tax-challenge-to-be-heard-by-Supreme-Court

(and note in that link: "In July 2013 the High Court accepted that the new housing benefit rules introduced discriminated against disabled adults but found that the discrimination was justified and therefore lawful." what kind of madness is that?

OrlandoWoolf · 07/04/2015 13:20

I don't know much about what he's done to families of children with disabilities except what people have said on here.

However - if he is a Christian, he should know that certain people in life are more vulnerable and have more needs than others. Those are the people he should be looking out for. Cuts need to be made - but those cuts should be targetted at those who are the least vulnerable in our society first.

To say he is a Christian, to say he understands the needs of families with disabilities because he had a child with a disability and then to make families fight for support is despicable.

Vitamints · 07/04/2015 13:21

Giraffes, what cuts has he made to the disabled?

I don't know who brought in this policy, but I spent over a year with no ESA because when I was assessed for the move from IB, they incorrectly put me in the WRAG, which means I only got money for a year before it stopped.

I asked for an appeal, to be put in the support group, where they don't stop your money after a year, which they refused (no appeals allowed apparently) - they did eventually agree to reassess me, and I was put into the support group, but because it was a reassessment and not an appeal, it didn't have any bearing on the previous decision and so I didn't get any back pay for the year and a bit I spent with no personal income bar DLA.

cestlavielife · 07/04/2015 13:24

what cuts has he made to the disabled?

it's clear in every meeting with social services / short breaks etc - sorry funds are cut, you cannot have what you had last year.

sorry that centre has closed down.
sorry you can only have one night a month not two.
sorry, but...funds have been cut. it's across the board.

OrlandoWoolf · 07/04/2015 13:29

But he's a Christian Confused

"Whether or not we’re members of the Church of England, ‘Love thy neighbour’ is a doctrine we can all apply to our lives – at school, at work, at home and with our families. A sense of compassion is the centre piece of a good community."

He understands what it's like to have a disabled child. He and his wife have listened to families with similar issues. They understand, they have a sense of compassion.

How can he say and act like that and then be in charge of a Goverment which has no sense of compassion?

What kind of person has no empathy? No understanding of how he comes across? His advisors must read such threads to gauge public opinion. Can he not see how he comes across? How fucking stupid and narcissistic must he be to come out with all this crap about how he understands - when he has not got a clue?

MonstrousRatbag · 07/04/2015 14:29

I'm not sure the Camerons are hypocrites. I think that they are entirely genuine about the emotional suffering their son's condition and death caused them, and they probably also empathise sincerely with other parents of disabled children on that level.

I also think they are probably either completely unaware, or in denial of how their wealth and privilege made a difference for them, for their son and generally helped them to cope. That is the part I think they really really don't grasp. And they are not alone. Most of their group (e.g. the Osbournes and others in their Cameroon circle) are criticised even by other wealthy Tories for their narrow understanding and world view. It's a 'don't know how much they don't know' situation. They probably don't even think of themselves as wealthy, since many of the people they socialise with have even more money than they do.

When Cameron and the rest of the cabinet deny the effect cuts are having on the poor and disabled, they aren't necessarily lying, they may genuinely not get (or care to get) the realities of life for many people. It's all a bit 'let them eat cake'.

SuburbanRhonda · 07/04/2015 16:04

Monstrous, I sincerely hope you're wrong about DC's total ignorance about how wealthy and privileged he is compared to most of the population and how this shields him from the reality lived by most other people.

That's even more terrifying than him not giving a shit.

PausingFlatly · 07/04/2015 16:09

Maria Miller stated openly in Parliament that the purpose of PIP replacing DLA was to cut 20% from the payout.

PausingFlatly · 07/04/2015 16:14

And "the disabled" aren't exempted from the £26K benefits cap.

Only people in receipt of DLA/PIP are. Which was always very far from being every disabled person.

And that was before above-mentioned reduction of 20% (much of which is coming from cutting the numbers of people eligible, eg by the infamous change from 50m to 20m of the "distance walked" criteria).

Vitamints · 07/04/2015 16:33

Oh yes, Pausing, I remember that, it was about the time when they injected the vast amount of funding required into public transport to make sure everyone has a bus stop within 20 metres of their home OH WAIT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

20m.

What the fuck are you supposed to be able to do in 20m? It means you can get around the house without a wheelchair I guess.

SuburbanRhonda · 07/04/2015 16:34

You can walk to the door to speak to a Tory party canvasser.

Trenzalore · 07/04/2015 17:00

YANBU.

and

using your children - well/ill/alive/dead - on the campaign trail is disgusting

completely agree. especially when he cares fuck all about the disabled people/children/carers.

Samcro · 08/04/2015 10:33

they were on the tv last night
the whole family sitting round table eating. was kind of sick
they could take on jordan and her ilk for using their kids

DowntownFunk · 08/04/2015 12:46

Agree. At least nothing that Jordan and her peers does is a danger to society.

BeyondRepair · 08/04/2015 13:59

Most of their group (e.g. the Osbournes and others in their Cameroon circle) are criticised even by other wealthy Tories for their narrow understanding and world view

Please don't leave Gordon Brown out of your privileged group Nor Two Kitchen Milliband....Brown had a disabled son too.

Kampeki · 08/04/2015 14:09

Brown did have a disabled son, but he never sought to make political capital out of it.

MyArksNotReady · 08/04/2015 14:15

Brown didn't use his deceased baby girl for political gain either.

Dawndonnaagain · 08/04/2015 14:15

Nor Two Kitchen Milliband.
And the relevance of this is?

mariamin · 08/04/2015 14:25

Cameron is bashing the disabled. He has no understanding of being disabled and poor.