to wonder why Rishi Sunack hates the disabled?

[drinkingcherrywine]

I am just not sure I can feel any worse right now about how the U.K. is treating its most vulnerable but tomorrow may tip me over the edge. We have had what little societal, health and charitable support there was swept from under us during the pandemic, costs of living have gone up massively (especially for shielding), medical care a distant memory, rent evictions are underway, it gets worse every day.

The government has increased the standard allowance in Universal Credit and the basic element in Working Tax Credit for one year. Both have increased by £20 per week on top of planned annual uprating. This applies to all new and existing Universal Credit claimants and to existing Working Tax Credit claimants.

So no uplift for carer parents of disabled children claiming child tax credit. Or anyone on legacy benefits who will be worse off on UC (majority disabled). If you are a shielding adult you will be vaccinated soon hopefully but will still be told to continue shielding. If you are a shielding child no vaccination for you, stay in for however long we say, could be another year could be longer - no one cares, you are invisible and shall remain ignored.

Shielding means staying in so expensive due to;
no budget groceries via yellow stickers, end of day reduced etc
no going to library to use computer/ask for help
no going to friends/family/public buildings to reduce home heat/electric/food budget
no going to visit offices who won't answer the phone drs/ council/utilities/citizens advice etc
no taxis/public transport
no sharing childcare favours
no organised affordable group trips

Some of this list was all that kept people going before. Life is more restrictive and much much expensive in many more ways for shielding. The assumed 'local' help that keeps being touted as a fix all simply isn't in existence sufficient to bridge the growing chasm.

www.swlondoner.co.uk/life/25022021-disabled-legacy-benefits-claimants-struggling-with-pandemic-poverty/

If you aren't working due to disability you aren't worth it right?

And no being a ft carer and saving society a fortune in caring obligation doesn't count. Being unable to find a job that flexes to include disability or being too unwell to manage paid employment doesn't count.

If you aren't working due to disability then you aren't part of society. No thousand pound uplift so no worries about uplift continuation. As long as everyone understands the disabled's place in our billionaire budget maker's societal hierarchy, right Rishi?

www.jrf.org.uk/blog/20-weekly-uplift-must-be-extended-legacy-benefits

It cannot be right that some of the most at-risk members of our society have not been thrown the same lifeline as those on Universal Credit. It would be operationally simple to extend the £20 uplift to legacy benefits as part of the usual annual uprating decision later this month. The Government has an opportunity to right this injustice, strengthen social security and help many families stay afloat in these turbulent times. This would send a clear signal that they are committed to supporting everyone in our society.

www.z2k.org/latest/why-the-20-uplift-in-universal-credit-must-be-extended-to-those-on-legacy-benefits/

We want to see the 2.2 million ‘legacy benefit’ claimants get the extra £20 a week too. For us, it still beggars belief that the Government thought it was right to give the increase to one kind of claimant, but deny it to others, especially when you realise that three-quarters of those 2.2 legacy benefit claimants are disabled people on Employment Support Allowance.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/100-groups-demand-20-benefits-23025818

@FoxyTheFox

Not as horrible as DS never being invited to a party, never being asked to play, and having absolutely no one show up to his birthday party because parents seem to act like disability might be catching.

Oh Foxy. I am so sorry.

This also happened to my asd son. No invites when the rest of the class were invited. Other parents telling school nog to let their little darlings play with him and z parent threatening me if I didn't ask him not to play with their child.
It was the parents with the bad attitudes not the kids

@Kendodd

Its benefit claimants and the poor the Tories really hate, so if you claim benefits, disabled or not, expect the absolute minimum support the Tories can get away with. They can also rely on the right wing press to feed that anti poor hatred to the public, get them to hate the poor as well, and voila, vote Tory. Keep feeding the public the diet of anti poor hatred, that will continue to push down the minimum amount of financial support acceptable. Win win for the Tories. They hate refugees as well op.

Thats rubbish They love the non workers who live off benefits Their income hasn’t changed at all in the pandemic and they still have to do nothing unless they choose to do cash in hand untaxed work

@vickibee @FoxyTheFox Sorry for your children, people can be horrible...

*Generally the disabled get shafted thrice. Obviously the first is being disabled - immobile, unable to feed or wash or cloth yourself with the attendant lack of dignity and regular exclusion from everyday life.

Then your family are also shat on from a great height by not being able to get jobs (because no one can employ someone with caring responsibilities) and also not being able to participate in everyday life.

Finally you do briefly pop your head out the door and get told that not only are you a borderline scrounger that needs to repeatedly demonstrate your worthiness for crumbs of comfort, but that it's actually a bit of a hoot being disabled and really a lifestyle choice.

But I am sure I'm wrong. As any number of posters will be along to tell me shortly.*

I have two disabled children, one on HRC and one on MRC. I save the government a fortune. No childcare will take them. No social care support. They literally do not care

If it wasn't for the horrible attitudes towards disabled people there would be no need for this thread.

ALL the above and more.

Thing is, wether its Tory,Labour or whoever else, NotONE of them gives a shit about disabled and carers.

Anyway, whats the minimum wage? £8.00 something? yet us carers get less than £3.00 an hour for 35 hours or whatever.
No, I don't expect to be paid for 24 hours, 7 days a week, but us carers work 168 hours a week.
No breaks, no holidays, no perks, no 2nd car/house, unable to apply for a mortgage, etc etc.

and YY no invites anywhere either, people are embarrassed to be seen with disabled. it beggars belief.

Our DCS aren't disabled by choice.

It is the ones just on ESA or JSA who live on a pitiful amount, but there is nothing stopping them switching to UC.

I’m sure everyone on ESA and JSA can afford to have no money coming in during the time that it takes for UC claim takes (by switching themselves they’d have no transitional protection).

Also this kind of thing is exactly what Sunak and his ilk love. Rather than focus on the fact that the Tories treat disabled claimants appallingly it quickly drops into “they’ve got it better than me”. Good old divide and conquer.

That kind of in fighting and taking the eye off the ball is exactly how they managed to slash Widowed Parents Allowance by introducing its replacement with the fanfare of how it was going to massively benefit younger widows and widowers without children. Folks were too focussed on that and that let them cut the support to many others in a massive way.

remember though that the carer's allowance is going up in April.
we will get all of 35p a week extra.
yippee !
that's a shilling a day extra in old money. whatever will i do with it, um...

@JustLyra

It is the ones just on ESA or JSA who live on a pitiful amount, but there is nothing stopping them switching to UC.

I’m sure everyone on ESA and JSA can afford to have no money coming in during the time that it takes for UC claim takes (by switching themselves they’d have no transitional protection).

Also this kind of thing is exactly what Sunak and his ilk love. Rather than focus on the fact that the Tories treat disabled claimants appallingly it quickly drops into “they’ve got it better than me”. Good old divide and conquer.

That kind of in fighting and taking the eye off the ball is exactly how they managed to slash Widowed Parents Allowance by introducing its replacement with the fanfare of how it was going to massively benefit younger widows and widowers without children. Folks were too focussed on that and that let them cut the support to many others in a massive way.

Someone switching from JSA or ESA would get a two week run on of those benefits plus any housing benefit if they get that. They can also take an advance, yes I know that has to be paid back but in theory they are only having to cover 3 weeks after the 2 week run on is taken into account so in theory could just take a small advance.

voxpoliticalonline.com/2021/01/28/trickster-coffey-she-says-disabled-people-should-switch-to-universal-credit-where-theyll-be-worse-off/

Therese Coffey: you wouldn’t think she was trying to get her jollies by encouraging people to quit legacy benefits for Universal Credit with a false claim that they’ll be better-off, would you?

Having refused calls to extend the £20-per-week Universal Credit uplift to so-called “legacy benefits” that sick and disabled people receive – Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and others – she has suggested that they should claim UC instead.

People on Severe Disablement Premium (SDP) were unable to make that move until Wednesday (January 27) – when the Tories removed that barrier.

But charities have warned that this is a trap.

People with long-term illnesses and disabilities are more likely to lose money if they switch to UC and, once they have made the move, there is no going back.

It’s just another example of Tory discrimination against people with disabilities, that has reached new heights in the Covid-19 crisis, which they have used as an excuse for persecution.

<span class="italic">People who’ve been on SDPs can get £120, £285 or £405 per month in transition payments – depending on their circumstances. But DWP officials have confirmed these payments “will be subject to erosion and cessation” over time.</span>

And the Disability Rights UK group has claimed that, “after transitional help is eroded after time”, Universal Credit will be “significantly less generous” than legacy benefits for disabled people.

So the two-tier discrimination against people with disabilities in fact continues, no matter whether they are on “legacy benefits” or Universal Credit.

@alexdgr8

remember though that the carer's allowance is going up in April. we will get all of 35p a week extra. yippee ! that's a shilling a day extra in old money. whatever will i do with it, um...

I might sellotape my first week's 35p increase to a card and send it to Sunak as he needs the money, poor chap.

I am a carer for my asd son and work very part time (for sanity) and earn just above the threshold for carers.
As said on other threads I cannot access the vaccine online booking system because I am not in reecipt of CA. Another way we are being shafted? There has been lots of people on here in the same situation.
The powers that be would be the ones complaining if carers got ill and could no longer care.

@vickibee

I am a carer for my asd son and work very part time (for sanity) and earn just above the threshold for carers. As said on other threads I cannot access the vaccine online booking system because I am not in reecipt of CA. Another way we are being shafted? There has been lots of people on here in the same situation. The powers that be would be the ones complaining if carers got ill and could no longer care.

Vickiebee I think this must be at GP discretion? I don't get CA and I work, but am registered as my autistic son's carer and was called for vaccine in group 6 no problem.

winvisibleblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/food-access-under-covid-update-to-mps/

We are helping a severely ill woman on Universal Credit left in limbo without the disability addition for nearly a year. She has not received the “limited capability for work-related activity element” of £341.92 per month because her work capability assessment interview held by telephone under COVID precautions, was deemed “inconclusive”. Maximus is using the pandemic as an excuse not to resolve this assessment which they could easily do by obtaining further medical evidence on paper, while her GP surgery is citing the pandemic as a partial excuse for not providing a letter.

@JustLyra

The decision not to include legacy benefits has been, since the uplift was first introduced, a way to try and encourage people to move to UC voluntarily in the belief (probably mistakenly) they’ll be better off.

All the people who have moved for the £20 a week have forfeited their right to transitional protection so when they discovered they’re not better off there’s nothing they can do.

It’s a clear move on his part.

This !! No doubt the idea of the vile Therese Coffey

DLA is for the extra expenses for the child. Not parents income.

Carers allowance£1.92 per hour, rising by a penny an hour. No overtime for any extra hours worked.

OP I agree with you that the budget disadvantages disabled people and carers.

I do hate all the wealth bashing on this thread though. I'm in a fortunate position to be wealthy, and I vote lib dem or labour. We are not all out for ourselves. The reason that my constituency and the constituency next to mine are now conservative is because a lot of previously Labour voting working class people voted Tory.

The majority of my friends who are educated professionals and comfortably middle class are not tory-voters.

The country doesn't have an issue with 'the wealthy', it has an issue with a nationalist, xenophobic, ablest bigotry that appeals greatly to some people in economically disadvantaged groups who latch on to anything othering that allows them to feel superior to somebody. The narative that 'I'm poor but at least I'm not Polish or Irish or black or asian or a scrounger or disabled or gay or a woman a different religion or literally any other marginalised group.'

That's not to say that just poor people vote Tory, but I do think that the largest increase in Tory voters was among economically disadvantaged groups, evidenced if you look at the swing constituencies.

Just had an email from WriteToThem chasing up an enquiry I sent to my MP 2 weeks ago. I've logged it as "No reply". Over time, they'll have stats on all MPs and how well they respond to constituents.

We have to be squeaky wheels - we have to be nice to remind our MPs that they work for us not Rupert Murdoch. To the point of civil disobedience and stuffing letters through their letterbox Harry Potter style.

Remember, immiseration and despair are terror tactics as much as bombing schools and hijacking planes.

We have to be squeaky wheels - we have to be nice to remind our MPs that they work for us not Rupert Murdoch. To the point of civil disobedience and stuffing letters through their letterbox Harry Potter style.

If you've got time for that, you have time to get your sorry arse into work you scrounging layabout.

Remember the DWP take videos of protests to be able to sanction the loudmouths.

I fall in the awkward category of technically not well enough to work FT, but not unwell enough for any help. Handy

@Happyd that is for their disability related needs which cost more than they receive. It is not household income.

From Martin Lewis website.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/03/martin-lewis-interviews-chancellor-rishi-sunak---the-key-questio/#legacy

Martin: 'What I learnt from grilling the Chancellor over the Budget... and the 10 things you need to know about it'...

1. Working tax credit recipients get one-off £500, but nowt for disabled/carers. The £500 is to put those on old-style working benefits in a similar position to UC recipients. I questioned the Chancellor about other legacy benefits, incl for carers and those with disabilities, yet he said the boost was targeting only those working...

Those on legacy benefits WON'T get the extra uplift those on universal credit have. In this week's Budget, the £20/week universal credit uplift put in place due to coronavirus was extended for another six months, and working tax credit claimants will also get a one-off £500 payment – but others haven't had a similar increase.

Martin read out a message from a viewer called Claire who said she'd been shielding for nearly a year, has an adult disabled son and huge extra expenses due to coronavirus. Claire asked: "Why have people who are on legacy disability benefits – eg, employment support allowance – not been included in the extra £20/week universal credit payment. Why isn't this backdated?"

Martin added: "And income support and jobseeker's allowance as well - there are legacy benefits that haven't been given the support. Why not? And will you look at changing that?"

The Chancellor defended the decision not to extend the uplift to those on legacy benefits: "The original rationale for doing the temporary uplift in universal credit was to help those on low incomes. People who were in work but whose incomes were going to be affected by the crisis. It's universal credit and working tax credit that are the benefits that capture the vast, vast, vast majority if not all of those people. The legacy benefits don't do that." Watch this bit of the interview from 15.36 on the ITV Hub.

Watching the interview makes the disablism behind this decision even clearer, he even says it is designed to force people onto universal credit, implies those on legacy do not have low income and classes carers as not working.

Repugnant.