To think the 'work shy' rhetoric is insulting?

[DeliaDerbyshiresSlippers]

Who are all these great swathes of work shy people? The Express today, never grow tired of rehashing the same old pre-election trump card - convincing people that our most vulnerable are bleeding the country dry (shhh, don't mention the state pension).

Who even believes this stuff anymore? How did slashing benefits during austerity help anything, how did it fix the fucking country? It only created more decaying towns and a system that can no longer support those in need (kids mental health, dentistry).

Who is the demographic this illiterate garbage is aimed at? My guess is moneyed working class 'boot-strappers' (it's hardly a intellectual broadsheet).
I only know of two people who access the benefits system, both disabled and both actually work as much as they can.

Do people really think, considering the utter shit show we are in, that making poorer people even poorer is a good idea? Will it make some peevish armchair grump feel better about having to pay tax? And is this typical armchair grump completely unaware of tax avoidance? Or is that ok, because 'trickle down, blah blah, creating jobs, blah blah)?

The rhetoric itself is punitive and degrading. This idea that everyone in receipt of benefits (inc. in work benefits) is a shirking, scumbag. The language is reminiscent of how prisoners or deviants were discussed in medieval society.

I thought I was non partisan, or at best apolitical, the outlook for the poorest in the UK looks dismal no matter who is in power

"despite signing at least one or two fit notes a day for patients as part of my job as a GP. If they tell me they are not fit for work due to bad back pain, depression, period issues, etc, I take them at their word"

People often say the DWP should accept a GP's letter for PIP and other benefits instead of the assessments, when they just take people at their word as quoted by the above GP

That doesn't happen. No one who who claims PIP has seen their GP and no one else. You will need a whole lot of evidence from consultants etc.
It is hard to get LCWRA on UC on GP evidence alone too.

No one sees their GP and gets told they can "ride the UC gravy train".

You could actually be writing this about the USA.
Issues like this always come up in an election year and they’re always brought up by the conservative, or Republican Party.
What’s stupid, is the Trump maga people have now replaced the Republicans and 98% of the magas are not very bright - they believe everything Trump tells them.
Many magas are on some form of benefits and when Trump says he has plans to cut those benefits, they cheer him on, having no idea he means their benefits.
We’ve had a great recovery as a nation, thanks largely to smart moves by our current president and economic leaders. Still, there are doomsday folks like Trump and others in his party who will always go for the most vulnerable people first - and give all the advantages and tax breaks to the wealthiest people.
It’s who they are, whether it’s my country or your country or any other country. It’s a tale as old as time.
For us it’s (could be) Trump - for you, I guess it’s Sunak. I’ll never figure out how billionaires are supposed to relate to us regular people.

Mp GP knows far more about my disabilities. They can look at my notes and see what my consultants have said. My GP has never looked at my notes and asked what a diagnosis of mine is like the person who assessed me for pip. My GP has never seen a referral and questioned why I need it. I had my pip assessor question my disability. (I'd apparently grown out of something you can't physically grow out of)

@OnlyTheBravest @iamwhatiam23

You are conflating work with employment

Not everything that is good and worthwhile is able to be monetised.

@cordeliachaseatemyhandbag Can you give some examples? As I am not quite sure what you mean.

What would be better for the country, everyone working or everyone not working?

Because the answers aren’t what you wanted? Your outrage is a little performative in my eyes.

It's the fact it's deducted £4£. If you're employed it's 55p for every £. And depending on your situation you get a work allowance. You get none of that with carers allowance and UC.

@XenoBitch thats absolutely not true! My youngest dc has been on DLA and now pip! We have NEVER been called in for a face to face assessment, NEVER provided anything other that his GP and Consultants details and they have NEVER been contacted by the DWP or any assessors ( i know this because I've asked them).

Well, this is what happens when you read the Express.

So because you only know two people who access the benefit system
You don't think there can be anybody who prefers not to work?
I live in a deprived are in social housing ,
Yes there are lots of people living in similar situations who work full time
But there are others that don't
We are a family that rely on top up benefits due to having a severely disabled child
My dh works full time
But there are some who have no intention of working
Just because you have never come across it, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I dislike it too but op’s opinion is far from ‘well thought out’. It’s just ‘OMG THEY’RE SO MEAN’ then standing back and waiting for applause from the left wing crowd on here.

As usual there’s a flurry of demands as to what more the public should provide to our already bloated welfare sector with zero ideas as to how it would be funded. Fact is benefits are unaffordable, spiralling out of control and shrinking our workforce.

I get care,rs allowance if it was raised ,then we would lose out on other benefits so would be no better off .

Where I live (economically deprived town in the North east) we have a lot of these "boot strappers" or self-titled "grafters". They're also very ignorant, misogynist and many of them are coke heads. They also voted for brexit and consevrvative without an ounce of thought. They're very boring and tiresome to deal with!

@Babyroobs , the excuses I heard from the ones I knew, included,

’There are no jobs, the Poles have taken them all.’ (Despite never applying for any, in an area where there were plenty of jobs for anyone who really wanted one.)

’I’m not working for minimum wage!’ (Despite having zero track record or experience of anything.)

’I’m not participating in the capitalist system!’ (But entirely happy to live on benefits from taxpayers who do.)

Which is why standard GPs should not assess benefits. We have no way of disproving someone is depressed or not in physical agony in our 10 minute appointments, on top of dealing with all the other issues they've presented with. Force someone to work because I'm just not feeling their story? Not something I'm willing to do.

I don't know a GP who is interested in taking on this responsibility. DWP's own GPs and clinicians, who are given extended designated time, should always be in charge of this.

You really think DWP are better? 70℅ who go to a PIP tribunal win.

It's not about better. GPs aren't trained to assess long term sick benefits. Also impossible to assess in 10 minutes. This should be done by GPs with extra training and lots of time, like functional assessors.

Also, as a GP you always want to advocate and support your patient. If your patient feels you've pushed them back into work unfairly, this will just lead to a breakdown in the doctor patient relationship going forward. Which is also why we aren't the right people to do it.

People don't want to work themselves into the ground for the benefit of the super rich.

All these articles are about trying to make us fight for scraps amongst ourselves and accept a lower standard of living while they hoover up more of our money and prosper. Don't forget they own all, or large parts of the media.

We have two family members who did work but at some point in the 80’s - stopped. They did occasional cash in hand work but only for a few years. They are a couple but don’t live together. One of the couple went back to university in the 90’s as a mature student but once finished still never got a job.

They feel very much they entitled to it all and when muted about working they openly say they couldn’t possibly work in a shop or office as that’s below them and the 9-5 just doesn’t suit them - being bossed around. They have never paid in & have struggled on the benefit system. Now receiving pension and pension credit.

BUT they are the only ones, the rest of us in the family work.

I do worry that if the balance of working people and no-working people tips - the people who really need our support disabled, and vulnerable will suffer the most as the government may not have the tax revenues. Yes would be good to make sure the very rich pay their share but you do need everyone playing their part and input fairly.

They are whipping up a frenzy about the symptom, not the cause. 2m people on health related incapacity benefits through universal credit up 69% IN A YEAR** tells me there is a big issue here. 69% of new claims are mental health related.
We have an issue and it needs addressing with proper health and especially mental health care and treatment.

If they really want to solve this they need to address the problem. But it's easier to just blame those with a problem than build and invest in a real solution.

IME the reality is somewhere between the two points.

Sure there are a lot of people out there who bust a gut for their money and work really hard and do a difficult job that few others could do, either due to the physical/mental demands or intelligence required.

There are also a lot who don't really do that much at all and get paid a fortune, while being seemingly inaccountable for their poor performance. Not only that they have little specialist knowledge and are easily replaceable, yet seem to survive.

My guess is how you feel about the "workshy" environment really depends on how many of the above you come into contact with during your day to day job.

It’s not mental health treatment that we need. It’s changes to society to prevent mental health cases arising. The sharp rise in itself will tell you that these cases are driven by social factors not biological ones. There isn’t a lot of effective treatment for most mental illnesses.

We need a better, fairer society. When people are happier they won’t get anxiety and depression in the same numbers.

You're spot on. But for those who are struggling we need support in the short term too