AIBU to hope that able bodied people will support disabled people against the tory attack on PIP?

[Blackcats7]

I have just been reading posts from many terrified disabled people on a facebook group I belong to.
People are afraid for their lives after the government's recent announcement to stop huge numbers of people with mental health issues qualifying for PIP anymore.
This attempt to scapegoat disabled people has a long history in the tory party and is popular with their traditional core but the attack on PIP is a new low.
Even those claiming PIP for other reasons think they will be the next target and that the tory aim is to pretty much eradicate any support for us with the half hearted usual disguise of "concentrating help on those who need it most" when they know they can't get away with saying what they actually are doing.
Disabled people have votes too (being housebound I thank goodness for postal votes) and I think this current tactic will have a big influence on how those votes are used but my question is how many able bodied people will take this attack on us into account when it comes to the election?
Should this nightmare come to pass there will be blood on government hands because I have no doubt people will die bearing in mind the targets are people with mental health problems and the tory propaganda that they are removing a right to benefit from those who feel a little bit depressed and anxious about life as most people will at some point or another is utter nonsense. Claiming PIP is extremely hard and requires a very high bar to succeed, especially for mental health. Popping to your gp for some anti depressants would not cut it.
So we need your support.
YABU we aren't that bothered or think the govenment is quite right to stop you scrounging bastards
YANBU this is disgusting ableism and we have your back

Difference being they’ll fix the nhs first so the support is in place prior to any changes. The Tory way seems to be to ruin the nhs, strip away pip, promise support and access to healthcare that won’t materialise

@IClaudine

Thank you lovely x love and solidarity to you and everyone else struggling at the moment xxx I'm hanging in there just about lol x

I am just sick to death of people willfully ignoring how the quite frankly paltry amount of benefits that people have to fight for to survive when enduring terrible pain, limited mobility, chronic depression are under an attack that will leave the government with blood on its hands if they keep tinkering with it and using it as a political football. I will bang on about it, as much as I can, because I have no fucks left to give x

People need to know this is ideologically driven and that the costs of administration of the proposed changes, implementation of AI etc will far outstrip any possible savings. And no doubt all these new assessors and systems will be part of the funneling of cash into the hand of private companies via the rampant cronyism. It's a shitshow.

If you haven't seen the hostility you must have been reading different threads.

There is data to support my assertion on other threads.

Looking at the two threads already on here, I wouldn’t rely on able bodied supporting PIP or a thing else, sickness/disability related.😗

You don’t just tick a box. We had to send letters from professionals, meeting minutes, prescription copies, diagnosis reports…
So letter from GaP saying person very depressed and anxious which is what will be in the notes because GPs don't write about their opinion but just what they are told. Prescribe medication for depression and anxiety which in itself doesn't mean much.

So no, I don't agree. PIP in this instance is much more based on anecdotal accounts.

Could people who can’t drive or use public transport not access support from the Access to Work scheme? I have a vision impaired colleague who has a job requiring lots of getting around to different place and who gets a taxi provided via Access to Work

''@Denou
I honestly think it is unlikely that the disabled as a whole will get much support, especially those with mental health conditions.

So many people who are in work are struggling at the moment financially and dealing with the emotional toil that takes, that there is limited sympathy available for others.''

This type of ignorance really needs to end...

PIP is not an out of work benefit. How many times are we going to have to make that point?

Many people, like myself, work and receive PIP and it is a crucial support that allows us to stay in employment.

Difference being they’ll fix the nhs first so the support is in place prior to any changes
Oh the irony!! The biggest issue faced by the NHS is staff retention and recruitment and the main reason for it is the complete ignorance by the then Labour party to recognise is the increase in the percentage of staff coming close to retirement and account for it. That and other policies that got to see the steady decline under the Tories.

Can they introduce better policies, maybe. Will they be able to fix the NHS? Not in mist of our lifetime!

YABU to expect any support. No one gave a shit when disabled people were dying in poverty having been stripped of their benefits and declared fit for work under Ian Duncan Smith's reforms years ago, they were all too busy virtue signalling going on about how concerned they were about possible anti-Semitism in the labour party so they had to vote Tory even though that meant killing more disabled people and no less anti Semitism in the Tories anyway. Why would it be different this time?

There is data to support my assertion on other threads
Me too as below...
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-january-2024/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-january-2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-january-2024/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-january-2024

Giving the statistics I posted above!

Erroll Graham starved to death in his flat after his disability benefits were stopped. He is a tragic example of just one of the numerous people who have died from disability benefits for mental health being withdrawn. There are many others. Too many. The dwp resists attempts to publish the data.
So no apologies for my “extreme language”. I have used terms which are used both implicitly and explicitly about disabled people.
And just so those who would like to write my view off as unbalanced here is a bit more:
There seems more concern from a significant section of mumsnetters that they might have to pay vat on little jocasta and hugo’s private school fees than there is for disabled people being marginalised, demonised and being driven to even more awful struggles just to live very basic lives by the withdrawal of benefits.
It is a sad state of society when people vote purely on what effects them personally right now than having any responsibility for the greater good.
Interestingly I have been told that my strong sense of injustice and inability to keep my head below the parapet is part of my autism. It has certainly caused me a lot of flak through the years but I just keep on keeping on.
The mental health PIP issue doesn’t target me personally (yet) because I also have extensive physical disability and cancer but I plan to do anything I can to help those who do need to claim PIP on mental health grounds.
I also often think of the famous poem by Martin Niemoller First they came for the jews …

A mental health problem can happen to anyone, no-one is immune.

The safety net was intended to be there for everyone, even those who currently believe their and their family's mental health is bullet-proof.

Supporting this change in social security support is very short-sighted and deluded.

No-one should take for granted their mental or physical health, and anyone may find themselves or a loved one needing financial help when their circumstances change unexpectedly.

Right behind you and sending love and solidarity ❤️

I think it was actually the previous labour administration that first started the ball rolling with these Draconian attacks on the most vulnerable.

The NHS in Wales is in a dreadful state as well. And run by Labour so not sure they can do any better

You'll need to canvas for support when Reeves gets in as well, no need to limit this to Tory policy. She's been quite clear that she's hardly a champion for those with disabilities when it comes to financial supoort.

And me. I’m curious who these apparantly “non evidenced” PIP/DLA claimants are.

I wish people would take on board that PIP is not, and never has been about working or not.

Its for the extra costs of disability, working or not.

I think that you are wrong, there. It was the Conservatives that bought in PIP, for example, that has caused misery to thousands of people going through the process, trying to access help, that could make an immeasurable difference, in their lives.

Erroll Graham starved to death in his flat after his disability benefits were stopped. He is a tragic example of just one of the numerous people who have died from disability benefits for mental health being withdrawn
It's typical propaganda like this that is doing a disfavour to the cause. The review stated that:
There were a series of missed opportunities to share information between services. Had information been shared, this may have revealed the true nature of Billy’s mental health torment and mobilised the care and treatment he needed.

An inquest into the case in 2019 found there were “holes” in the safety net around Graham. A subsequent judicial review brought by Graham’s family that sought to prove that the DWP had acted unlawfully by failing to protect him was unsuccessful

Yes, the DWP made errors but it's not these errors that solely led to his death. Ultimately, all those who had a safeguarding duty towards him failed him and the outcome was tragic.

Using blaming propaganda will do much more harm than food in getting the public sympathy.

Labour bought in assessment based ESA, and the groupings. The Tories changed the whole thing and bought in PIP to replace DLA for adults.

And me. I’m curious who these apparantly “non evidenced” PIP/DLA claimants are
I didn't say no evidence, just that anecdotal evidence plays more a part for mental health rather physical health claims.

I’ve got no experience of claiming for mental health, but I would (seriously) imagine that it still requires more than anecdotal evidence.

Perhaps from doctors, consultants, CPNs.?

Oh you're another peach aren't you? Safeguarding errors? Have you any idea how fraught getting safeguarding for vulnerable people is? I frigging do I'm up to my ears in it at the moment. Bureaucracy red tape, hoop jumping that delays and obfuscated at every turn. No sharing of information between agencies. Dismissal of the efforts of family members who know how bad things are to get help and inform professionals who have seen someone once and think they know better than people living with these situations.

The. System. Is. Broken. And. Not. Fit. For. purpose. By. Design.

Because getting people seen, monitored and their issues documented reliably by professionals does not happen.