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

If you live in a rural area and find the cost of your commute unaffordable, you can move.

People with disabling health conditions can't simply choose not to be ill or disabled.

PIP is for the chopping block regardless of who wins later this year.

A return to means tested DLA linked with jobseeker benefit is likely.

It was good old Labour who brought in outside contractors to assess disability claimants and I can't see the assessment system changing all that much.

They tendered the assessment process out last year and these big firms have five year contracts which would be very expensive for the Department to break.

I think it's a bit of a non starter. They won't target severely mentally ill people, it seems to be aimed at 'mild' mental illness ( whatever that is defined as ) and people don't get PIP for mh generally unless they are on strong meds, under a psychiatrist, CPN or crisis team/ have had suicide attempts etc. So I'm not really sure who the changes are aimed at.
Having said that I do think reform of the system is needed.
The consultation that is going out for it is asking people involved ( benefits advisors etc) about a lot of things - things like whether any of the PIP descriptors should be changed etc and which ones so I think we can expect changes on the actual descriptors.
I think it's likely that with changes to the descriptors, then obviously the criteria will change excluding some groups more than others from claiming. I expect they may change the descriptor around unfamiliar journeys/ going out alone.
It's the same with the work capability assessment. they are looking to remove certain descriptors which a lot of people qualify ( significant risk and mobility descriptors ) on so that not as many people will qualify for LCWRA.
I am a benefits advisor and see some shocking decisions where people should definitely be awarded and others decision where you think what on earth did they say to get awarded that rate. I've seen one person openly exaggerate their difficulty in mobilizing in front of a tribunal and no medical evidence to support what she was saying. Fortunately the tribunal saw through the lies.
I believe it should be based mainly on medical evidence, although understand that can be hard to access as NHS is overwhelmed and many don't get referred to consultants in a timely manner. I had one client whose GP decided he could adequately diagnose fibro and deemed him not to need to be referred to a consultant which PIP like to see. there are so many barriers it's hard to know where reform could start.

DLA was never means tested ?

Yes it’s bye bye to PIP

I think it's that every other prejudice they have used as a scapegoat has become a protected characteristic and had protests about it,
so now they're picking on the vulnerable ones who probably won't make as much fuss.
Ableism needs to be seen as much about equality and diversity as any other issue.

Ever ! People just talk out of their rears sometimes they have no idea what they are talking about. Just pluck phrases and combatative words from the.air!

It will be going forward as non means tested disability benefits are unsustainable regardless of who is in government.

Well maybe, hopefully, whatever replaces it will be fit for purpose, and not reliant on people having to go to tribunals etc, to get the right award. So much money is being wasted here, with this particular system.

Yes. Disabled people need to protest and lobby as other groups have done but the problem is that inherently we are often not able to do this without severe difficulty because of reasons caused by our disability.
We are the perfect target.
It’s been lovely to read all the nasty minded ignorant and prejudiced responses from some on my thread, especially today. Today I chose to spend time on mumsnet partly because I needed a good distraction whilst I waited for my telephone appointment with my oncologist to tell me the results of my latest scan for stage 4 cancer.
Some of you seem jealous of the “handouts” us disabled people get to fund our presumably champagne lifestyles what with all the free cash. To be honest it’s a miracle I manage to fit mumsnet into my hectic social whirl at all.
Maybe you might be lucky enough to try disability yourselves one day then you can get money for nothing too. Best of luck with that.

It's hard to know what can be done by any party. The truth is there are just too many people that aren't economically active. We literally don't have the money to support them indefinitely.

I'd like to see who would employ me, in the last 2 years I was working I had periods of 3 months & 2 x 6 months off sick, then I haven't worked for 14 years. I have Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Peripheral neuropathy, Arthritis, Endometriosis, Vitamin B12 deficiency, underactive thyroid, Autism, Anxiety, Depression & PTSD, I can't retain information, I'm in bed 18 hours a day, I'm housebound, I can't walk & use a wheelchair outside, I haven't driven for over 4 years, I'm on 12 different drugs, most days I don't even get dressed & only eat 1 meal a day. My sleep pattern is a mess, I sleep 5.00am to 1.00pm & then have to nap 4.30pm to 6.00pm.

What would you suggest ?

IME of a family member receiving PIP, she is desperate to work for her own wellbeing, MH and to be a good role model for her dd. But she has now had her 3rd hospital admission this year (critical, with the last one needing resus and almost fatal), 5th sick note and her work are coming down hard on her. She is terrified of losing her job as thinks she is then unemployable, so on top of her disability she has the constant stress and humiliation of justifying and fighting to try to keep her job.

If (or when) she is medically discharged, what is she meant to do?

She wants to work, she financially needs to work, she “just wants to be normal like everyone else”. She would welcome government support to keep her in a job, but doubt that will happen.

You should be OK given your diagnosis but many on here need to prepare for what's coming as they are reliant of the benevolence of a broken state in economic decline.

Hoping a right wing Labour government will make it all go away is not advisable as their stated policy is to get people back to work.

That's my point. No idea. Just that it is unaffordable

It's a tricky one.

Just based on MN, so many people are not working due to feeling anxious. It's not sustainable given that our economy is not in net worth.

Everyone should be working unless absolutely incapacitated.
I might be harsh but we need to compete .

I say this as someone who has taken time off due to anxiety and bitterly regretted it.

So many people going on about getting people back to work - PIP isn’t an out of work benefit

That’s something that needs to change - whatever replaces pip (and it will have to be replaced in some capacity) there needs to be something that makes it sink in to people generally that it is not an out of work benefit.

PIP and ESA are two very different things with different purposes

It is not about me being alright personally although whether you mean alright because I will likely be long gone before the tories have time to work their evil way to stopping my own PIP or that people who have cancer won't be targeted I don't know.
It is about standing up for what is morally right, not I'm alright jack bugger the rest of you.
And btw people with cancer are frequently refused PIP already, even with stage 4.

How would you decide who Is "totally incapacitated "?

This is still going on. Those assessments and people being stripped of benefits is still happening.

I honestly think these assessments need to be scrapped. Anyone could say anything and most of them are telephone assessments . they just cause people stress, then they can't get their point over. It should be based on medical evidence .

This

I know. I've known for years. I screamed and shouted about it to start with. Found it very difficult coping with friends still voting Tory because I felt they were essentially voting to say I don't have the right to live. Got very depressed about the whole thing. I have since stopped paying attention to the news in order to preserve my sanity. When it comes to election time I'll vote according to my conscience, but in the meantime I can't do anything about it so I've tuned it all out.

Exactly.

My DD had to go to appeal as the decision was made on the assessment by the physio from the company hired by the DWP.

The medical information from two consultants, a specialist nurse, a physio who knows her well and an OT - all of whom wrote their reports based on “this is the condition, and this is the needs it leaves her with” (to the point the appeal panel read it in the morning of her appeal and awarded her without seeing her) was completely ignored by the decision maker.