To be concerned about what Liz Kendall is up to with disability benefits?

[Locutus2000]

The Times reporting just how enthusiastic Labour are about targeting the disabled.

I can only hope they are getting the worst ideas out there first, if not I dread to think what is coming in the upcoming review.

I was confident Labour would at worst be no worse than the Tories.

I was wrong.

Free archive link here.

Yes the lack of reviews is just crazy

No sympathy for you if you voted for Labour OP

They're targeting those on disability benefits, not specifically the disabled.

Australia has had an enormous blowout on its NDIS program (similar to PIP) - it grew by 20 odd per cent per annum over the last couple of years.

Apparently 1 in 3 NDIS claims are for autism & Australia now has one of the highest rates of diagnosed autism in the world.

The current government is desperately trying to rein it in. Melbourne had a savage lockdown period but the rest of Australia just continued as (broadly) normal.

Or ESA to UC. In fact the shocking, shocking I say increase in UC claimants and breach of the unemployment welfare spending cap is really due to ESA claimants being moved on to UC and being counted towards the welfare spending cap when disability benefits were never counted nor meant to be counted toward the unemployment welfare spending cap.

Why? Whichever party got in, they were going to go after the disabled. The only question was which one would be less harsh, and the answer to that was Labour.

I think one thing the government could do is make work pay. So many people doing low paid work (usually essential work for society to function) are living in real grinding poverty. I would have an absolutely massive council house building programme and, controversially, prioritise working people, people have to see some benefits for their labour. Housing costs for private rent just suck up so much now that there's nothing left. So people work all day, have nothing to so for it, then get blamed for being poor and looked down upon for the job they do. This would fill me with depression and anxiety as well.

There is that. Hitting the private sector means lower spend and there's no reason Labour won't go for this

The article can’t be correct. The issue is that you are at high risk of developing depression and anxiety on top of and as a result of a physical injury or health condition especially if the health system isn’t treating your physical condition. Which is honestly the state of the NHS rn. Most claimants have multiple diagnosed conditions.

It just reads like the “1 in 12 people in London are illegal immigrants” headline that has been quickly disproved, criticised, and retracted. But obviously, the retraction and oops we counted immigrants with ILR as “illegal” because we thought the “I” stood for illegal when ILR actually means legal immigrants with full residency hasn’t made the rounds like the headline.

I think we need to understand why there are 850,000 young people who are not in education, employment or training. If we can't get this section of society into work, the longer they are out of work, the harder it is to get them into work. We cannot afford to have our young people on a lifetime of benefits. The pool of taxpayers supporting those who need benefits is ever decreasing, while the benefits Bill is ever increasing.

There aren’t enough jobs for healthy people, so I have no idea how the government expect the sick and disabled to be chosen for a job over all the healthy people also applying for the same job.

I don’t know why people buy into the idea that the left are kinder than the right. They really don’t care about people, they care about ideology, not lies they are economically incompetent without fail, it’s like people simply ignore the past.

People were beyond naive to give Labour their “not Tory” vote - many people tried to warn everyone and were labelled facists

You will find most disabled people, unless their disability does not really affect their lives much or they actively decide not to claim, do claim some sort of benefit.

Disability benefits are not only paid to people unable to work or are on low incomes. Even Cameron claimed for his disabled child

DLA and PIP are also gateway benefits for other types of help.

I watched it, it was utter nonsense. The whole “there’s a financial incentive to claim disability” malarky was propaganda at its finest.

I have two neighbours (a couple), registered disabled and on disability benefits.

Both walk without a stick (unlike me), both in their late 50s. Don't work but can drive big SUV, garden, go on exotic hols. etc.

I don't understand why they can't work, if even from home.

The vast majority of the 2/3rds that cite depression/anxiety will have multiple other disabling health conditions too. The reason that more of the sick and disabled are also getting depression/anxiety on top of their original conditions is down to NHS service cuts and wait lists.

I'm reasonably intelligent and even I could buy into this. Most people are busy working and don't fully understand or appreciate the reality of the situation.

For many the situation has been evidently diabolical under Tories regards various things personal to them. So of course people are hopeful Labour will be better.

What was the alternative?

I think you're right btw but this is only a reality dawning on some people over time as they watch the implementation of policy take place.

Oh, so you know what their diagnoses are?

Eta: what do you mean by "registered disabled"?

Absolutely this.

My DD has done full time WFH since Covid. She works for the civil service. She was previously PT due to her narcolepsy as they didn't allow FT WFH - she did three days a week with one day a month in the office catching up with her team etc. Since going FT she's come off all income related benefits (she still gets PIP).

The office she works in has been closed. Her office is now over an hour away. They have to book a desk in advance and there's no catching up with her team anymore.

Yet she's been told that in the next couple of months she's no longer going to be allowed to ft WFH. Her flexible working request was turned down as they "not doing any ft wfh" despite the fact her boss, and their boss, were supportive of it.

If she can't find another FT WFH position she's going to end up back PT and needing help from income based benefits.

She is exactly the kind of person that the government should be encouraging the CS, and other employers, to have in FT WFH roles. In her role, which absolutely can be done WFH, the CS should be leading the way with WFH opportunities for people like her. But no.

@ARichtGoodDram that is awful.

Having a disability should not preclude you from working. Yes some people are unfortunate enough to be unable to maintain employment and should be supported. The problem with the current system is that the notion of a disability = financial benefit by default.

Civil service are being told they can’t WFH.

Tbh I’m no Labour supporter, but tend to agree that something needs to be done. There’s an increasing number of people claiming due to MH issues, which covers a broad range. There are some who suffer from social anxiety which should not be used as a barrier to employment, but there are people currently who think it is. Many people suffer from lack of confidence or feel pressure at work either socially or ability to cope, but unfortunately you have to get on with it, and develop learning contingencies on how to cope with it. Some claim physical disability whilst achieving some physical tasks, so can work, but just need to find the right job. Our welfare bill is increasing year on year, and we need to start nudging people into the workplace.

I disagree. The young lady with an injured pelvis featured would have to earn £34k to make it worth her while to come off benefits. She had no qualifications, a disability and was living in a northern town where the average full time wage would probably be around £25K, that's if she could find a full time job with her condition. I don't blame her for staying at home with her son, I would do the same in her shoes.
I don't think the programme was in any way spouting propaganda, just highlighting how broken the system is, and how complex the societal problems are.
It also featured the cab driver who fell ill and needed benefits. He eventually recovered and had been trying for months to come off benefits. He couldn't get an appointment to stop claiming.

Many people who work get disability benefits.