Ok who wants to swap £2500 a month in benefits for my husbands MS and my epilepsy, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia.

[bluebirdblackbird]

Well according to a lot of people on here we are on a good thing.

the 20 seizures I have in a week, chronic pain and night terrors, losing my memory after a seizure, pissing myself, hallucinations. They are all great fun. Not to mention the amount of times I have been accused of being drunk after a seizure.

or there is my husband. Diagnosed with progressive MS. Cronic Pain, shaking, cronic pins and needles, weakness in limbs plus losing mobility. Had to give up his teaching job 4 months ago after gradually reducing hours.

Not to mention the judgement when we use a blue badge because we look ok in that moment. And apparently labour are going to find us both work. Yippee cant wait to meet the employer who is going to take us both on. I am sure pissing my chair on a reg basis won’t matter to them or the losing counciouness at least a couple of times a day.

i am just fed up of yet another they are on benefits and get money and it’s not fair stamp stamp stamp. The bastards have saved up for a holiday- it’s not fair. The bastards have a mobility car but they look fine, OMG- they have got new carpets or a new sofa.

since I am guessing they none of the moaners would actually swap places with us if they could then STFU.

oh and that pip that is easy to get- my husband gets lower rate for both and that is despite providing all the evidence and appealing so we are off to tribunal. He can’t even dress himself most days and he can’t hold a pan safely or manage his medication plus many other things. If he stays on the points he is on he will lose his pip completely under these new labour proposals.

but most people know someone who’s friends, aunts, nephews, stepdaughters, cousin twice removed who lied and got it. I was taking to a lady in a wheelchair who does not get any mobility component of pip at all.

The highly qualified health professionals where all very definitive in their agreement that my child is Autistic. Not slightly, not maybe, but definitely Autistic. I'll listen to them, thanks, over a random Internet person.

Your situation demands those benefits, as do many others in the same boat.

However, you -and they-should be mightily concerned about the number of hands in the pot, as many of those hands are attached to people who absolutely could and should work.

Why should you be mightily concerned?

Because eventually, all benefits will have to be reduced in order to accommodate the growing number who claim them.

That means that you-and others like you-will suffer so that those who can tell a good tale can continue to draw from the same pot.

if a cake serves 10 good slices and 10 people want it-great-if 20- people want a slice, then it becomes a sliver of cake and that is what will happen. So you, OP, should be very concerned about this.

Posters will come on to say that those who shouldn't be claiming is only a small minority? Well, time will be the best fortune teller.

There isn't a definitive test for autism. This is a matter of fact not opinion. They should have explained that to you. This doesn't mean your son doesn't have autism though.

You just had to tempt fate.

@WiddlinDiddlin 've literally just agreed with my post so not sure why you're quoting me in anger?

I work with the vulnerable and disabled, I 100% agree with disability benefits so don't come at me with attitude because you have misread.

The problem is the "view" that people with anxiety and depression have caused this cascade of claimants. Now whilst those claims have increased by over 50% so there is fact to that argument, MH is a sliding scale and will undoubtedly also have claims that are needed and valid, but because of this media guided viewpoint of "othering" benefit claimants genuine claimants are getting caught up in the arguments and discourse.

But, no matter what, the benefits bill is unsustainable in it current form.

While those of us working could only dream of being able to spend like that.

It's not the fault of disabled people that you have a rubbish job.

Sorry, missed the quote off.

Again, I will trust their assessment over your opinion.

So what do you suggest disabled people who have no ability to increase their income do? Just live in poverty?

Urghhh no thanks OP. I get PIP already £400 a month and a blue badge. But it's temporary, I'm having my major surgery next week.
It's been really tough hanging onto my job the last year. For people with permanent disabilities it must be very very tough hanging on in there. A year of it was more than enough for me.

No, but disabled people benefit from low paid workers probably more than the average person if you include carers. Someone has to do the work at a reasonable price otherwise disabled people would really suffer.

So tell me, should a carer working all hours under the sun that can barely afford to keep a roof over their head be happy for their client who is off on holiday? Do you think they should just quit their 'rubbish' job and do something else to afford the same? What if everyone does this?

Then we should be arguing for better pay

What do you suggest able bodied people that have no real prospect of increasing their income do? There are more barriers to opportunity than simply being disabled. It is a much wider question and far more nuanced than you suggest. In fact some people with disabilities have a huge amount of earning potential, the richest man in the world has autism.

Better pay? Who pays more for the carers and services? The disabled people? The bankrupt councils? The heavily indebted national government?

Also have you heard of inflation? Higher pay does not always improve buying power and can actually have the opposite effect.

Exactly! No one wants anyone to suffer! But if you work full time and are doing everything you can to earn money for your family and children it is really difficult to see others have enough time to spend at home relaxing, going on holiday etc. and not having to worry about money because the tax payer is handing it over to you! Everyone wants to relax and have time for family, go on holidays, buy some treats for their kids etc. but very often people working full time jobs have no disposable income left after paying tax and all the bills as they are taxed so much. As a manager of a large team I am often upset to learn of my colleagues money troubles even though they work full time and budget hard. And then there are others who manage to get more than a person in full time work purely on benefits, and this is where it stings, they have enough disposable income to do nice things like holidays, treats for kids just by claiming etc. Support from government should be basic so no one is in poverty, not so great that they can afford all these extras which working ppl can’t.

Disabled people spend money too, it all goes back into the economy. You're not telling me the government couldn't save money somewhere other than through these benefit changes, which I don't believe will add up to much anyway.

It makes perfect sense

Agree - the OP is missing the point. I think we get lost with the intention of benefits and some people feel their purpose is to compensate for the poor hand they’ve been dealt. They’re not, they’re there to support.

Are you really saying that disabled people are not entitled to a holiday or but a treat for their kids occasionally? Should they just sit in the house all.day waiting for death?

We have had talk on this thread about how a family holiday or a designer bag is a legitimate use of DLA.

I think a family holiday is a perfectly legitimate use of benefit money. If the person is able to budget and manages to use some of their money for a break fair play to them.

I’ve not seen anyone claim a designer bag is a legitimate use of benefit money and don’t know anyone on benefits who could afford such a thing. I know some who have bought knock off versions and pass them off as the real thing, I know someone who was gifted a very nice bag for a milestone birthday, and someone in work who treated themselves with an unexpected bonus at work (which PIP enabled them to access).

Peoples circumstances are complex and folk don’t share the whole of their lives with others. If someone is spending money on holidays, or nice clothes, or designer bags on benefits, they’re going without in some other area of their spending. That’s a choice we all make no matter our income or where it comes from.

I also have MS and I don't get anything so sure ... I'd happily trade places.

Money spent doesn't all stay in British economy. Our addiction to imported goods and foreign holidays etc doesn't help.

I don't think this is the only area that the government could save money but I think they desperately need to get a grip of this area before resentment rises to an unmanageable level and very harsh cuts will be made by an incoming right wing popularist party. The tide of opinion is turning and the government need to get ahead and prove that it is doing something to tackle the escalating benefits bill. Making sensible, considered but painful cuts now could save a world of pain further down the line if things are left to spiral and support plummets further. You can tell by the poll on this thread that things are precariously balanced. OP sounds like a genuine claimant and yet still a large minority have voted that she's being unreasonable. It won't take much for this to become a majority and then democracy will take it's course. We need to guard against this by getting a grip now.

That's exactly what she's suggesting

You are entitled to your belief. I fundamentally disagree with you that a family holiday is a legitimate use of disability benefit money. 51% of British families believe a holiday is unaffordable for them according to Action for Children. The fact that people are having their holidays funded by other families that can't afford to go on holiday sites very badly with me and I imagine most people.

"There isn't a definitive test for autism. This is a matter of fact not opinion. They should have explained that to you. This doesn't mean your son doesn't have autism though."

There is no definitive test for many conditions. Even with physical disabilities, how much pain someone is in is self assessment.