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.

For those of you who are rubbing your hands together in delight, thinking the changes will stop people with mental health problems getting pip, here's a reality check:

You now have to score 4 points in a category for it to count, here's a few examples of the 4 point sections:

Needs prompting to take nutrition 4 points

Needs assistance to cook a simple meal 4 points

Needs assistance to monitor a health condition 4 points

Needs assistance to wash between shoulders and waist 4 points

Needs communication support to express or understand complex verbal information 4 points

Needs prompting to be able to read or understand basic written information 4 points

Needs social support to be able to engage with other people 4 points

Needs prompting or assistance with budgeting 4 points

So froth all you like, my child gets 8 points in most categories and will easily meet the criteria for 4 points, so will many other people with mental health conditions thankfully.
Will some people lie about their conditions, yes probably.

Also forgot to add, that's just the daily living section. They get more than 4 points for mobility too as they don't journey alone, and that's unlikely to change under the new rules.

@MapCollector if these reforms don't work to cut the bill then other, more severe reforms will be implemented. They have to weed people out somehow to lower the bill. The people that are already lying or exaggerating won't think twice about upping the ante a bit to retain their benefits so it's going to get very nasty.

It's smoke and mirrors, they will say it worked, everyone moves on to the next thing, and forgets disabled people for a while.
It won't get nasty as much as you would clearly like it to.

"it's going to get very nasty."

Which is something I am sure you are really looking forward to.

I have fibromyalgia. I was diagnosed by a consultant Rheumatologist. Pretty sure his diagnosis of my fibromyalgia and hyper mobility weren't spurious in any way. He just did his job. It's not something that can be faked. Consultant's are not in cahoots with scam merchants. If you saw me on my worst days you'd know. It's bloody awful and I'm pretty tough

I absolutely don't want it to get nasty. You completely misunderstand me. I think sensible policy change and discussion now could prevent it blowing up into a huge issue.

I completely disagree that it will be forgotten about. You can see the popular press have started to really get into it now and as you can tell by this poll, there is a lot of concern about this area. It's like immigration, it will never go away until people feel it's being effectively managed. We have to be very very careful about popularism and extremism rising off the back of these areas.

Yes, because clearly I'm an evil person... Not just someone with an alternative opinion.

51% of British families believe a holiday is unaffordable for them according to Action for Children.

And yet 84% of British people go on holiday every year with families with children over the age of 5 going on holiday an average of 5 times a year according to ABTA research.

The Rowntree Foundation publishes research into minimum income standards and their standardised budget includes a holiday budget. Interesting enough adults on out of work benefits achieve around 28% of what is considered the minimum income standard, a single person working full time on national minimum wage achieve around 78% of minimum income standard. A couple on full time national minimum wage achieve 111% of minimum income standard. So we have people not earning enough hitting out at people who have even less.

I can’t find the MIS for people with disabilities but the annual poverty report shows people with a disability are still more likely to live in poverty despite claims of international travel and designer bags.

What a stupid thing to say. The reverse could easily be said 🤔

I am sorry if I misunderstood, and I agree the thought of Reform/other right wing party getting into power is terrifying.
I agree we need discussion, and I do believe this government will try to smooth ruffled feathers by saying their new bill is working, even if it's still easy for some fake people to be successful in claiming benefits.

My worry is for my child, who has to navigate all this hatred towards people who claim benefits due to poor mental health and neurodevelopmental disability.

Poor mental health is just as real and disabling as some physical health conditions, in fact I would dare to say more so in many cases, and I would rather some fake people slipped through the net, than some genuine people lost out.

interesting choice of language.

no one is ‘entitled’ to a holiday. Someone earlier also used the phrase ‘deserve’ a holiday.

would it be wonderful if everyone could have the choice and means to go on holiday. 100% absolutely.

should anyone, whatever their situation, have it funded in any way part by the state? No I don’t think it should be honestly.

but that doesn’t mean I don’t fully support assistance for those who really need it.

Are you saying people who work full time are not entitled to the same things either just because they are able bodied?! The families of disabled people need to provide the extra things, the tax payer or the government should just provide the basics.

should anyone, whatever their situation, have it funded in any way part by the state? No I don’t think it should be honestly.

So that would be anyone in receipt of child benefit, or state pension, or subsidised childcare - that’ll free up a lot of cheap holidays for the rest of us.

This is exactly what I meant in my post Today 13:57 - disability income is too often seen as compensation and an entitlement. Nobody is “entitled” to a holiday. Sure it’s nice, but why should it be held as a privilege for one group of people if not everyone?

That’s a ridiculous and irrelevant comparison!

It’s like saying someone with cancer in ICU is getting hundred of thousands from the NHS and the average person with no health conditions gets far less from the NHS and it’s not fair!!!

Someone perfectly well working full time and earning less than a disabled person on benefits has nothing to whinge about. Your health is priceless. If you’re in that position and thinking about complaining maybe just stop and check yourself and realise how lucky you are and then think about getting more qualifications and/or a second job. Feel lucky that you are not in pain or with a limited life.

I’m top tier disabled. I love it, I get the enhanced rate of ADP for both daily living and mobility. Scored myself a luxury car with that. I also get cheap tickets,
free carer tickets and don’t have to line up at the majority of venues. It’s ace

The only thing I can’t get my well rubbed together hands in is a Blue Badge. Damnit.

@Yetanothervirus so the only barrier to working more is health? What about children, elderly relatives, burnout. Just because you’re not on disability benefits and out of work doesn’t mean you’re in 100% tip top condition and have no other barriers, physical, health wise or family that prevent you from working.

Well first state pension, whilst it is a benefit, is a social contract that you pay in your NI for 35 years to receive it so I don’t consider it a benefit in the same way.

Likewise, Subsidised childcare is used to incentivise women back to work so the exchequer gets extra funds and increases GDP so isn't a benefit in the same way. There is a net gain to the economy subsiding childcare.

in the case of child benefit, I’d have to give that some thought. Ideally no it shouldn’t be used for holidays. Child benefit is to be used for the specific purpose of providing the basic needs for children. If you can do that without the state’s help then should you really claim it? When there is a finite resource available (tax player funds) Shouldn’t that money be targeted exactly where it is needed to get the most benefit out of it?

I know it’s a wind up but if you qualify for the car you qualify for the badge.

It is the biggest barrier and it’s not a choice that person made. Most other factors eg children, needing more qualifications etc are choices

Blame poor wages and high living costs for people who work full time not being able to afford anything other than the basics.
What if the disabled person doesn't have any family who can help them? Would you step up and fund a brother or sister if they couldn't work due to disability?

Not always !

It’s not that simple though, is it? Someone who has grown up in poverty for example isn’t going to have the same opportunities as someone who hasn’t. Women are at a disadvantage to men just based on their sex. There are many other variables that impact someone’s ability to earn “more” money.

CB is means tested though.