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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Stop the Abolition of DLA

874 replies

Glitterknickaz · 16/01/2011 13:19

The government are proposing to get rid of DLA in favour of PIP. full consultation here

Riven started a fantastic thread in Chat with the very pertinent point that this applies to everyone, that every one of us could be just one step from disability themselves.

There is NOTHING in the media about this. These proposals could mean poverty for the disabled and their families in this country. It could leave some in residential care completely isolated from their families and support networks through the removal of the mobility component.

My family has already been hit three times through the NHS, education and aiming high, via the cuts, if they now remove the money from our pockets we are going to be in a heat or eat situation.

Please MNHQ do something, as many are oblivious to these proposals and what they will mean, including those who themselves already claim DLA.

OP posts:
MadameOvary · 22/01/2011 18:28

Re the mobility component being taken away for those in care homes, I think many people assume that once in a care home your emotional, mental and physical well-being is looked after, ie you get taken out by the staff, go on trips etc.
So they can't understand what the fuss is about.
Unbelievable eh?

I wish someone could fund a TV advert, with brief clips of people saying:
"Without DLA my child cannot access the vital help they need"
"Without DLA I can't cuddle my son"
"Without DLA I will be a prisoner in my own home"
"Without DLA we have to make a choice between heating our home or buying food"

But no doubt that would be dismissed as whinging as well. Angry

Mouseface · 22/01/2011 18:42

I bet if that ad was made by someone with a camcorder, and put on YouTube, it would soon make the press.

Especially if the clip was e-mailed to news desks...........

Rhydian · 22/01/2011 18:42

YeButerfleogeEffete

Would be quite a way to go! But I'm quite attached to my life at the moment, thanks Grin

Plus I have an entire Government and pea-brained trolls to take on right now.

MadameOvary · 22/01/2011 18:45

Go Rhydian!
Those sorts of trolls always remind me of the elephant character in Tinga Tinga Tales
"Big head see...tiny brain"

Rhydian · 22/01/2011 18:48

MadameOvary

Great minds an all that with your proposed campaign. We're planning EXACTLY that idea at The Broken of Britain right now.

We've got the quotes, and are trying to set it uot right - so that the public can all relate DLA to their everyday lives - Mum's arthritis, Dad's stroke, brother's car accident...

Original poster
Glitterknickaz · 22/01/2011 18:53

I'm going to a protest on Monday on behalf of my children.

Why do people see something wrong in the fact that both me and my DH are unable to work because my kids all have disabilities and with that irregular school hours and constant medical appointments?

Due to that their DLA gives us access to carers allowance and income support to live on because we can't work, and money to house us. If the kids lose DLA we lose the entire lot, and will still be unable to work to replace that money.

Why do people not understand that concept or think I'm a scrounger because of it? Would you like my life??

OP posts:
MissQue · 22/01/2011 18:57

Glitter, I'm in the same boat. Even though dd is in residential school, I still need to attend regular meetings and appointments during the week for her, and she's home at the weekend so I can't work then either. Some of my friends think the answer to my depression is to get out there and work, and they might be right, but they also haven't a clue what it's like to be a carer and how much time it takes up. An employer is not going to be happy with me taking time off for meetings and having to leave on the dot of 3pm on a Friday, with no option of working weekends. I've got nobody to fall back on if I had to work later, and nobody will attend the meetings but me, and I'm sorry but my daughter's welfare is more important than any job.

Rhydian · 22/01/2011 19:06

Glitterknickaz

It's down to their lack of ability to imagine someone else's life. Even if they can empathize - understand your emotional state - they lack the ability to imagine the cause of that emotional state.

Mouseface · 22/01/2011 19:08

You have nothing to prove to us Glitter

Infact, you have nothing to prove to anyone.

What some arses people don't understand is that those who lose DLA, stand to lose so much more besides that.

Can anyone here say that their disabled/ill self/child(ren)/family member/friend, have a superb quality of life because of DLA?

Holidays abroad? Flat screen tv paid for by DLA and the other benefits it gateways?

Designer clothes, new car every year?

M&S for your weekly food shop?

Or do you use it like I do, get through as best you can because you CAN'T work, travel costs to hospitals, accomadation when your child is in PICU and you are not allowed to stay with them, a cleaner to help in the house, pay the bills so that we can stay in our family home etc, etc.

Yes, there are fuckwits people out there that abuse benefits and the systems in place, we know that.

And it needs to stop. Abolishing DLA won't change that will it?

Mouseface · 22/01/2011 19:09

Oh, and by the way, the cheese and wine were birthday gifts.

Original poster
Glitterknickaz · 22/01/2011 19:10

I would say the lack of deletion implies agreement by mnhq though.

OP posts:
Rhydian · 22/01/2011 19:11

Well said Mouseface

And no Glitterknickaz, you have nothing to prove to anybody.

MadameOvary · 22/01/2011 19:19

Rhydian, That's brilliant, I did think that what was lacking was the ability of the general public to link disability to them and give it that emotional charge.
With any luck your campaign will accomplish this. I wish you the best of luck Smile

Mouseface · 22/01/2011 19:25

Glitter - I know, I find it really bloody offensive that those posts have remained after multiple reports.

Just as long as you know, it's not you, it's them okay?

Thanks Rhydian - I've got myself all worked up now!

MadameOvary · 22/01/2011 19:27

TBH they dont give a shit about fraud as such, or getting people back into work, it's all about kicking as many people off the benefit in the shortest time, and this is the easiest and quickest way to do it.

As has been well illustrated further up this thread, the reforms are ill-thought out and easily picked apart - because they dont have people's well-being in mind. It's all about saving money.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious, it just disgusts me so much that so many of those targeted will lack the resources to challenge it and will see their already-fragile lives wrecked beyond repair.

Rhydian, please keep us updated, it sounds like you're going for the jugular, which is exactly what is needed here.

madhairday · 22/01/2011 19:47

Have been away a couple of days and glad to see so many posts here, though unfortunate that some are from the under the bridge dwelling variety

Jux your post totally resonates with me. The forms are so incredibly upsetting. :(

Keep hanging in there everyone.

lisa1cares · 22/01/2011 20:06

to any trolls around let me point a few things out, The UK is not a 3rd world country so yes we would expect help otherwise it would be. and lets look at this as a big picture her is a list just for my childrens needs that are extra cost.

if the government covered the cost of having to buy food that my daughter can eat.
if the government covered the cost of the extra heat that my daughter needs.
if the government covered the costs of transporting her and me to and from the hospital and enabled me to be by her side.
if the government supported carers so that we can care for the disabled.
if the government paid a real wage and not the rubbish £50 something pounds.
this list is never ending but those are a few examples
only when the needs are meet will their not be a need for me to not have DLA for my child. If you worked as a care giver for anyone else you would be paid far more then the rubbish we get.
I would gladly go out to work if the government paid someone else to care for my daughter well I was at work.

and do you think that it would be cheaper for them to care for children and adults that have disabilities then giving carer's rubbish allowance and DLA?? no I find it very doubtful. So when the government has finished punishing the disabled and their care givers society will be on its knees crippled with more debt from taking care of those disabled people that we as carers can no-longer care for because of their stupid reforms.

You have to understand we care for these children and adults because we love them and for this we get a very small allowance that would not cover most peoples basic needs yet we as carers are expected to live on it. So you take away DLA that = taking away carers allowance, which = me having to go out to work, which = needing someone to care for my daughter and that just costs more then leaving us all alone to get on with what we do. So trolls are you yet understanding what is going on here. This is not just about DLA this is a lot bigger then you could ever Imagen

lisa1cares · 22/01/2011 20:13

just wondering have they changed the forms yet ?? I know the adult ones was changed and made less repetitive (helping a friend fill one in )but last time I filled my daughters in, it was 50 pages of the same stuff over and over and over "sigh"

Rhydian · 22/01/2011 20:16

MadameOvary et al.

I promise I'll keep you bang up to date with everything we do - I only wish I'd come on Mumsnet sooner for your support!

As you say, neither fraud (which is 0.5% in DLA, the lowest in the entire welfare system - including Pension Credit) nor getting people into work are real concerns. They just want to lop 20%-40% off the DLA bill, and to hell with the consequences for disabled people and their families/carers.

There are 3.1 million people on DLA, plus all our families (many Mumsnetters!), plus other disabled people, plus supportive members of the public. That's one hell of a lot of people. As I've before, they have a fight on their hands.

Rhydian · 22/01/2011 20:18

well said lisa1cares

lisa1cares · 22/01/2011 20:30

so true mouseface we have never been on holiday abroad as a family ever. me and my partner went for a really cheap break once for 3 days but it took us 3 years to save for that. and my DD went with my parents this year for the first time ever but my parents paid for her, there is no way we could of done it our selves.

We have rented a cottage in the lakes for a week this year, it will be the first ever family holiday we have had :)Nearly finished going through everything that needs to be done to make sure all goes as smooth as possible. Tell you this is not an easy thing to organise but will be so worth it in the end :)

oh and any trolls that want to pick that statement apart by the way my hubby paid for it out of his wagers because there is no way I could afford it on what the government pays me.

Mouseface · 22/01/2011 20:45

Lisa - don't forget having to find out where the nearest children's ward is incase you need to take your child for treatment whilst you are away?

And just how much equipment you need to take with you when you go anywhere, never mind for a stay away from home.

You're having a mush deserved and needed break, as a family.

I really hope you have a wonderful time.

Mouseface · 22/01/2011 20:45

mush? much!

lisa1cares · 22/01/2011 21:01

@moseface yep all sorted we made sure we knew all that before booking it :) yes and the suitcase of meds and equipment will all be going with us :)

lisa1cares · 22/01/2011 21:12

and here is another little known thing that I have long thought was wrong even under the labour party.

So as a carer you are classed as working but its not classed as working to the tax credits even though its a taxable income.

her is the example that I know as fact
my father has a army pension (not a lot) which stops my parents from claiming income support. so they don't get the premium disabled thing. so I phoned the tax credits up thinking well my mum is classed as working because she is a carer and she does more then 25 hours easy so in all fairness she should be entitled to tax credits but no she isn't all you ever get told off the tax credit people is well that's a grey area lmao what a jk the system really is.

and before a troll wants to pick that apart my father has parkinsons disease from the multi vaccinations he was given when fighting in the Falklands war. and he also refuses to sue the government no matter what we say to him.