Disability hate on MN

[IClaudine]

Hi MNHQ

Since Sunak’s announcement on disability benefits, there has been a big increase on MN in hostility towards people who receive then.

The abuse, hate and outright lies (my neighbour’s son’s cousin’s wife climbs Mount Everest but gets PIP etc) being spewed on MN towards disabled people, a group with protected characteristics, has been dreadful and very distressing for disabled people and their loved ones to read,

Please can you do something?

Here is a small selection of the threads where the disability benefit bashers have paid a visit and had a field day. There may be more, but I can’t face searching for them!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5064828-to-be-terrified-about-pip?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share  

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5065470-people-who-work-have-anxiety-too?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5066670-aibu-to-hope-that-able-bodied-people-will-support-disabled-people-against-the-tory-attack-on-pip?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5064856-pip-vouchers-to-replace-money?reply=134966246&utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5066331-do-you-feel-bad-for-receiving-a-high-amount-of-uc?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Agreed. Sigh.

Jobless people on sickness benefits will soon receive £2,500 more a year than a minimum wage worker, new figures have revealed.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a think tank, found that a non-working Universal Credit (UC) claimant receiving the average housing benefit and personal independence payment for ill health would have an income of £25,000 in 2026-27.

This compares with a full-time worker paid the national living wage, who will earn about £22,500 after income tax and National Insurance.

And ? Your point is ?

Not the thread for it. Start your own if you want to benefit bash

Ffs. Get off a literal thread talking about how sick people are of people bashing disabled benefits claimants with your shite.

exactly. just say that outright then. You came on to bash people who are disabled and rely on benefits to survive. What a novelty!
You think.people who.rely on disability benefits are taking people for a ride. Stop to think that people with disabilities have a lot of associated costs and most people would happily swap their disabilities to live a normal life and earn their own money. You really have no.clue what many disabled people's lives are like. If you think they are living in clover you are totally deluded.

Exactly.

I'm actually busier with my disabilities, illnesses and regular medical treatments than when I was working !!

My illness and disability is a full time job and I'm supposed to be retired now!

No such luck but I am grateful to be alive..

Continued…

It means that by 2030, Britain’s spending on health and disability benefits will cost £100 billion, the equivalent of the income tax contributions of nine million workers.

The CSJ also found that a jobless single parent claiming for anxiety and for a child with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) would receive almost £37,000 a year – £14,000 more than a worker on the national minimum wage.

About two in three people claiming the health element of UC also receive Pip and roughly the same proportion are in receipt of housing support in UC. While it is possible to claim Pip while in work, fewer than one in six claimants are employed.

Posting for info sharing.

You've continued on this thread why? Go post it on the million other current disabled bashing threads.

It is not ‘disability bashing’ - I am posting within the rules of MN, and will continue to do so.

It’s crucial we all listen to each other’s perspectives.

PIP and UC are tax free.

There is an obvious disincentive for some people not to work, when they would be liable for income tax and NI.

This is seriously problematic and requires urgent reform.

we are sick of listening to other peoples opinions frankly.
What about people who are so severely disabled thay can never work ? Are they taking tax payers for fools?
Disabled veterans disabled in the line of duty ? Are they ?
Young parents fighting to survive cancer to see their children grow up ? Are they open to being vilified as well?
Disabled people are not some homogenous group of wasters who are sticking 2 fingers up to taxpayers.

But there is a such a wave of hatred and criticism in the media and online now that it is thoroughly depressing . Disabled people are being made to feel that they are the root evil in this country.
So nice try with your information sharing but we all know your agenda. You have shown your true colours already.

But people dont listen to disabled people's perspectives. That's the issue. And you are here on a thread where you continue to goad is completely unwanted. You can't even let people express themselves without jumping in.

I get PIP. And I do work full time. Anyone who needs PIP has been assessed and has been found to need it.

If I lost my job I would find it pretty impossible to find a new one. What would you propose I do then?

Of course it is.

You don't seem very interested in listening to disabled people's perspectives or those who have disabled children.

OK, I cannot answer all of you at the same time.

I am genuinely interested to gain an understanding - what’s apparent is that some of you clearly deserve the support you are getting (probably more than you are receiving), but is it also possible that some/many are not deserving of help? Hence the pushback.

And why do you think coming on a thread, where there are people expressing their feelings on how, as disabled people, they are being treated on here and irl, is a good use of your time?

OK fair enough if you.genuinely want to gain a wider understanding of the issues. ( though your initial post didn't really convey that did it )
The trouble is all the headlines about disabled children bankrupting councils and disability benefits ruining the economy is stirring up so much resentment against all.disabled people. And they are subjected to it constantly now . I have seen a massive shift in people's attitudes in the last few years.
It is a narrative that most people are swallowing wholesale without the ability to look at the issue dispassionately.
Hats off to you if you genuinely want to listen to disabled people's perspectives but it is not fair to jump .on a thread specifically set up by those feeling aggrieved by the prevailing attitude towards them because they have the misfortune to be disabled and continue to.do the same.

MNHQ:
‘Critical conversations about how the benefits system functions, whether it’s effective, fair, or open to misuse, are permitted here. These are complex, timely issues, especially in light of ongoing political and economic change. Questioning whether the system is working as intended isn’t, in itself, disablist, it’s part of a broader national conversation that many people, including those directly affected by the system, care deeply about.’

I am keen to discuss whether the benefits system is ‘effective, fair, or open to misuse’.

You will not find any ‘disablism’ from me.

But you dont need to do that on THIS thread.

Go and post on the others.

I hear you, and I do not agree with the behaviour you have described - that’s patently awful, and unacceptable.

No reasonable person would stand for it.

Sorry, but this is an open forum - I have no desire to ‘derail’ the thread, but I am entitled to post, as you are entitled not to reply to me.

You're doing it for a reaction.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

‘Questioning whether the system is working as intended isn’t, in itself, disablist, it’s part of a broader national conversation that many people, including those directly affected by the system, care deeply about.’