Say no to these immoral cuts, built on weasel words and spin
Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do. But instead they have shoved us to the very edges.
The proposed cuts to Britain’s social security system are immoral, are deeply harmful to some of the country’s poorest people, and are based on misleading spin.
Disabled activists who work with and advise Church Action on Poverty say the further dismantling of crucial welfare support threatens to impoverish them, and flies in the face of Government promises and thorough evidence.
Stef Benstead, Sydnie Corley and Mary Passeri are all involved in the Speaking Truth to Power programme and other campaigns, and have joined the growing calls all over the country for the threatened cuts to be cancelled.
No to cuts: Now honour the promise
In December, Stef, Sydnie, Mary and others met the minister for disability, Sir Stephen Timms MP, who had said that disabled people would be at the heart of the Government’s actions.
Church Action on Poverty is urging Stephen Timms to honour that pledge, and today we are asking supporters to ask their MPs to make similar calls.
Stef: They're deliberately misleading the public to buy support for cuts
Stef said: “Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do, but instead they’ve shoved us to the very edges. They’re using a lot of spin and weasel words, but it is worse than empty rhetoric. It is deliberately misleading the public in order to buy support for immoral, harmful cuts.
“It really is a bogus consultation. The things they aren’t consulting on, and the assumptions made behind the things that they are consulting on, make the results a foregone conclusion. The cuts will happen, and they’re not interested in anything other than pretending to care about the people affected.
“Anyone can launch a consultation and say that it will be ‘close’. But to launch a consultation when you’ve already stated that there is no consultation on the ‘four-point’ criterion, and you’ve already decided how much money it will save, is not an honest consultation.”
Sydnie: We know the DWP does not score people correctly
Sydnie highlighted that in recent years, hundreds of thousands of people who were initially refused PIP were wrongly rejected, and had the refusal overturned at appeal, showing that the Government has a terrible track record at assessing people’s health and disability.
She says: “The DWP does not understand people’s conditions. Their ‘professionals’ are not qualified in many disabilities or in who can receive what payment, and what jobs people are capable of. The waiting list for PIP is too long.
“Too many people have to appeal where they were originally awarded hardly any points, then achieve the proper high amount in each category via the appeal. This waiting time is even longer and one that is degrading and not accessible to all, and this whole process is too much of a strain on people’s physical and mental health.
“How on earth are they going to reassess everyone, with what cost, as there are not enough staff as it is. We know the DWP does not score people correctly. They are unqualified for this job and under too much strain to cope.
“How on earth are they going to reassess everyone, with what cost, as there are not enough staff as it is. We know the DWP do not score people correctly. They are unqualified for this job and under too much strain to cope.
Mary: These cuts apply pressure not to live any more
Mary said she was terrified that the changes were coming in at the same time as the assisted dying legislation. She said: “The benefits system should be there as a safety net. I totally agree it should not be an alternative way of living, But it needs to be a stronger net, with fewer tears to fall through!”
“Now this is happening and the assisted dying laws are coming in as well. You can foresee a system where they will say they’ll give me benefits for another five years, and that’s it – and then in the context of assisted dying, see what pressure that puts on people not to live any more!”
Stef dissects the Government's spin on cuts
Stef said much of the Government’s statement this week was hollow spin.
She says: “You can be as harsh a government as you like and still pretend to the masses that you are nice, really, because you support the ‘greatest needs’ – just not the ‘also great but we’ve decided we can’t afford them’ needs.”
“The fact is that all the evidence shows that people assessed as unfit for work – whether required to prepare for work or not – are demonstrably not fit for work. Consequently any cuts to support for these people means that Labour is not protecting those who cannot work. And they are spinning this by claiming that we are people who are of non-genuine need.
“For example, I don’t receive the Daily Living component of PIP. Whilst I think this is wrong (I can only shower once a week and have to pay an assistant to cook for me, as well as doing my cleaning, tidying, washing up, and laundry which aren’t assessed by PIP), it means that I don’t qualify for the Health Element of Universal Credit under Labour’s proposed system.
“Yet, I’ve been unable to work since 2011. Various attempts to work have led to suicidal depression as I struggle with the demands of working not even eight hours a week.”
She also said the Government’s claim that the work capability assessment was binary was untrue, as it already has three possible outcomes: fit for work; unfit for work but fit to prepare for work; unfit either to work or prepare for work. And she criticised the suggestion that the number of PIP awards was not sustainable.
“How does that work? Is Liz Kendall saying that I am not sustainable? Too many people have long-term needs so the problem is that we’re unsustainable for each other? Taking PIP away from people who depend on it does not help people who depend upon it. It does not make PIP more sustainable long-term for them; rather, their lives have been made less sustainable.”
The system should not push people into poverty
Sydnie said: “We should be able to entrust our Government to ensure there is a system that is fair, prosperous, and sustainable, which is looking forward and grows with the modern world, that has empathy and deeper understanding of how to support everyone who is living here.
“We should all have a future, to feel worth and again, to not feel a burden on society, and to not be judged unfairly for this. Everyone has some right to self actualisation, to have dignity, to be heard and listened to, and also have a legal right to not be pushed into poverty, to have a good standard of living environmentally and mentally.
“People who live in Britain have fought for human rights, equal rights, racism, gender rights, equality, a fair social system, disabled rights and far far more. Is money more important than people’s lives and living experience? The Government has control and yet deems us as nothing more than a waste of money, draining the public’s purse.”
Sydnie said most jobs did not reflect the flexibility that disabled people would inevitably need.
“How on earth can the Government create jobs that are flexible, inclusive, and offering reasonable adjustment – such as time off at short notice with no repercussions, full support and at minimum wage and above?
“Will the Government make working places hire staff at their cost, where their insurance has to be increased, with new risk assessments, buying specialist equipment, having another member of staff to stand by at any time to replace their shift?
“And the other measures won’t make people better: covering child care costs won’t cure people; reducing benefits won’t cure people; voluntary work won’t cure people; adding more support with CVs, interviews or short basic courses won’t cure people – and most people know how to do these things. Disabled people are not uneducated as the Government seems to believe.
“Can’t the Government comprehend that some people are simply unable to work, but need to have the same rights as everyone, and to stop cuts to supportive programs, outreach centres, social workers, and accessibility to all.”
Mary: They understand us but they're doing it anyway!
Mary says: “Will job training or loss of money take away my son’s autism? Will it cure his health issues? Will it cure cerebral palsy and learning disabilities? It will not change any of that!
“I would love to work, to be back doing research work and group work, but how can I when some days I cannot even remember the names of people I am with? If I was employed, the employer would also need to employ someone else too, to cover when I was too ill to work. Small businesses can’t afford to employ people who can’t work regularly, and big businesses are not going to.
“I feel totally and utterly let down, because when the Conservatives were putting forward cuts and the UN was saying what they were doing was unlawful and should be stopped, Labour were jumping all over them trying to say it was all wrong.
“Now they’re in power, not only have they ignored that, but they are being worse! People say the Government needs to talk to people to understand, but that’s not enough – they have talked to people, they do understand, they’re speaking to people – but they’re doing this anyway! It’s all window dressing.”
“I already get less Universal Credit than my rent, so it’s essential I get PIP, or I would not have anything to eat! I get the standard rate of Universal Credit, as I’m unable to work. At the moment I’m not expected to work, or look for work. My son Adriano is on the special higher rate, and he’s not expected to work.
“I will be in their target group, because it’s people with severe aches and pains they will target. Most of the jobs available in York are coffee shop jobs – how could I work in a coffee shop, having to be on my feet and flexible. I can have good days, but last time I did something exertive, when I went to London for a meeting, I was in bed for nearly a week!
“For me, you can probably get four good hours out of me, but in that time I’d need to get washed and dressed, eat and get to where I would need to be. That could take three hours already… who’s going to give me a job for an hour?!”
“And are we saying people’s only reason for being is to go to work, because then when some people finish work, we’re in so much pain and cannot look after our family or do anything in life. Are they really saying that’s okay? As a disabled person, don’t I deserve a work-life balance like anyone else?
“I know it’s hard to arrange a really fair system, but punishing people who cannot work will not make them work. And for people who would like to work but are disabled, support needs to go to employers to enable that. Telling people to work when no employer would touch them is not going to help.
“After we met Stephen Timms, we were at least tentatively hopeful that there may be some real exchange. The Government’s actions would quash that hope.
“Why can’t we have a Government that is prepared to give real protections and quality of life to disabled people? If the Government could bring themselves to stop scapegoating and instead invest in bettering the situation for disabled people, then perhaps there would be less pressure on social and health services.
“This investment could begin with education. Children with disabilities have been facing cuts to essential services that would allow them to benefit from an education thus refusing them any real aspiration and ambition.”
Stef, Sydnie and Mary are members of the Speaking Truth to Power programme coordinated by Church Action on Poverty.
Stef is also the author of Second Class Citizens: The Treatment of Disabled People in Austerity Britain
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