#disability in the uk

[golden-reedwolf]

Actual hell country

[northern-punk-lad]

Holy shit good news from the UK that’s rare

[662607015]

i've been too busy to post about it lately but the current situation surrounding disability rights in the uk is horrifying in a way that most people have zero awareness of. i would appreciate it if more people could spread awareness of this, because the situation is dire to the point that the united nations have officially recognised it as a human rights violation, and there is still little to no discussion about this present online that i'm aware of.

on march 22 this year, the united nations published a follow-up report - found here - on its 2016 inquiry into the human rights of disabled people in the uk. the original inquiry found "grave and systemic violations" of the human rights of disabled people, and the follow-up concludes that no significant progress has been made concerning the situation. the report details "deep poverty" becoming increasingly common for disabled people; media rhetoric "aimed at raising hostility against welfare claimants, including disabled people"; increasing rates of institutionalisation of disabled people; concern about ai tools being used to automate fraud detection in social security with little oversight; and reports of "benefit deaths": the phenomenon of disabled people resorting to suicide after having their social security removed by the state, which has evidently become so common that they have a name for it.

on april 19, just 28 days after the un's official condemnation, the uk government published a new press release announcing a "moral mission" to "reform" our disability welfare system - meaning plans to even further reduce or entirely remove what little finanical support is available to disabled people, in addition to removing the ability of gps to issue sick notes and the introduction of a "fraud bill" which would enable warrants for seizes, searches and arrests in addition to increased digital surveillance of any welfare claimant suspected of fraud. again, this comes less than a month after the un announced that the uk has taken no action to address human rights abuses of disabled people - and the only action they're taking on this is to actively make the situation worse. i don't know how to end this post other than that it's legitimately terrifying to be a disabled person here at present, and this is made even worse by how little media attention the situation is getting - if you're able to speak out about this, please do. the human rights of disabled people are being violated and our government needs to be held accountable.

[garina]

So. While the current arsehole serving as UK PM is currently coming out with all kinds of nasty policies to appeal to the worst of his voter base, I wanted to say two things to fellow disabled and long term sick Brits.

Firstly, Sunak does not believe he or the Conservatives are going to be in power by the end of the year, so most of this shit isn't going to happen. While the alternatives are also not great, they are marginally less horrible.

Secondly, if/when you are forced to go through a Work Capability Assessment, it is your right to demand it be recorded. They will try to dissuade you, but you can refuse an appointment unless and until they agree. You receive a copy of the recording (just put it somewhere safe, don't listen to it unless you need to). Now you have concrete proof of what happened in the assessment, which makes it harder for them to screw you over.

My last WCA was during lockdown, so it was a remote one. It was delayed for 2 months because I demanded a recording. And it was the second time ever in 15 years that I didn't have to go to tribunal. I also was moved from the limited work group to the support group.

Hopefully this helps someone. Hang in there everyone. We are worth it.

[cassolotl]

UK government planning to scrap a major disability benefit

I'm only just scraping by and the government are proposing to take away PIP (a disability benefit), which would be HALF of my income wiped out.

"Reforms to personal independence payments (PIP) could include stopping regular cash payments, and instead offering claimants one-off grants for things like home adaptations." -- "Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024

And:

"The plans, which will be consulted on over the coming months, also include proposals to “move away from a fixed cash benefit system”, meaning people with some conditions will no longer receive regular payments, but instead access to treatment if their condition does not involve extra costs." -- "People with depression or anxiety could lose sickness benefits, says UK minister", Guardian, 29 April 2024

That's what the NHS is supposed to be doing...

Genuinely absolutely terrifying.

Can anyone living in the UK join in with an (hopefully!) overwhelming cascade of unique emails to their MP opposing this? WriteToThem.com makes it very quick and easy.

They're proposing to replace it with one-off grants that the individual can apply for, which is absurd and horrifying, so feel free to point out how that won't work as well!

Here's what I'm writing, and do not just copy-paste my letter/email, because that makes it less legit. Do your own thing, even just one sentence telling your MP that you're opposed is enough if that's all you can manage. Whatever you want to say is what your MP needs to hear.

Dear [MP's name], Today I learned that the government plan to scrap PIP, and maybe replace it with something like a one-off grant application process, before the next election. ("Disabled people face end to monthly benefits cash", BBC News, 29 April 2024: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo) PIP is about half of my income (about 44%). I don't spend it on occasional large purchases, I spend it on countless things that are more expensive for me than they are for other people. PIP is in place to acknowledge, as it says in the above article, that disabled people's lives are more expensive than non-disabled people's lives by hundreds of pounds per week. ("Previous research from Scope suggests households with at least one disabled adult or child face an estimated average extra cost of £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households." That's £225 per week, and the maximum amount of PIP you can get is £184.) So firstly, it could be argued that PIP doesn't even cover the additional expenses of the average disabled household. And next, the cost of implementing an alternative system would be worse for disabled people, totally unsuited to its purpose, and more expensive to run. Worse for disabled people: Currently PIP acknowledges that being disabled takes a lot more work to maintain a comparable standard of living, and as it's an amount of work that the claimant cannot sustainably do, they are given money so that they can pay someone else to do it. These costs are distributed across all living expenses, in addition to occasional one-off purchases of e.g. mobility aids. Having to apply for one-off payments for expenses would be more work on top of that, so if the disabled person isn't able to do it (which is very likely) they will either have to work less in their day jobs in order to spend more time applying for one-off grants, or they will have to also apply for one-off payments to pay someone to apply for more one-off payments. This is self-evidently a waste of energy and time, and totally impractical, as well as being counter to the entire point of disability benefits. It would also be extremely undignified for the disabled people, and arguably against human rights (right to private life and dignity), to have to justify each purchase to the government. Totally unsuited to its purpose: One off-grants are not suited to ongoing higher expenses such as having to buy more prepared food (e.g. carrot batons are more expensive than raw carrots and go off much more quickly). Does this policy assume that disabled people's PIP is only for things like wheelchairs and walking sticks? More expensive to run: The system for PIP applications is already fairly backlogged, in that my last application took over 6 months to complete. I was awarded PIP for 10 years. If every application for a one-off grant had to be accompanied by an application of a similar scale that wouldn't be workable, so presumably an initial PIP application like the current system's would still be required to qualify for the system in the first place, and then following that, numerous smaller applications for money (e.g. for taxis, pre-chopped veg, painkillers, specialist clothing, etc.) would be carried out per person per month. The disability benefits system would have to be scaled up significantly, and it would be much more expensive. It is far cheaper to give people a set amount of money based on their needs; it's the same money that you would be giving them in grants anyway, but without having to process each purchase/one-off application. I implore you to oppose this proposal. It is blatantly unworkable to the level of absurdity, but more importantly it is inhumane. I look forward to your reply detailing your stance. Many thanks in advance. Yours sincerely, [My name]

But, again, if you can't manage anything long or complicated like that, your best is good enough. Even if they're not all perfectly written and detailed, we want to bowl them over with sheer quantity of emails.

[disabled-dragoon]

Every article I see about this disability benefits consultation keeps throwing out the "since 2019, the number of people claiming disability benefits has risen by..."

Gee I wonder why the number of disabled people seems to have risen since 2019 /s

There couldn't possibly have been some kind of large scale mass disabling event that has happened in the last five years. That's absurd! /s

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Hmmm I wonder what happened in 2020 that might have caused this...

This is literally what a lot of people were saying could happen during the pandemic.

And now Sunak wants to punish these people further. Fuck him.

[purpleweredragon]

[canadda-uk]

The UK government is being criticised after a Department for Work and Pensions video was released on Twitter alongside the caption: “‘We will track you down. We will find you. And we will bring you to justice’ – minister for disabled people Tom Pursglove.

“At DWP we have a very particular set of skills that we use in conjunction with the police to tackle fraud,” it continued.

The warning is an apparent reference to a scene in the film taken, starring Liam Neeson, in which he threatens the drug gang which has kidnapped his daughter.

In the DWP video, at least half a dozen officers are seen ascending a staircase before making an arrest on an alleged benefit fraudster. All the while action film-like music is playing in the background.

Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman said: “We know benefit fraud makes up a minuscule amount of money lost to the system. This is just grotesque targeting of the already vulnerable.”

[ladyvaderpixetc]

When you'd rather strip the entirety of someone's disability benefits (and meds and access to dental care) rather than fairly tax the rich whilst referring to this as being the ethical and moral choice for the country, it does rather make me feel like my government would rather I be dead than existing as both a poor and disabled person.

[i-amusemyself]

ofc im celebrating that the Tories are out but seeing just how much some people are specifically celebrating a labour government is a bit of a red flag. Like. Are yall ready to hold these people to account??

They're not addressing the ongoing, mass disabling pandemic; they don't support palestine; they're coming for trans rights and they're in favour of NHS privatisation.

Yall have got to be ready to criticise, protest and push, not just be placated by them not being Tories by name.

[northern-punk-lad]

I hate this country

[extra-zested-lemons]

realised they've stopped my disability benefits right after i fucking got them and i need to reapply which is a process that took two years last time im just. so. fucking. done.

the benefits system in this country is ridiculous, the acceptance rate is 52% which is abhorrent, the fact that they make chronically ill and disabled people go through this absurd and exhausting process in order to get paid pittance is disgraceful. i am so lucky that i dont have to rely on benefits to live because i still live with my family, but if i did i would be absolutely fucked right now. my heart goes out to all the people that have been completely fucked over by this broken system. i am so done with this.

i am CHRONICALLY ILL. i spend every single godforsaken day of my life in constant pain. i shouldn't have to spend my little energy sorting all of this out. i am so tired.

[we-are-inevitable]

newsies fans be normal about disabled people challenge

[enbycrip]

Honestly, the fact that people feel compelled to say how much they love the NHS before describing horrendous stories of medical abuse and neglect makes me feel continuously sick with fury and, y’know, trauma.

It needs to be possible to know that universal healthcare is absolutely essential in any society, and, indeed, be incredibly grateful that unlike too many Americans, for example, you’re not going to go bankrupt while receiving substandard and often actively abusive medical care, and yet be allowed to acknowledge that medicine in the UK as in the rest of the world is incredibly flawed as an institution, and, for example, it is systemically misogynist, racist, queerphobic, fatphobic, and *intensely* disableist to the point of being actively eugenicist, without facing abuse for it.

I’ve lost far, far too many good friends to medical neglect. I’ve got far, far too many who are only still here due to an unexpected turn of good luck amidst terrible medical neglect. I live with the ongoing effects of it myself, and, absolutely honestly, as a disabled person it’s broadly what I expect to kill me. That makes me much less angry than that the same is true of my younger brother, who is learning disabled and nonspeaking. For him, it fills me with such intense fury and grief that I mostly avoid thinking of it at all if I can avoid it.

[ineffectualdemon]

They say they want us to work

But they made it difficult to obtain mobility devices

They say they want us to work

But no one is enforcing making buildings accessible and if a building is old enough it is considered more important then disabled people needing to access it

They say they want us to work

But we are turned away for our accomodations being "too difficult"

They say they want us to work

But they are defunding mental health services

They say they want us to work

But put medications we require to function behind artificial blocks and say doctors can't prescribe them to us

They say they want us to work

But killed work from home options

They say they want us to work

But they don't

They want us to die and stop bothering them

I couldn't work even with accomodations but it does not matter if I could with accomodations because no accomodations are made

They could at least be fucking honest with their hate