Give benefits to the genuine
I T'S a fair bet that most of us know of someone who is currently in receipt of benefits. Whether they are genuinely entitled to them is often a source of some conjecture. The Government has pursued those claiming benefits relentlessly in the two years since it has been in power. It's a policy that is popular with certain sectors of society. And there is no doubt that there are some people who have, for years, milked the system for all it's worth. It's a source of frustration for many hard-working families who see, in some cases, neighbours who don't or won't work, enjoying the same luxuries as themselves. And sadly the perception remains that those people involved in the most blatant cases are almost untouchable.
I nstead, it would appear, the Government is turning the full force of its crackdown on people like Timothy and Susan Howle. The 63-year-old has worked all his life and for the 30 years before he was forced to retire after being left crippled following an operation on his spine, he was a self-employed bricklayer. Since 2010, he has been receiving £94 each week in employment support allowance. But that benefit has now been stopped because his wife brings home £227 a week as an enamel tester at Portmeirion because of Government changes. Officials claim ESA is a short-term measure with a view to getting people back to work. But that is never going to happen in Mr Howle's case because he is numb from the waist down and needs a wheelchair to get about. His is a classic case of where a blanket approach to such a complex problem won't work. It has left the Howles frustrated that, having paid into the system all their working lives, it has let them down when they need it most. One size doesn't fit all when considering benefit claims and, hopefully, that will be recognised when the couple appeal against the decision.
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Comments
by Johntoe
Sunday, May 20 2012, 4:22PM
“My partner has just turned 50, 6 years ago she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable auto imune disease,
Before that she had been in employment since leaving school, she raised 2 children and despite being in a violent and abusive marriage, she managed to put herself through university as a mature student while holding down TWO part time cleaning jobs in the evenings,
After she was diagnosed with her condition, she ignored the advice of both her GP and her medical specialists, Who strongly advised her to stop working,
She continued to work (as an employment adviser for disabled people ironically) for another 2 years, until the pain in her hands arms legs and feet became unbearable, not to mention the deterioration in movement,
ya typical "scrounger" eh Cameron?
Then ATOS, (may every one of them burn in hell) awarded her....... ZERO points, to all intents and purposes calling her a liar and a scrounger,
She appealed, it was turned down, appealed again and went to tribunal where she was awarded 26 points, 11 MORE than the 15 required to be officially "not a scrounger"
But, it didn't matter because at the end of April her ESA was stopped, and as I am self employed, even though I made a massive 600 quid last year and survive off 85 quid a week working tax credits, We get no other 'help' EVEN if she signs on, I am expected to feed, clothe both of us, as well as pay the bills AND 'run' my self employment on 85 pounds a week,
"all in it together"? "genuine cases have nothing to fear"?
So, it's back on the dole at 59 years old for me, so much for "rewarding hard work"
I can only hope that Cameron gets something incurable painful and very very slow,”
by Jobeeone
Thursday, May 17 2012, 6:32PM
“Well said Long TallSarah”
by LongTallSarah
Wednesday, May 16 2012, 6:00PM
“It's all too easy to pass judgement on who 'deserves' social security benefits and who does not. For many years the media have happily colluded to promote the image of benefit claimants as feckless and work shy and have delighted in reporting and broadcasting stories of benefit fraudsters being caught out.
When the nosy neighbour watches the bloke on DLA walking down his drive, does he wonder how many pain-killers he's taken to enable him to do that, or how much agony he'll be in the next day for trying? When they're 'phoning up to report the woman next-door has her working boyfriend living with her, do they stop to wonder whether he's actually paying anything to her to help with the bills or feed the kids, or has any long-term commitment to that family? It's almost never as simple as the press like to think it is.
'And sadly the perception remains that those people involved in the most blatant cases are almost untouchable.' Where does this perception come from? The media itself, of course.
Now the complaint is that 'the wrong people' are being targeted by this government's so-called reforms.
Perhaps if you hadn't swallowed the propaganda so willingly for so long, Northcliffe Press et al, people that even you accept are 'genuine' wouldn't be suffering now.”
by Jobeeone
Tuesday, May 15 2012, 9:29AM
“Maybe he didn't get the 15 points needed to receive disability benefit. Some of the criteria are ridiculous, like can you tell the time? Tim probably can and so may have lost a point!
Do the tory lot really believe that those who can no longer work are a burden? Survival of the fittest and all that? I think that benefit cheats are making it easy for the toffs to find excuses to cut help for the vulnerable in society and so don't condone their behaviour. However, to punish people in such a wholesale way is barbaric and I don't believe for one second that the toffs have good intentions towards people who live with disability. Remploy is a point in fact.”