Sue Marsh reports on the Mail and Telegraph misreporting of disability benefits.
Sue Marsh blogs at Diary of a Benefit Scrounger
Oh how very depressing days like today are if you’re sick or disabled. Disability campaigners spend months trying to build up awareness of sickness (ESA) and Disability (DLA) benefits, only to have their work totally undone in just a few minutes by a government intent on twisting the facts to suit their agenda and a media who don’t even know the difference between the two benefits.
“Two million claimants on disability living allowance face being stripped of payments”, shouts the Telegraph, whilst listing a range of at best dubious claims from the Department for Work and Pensions.
The most persistent of these claims is that claimants are simply given DLA by the wheelchair-fairy based on no evidence and are never checked again.
This is nonsense. Claimants must fill in a 40-page form accompanied by evidence from consultants and health professionals. Their claims are reassessed regularly, usually every three years unless an indefinite award has been granted.
The Mail go further, claiming:
• Up to 500,000 are ready to start work immediately;
• People on lifetime benefit are more likely to retire or die than get a job;
• 38 per cent just need the right support to get back to work.
Sadly, the Daily Mail actually have the wrong benefit.
Letters aren’t, as they claim, being sent out today to people claiming DLA asking them to submit reassessments. Letters however are being sent to those claiming Incapacity Benefit summoning them to assessments for the migration to Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
In a staggering bit of misreporting, the Mail also claims:
“Out of the 1,626 people assessed in Burnley and Aberdeen a third of those questioned were taken off the DLA and instead put onto Jobseeker’s Allowance.”
No, that would be Incapacity Benefit too.
Of the 500,000 “ready to start work immediately”, the Mail forgets to point out that assessments have been called “unfit for purpose” by every main investigation into them, including the Citizens Advice Bureau and the government’s own advisory committee. whilst 40% of these “miracle cures” are being overturned at tribunals, costing the taxpayer £19.8 million.
Most people awarded DLA for life have severe, degenerative conditions that will never improve such as cerebral palsy, severe learning disabilities, total paralysis or kidney failure. The government seems unduly shocked that people with lifelong disabilities should receive awards for life.
Surely constant reassessment of those people whose conditions will never improve is the single most ridiculous waste of taxpayers’ money since someone decided MPs ought to get expenses on top of their already generous salaries?
Coalition plans to reform ESA and DLA are flawed and many of us spend our lives trying to inform people and fight for modifications to the welfare reform bill that could end up saving great distress.
This level of reporting is not only lazy, but it could be dangerous. Sadly, all the while the DWP are happy to twist the figures themselves; I can’t imagine things will improve.
121 Responses to “Right wing press need to check facts before screaming at disabled”
Sue Marsh
Oh yes and if fraud was what you really worried about, the DWPs own figures record it to be around 0.5%. This isn’t about fraud at all, it’s about tightening the criteria for eligibility. Fraud is around 7.500. By all means go and catch those people, but it isn’t even in the same ball park as 500,000 is it?
Anon E Mouse
Sue Marsh -I’m still digging because my position has been represented incorrectly in spite of my postings and inaccurate personal comments have been made about me by other contributors here.
I see no overwhelming evidence to support your claims – I never made any personal comments about you as an individual, just your entrenched views that do you a disservice.
I do agree though to leaving it there…
Elaine
My case and many like mine and worse are also pretty glaring evidence that they are declaring people fit for work when they are not, like that lady who was on telly the other day who is recovering from a stroke and was not believed that she couldn’t see how many fingers the assessor was holding up. The whole point of this is they are making ill peoples lives much worse in large numbers and it is going to get worse. People will die. I have many things that help me cope, not everyone has those safety nets that I have. I am lucky I am still here but it is not thanks to the system…
Ben S
Something about “Invalidity benefit” in the Telegraph
Mason Dixon, Autistic
Anon’s position has been represented accurately and inaccurately, but he does not distinguish between these.
He has been asked questions and not answered them. He has been given source-able citations in evidence and has denied he has been given them. Up is down, black is white and if you disagree you are a Labour supporter.