The DWP’s ‘scrounger’ rhetoric is causing real harm

Following today’s news six major disability charities have warned the government about its use of ‘scrounger’ rhetoric, we look at how widespread it has become.

Six leading disability charities have spoken out against the government’s ‘scrounger’ rhetoric on welfare cuts, saying it fuels abuse of disabled people.

The Guardian reports:

While the charities speaking out – Scope, Mencap, Leonard Cheshire Disability, the National Autistic Society, Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), and Disability Alliance – say inflammatory media coverage has played a role in this, they primarily blame ministers and civil servants for repeatedly highlighting the supposed mass abuse of the disability benefits system, much of which is unfounded…

Scope’s regular polling of people with disabilities shows that in September two-thirds said they had experienced recent hostility or taunts, up from 41 per cent four months before. In the last poll almost half said attitudes towards them had deteriorated in the past year.

Left Foot Forward reported about the tabloid attacks on disabled people back in June last year, following the results of an appalling survey carried out by Scope which revealed that half of London respondents said they experienced discrimination on a daily or weekly basis, and that 63 per cent of people with disabilities in London thought others did not believe they were disabled.

Dominic Browne wrote:

Many journalists cultivate the perception that if you are on a disability benefit you are either, a drug addict, a cheat, have to be forced into work, or should stop moaning because disability can be good for you. The second to last link, taken from the Mail, has a picture caption reading:

“Feet up: Claimants will lose their disability benefits as the public spending cuts bite (Posed by model).”

For an article about disabled people having their benefits cut we have a completely staged photo of a able-bodied man sitting on a sofa smoking a cigarette.

And of course just last week, Left Foot Forward reported on Rod Liddle’s disgusting – if unsurprising – attack on the ‘fake disabled’, in which he wrote:

My New Year’s resolution for 2012 was to become disabled. Nothing too serious, maybe just a bit of a bad back or one of those newly invented illnesses which make you a bit peaky for decades – fibromyalgia, or M.E…

Just the day after, James Dellingpole joined in the attack, blaming “the fake disabled” for “crippling our economy”.

But although the tabloids are doing the dirty work, the DWP is not innocent in this peddling of slurs. They routinely misrepresent their own statistics in a manner guaranteed to generate negative coverage of disabled people – and, surely coincidentally, ease the passage of their legislation.

As Steve Griffiths wrote for us last month:

The DWP press release opens with a mis-statement of the legislation:

‘The figures also show that a further 17 per cent can do some work with the right help and support’.

This interprets those assessed as belonging to the ESA work related activity group are as having been found ‘fit for work’. Yet the legislation states clearly that people qualify for ESA, including the work related activity group, because it is ‘unreasonable to expect them to work’ because of their ‘physical or mental condition’.

It is a misrepresentation that goes unchallenged almost daily.

Secondly, the 36 per cent whose claim was ‘abandoned’ before their assessment was complete are routinely represented as found ‘fit for work’.

Peddling the scrounger myth was only ever going to have one result. The DWP will have seen this coming, and the fact that they did it anyway is a disgrace.

58 Responses to “The DWP’s ‘scrounger’ rhetoric is causing real harm”

Nia
February 7, 2012
I’d like to just remind those who are so against Disabled people recieving the benefits that ensure they have a life worth living….any one of you could become Disabled tomorrow. You could have a Disabled child…your parents will probably become Disabled.
Think about how you would feel then.
Anonymous
February 7, 2012
That’s why I pointed out the same. For some disabilities it is obvious that nothing will improve, sadly. Hence periods between testing should be infrequent.

The 0.5% is the detected fraud rate. Actual fraud rates will be higher. There is quite a bit of evidence for this, and its the numbers deciding not to turn up.

However, the real fraud is on the other side. It’s the governments who have been hiding unemployed on the benefits list.

As for them being arseholes, I’m in 100% agreement. They are crooks and fraudsters. It’s because of their fraud that people won’t get any help. They just left a steaming pile of shit in the form of debt. It’s worse that Greece in the long term.

I fear that you will be targeted. There is no doubt that they won’t be able to fund even what you get now going forward.

So don’t read into what I’m saying that because I say its going to happen that I think its a good thing either.
Andy Mayer
February 7, 2012
RT @leftfootfwd: The DWP’s ‘scrounger’ rhetoric is causing real harm http://t.co/1ElYIRJE
Martin white
February 8, 2012
Selohesra – the Tories aren’t attacking the disabled to reduce fraud, but simply to reduce costs. The rich in Britain are absolutely uncivilized and absolutely unwilling to contribute to the safety net that, until now, has made Britain a moderately civilized country in which to live. Why should they subsidise someone with an incurable illness or disability when they could be awarding themselves a tax break and buying a bigger yacht?
Newsbot9
February 9, 2012
“Actual fraud rates will be higher. There is quite a bit of evidence for this, and its the numbers deciding not to turn up.”

I’M RIGHT AND NO NUMBERS CAN DETER ME! Yea, keep on being crazy.

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58 Responses to “The DWP’s ‘scrounger’ rhetoric is causing real harm”

Nia

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