There were many regressive elements to George Osborne’s emergency budget last week but one which has gone largely unchallenged so far is his decision to reform how people claim their Disability Living Allowance and ‘objective medical assessment’ and how the eligibility of claimants from 2013-14 is assessed.
Cutting benefits appeals to those who like to believe that anybody who gets them is some sort of cheat or chancer. The redtops and some sections of the press gleefully inform people about the cases of individuals who milk the system for large amounts of money. But when it comes to disability, it’s a whole different ball game. For a start, nobody chooses to be disabled. And everyone’s condition is different – some people are left completely immobile through no fault of their own and others may need assistance in carrying out everyday tasks that the rest of you might take for granted.
My own case is far from the most deserving but it tells a story. Despite being born three months premature, I’m one of the lucky ones. I wasn’t considered likely to live, let alone walk, but I did both those things and a lot more besides thanks to the dedication and care of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and many other inspiring individuals, including my amazing mum, who gave up work to care for me, and still does it today, nearly 25 years later.
I had to fight to go to a mainstream school and get the support I needed and it’s still a battle: two years ago, the Labour secretary of state James Purnell, decided to reform the benefits system, which led to my re-application for benefit being turned down twice. We had to go to a tribunal, which decided in my favour within seconds, despite not hearing the evidence prepared by a pro bono lawyer. The most alarming part of that experience was that one of the tribunal members smiled at the lawyer and said: ‘That’s the third time you’ve not had to say anything when you’ve come here.’ My council has refused to reissue my freedom pass that allows me free access to public transport because I haven’t presented sufficient evidence of my disability. It would be funny if it wasn’t quite so stress-inducing.
The worst part about Osborne’s changes is that they won’t actually help anybody get back into work. In fact, removing the laughably low rates of attendance and mobility allowance from genuinely disabled people will only make their daily lives more difficult. It will mean that they are unable to pay their friends or relatives to care for them through the Direct Payments scheme and will be another crushing blow to the 2.9 million claimants who already find themselves living on the margins of society.
Iain Duncan Smith is preparing another assault on welfare for the autumn. I naively hoped that the new prime minister, by virtue of having and tragically losing a disabled son so young, might show some sort of understanding of disability issues. Sadly, it seems I was wrong. There will probably be moves to unpick one of the most enlightened forms of legislation passed by the Labour government, the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act, as the ideologues find their voice in the new parliament. Now’s the time for a progressive consensus to form around the idea that this isn’t welfare reform, it’s just discrimination.
what was good about the 2005 disability discrimination act? would be good to know. well done on your election
Hello Thomas. Thanks for your good wishes and your question.
For me, the best parts of the Disability Discrimination Act was that it brought local authorities into the scope of the existing DDA and placed demands on them to improve their access requirements and provision of services. It also contained provisions to improve access to transport and education and ensured licensees took more steps to make their premises more accessible.
There were, of course, more improvements that others might highlight but these were areas that have made a big difference to my everyday life.
please read and vote for my personal campaign about protecting people with autism and asd’s and there carers from the welfare reform and getting kicked off the benefits which are a life line to us. It’s on the new coalition governments Your Freedom Website where you can send ideas to the government for there consideration.. I have autism it took a lot of brain processing and stress to write this document and get the grammar correct as well. I don’t think it’s 100% grammatically correct but i think it is readable enough. http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/restoring-civil-liberties/benefit-reform-and-people-with-autism-and-asds