tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999633524276247455.post6540093761298115342..comments2023-07-04T16:57:28.929+01:00Comments on Where's the Benefit?: The Government Is Implicated In Creating Negative Attitudes To DisabledLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16714918894319998184noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999633524276247455.post-87619087663521595402010-12-01T18:12:21.522+00:002010-12-01T18:12:21.522+00:00I am a disabled lady of 51 years. When I worked, I...I am a disabled lady of 51 years. When I worked, I did it to the best of my ability,and had a successful working life, UNTIL, I began to have progressivley more time off due to my disability worsening. After a year of illness, going to medicals, occupational health etc. I was finally deemed unfit for the job I was employed for and laid off under medical grounds. I am now on DLA etc. Oh yes, forgot to mention....I worked for the DWP as a benefits fraud officer. Makes you laugh doesn't it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999633524276247455.post-32681860958911964652010-12-01T17:25:28.736+00:002010-12-01T17:25:28.736+00:00Every time I've been abused in the street it&#...Every time I've been abused in the street it's been for being a benefit scrounger, if you consider that that has been going on for at least a decade, that I don't actually get out that much and that I didn't claim any disability related benefit until the past year then the conclusions that there is a simmering jealousy of disabled people en masse, not just disabled benefit claimants, that is all too ready to tip over into abuse are a) blatantly obvious and b) extremely worrying and it seems impossible to construe government actions as anything other than deliberately and knowingly pouring petrol onto a burning fire. I call that the worst kind of disablism, and from civil servants and ministers their actions skirt awfully close to misfeasance in public office (if the law was actually intelligent enough to recognise disablism happening under its nose). As I understand misfeasance, a defendant is liable for it if they owed a duty of care toward the plaintiff, breached that duty of care by improperly performing a legal act, and the improper performance resulted in harm to the plaintiff. DWP have a duty of care towards us, they have improperly distorted figures for political ends and the shift in public perceptions causes us harm in our daily lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999633524276247455.post-22442072794966547812010-12-01T14:22:12.267+00:002010-12-01T14:22:12.267+00:00>> Non-disabled people on JSA who acquire te...>> Non-disabled people on JSA who acquire temporary impairments such as a broken leg are transferred to ESA whilst they are unable to meet the JSA requirements of being available for work. <<<br /><br />It actually goes beyond that. If you are made redundant for medical reasons, even if those medical reasons are specific for the job you have just been made redundant from rather than your general employability, then you will be put onto ESA rather than JSA, I have a family member in precisely that situation at the moment. It's setting up a whole cohort of ESA applicants who are directed onto the benefit by DWP, but are unlikely to remain on the benefit or are very likely to 'fail' the WCA because they either aren't long term disabled or have medical conditions which only limit their employability in narrow areas. When they manage to find work or are moved, completely appropriately, back onto JSA, those figures are used to beat us with, yet this is the way the system is designed to work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999633524276247455.post-12192599202588831772010-12-01T10:16:13.410+00:002010-12-01T10:16:13.410+00:00My problem is I can't work in the way required...My problem is I can't work in the way required by capitalism, not that I can't ever work at all. My medical condition affects my brain function and motor skills and it also fluctuates. This means while I have better functioning some days than others and some times of day than others but I am always slow. Employing me at any job would mean other workers having to carry more of the load, or it would mean I'd really push myself to try and keep up. I could do this for a short time but pushing myself always worsens my condition illness, sometimes leaving me unable to look after myself for many weeks, which means I would have long periods off work and would be sacked. So either way, not a good worker under capitalism. But take a non-profit driven system, 'from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs' (Lenin, I think), and I can 'contribute'. This is partly why some people think disabled people are 'workshy' - because there are some of us who could do some work, but not when the employer relies on our labour power to make money or to keep costs down.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999633524276247455.post-66575013709569907952010-11-30T19:10:17.142+00:002010-11-30T19:10:17.142+00:00Last month I wrote a post about abandoned ESA clai...Last month I wrote a post about abandoned ESA claims looking at some of the many reasons why a claim might be legitimately abandoned. The post is <a href="http://batsgirl.blogspot.com/2010/10/abandoned-claims.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> but I think one of the best points was actually made in the comments: Non-disabled people on JSA who acquire temporary impairments such as a broken leg are transferred to ESA whilst they are unable to meet the JSA requirements of being available for work. It's a legitimate claim but they are, predictably, recovered before the long-term ESA process completes.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639094548415759560noreply@blogger.com