In a move that has sparked widespread uproar, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has announced a series of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) welfare cuts including to PIP and Universal Credit, aimed at reducing government spending that will impact millions of low-income families, and chronically ill and disabled people, who are currently bracing for an uncertain and frightening future under the cruel reforms.
These reforms will impact the most vulnerable people in society.
DWP PIP cuts: the thin end of the wedge
It would appear, from the voter’s perspective, that instead of taxing the rich, Labour has simply chosen to inflict yet more austerity upon those who are already struggling after 15 years of Tory rule.
This callous manoeuvre has outraged claimants, backbenchers, and charities alike, and it is estimated that the move will deny support to one million disabled people.
The current system as it stands is a hostile, almost unnavigable one.
Faced with seemingly endless assessments, reassessments and appeals processes, claimants often have to endure a long and taxing fight to be seen and heard by professionals.
The reforms include stricter tests for DWP PIP claimants resulting in reduced payments for many – with those under the age of 22 no longer being able to claim incapacity benefit top ups to Universal Credit.
This austerity dressed up as reform has left millions of disabled people feeling deflated and fearful, as most DWP PIP claimants won’t ever be able to work due to their disabilities.
Many have also argued that forcing poor vulnerable people into work won’t make any difference – and certainly won’t cure their medical conditions that are often lifelong.
As part of this investigation, I spoke to three people who all wish to remain anonymous, all of whom are DWP PIP claimants and have a series of complex disabilities that prohibit their ability to work.
The experience of an anonymous PIP claimant with CPTSD, ME, and arthritis
One participant who has myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), CPTSD, arthritis of the spine, and CRPS stated “the debate that the government started is verging on dehumanising those who are already at a disadvantage” and said that she felt that the proposed changes had “brought hate filled vile attention and disinformation into a huge number of online discussions”.
She said she felt concerned at the torrent of abuse that disabled people are currently facing online which has escalated and stirred up more hatred of DWP PIP claimants since Liz Kendall’s speech in the commons:
A lot of people are now suggesting online that disabled people are slackers, liars, and grabbing benefits that they shouldn’t be allowed.
This together with the government’s ableist attitude towards chronically ill and disabled people has left many, including this person, with grave fears about their future.
She said that she believes that the cuts have “moved inclusivity for disabled people back by decades”.
Further to this, she expressed her fear for the future:
If I’m brutally honest. I’m terrified, if my neck collapses, or if the nerves are permanently damaged – it could paralyse me. I can barely function at the movement, and it’s truly terrifying.
Speaking about the process of applying for and receiving for DWP PIP, the participant told the investigation that she was “severely triggered” by Kendall’s decision as she had spent “over ten years begging for support, investigation and to be heard, to finally have a medical expert say, “I am sorry you are right, you have been ignored””.
DWP PIP claimant Kelly (pseudonym used)
This kind of experience is not uncommon however, as another participant who wishes to go by the pseudonym Kelly, spoke to me about the gruelling process she had to go through to claim DWP PIP.
She said that when she went for an assessment to see whether she was eligible for the benefit, it was a terrible ordeal and the person who saw her “wasn’t medically trained and tried to get me to do exercises”.
As a result of this poor assessment process, and professionals not taking her disabilities seriously, she was forced to go to court but eventually won the case and started receiving payments.
Speaking about the reforms to benefits, Kelly said she is extremely concerned about where it will leave her family financially and said if her DWP PIP benefit is taken away then they will “be in deficit every month”.
Even if Kelly could work, she said she would “have to have a 30-minute break every hour”, as she cannot “stand up for long periods of time”, due to it causing her severe “dizziness and headaches”.
Kelly suffers from a series of complex and debilitating medical conditions including MS, optic neuritis (meaning she is blind in one eye), as well as osteoporosis and fibromyalgia.
She said if her DWP PIP stopped:
I’d not be able to afford my mobility scooter and repairs and taxis to and from appointments.
When asked about what her message to the government and Liz Kendall would be, she said “I hope one day you might need this and have the same trouble getting it as I did”.
Tom, who lives with cerebral palsy
Tom (who wishes to use a pseudonym to protect his identity) lives with cerebral palsy also expressed his outrage at the £5bn cuts.
As someone who struggles with bathing and getting to and from the workplace, he says that there is a huge “amount of additional costs related to my disability, in my experience including costs related to transport difficulties”.
His current DWP PIP benefit allows him to “mitigate those additional costs” and means that he can “contribute and achieve whilst not worrying too much about the hardship that I may encounter from increased living costs”.
However, accessing the workplace is tough for Tom, due to “the lack of a disabled bathrooms”. This is classed as a “reasonable adjustment and therefore if the cost is too high to make the ‘adjustment’, an employer can decline to put it in place” according to Tom.
When asked about the possibility of losing the benefit, he said it:
would massively impact upon my ability to do daily tasks and place real mental and emotional pressure on me to find alternative sources of additional income to cover additional living costs like heating and electricity which I need to charge my wheelchair.
He said although he would love for his disability to get better this isn’t realistic as his “condition is largely the same, if not declining” and filling out forms all the time has placed “huge emotional pressure” on him.
Tom stated that instead of focusing on DWP PIP:
the UK government should be asking the question of “why is work inaccessible or challenging?” and “why there is so few MP’s and those in elected office in the UK with a disability?”
Speaking about his experiences of claiming PIP, he said:
It is really hard emotionally and it is a humiliating experience sometimes, having to tell a complete stranger, not necessarily a GP or doctor, about how I find it difficult to “cut up food “or “use the toilet”.
Although Tom works, he fears that in the future he won’t be able to:
I am concerned that I’m at higher risk of ill health and requiring surgery and therefore not able to continue to work due to my disability potentially getting worse.
He believes that a proposed solution to this problem could be to “have more disabled parliamentarians present as I think different views would be beneficial” to these complex policy decisions that will impact the most vulnerable people.
The DWP: entrenching hostility towards disabled people
For many of these disabled claimants, the DWP PIP reforms represent a terrifying new era where the reds rosette of Labour is almost stained blue, and has a frosty tinge that resembles the policies of the previous government.
But it is important to not forget that at the heart of this story are people who will suffer under the new reforms that will keep them awake at night, whether it be concerns about their next meal, their electricity and gas bills, or even surviving.
Many disabled people now feel punished for simply existing in a world that doesn’t feel very acceptant of them.
Featured image via the Canary
