About the PM's (Sunak's) speech: Stop demonising us

Tori_Scope

Hi all,

I know many of you will have heard about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's

speech on Britain's 'sick note culture'

 on Friday

.

He announced plans to make changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), one of the main disability benefits. And change how people are assessed as unfit for work. Among other suggestions.

I've read through some of the posts and comments you've all made here on the community. I want to thank those of you who've so candidly shared your fears about the announcements. And those of you who've kindly and patiently pointed out that these are only plans, and that nothing will happen straight away.

To be clear, we think these planned changes are a full-on assault on disabled people.

Disabled people, and those living with mental health conditions, are sick of being demonised. 

Threatening to take away the low income PIP provides to

disabled people who face £975 a month in extra costs

isn't going to solve the problem of economic inactivity. Sanctions and ending claims will only heap more misery on people at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis.

Sign our petition calling for the Government to stop demonising disabled people.

By using the link above, you'll also have the chance to send an email to your MP.

I hope to be able to share an opportunity for you to feed into our response to the Government's consultation on the above announcements next week, too. 

mrsBB

Hi Tori

I have done both. I did also use the part to contact my MP. I am quite stressed with other areas in my life just now but I felt compelled to at least make some kind of stance and it is so much easier when organisations like SCOPE help by making that stance as simple as possible so thank you for providing the very helpful template. If we do not all pull together in this we might as well remain without a real voice. 

66Mustang

Feel free to remove it if you deem it inappropriate but I came across this poster while reading about something unrelated 

Won't say where it's from will just say it was published to promote a certain (now defunct) prominent political party's agenda and thought it resembles the attitude of some modern politicians with the desire to turn working people against people who can't work!!!

A rough translation, "60000 is what this hereditarily ill patient will cost the community for life / fellow citizen that is your money too"

mrsBB

Oh gosh Mustang that is truly shocking 😮 but you know what I used a similar theory as that poster suggests in my email to my MP. Will see if I get a response, I was a little ranty I’m afraid but I had to get these thoughts off my chest and onto hers !! 

rubin16

I signed the petition and also did the email my MP thing, hopefully we get a response from it.

mrsBB

Every signature does count, if we could just get everyone on all the charity sites to sign we would be a force to be reckoned with I believe. It will not be easy, lots of folk have just given up over many years of continuous assessments etc but we need to do this we really do 👍

forgoodnesssake

Tried to do the MP letter as well but didn't work.  Kept telling me I needed to fill in a field which I already had.  Can you confirm it works on LINUX?

Remina

66Mustang said:

Feel free to remove it if you deem it inappropriate but I came across this poster while reading about something unrelated 

Won't say where it's from will just say it was published to promote a certain (now defunct) prominent political party's agenda and thought it resembles the attitude of some modern politicians with the desire to turn working people against people who can't work!!!

A rough translation, "60000 is what this hereditarily ill patient will cost the community for life / fellow citizen that is your money too"

You are 100% spot-on with that observation Mustang, that poster is almost identical to the same propaganda we see used against us today, it's heartbreaking that the 'Aktion T4' program claimed the lives of around 200,000 sick/disabled back then, they were vulnerable, innocent people who were just trying to surivive/cope as best as they could, just like we are today... What's terrifying is that there is not a day that goes by where I don't see an article in one of the mainstream newspapers with a headline that conveys the same exact message as that poster. A seemingly never-ending joint effort by the government and mainstream media to attack and criticise the sick/disabled.

We're seeing the exact same vile rhetoric and propaganda used against the sick/disabled as was seen back then. It's so sad that 80 years later in what is supposed to be a progressive, modern country, the government/media is still relentlessly pushing this dangerous, cruel narrative that the sick/disabled are the 'problem' in this country. They are wrong.

I'm certainly going to be contacting my local MP and will use that poster as a reference comparrison for the recent attacks on the sick/disabled by the government/media.

This never-ending assault on the most vulnerable people in society must end. 

mrsBB

Hi Remina

“I'm certainly going to be contacting my local MP and will use that poster as a reference comparrison for the recent attacks on the sick/disabled by the government/media.”

I wish I had seen the poster last night when I contacted my MP. Like you I would have definitely included it as my email revolved around that very topic and the abhorrent rhetoric spouted by so many people who should know better ! 

Meg24

I'm concerned that you have said "disabled people and people living with MH conditions" as if we are not disabled, which is exactly what Sunak & Co. are saying. 

The official definition of Disabled includes people with MH conditions however it's often dismissed, sometimes by physically disabled people, some of whom display hostility towards us & question our right to disability benefits and services. 

I don't want them to uss us against each other, we need to fight alongside, with mutual respect and validation. 

Please consider changing your wording to make it inclusive, thanks.

mrsBB

Hi Meg
was it something I said ? I would hate to think I had undermined any vulnerable person either physically or mentally ill, I understand and have experience with both. Could you please clarify 😊

chiarieds

Hi @mrsBB - you certainly haven't said anything wrong. The phrase that Meg24 highlights is from the link Tori gave above about Scope's petition. I'm sure no offense was intended, as Scope is for all disabled people, but agree that the wording isn't the best, & should indeed be changed.

mrsBB

Hi Chiarieds

Thank you for clarifying that, I read and re read my post but wasn't sure if I was missing something 

Meg24

mrsBB said:

Hi Chiarieds

Thank you for clarifying that, I read and re read my post but wasn't sure if I was missing something 

Sorry for the confusion, Chiarieds is correct.

mrsBB

Hi Meg24, it’s fine, we all do it at times, no biggie😊

Bingo

This is truly shocking. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0ry09d50wo

The only saving grace is I assume / hope this government will be out on its ear before they can implement such an horrendous change.

Tori_Scope

Meg24 said:

I'm concerned that you have said "disabled people and people living with MH conditions" as if we are not disabled, which is exactly what Sunak & Co. are saying. 

The official definition of Disabled includes people with MH conditions however it's often dismissed, sometimes by physically disabled people, some of whom display hostility towards us & question our right to disability benefits and services. 

I don't want them to uss us against each other, we need to fight alongside, with mutual respect and validation. 

Please consider changing your wording to make it inclusive, thanks.

Thanks for your comment @meg24! You raise a great point. 

We of course agree that the umbrella of disability covers mental health conditions. And that many people with mental health conditions identify as disabled. 

My colleague included a distinction in this case to ensure we're inclusive of people with mental health conditions who don't identify as disabled.

As I'm sure you'll be aware, there's a way to go in removing the stigma of 'disabled' being a dirty word, and only applying to people with physical health conditions. This stigma can also be internalised, which is something I actually have personal experience of!

At Scope, we also think people should identify in the way that feels most comfortable to them.

As you've mentioned, the Prime Minister directly attacked people with mental health conditions. So we want to make sure people with mental health conditions who don't identify as being disabled know that we're still standing with them when fighting against these planned changes. 

I hope that makes sense 🙂 We certainly didn't intend to cause any upset. And I really appreciate the time you've taken to feed back. We often use language like 'including x group', and we'll be sure to bear this in mind for future communications. I'll share your feedback with some more colleagues, too. 

judie

66Mustang said:

Feel free to remove it if you deem it inappropriate but I came across this poster while reading about something unrelated 

Won't say where it's from will just say it was published to promote a certain (now defunct) prominent political party's agenda and thought it resembles the attitude of some modern politicians with the desire to turn working people against people who can't work!!!

A rough translation, "60000 is what this hereditarily ill patient will cost the community for life / fellow citizen that is your money too"

judie

Work sets you free springs to mind 

birdwatcher

I've signed the petition but it's a waste of time contacting my MP. I emailed him some time ago about one thing that's important to me. Months later I got one back about something totally different. And then after that another one. He didn't listen. I hope he comes canvassing on my doorstep come general election time. 
What I would like is for sunak to wear my shoes for a week. My walking is terrible. I need a frame  to get round the house. I can't go out now and haven't for a few years. Pain from the shoulders down. And so far this mornings dose of meds haven't kicked in. That's not unusual. My incontinence isn't getting any better either. And other stuff that isn't so obvious going on
I think if he was in my situation and probably other people's here he'd soon have a rethink. 

Tori_Scope

There's no pressure for you to email your MP @birdwatcher I know that not everyone feels they get an adequate response from their MP, unfortunately. We'll share some opportunities for you to email the candidates in your area soon, which might be more up your street? 

Thank you for signing the petition, and for sharing your personal experiences.