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Rhetoric is getting to me

mangomungo

I’ve been going through my day with tears in my eyes the past few days, the stress is affecting my body, I’m exhausted, then Isabelle Oakeshott calls me a parasite? Reeves has started the strivers vs skivers rhetoric again.
I can’t believe labour might be carrying on with the WCA reforms, if I come up for reassessment under those terms I’ll have to live off of £400 a month less, I can’t stop thinking about it and it is making me severely depressed. Last time before I got the LCWRA I lived in poverty without hot water, fruits or vegetables and I can’t do that again, especially as my flat grows mould and not having the heating on it gets worse. No point contacting anyone cos there’s nothing anyone can do. Wish I could be normal and work, I remember in school when I couldn’t go in cos I couldn’t even handle it then and they called me a skiver, no one’s ever understood and feels like I’m the punching bag of a whole country right now. Sorry for repeatedly posting about this but I don’t know where else to turn

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Comments

chiarieds

Hi @mangomungo - remember nothing concrete has been said about WCAs.

I also hope you've seen the post Adrian recently put up in response to Isabel Oakeshott's dreadful comment. Scope is here for all disabled people, & we're all here for you.

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/124948/and-basically-these-people-are-frankly-parasites

mangomungo

thank you everyone for your comments hoping for the best with the WCA and the white paper but still very worrying times ❤️

WhatThe

Isabelle Oaksh*tt said that?? 😡

mangomungo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934654#Comment_934654

Yes not sure what it was on but was on a talk show today I believe - calling disabled people on benefits parasites. Really awful - there’s some posts/threads on here about it somewhere

WhatThe

I've not heard a recording or watched the news yet but I've read these threads and Jimm's excellent statement on behalf of us all. She's shot as far as I can see. Way OTT. Needs to be muzzled, charged with something and fined.

michael57

did she actually say disabled people or people on benefits i am not condoning what she said she does sound like a how shall i put it a very contemptuous entitled person

Ironside1990

she mentioned about Motability cars. She said we sit on the couch all day, order Deliveroo and drive about in our free(they're not) Motability cars. So yeah. She's saying people on PIP are parasites.

chiarieds

She didn't say 'disabled people' @michael57 - but talking about young people who are 'too thick to work', & 'people on benefits who can't be bothered to get out of bed,' etc. was a bit too much. Not to mention 'driving free Motability cars.' Someone who has so little understanding shouldn't have been given any air time.

Obviously many people who are disabled are on benefits, so by inference I think disabled people felt they were being much maligned. On the other hand her talking about 'those of us who work……' many of us have worked before our disabilities impacted on our ability to work, many do still work, but claim benefits. As we know, some people are unable to work due to their disability.

michael57

ah she poked a fire with her stick i do agree with your comment i was just saying she did not say disabled some people on pip work and have mobility cars and fair play to them am sure she will be offered a place in parliament very soon

WhatThe

Lords and Ladies paid to fall asleep after a subsidised lunch are not (that horrible word)…?

They aren't all like that are they though? A rotten assessment of ALL her compatriots!

inaspin

As I child I’d get upset when other children would call me names due to my disability, my father would say kids don’t know any better and now I can see he was correct, however these decision makers in government show little or no empathy and as adults should know better, put the stick away and try the carrot.

Maybes it’s a stubborn streak in me but I’d be tempted to tell them to run and jump if I was asked to go for a face to face assessment at this present time, only this week I’ve stopped a lifelong friend ( who also had a terrible affliction as a child and that’s possibly how we bonded) from visiting me as I don’t want him seeing me in an anxious heap, I’ve spent most of this week curtains drawn and running through possibilities of “what if”, yesterday it was “what if” around losing my house due to potential changes to benefit eligibility rules, I’ve worked long and hard to get my house ( it’s not a fancy place by any stretch ) through my disability, now I’m somewhat in a state of paralysis and consumed by “what if” thoughts.

Hopefully sense will prevail regarding reforms, and those in power will realise that going ahead with proposed changes will cost them a lot more going forward if they basically force people into poverty as along with that will go motivation and increase sickness both physically and mentally.

mangomungo

I’m just fed up with all of it, at one point people had a good understand or at least I thought they did about mental health and disability or were at least willing to learn but now we’re just going backwards. Honestly I’ve lost all hope I feel like a zombie, the stress has completely messed up my hormones, my stomach, my speech. Saw a comment on tiktok saying people like me should be put up against a wall and sh^t like what the hell?
Had 14 years of Tory rule and felt relieved for about 3 weeks before it started again, genuinely hand on heart if they bring these reforms through I won’t survive it, my energy is already at 0, I have no friends, I can’t socialise, I barely go out unless I’m with my partner or dad but yeah sure I’ll just go and work cos Liz Kendall says I can? Doesn’t work like that does it and this all needs to stop cos I can’t take it anymore

inaspin

@mangomungo sending you best wishes❤️,

Sooner or later hopefully they’ll sit up and take notice, the old saying it’s no good beating a willing horse springs to mind, we need encouragement not pressure or most will just switch off resulting in a bigger strain on public finances.

mangomungo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934781#Comment_934781

Sending you best wishes aswell thank you ❤️
yes 100% it will end up costing down the line - unfortunately this is the result of underfunding and a failing healthcare system that’s why so many can’t work already, so fix that, fund it, treat people, then ask them about work. Not forcing already sick people into work by removing the ‘substantial risk’ cos that doesn’t always mean just the person aswell - in certain circumstances it could mean danger to others. Really stupid plans all round and it needs to be scrapped completely

mangomungo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934857#Comment_934857

Wow thank you for sending that - but it is so true!! I voted for labour stupidly because I like my MP, and I also was a member under Corbyn and voted for bloody Starmer as leader before I cancelled my membership as for some reason I thought he was a good man - though I still believe this is reeves and Kendall and less Starmer as he looks ill to me - not sure he’s comfortable with what’s happening.
also reading what you’ve went through - I can only say I’m deeply moved by what you’ve experienced and I’m sorry you had to go through that 😞

mangomungo

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934864#Comment_934864

100% but I believe in reincarnation so I truly believe in the next life they’ll have to go through it themselves ❤️

Amaya_Ringo

You would hope that, being a journalist, she would research a story and report facts before putting something to print.

I mean, any random person on social media can expound those opinions, but if you write for a paper, you are surely being paid to research your work and present it robustly…

As a working disabled person, pretty sure I'm doing my job more thoroughly than she is! I've never ordered deliveroo, spend little time on the couch, and am not allowed to drive because of my navigation so never even tried to claim a Motobility car.

For anyone affected by her comments, I am so sorry you had to be exposed to it.

durhamjaide2001

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/934857#Comment_934857

I just wanted to say thank you on behalf of someone else who has a disability. Do keep us updated please.