Channel 4 Dispatches - Britain’s Benefits Scandal 2nd dec (trigger warning topic)

apple85

I tossed up whether I should post this times article as it is a hard read but as there’s going to be a dispatches, the topic will become public on mon/tue so I think it’s worth discussing)

(however it also highlights a point I’ve been trying to make for a while that there’s a certain ‘language’ to filling out dwp assessment paperwork such as esa50, uc50 and pip reviews successfully - and because of that it’s made things easier for more ‘average’ claimant to take advantage (sorry I can’t think of a non offensive way to put that) - I think many clearly disabled ppl currently get award few or no points but ‘scroungers’ succeed is that the dwp paperwork is hugely overwhelming to many with disabilities especially when they have no support system and they have trouble even digesting advice and also for many disabled dwp assessments are ‘live or die’ scenarios and that extra weight confuses more - ‘scroungers’ don’t have the same pressure and aren’t overwhelmed in the same way so can more easily process all the advice the disabled community has worked so hard to create for its members to help navigate a system that doesn’t play fair with disabled ppl and is stacked up against them)

I have more to say on the subject but I’ve got to go out now - but it’s not as black and white as either side of the argument have tried to claim in the past and hard questions & discussions need to start happening

Edit: when I say ‘average’ I mean average uk citizen, the regular joe……………though lines are becoming so blurred that it’s hard to be blunt without being cancelled but I don’t think anyone knows the true number that makes up the uk’s disabled community

SarahT41

This is a really tricky topic, and I would rather the process be easier for many people that are struggling and getting turned down, than it be even harder to deter the (very small number) of people claiming fraudulently. I totally agree its all about knowing how to answer the questions, when I was on PIP I had support filling it out from my brilliant OT and I know I would not have been awarded it if I'd filled out the forms myself. Not because I wasn't in genuine need, but I would not have answered in the specific way they are after. It shouldn't be a reading comprehension exercise because it puts so many people at a disadvantage. I don't understand why it's not decided on medical evidence, with a small portion of it being on personal testimony. It just feels inhumane how everyone is assumed to be lying until decided otherwise, and the decision is made often by someone who has never met you.

JonnycJonny

Deeply unsettling information for those of us who have genuine chronic health conditions / disabilities but not unexpected. Unfortunately, there will always be people willing to game the system.

Thank you for posting - I will watch the programme.

whistles

What does a trigger warning topic mean? I am noticing this more and more and I don't get what this is? Sorry for being a little behind on jargon.

I will read the article (I am too annoyed right now) and I will likely watch the programme when it airs.

It's fair to say that these are the people that the dwp are trying to weed out!!

The PIP system isn't working by saying it's about how your condition affects your day to day life. It's just about scoring points and if you say the right thing, you get points. That's not how it should be. It focuses on your can't do negatives.

DLA was about your condition. It was split into daytime and during the night. My condition hasnt changed beyond being on more medication than I was back then, but I lost the care due to a point system.

SarahT41

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/948822#Comment_948822

It's just an early warning that it's a topic that might be traumatic for some people to stumble across. Just gives you a chance to give it a miss if you think you'll find something particularly upsetting to come across without warning. Everyone is different but it just gives people the warning for those that appreciate it. Think of it like the warning you get before some TV programmes on particularly sensitive topics.

whistles

Thank you for answering that question, I understand now.

JessieJ

I think this programme will be a double edged sword, as it will give pointers to those that are not disabled, have no clue what it's like but are willing to wing it. In other words, the reason why we, the genuine disabled with very real problems have to jump through ever more difficult hoops. I won't be watching as I'll just get very angry..

apple85

apparently Fraser Nelson is fronting this dispatches (ex editor for the spectator, columnist for the telegraph, heavy far right wing supporter of the tories) so I think the chances are the argument presented to viewers may be skewered unfairly against the disabled

Someone on another thread mentioned another tv programme about welfare claimants screening on the 17th December (though I can’t find what it is) - it’s starting to feel a lot like ‘rabbit season’!

Below I’m posting a Nelson telegraph article published last week on the upcoming dispatches. Sadly I don’t think the general public who are currently acting like ‘rabid beasts’ towards the disabled and welfare system have the spare brain cells to process all the facts (they have a one track mind and too stubborn to expand knowledge) but I recommend scope readers read the bits I’ve highlighted as if a major far right journalist can pick up on the current welfare mess by all means being not the fault of its disabled claimants then prehaps there’s hope yet that dwp may regain some common sense:

WhatThe

There's an even tougher one scheduled for 17th December. Google if you want to know more.

apple, I didn't want to go into it on the other thread so I'm glad you raised it here.

Same channel and time.

apple85

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/949749#Comment_949749

you sure it’s on c4 on Sunday 17th dec?

As all I’m seeing is ‘men in black 2’ scheduled at 7:25pm 😆

mangomungo

I’m one of those that have no choice but to claim for mental health issues, I fear now that media like this will make things worse for me, as if they’re targeting people who are ‘faking’ and they ‘crack down’ on people like me. Im sure the right wing media and most of the general public will now hate people like me even more. So sick of rich people making programs like this that make life infinitely harder and more traumatic for people who are already vulnerable.
same as Jeremy Kyle who had a private school education yet made a career out of poking fun at and shouting at the ‘have nots.’
every day it’s something new and if you didn’t have mental health issues when you claimed benefits, the system gives you them by traumatising you. I’m sure my mental health is going to take a hit with all this media, yet again.
I hope my comment isn’t misplaced here and apologise if it isn’t appropriate.

WhatThe

whistles Community member Posts: 1,842 ChampioningDecember 1

Dispatches actually did a documentary in 2021, I don't recall seeing that one.

The truth about disability benefits.

My mistake - from get Britain working thread..

Catherine21

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/126283/channel-4-dispatches-britain-s-benefits-scandal-2nd-dec-trigger-warning-topic

I've always filled my out myself I don't use certain phases no good at focusing on reading what to write and say anyway did my last claim 2020 on my own just wrote about everything some people say in timely manner couldn't get my head round it anyway 2020 did myself and got paperbased just sent off in July I know got long wait the longer the better tbh thankyou for your posts much appreciated I do think like tiktok has made more people apply and do advice what to write in forms

MW123

I watched this documentary and found it exceptionally well-balanced. The claimant's stories were deeply moving, highlighting the human cost of DWP policies and past government actions that have contributed to the ongoing crisis in the benefits system.

What stood out was how the documentary gave a voice to long-term sick and disabled individuals without resorting to stereotypes or blame. It was a powerful portrayal of people simply trying to survive within a broken system. The failure lies not with those who depend on benefits, but with a system that is inherently designed to fail countless individuals.

SarahT41

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/949892#Comment_949892

Thanks for sharing this, I wasn't planning on watching it but I might now. Hopefully it will have changed some views - I guess if they'd marketed it as being in any way sympathetic they wouldn't have had the people tuning in whose minds probably need changing the most.

tealdate58

whistles

The system has failed in so many ways.

I am one of those who feels trapped because the support isn't there with funding and budget cuts that I would need to get back into the work force.

tealdate58

I watched most of the programme . It's mainly about the rise in under 35s. One said they use website popular ones tic tok mentioned for exactly what to put on for so it goes through and it's passed.

Having long term illnesses and a mental breakdown when my marriage broke down. My illnesses won't ever end, they are lifelong . So DWP what's happened in last 2 years for me isn't easy. I am so petrified I can't even open their letters. . Absolutely scared life out of me.

DaveDave1

tik tok is definitely to blame for the rise in bogus claims, you have creators on this platform making constant videos on ADHD/ASD to help others with no such lifelong conditions to scam the system, while at the same time making money off their content, this along with many people bragging on this platform how much they are conning out of the system letting others with the real conditions suffer due to their scam claims, they need to give some of these assessments to us to go over and check them out, if you have birth conditions and have lived with this all of your life you can easily spot the fakers from the real, have met people who are in their late 20s getting along fine then coming up with they have x y z, which is not true, it seems they use the information available on ticky tokky with keywords along with the incentive for the assessors to make money putting through the scam claims,whislt the real claimants suffer due to not using the correct wording or getting the proper help to complete the forms and making their lifes hell,soon A.I will help with this and sift through the charlatans, the program was just another propaganda towards the disabled in society, further impacting lives, just look on social media with the reactions and nasty comments about the program, blurred lines for those who are suffering out here

FeistyPigeon

Hi everyone, I watched the program too but got to say I came away with mixed feelings. First point to bear in mind is the presenter Fraser Nelson used to be editor of the Spectator, which has always been the mouthpiece of the conservative party, and he himself is a supporter of that party. As such the presentation was always likely to be from a right-wing viewpoint, which is to get as many people back into work and off benefits as possible, to reduce the welfare burden and enable tax cuts for the wealthy.

Having said that, they did highlight several problems facing the long-term sick + disabled. The welfare trap is certainly one of those, the fear of being unable to keep going in a job and then being unable to return to sickness benefits can be a very real disincentive to try and break out of your current situation. And the confusion of information provided by the DWP can indeed lead to a loss of opportunity to, for instance, take up a plastering course without loss of benefits. On reflection the problems they highlighted were those creating barriers to people returning to work, not any of the other problems we face.

And we have to come to this with open eyes. The benefit levels quoted appeared to me almost always excessive. Those I know on sickness benefits and myself are paid way less than any of those on the program, and all those on universal credit who have since passed WCA are in receipt of the absolute bare minimum of benefit, no more than someone looking for work, without the advantage of being able to do anything to improve their situation (by getting a job) as they're too sick or disabled to do so.

To my mind the program was painting a picture for the audience that anyone on sickness benefits is living it up with a good income. They even featured a company offering a vacancy for £25k and repeated several times that maybe no-one was interested as they were getting more on benefits. This is frankly misleading.

This is of course another mantra of the right wing, benefit levels are too high and have to be cut. Tune into GB News today and you will see them pushing this even harder, given the Dispatches program. And my feeling is that this was the underlying message for the audience of last night's program.

How many of us are doing without heating now? How many of us are going without food? We've certainly no money to socialise and most I suspect spend our times in isolation, if we don't actually live with anyone. Our struggles were not mentioned once in the whole program.

So I suspect the real motivation for this Dispatches was to persuade the public that the long-term sick and disabled are getting too much, some are using it as a source of income rather than going to work (eg by claiming to be suicidal), and the way to solve this is to cut welfare spending and benefits.

I was not too surprised to see, not only Mel Stride being asked for his opinions, but Liz Kendell, being both appreciative and agreeable, to Frasier Nelson's questions. All in all, this program could make it even harder for us to get fair treatment when the White paper for benefit changes come out in the spring.

Amaya_Ringo

I have mixed views about whether to watch it or not. I remember having no idea how to fill in any of the PIP forms. I was absolutely obsessive about every word on my form being exact and accurate, to the point I couldn't answer some of the questions (a majority of days means nothing to my executive function challenged brain, it's too vague). I've never used any of the terms mentioned in the articles here because they don't apply to me - but I've always felt there was a secret 'language' at work. As an autistic person, though, I assumed I didn't understand it because of that.

I don't like the fact there's a rise in this culture of 'teaching' people how to claim benefits, but at the same time, there will be people who lose benefit claims where they are eligible because, like me, they told the exact truth but not in the words the DWP wanted. The problem with a program like this right now is that people will see what they want to see. It won't actually help fix the problem, just entrench people's views about one thing or another.

With the work thing, though, this is absolutely true. There are hardly any WFH jobs and they get snapped up by people without disability considerations because WFH is popular. I know a lot of people who WFH, none are disabled. Unless jobs are ringfenced or adjustments are made for those people, those who can't leave the home easily won't be able to work.

For me, the fact jobs still insist on interviewing is the biggest issue. I have had to go to all kinds of lengths to even be considered for a job because interviewing is a problem for me. I've had to go for the lowest paid smallest hours post on a couple of occasions so I can prove myself capable before even being considered for a job with a regular income. I have qualifications, education and experience, but so long as interviews are the main form of employment decider, I don't have another way in.

I'd like to see the media really turning on those issues and giving them more airtime.