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Jeremy Corbyn promised to reverse those cuts to LCW if Labour returned to power in 2017 which is why the Right-wing of the Party stymied him. They did it to Ed Miliband and they're doing it to this Leader.
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I honestly cannot bear even seeing their faces or hearing their voices. (Starmer, Reeves, Kendall, Timms, Streeting.) They keep saying severely disabled people will not have their benefits cut but they will be the ones deciding what constitutes severe disabilities. It is not taking into account the numerous people with multiple complex chronic conditions which combined constitute debilitating disabilities.
I am very worried about single disabled people, in my situation my husband who is currently my carer will have no choice but to return to work if we lose PIP and LCWRA and Carers allowance but many people won't have a plan B and the stress this supposed caring government are subjecting us to is inhumane and very calculating on their part, I have had to conclude that they really do not care about us at all or driving people into abject poverty.
We are lost as a country and I am ashamed of this government. At least the Tories who I have no love for, gave cost of living payments which added up to more than a grand over the year which helped meet basic needs and an almost 10% increase in benefits and now not only are we getting zero to help with rising costs, we are facing the possibility of losing most of our income.
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I am one of the alone disabled, I exist in my living room as I can’t use the upstairs bedrooms anymore, I am a fighter though, I adapt and I do the best I can. I refused social worker offer to help because my independence is all I have left. I won’t get 4 points, I like many many others will lose a vast chunk of social security support and will be destroyed. I won’t be able to go out to job centre, I will be sanctioned and I will be made homeless. Believe me when I say I’m worried sick, I am scared and have never felt more alone.
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I've found a link to a petition on 38 Degrees from Benefits and Work that I think is worthwhile signing. There is 96.6 thousand signatures already!! 👌🤗
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE!! 👍
https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/no-cruel-cuts-to-benefits?bucket=copy-native-2025-03-11_&utm_campaign=2025-03-11_Welfare+Cuts+2024&utm_medium=native&utm_source=copy
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I am really sorry to hear of how much worry and stress you are going through Martin. It isn't fair at all and as I said Labour should be very ashamed of what they are doing to the most vulnerable people in our country. All we can hope is that they give some sort of transitional protection to people who lose money, it is discrimination pure and simple against a protected group of people and existing claimants cannot be left destitute with no way to support themselves. If they refuse to give transitional protection then they will end up with a situation of so many people being homeless and then local councils and other services will be under immense pressure. The NHS will be under more pressure as anxiety will be thrugh the roof for most people, I don't think they have really thought this through and what the knock on effects will be.
Take care of yourself Martin. You are not alone, people do care and we will all support eachother.
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So if the government not listening or do not have to then we should all accept that life gets very tough after Nov 2026.
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Actually @noonebelieves I'm one of those now in the Scope Community who when I was alone, felt very overwhelmed and scared!! 😮 That is what we are all here for, to enjoy the transformational support that we generate for each other. 😊
I'm just a small cog in a much larger machine in this community but it gives me a real boost to read your very kind and complementary feedback on my actions. I'm glad that you think that I'm making such a positive difference in this community. That's the whole idea!! 🤗
I think, like you, that the positivity is increasing here. Despair and anger are turning to the community members being much more upbeat and proactive. It's great to see how much the attitude towards these cuts has turned from apathy to much greater motivation, resulting in many positive steps being taken. 👣
You mentioned stepping in when someone's feeling low. That is the most important thing we can do. Fighting back against this massive injustice is impossible if people are feeling so hopeless about the situation, they can't see a way forward.
Having someone else's encouragement will help change someone's perspective for the better, then and only then can they take action, which benefits them, therefore us all.
I read all sorts of posts where you are doing this yourself. I love seeing how you bring the people concerned out of their shells, helping to build them up. You really do have a wonderful talent for that!! 😃🤝👏
Please keep on doing what you're doing yourself. I certainly will! ✊
I hope that your day is a good one and, as ever, my best wishes to you.
Juls. 😊
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Same , and if this happens we will lose our home too , we are registered with council for housing if we lose our home , but my husband is 62 this year and I am 61 , I am tired out I don't have much fight in me ,and the thought of packing up 18 years of stuff fills me with dread , plus it was only 2023 that I had a total hysterectomy for high grade cancer ,and then claiming UC the the WCA which i had to go through made my recovery slower because i have mental illness and it is from when i was a little girl , I am phobic about ever at the same time the stress of my husband having to give up his business of 30 years to look after me , no money to pay mortgage , and it was bought by a vulture fund who are charging us 9.05% interest which we cannot afford , so right now I don't care I want all this cruelty to end I'm sick of it . I never voted this government in , and I cannot bare to see any of them either , they make me sick . They are living in luxury while we are losing everything .
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Let’s not get lost in technicalities. When we stand together, we change lives.
Arguing over whether something was a full U-turn misses the point. What matters is this, people organised, protested, and pushed back, and the government changed course. Maybe not always completely, maybe not for everyone, but enough to protect many from even worse harm. That is not a side note. That is power.
The 2013 DLA mobility cut? Cancelled.
The ESA WRAG cut? Delayed, watered down, and never applied to existing claimants because campaigners refused to give up. Without that pressure, there would have been no protections at all.Baroness Grey-Thompson said it plainly: “This isn’t welfare reform; it’s punishment for being disabled.” And she was not alone. Thirty major charities stood together. Spartacus researchers gave MPs the evidence they needed. Cancer patients sat in the Commons gallery and shamed ministers into concessions.
This is not about who is right in an argument. It is about what is possible when we stand together. Every PIP reassessment, every cut to Universal Credit, every cruel so-called reform can still be challenged if we stay united.
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Yes, even as far back as when they were last in government, Labour had the same ideology. They introduced ESA.
The crazy thing as well, back then they said "ESA assessment focused on what you can do not what you cant do".
Today they say "The problem is the assessment focuses on what you cant do, not what you can do", the very assessment they brought in.
These phrases mean ideologically, Labour do not accept that the idea that people are unable to work because of things they cant do. They are ideologically opposed to it.
Kendall was the most well known traitor under Corbyn's Labour party. Which should tell everyone they need to know about her.Very recently in an interview Keir said he believes the majority affected by the cuts will find employment, so he is under the same delusional ideology.
The equivalent to this for employees would be SSP and sick pay is scrapped, and people are forced to stay at work when they have health problems, rather than take sick leave.1 -
I still remember a conversation over the phone I had with a DWP DM. She was telling me how delightful companies are, they invite severely sick people with open arms into employment, adapt the work place etc. I then asked to name one company, just one, and she couldnt do it. I later regretted the conversation, but still remember it to this day.
This was when I temporarily lost ESA due to missing a WCA appointment, it did get overturned when I proved they had the wrong address for letters. The DM was also baffled why I didnt open a JSA claim, I had to explain to her, I couldnt open the claim as I wouldnt be seeking work because I cant work. She seemed at complete odds why I didnt react the way the DWP would assume people do when poverty is imposed on them.
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No, MW, you are completely wrong. Dangerously mistaken!
That cut was implemented in the 2016 Act following the first FAILED national reassessment programme 2011-2014 and it continues to harm disabled people.
I will not let you pretend those measures were not supported by the sitting Labour Ministers mentioned above or that they don't continue to apply to disabled people.
The 590 suicides that we know about were a direct consequence of Iain Duncan Smith's rotten welfare reforms in 2011 and 2012 and he continues to fool most people. He lied to Parliament in 2015 about "a fundamental flaw in the regulations" which needed to be fixed. Well, he did that alright!
Reassessment are ongoing and more LCWRA claimants will be moved to that group, minus that extra component. It was already a tragedy before these 'new' measures were announced.
No U-turn on that cut. No delay or watering down. No further national outrage until Labour got into power!!!
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IDS removed the main substantial risk rule in 2015 but nobody else noticed?
😡
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Hey Juls,
Well… what? Is it that time already for “putting the world to rights”? 🤩I proper love that phrase now – it’s become our thing, hasn’t it? And you always bring the soul into it. I’m grateful as ever for your response and the way you just get it.
Thanks for your compliments, though I still don’t feel I deserve them! But I know you always say I’m too modest, so I’ll take them this time 🙏🏽☺️
I’ll start off with a quick correction – my physio was actually moved to the 17th, not the 11th. Brain fog wins again! It’s not my shoulder this time but that god-awful neuropathic pain flaring up again. One of those days where just breathing feels like effort. Thanks again for your kind wishes for my recovery and wellbeing!
I really felt something shift reading your bit on your seizures. You’re right – there’s a deep kind of acceptance that doesn’t mean giving up. Just managing the beast day in, day out. You’ve nailed that. It reminded me of something I said previously – that, as disabled people -we’ve become experts at enduring what would crush most others. I do still sometimes cling to the hope that we’ll wake up one day and it’ll all vanish – the pain, the politics, the poverty – just for a day’s peace. But maybe the real miracle is that we and many on this scope forum still stand, still speak, still care. It’s really like magic to see how positive vibes spread and lifts the energy of everyone around us -the whole ethos of the Scope Forum.🥰Kudos to all 👏👏
Hearing about your father hit me in the chest. I’m so sorry for your loss!😔. Thank you for trusting me with that. So much of it echoed what I went through during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave when I lost my own father. The shock of it, that brutal finality-you’re left clutching at memories that weren’t supposed to be ‘lasts’. But the image of your Mum visiting every day… that kind of love is eternal, isn’t it? ☺️It transcends even the cruelty of hospital corridors and ticking clocks.
And yes -“traitor” is the perfect title for Stephen Timms. It’s not just political betrayal -it’s personal . It hurts. I don’t know about you, but seeing Starmer, Reeves and Kendall parade their toxic “trio” act – it’s triggering in ways that go far beyond policy. They’re like those horror-movie vampires – smiling while draining the last bit of life (or money) from us. The irony? They’ve weaponised our will to live and called it ‘helping us get back to work’.🫢Your green vomit emoji’s too classy for them.
Juls, Thanks for sharing the link to the Canary news: To sum it all up, hearing Richard Burgon, their own Labour MP, speak out-
“Labour could have chosen to tax the unfathomably wealthy.Instead, they’re using disabled people as an easy target”
really highlights the cruelty of the Labour government. It’s a stark reminder of how deeply misguided their approach is, and how they are exploiting vulnerable and disabled people for political gain-like hungry wolves circling, eager to tear away a hefty £4.5 billion from the welfare benefits budget, to be precise.
I want to make sure every Scope member here sees what’s really happening(nothing new!!), so here’s some statistical facts I hope we can all use in our letters and responses(I summarised key issues from FRS) - whether you’re writing to your MP or replying to this sham consultation:
“Disability prevalence has risen steadily, now encompassing 16.1 million people, or 24% of the UK population. This includes 11% of children and 23% of working-age adults, with mobility impairments being the most common (48%) followed by mental health challenges (34%). Among working-age adults, mental health conditions are now the most prevalent impairment type at 47%. Despite this, disabled individuals face stark inequalities: lower employment rates (53.6% compared to 82.5% for non-disabled people), higher poverty rates (27% vs. 19%), and reduced access to adequate housing.”(Summarised from DWP Family Resources hSurvey(FRS): Financial Year 2022 to 2023 mentioned in the excellent House of Lords Debate, May 2024 -People with Disabilities: Access to Services)-warning: long but interesting debate (Thanks to @santosha12🙏🏽 for directing me to this debate)
These aren’t just numbers. They’re the scars we carry. If disability is rising, then how dare they talk about benefit cuts? Where is the access, the support, the basic decency? And let’s be clear - this rise isn’t because people have suddenly become lazy or “dependent,” as the government so cruelly suggests. I’ve shared this with Juls before, but it needs to be held up again in this green paper thread , for all of us - because the truth matters, and it should shape how we fight for our rights.
Inclusion London puts it best:
“We live in a world that disables us through systemic barriers.Benefits are not ‘extras’ -they are essential support to help us survive, participate, and live.”
More and more people are being pushed into disability, into poverty, hunger, homelessness — and that doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s the result of NHS backlogs, a social care system on its knees, SEND services gutted, inaccessible and unaffordable housing, and workplaces still unwilling to accommodate. This is not personal failure. This is structural violence. And it’s all happening on their watch.Juls, you might be wondering why I’m repeating myself here-and I’m sorry if it feels that way-but it’s intentional. I wanted to give everyone here on this Scope thread the chance to truly see why we actually hold the upper hand in this fight. Because silence is exactly what they’re counting on-and accepting their narrative without resistance leads us down a path of consequences we shouldn’t ever have to face.
The Access to Work scheme, which is supposedly the crutch for their ‘work agenda’, is already collapsing and was shared in this thread by our members.The BBC reported just yesterday that businesses employing disabled people are being left in limbo-waiting months for payments from the government, in some cases up to £200,000. Some are even being pushed to the brink of having to sack the very disabled workers they set out to support. This is a direct betrayal, compounding an already broken system.
How do you expect people to “move into work” when the support systems are falling apart?
The evidence is clear – mental health issues are more prevalent in working adults (47%), and the link is unmistakable. So tell me, how can anyone expect us to move forward when the proverbial wheelchair is broken, and no one is stepping up to fix it?
Then there’s this — straight from Benefits and Work -about how this entire sham of a proposal and “Non-consultation” is being circulated and branded by the government(there’s much more-have a read in the link above):
“In fact, this bogus consultation is entirely about silencing the voices of disabled people and people with health conditions. The reality is that the DWP under Labour is proving to be even more dishonest and devious than it was under the Tories.”
And the National Survivor User Network (NSUN)- Mental Health support network, didn’t mince words either:
“In the same statement which announced further welfare cuts, the Government celebrated its increase on military spending; some of which likely makes this government legally complicit in genocide.”They warned the reforms could “exacerbate the harms of a welfare system that is already killing people.”( and much more…..)
This isn’t just political anymore. It’s moral to us . It’s life and death.
Juls, I know we joke about them almost being vampires🧛♂️🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♂️ (guess the 4) and villains🦹♂️(Did I just say … Starmer?🤔)……maybe that’s what keeps us sane. But beyond the jokes between us, I feel your rage, and I now see the unity and strength💪🏻in everyone’s voice on this thread. It’s so powerful, and it matters. I share it. I know how much love and fire you carry-for justice, for truth, and for those who’ve been pushed into corners and told to be grateful or, worse, told to just suck it all up. It’s infuriating, but it also fuels our fight. 🔥
We have to keep going, together. Because the system is betting on our silence – but we’ve got noise, heart, truth, and each other.❤️
So to you, and to every Scope member reading this – we’ve got little time to fight this. The consultation is open until June. However flawed this government may be, we must respond and oppose directly to the consultation . Share. Spread the truth. Copy the stats. Tell your story. Hold the mirror up to their lies.
Let’s not underestimate the power we have when we move as one -united, unafraid, and unwilling to be erased.
And Juls – I say this just to you now: Even when the system tries to grind us down, your words build people back up. Keep writing, keep roaring.You’re helping us all remember that we deserve better.
Thank you for everything🙏🏽 🤗
In solidarity ✌️1 -
(No, I wasn't the only one paying attention!)
Secret DWP proposal to scrap ESA ‘substantial risk’ rules ‘would breach right to life’By John Pring on 21st April 2016 Category: Benefits and Poverty
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has proposed scrapping two benefit regulations that offer vital protection to disabled people facing the controversial “fitness for work” test.
In response to a freedom of information request, DWP has sent Disability News Service (DNS) a document titled Appeals Strategy – Post Election Planning, which was drawn up by civil servants just before last year’s general election.
The document lays out 11 policies that could be considered by ministers if the Conservatives won the 2015 election.
Most of the document was redacted – although disabled activists have succeeded in revealing the words behind those redacted areas (SEE SEPARATE STORY) – but one of the three policies that was not redacted is headed “Removing or amend ESA regulations 29/35”.
Disabled activists have been campaigning since 2012 to raise awareness of employment and support allowance (ESA) regulations 29 and 35, which they believe protects many claimants who have gone through the work capability assessment (WCA) process.
They believe the regulations protect thousands of people every year who would otherwise be at risk of serious damage to their health if they were forced to carry out work or work-related activity that they were not well enough to do, following a WCA.
The DWP document states that removing or amending the two regulations would require “evidence of widespread misuse” to persuade campaigners and ministers’ own benefits advice body, the social security advisory committee, but says that such a move would produce potential savings.
It says that two previous attempts to remove the regulations were defeated, by the court of appeal in 1997, and again in 2003.
The document adds: “Changes to this area carry a significant handling and delivery risk.
“Changes would be perceived as restricting application of the safeguards and may be considered discriminatory.”
DWP admitted last night that it had mistakenly failed to redact this particular policy proposal in the document emailed to DNS.
The only other two policies that were left unredacted were allowing scanning and email of benefit appeal documents; and increasing the number of DWP “presenting officers” who attend benefit appeals. Work on introducing these two policies is already underway, according to DWP.
David Beckett, who supervises the welfare benefits team at Coventry Law Centre, part of Central England Law Centre, said that removing regulations 29 and 35 was “nothing other than cost-cutting”.
He said: “There is absolutely no evidence, as far as I am aware, of any abuse [of the two regulations].
“What there is is evidence of the department not applying those regulations in the first place, based on faulty assessments.”
John McArdle, co-founder of the user-led grassroots campaigning network Black Triangle, said such a move would violate article two of the European Convention of Human Rights, the right to life.
Months of campaigning by Black Triangle eventually persuaded the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, to agree to notify GPs of the existence of the regulations.
Black Triangle has been told by a source within the WCA contractor Maximus that its campaign has led to 55,000 disabled people being placed in the ESA support group, when they otherwise would have been forced to seek work or carry out work-related activity.
McArdle said the proposal appeared to be “a reaction to the tremendous success of our campaign, irrespective of the lack of co-operation we have received from the leadership of the BMA”.
He promised DWP that if it went ahead and scrapped regulations 29 and 35, it would be challenged in court.
The rules state that a claimant should not be found fit for work (regulation 29), or placed in the ESA work-related activity group (regulation 35), if such a decision would pose “a substantial risk” to their “mental or physical health”.
The WCA has caused mounting anger among disabled activists and claimants since its introduction in 2008, because of links with relapses, episodes of self-harm, and even suicides and other deaths, among those who have been assessed and found fit for work.
A DWP spokeswoman said: “These speculative policy formulations were drafted by staff before the last election as part of their preparation for a new government.
“They have not been raised, do not represent government policy and have never been sent to ministers.”
But when asked whether ministers had permanently and definitively ruled out the eight redacted policies, the spokeswoman would only say that the department “has no plans to introduce these changes”.
(Black Triangle - sponsored by Andrew Mitchell's law firm, Irwin Mitchell - misled the BMA about those rules)
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The ESA WRAG cut was part of broader welfare reforms that faced significant opposition. While not fully reversed, the public outcry highlighted the need for more compassionate policies. This is not about being "dangerously mistaken" but about differing perspectives on how change happens. The cut passed in 2017, but only after sustained opposition forced concessions: transitional protections for existing claimants, delayed implementation, and £190 million less in savings than projected. This proves that even when we don't achieve full reversals, backlash can limit harm.
You dismiss the DLA mobility component U-turn as irrelevant, yet it reversed cuts for 80,000 care home residents solely through protests and media pressure. That's not 'failure', it's proof of concept. The difference? Escalation. The DLA campaign made the policy politically toxic. The ESA fight lacked the same sustained public outrage. The lesson? We need louder, smarter coalitions, not defeatism. This success is essential for understanding how grassroots campaigns can influence government decisions.
If you believe past activism has been futile, I'm genuinely curious, what alternative approach do you propose? Should we simply accept these devastating cuts and guarantee worse outcomes for disabled people, or should we fight smarter using the methods we know can work?
History gives us clear examples. The DLA mobility victory proved public pressure can force government U-turns. The ESA campaign showed how sustained opposition can extract crucial concessions even when full reversals aren't achieved.
Now, with dangerous PIP and benefit reforms on the horizon, we stand at a crossroads. We can build on what's worked before, learn from past struggles to strengthen our tactics, or give up entirely. I know which path I choose. But if you reject activism altogether, I'm honestly interested to hear your solution for stopping these harmful cuts before they destroy more lives.
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(October 2011)
The key aspects of the Jobcentre Plus Pathways to Work process
Prior to October 2010, all customers making a claim to an incapacity benefit must attend a Work Focused Interview (WFI) between eight and thirteen weeks after making their claim, except in cases where the WFI is deferred or waived (the option to waive the WFI was discontinued from October 2008 when ESA was introduced).
From October 2010, customers must first be placed in the Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG) at their Work Capability Assessment (WCA) before attending their initial WFI.
In order to satisfy the requirements for receiving an incapacity benefit, customers must undergo a Personal Capability Assessment (PCA) or, from October 2008 (when ESA was introduced), a WCA. In most ESA Pathways cases this process should be complete within 13 weeks of the claim being made. Some customers were exempt from the PCA.
Before October 2008, customers who were screened out of the mandatory Pathways process at the first WFI could elect to participate on a voluntary basis.
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"While not fully reversed…"
The £30 cut for LCW was not even remotely reversed!!!
MW, stop repeating what is blatantly incorrect!
😠
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I haven't mentioned DLA/PIP!
DLA/PIP proposals had and have nothing to do with crippling ESA reforms already implemented!!!
"If you believe past activism has been futile.." - I haven't said it was futile. I said that national outrage died down until Labour returned to power 🤔
I have told you what needs to be done, PDQ. The 2011 AMENDED ESA regulations and the 2012 Welfare Reform Act need to be revisited by someone else on this forum.
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I hear you god the thought of it
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