March 26th and Green Paper Mega Discussion (ITV leaks, etc)

I’ve been asked why don’t I watch something uplifting 😂 I just reply zombies are uplifting. Yes I watched the new salems lot and was disappointed but then found the more I watched it the more I liked it . Nothing was going to compare to the original. A new Dracula with Keanu Reeves ? Oh I haven’t heard about that . I’ll have a google x

Echoed. I am very concerned for the young people I know who are leaving special education with autism couple with severe learning difficulties including Down Syndrome.

Yes, well said, It's like living in some weird paralell universe ruled by inept bullies, with Starmer The Charmer the evil overlord, and Reeves & kendall the ugly sisters or witches, casying evil spells around their cauldrons. You can hear them now cackling and laughing about their new plans to destroy , humiliate, and kill off as many sick/disabled as possible. I honestly just try to laugh at them as much as possible, I agree with you the the Ellen Clifford case really annoyed them and this is vengeance for them losing the court case. They behave like little children throwing their toys out of the pram.

I haven't really been keeping up with the latest news until today, as I've spent the last month dealing with a work restructure in which my job was at risk. Ironic, isn't it…they want disabled people in work, at the same time they make cuts which put disabled people with jobs at risk of being made redundant. Under Cameron the exact same thing happened and I lost my job then. Thankfully this was a better outcome, but it means I'm not up to date with the other existential threat you guys have been discussing.

I don't think it matters what government is in power, welfare and disabled people in particular are easy targets.

I don't claim ESA but I don't understand how you are going to incentivise someone to try and work when so many workplaces are not well adjusted or even willing to make adjustments. I am really lucky in that my manager is a absolute hero who fought tooth and nail to keep all of her team in jobs (and won) this past month (I am not the only ND member of staff working in the department, and we all still have jobs as of yesterday).

Having always been on the "I can work, I'm trying to work, please employ me" side of the equation, it's hard to get and keep a job when you're disabled, unless the workplace mindset is also right. The reliance on interviews is a massive boundary for some, building accessibility for others, internalised ableism and ableist structures are still a problem. Until they change those things in the actual workplaces, then all they are doing is punishing people who are already being punished by the system.

For the people who absolutely can't work, cutting the money is an equality issue, I'm sure someone would take that to court if it turns out to be true. Govt have to have a safety net for those people, it's ridiculous not to.

My personal concern is around PIP, as it's a component of my independence. Having to go through appeal the last time definitely left trauma, it also impeded my employability in the field I wanted to go into, because it took up time I should have been doing other things to build what would have been a portfolio. Between that, and Cameron, and the recent restructure, it feels more to me like the govt are determined to make me unemployed. It's a fair cheek of them to then wax lyrical about the wonders of disabled people being in work.

Side-note, but I think if Scope and other disabled charities had included disabled people already in work in their previous statements, it would have been less easy for the govt to target those unable to work. By not mentioning us and the fact we are defying all the odds to be in employment, they're just reinforcing the idea that disabled people are taking benefits because they don't want to work. In reality, disabled people on benefits are in work, looking for (but being prevented from being in) work, or unable to work. You can't change that situation by making cuts. You can only change it by protecting the first group's jobs, enabling the second group and supporting the third group to live dignified lives without constant worry or harassment.

PIP fraud last year was zero. Disabled people are not the problem here.