Red top "cheats" crusade fuels hate

The Sun newspaper has launched a campaign in partnership with the coalition Government to eradicate benefit fraud, but disabled people say they have never felt more threatened. Cathy Reay reports

It is no secret to anyone that the UK currently faces a huge deficit and that cuts across spending must be made. As part of their plan to save money, it is almost certain that the coalition Government will reduce or cut benefits for the elderly and disabled.

Last month The Sun, the biggest selling newspaper in the UK, declared “war” on people who are “robbing hard-working Sun readers of their cash” by claiming benefits instead of earning their own living. The article claimed the campaign was endorsed by Prime Minister David Cameron.

The piece encouraged Sun readers to report “benefit scroungers” to their special hotline. Cheats are people who, according to the tabloid newspaper, “cannot be bothered to find a job or they claim to be sick when they are perfectly capable of work because they prefer to sit at home watching widescreen TVs – paid for by YOU.”

The tone of the article sent shockwaves through the disabled community. Lisa Egan, blogger for Where’s The Benefit? (wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com), is completely horrified: “It made me paranoid. I wanted to nail my curtains shut so people drinking in the pub opposite my flat wouldn’t notice me typing away and report me to The Sun for having the audacity to own a computer.”

Fellow blogger and disability activist Naomi Jones agrees: “Already, many of us feel like we’re going to be reported for ordinary activities. The rate of hate crime towards disabled people is now rising, and it seems likely that this is linked to these ‘campaigns’ and misinformation about benefit fraud in the media. I’m increasingly nervous of leaving my house and I don’t want this to get any worse.”

“Partnering” the campaign with the coalition Govern­ment, under unspecified terms, has also made people wonder whether The Sun has a hidden agenda.

Naomi explains: “If this really is a partnership with the Government then the Tories have a great deal to answer for, and I’d very much like to hear what their reasoning is for this potential incitement to hate crime. The Government needs at the very least to clarify its role in this campaign, and its official response.”

“A lot of people, including Sun readers, lost a lot in the recession. The Government is using benefit claimants as a scapegoat for the country’s financial problems. The Sun sees [the partnership] as a way of boosting the egos of their readers, thus boosting their readership, by attacking the people perceived as responsible for all the losses the readers felt,” says Lisa.

Terri Smith says she relies completely on incapacity benefit as she is unable to work. She says: “Linking [this] as a partnership with the Government hints at tacit approval at the highest level for this campaign.

“The labelling of every benefit claimant as undeserving and guilty of fraud until proved innocent is very Victorian and just a short step away from what’s actually being said in this piece.”

Stephen Brookes, journalist and disability and equality consultant, says he was shocked at the language used in The Sun’s report. “It makes it clear that disabled people are known as cheats. I despair of journalists who didn’t even bother to look at the issue and just copied the press release.

“It seems to be Government policy to demean disabled people to a point where everyone will question the benefits they are entitled to receive. They’re out to get disabled people in the meanest way possible.”

Disability Now reader Holly Turner adds: “It makes me feel sad that our country is becoming a nation of spies. Instead of supporting our neighbours we are being encouraged to spy on them. Instead of looking out for the most vulnerable in our society, the Government and The Sun have started a campaign which makes them feel guilty, ashamed, paranoid and afraid.”

But it is retired disabled reporter Chris Leak who has the final word: “Root out the scroungers by all means. But if anyone with half a brain thinks that many disabled people would not swap whatever allowances they get for full health they are very much mistaken.”

• Read The Sun’s original article online at: thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3091717/The-Sun-declares-war-on-Britains-benefits-culture.html