Osborne: opening Pandora's box

"Afraid." "Anxious." "Frightened." "Scared." These are just some of the words used by readers of Disability Now to describe their feelings over the proposed reform of Disability Living Allowance. Paul Carter reports

Since the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced in his emergency Budget speech that the Government intends to save £1.4bn by changes to Disability Living Allowance, (DLA), Disability Now has been inundated with calls, letters, emails, tweets and website comments from disabled people right across the country.

They're deeply concerned about the impact the changes could bring.

So, what exactly has the Government said? The reality is, not a lot. The Budget document stated that from 2013-14, all new and existing claimants of Disability Living Allowance would be subject to what it calls an "objective medical assessment". As yet there is precious little information available as to what form these assessments will take, or who will be responsible for conducting them.

In its financial breakdown, the Budget document claims that the cost of DLA has quadrupled in real terms since its introduction, and that the proposed assessments would save the Government £1.4bn by 2015.

The move has left many disabled people confused and angry.

Anne Novis, disability campaigner and a trustee of the United Kingdom Disabled People's Council (UKDPC) says she is "appalled" by the move.

"How anyone cannot see this Budget is targeting the most needy in society is beyond me," she said.

"The thought of a nurse or locum GP doing a medical on me with no knowledge of spine injury and the resulting consequences re pain, debility and side effects of medication makes me feel sick to my stomach.

"I dread trying to manage my finances when I already struggle and this atmosphere of being under siege by this Government is causing huge anxiety. I have already made enquiries about food parcels as I just don't know how I will manage if any of my benefits are reduced in any way.

"It is also inciting hatred towards disabled people; if our ministers can revile us then others feel justified in also doing so. I have been called a fraud on the streets, given nasty stares and told I am a burden to the state. I have been told I should have been killed at birth and, as I was not, should be killed now.

"If this Government can get away with encouraging such hostility towards us where can we turn for protection and safety?"

The Government's slowness to provide further details has led many people to question its ethical position. Several readers have told Disability Now that they are already so worried about the plans that their wellbeing is beginning to suffer.

"The constant stress of not knowing what is happening is having a negative affect on my health," says one reader. "I did have an indefinite award, now it appears I will be under scrutiny."

Another says: "It seems we are all going to have to again go through the stress of another medical just so this new Government can again prey on the most vulnerable of society.

"How can they now decide to change this? I would challenge Mr. Osborne to live in my shoes for a week and then make his decision on this totally unacceptable move. We must all stick together and let them hear our voice."

Along with the fear and apprehensions over the proposed assessments, many people who have spoken to Disability Now are angry about what they perceive to be a demonising of DLA claimants as "scroungers".

Disabled journalist and DLA recipient Anne Wollenberg set up the Facebook group "Petition to stop George Osborne's attack on DLA", (facebook.com/group.php?gid=131151876919497&ref=ts) which has already attracted over 800 members.

"I'm doing all of this because I'm worried, really worried, about the false information the Government is disseminating about DLA," she said in an email.

"They're implying it's a benefit for people out of work e.g. as per the State of the Nation report which said: 'There is a high degree of persistence among claimants of many low-income and out-of-work benefits... For example... around 2.2 million people, including 1.1 million people of working age, have been claiming DLA for over five years'. That's not what DLA is.

"They're implying that if someone has a job they don't need DLA. The minimum wage doesn't go up, and the price of food doesn't go down, because you have a disability and life costs more.

"They're implying that it's rife with scroungers when DLA has the lowest fraud rate of any benefit.

"All of this is making people think DLA claimants are scroungers."

Writing on his blog (mikscarlet.blogspot.com/2010/07/were-for-chop-or-my-life-as-scapegoat_05.html) journalist and tv presenter Mik Scarlet said he wants to challenge "the hypocrisy of the current scapegoating of disabled people."

He said: "Now we are rushing towards a new dawn for disabled people, where we are to all be reassessed for all our benefits, whatever the cost of that procedure is to the tax payer, and some will be expected to battle to get a job in a hostile work environment and thus end up on a different and lower form of benefit, and the rest will be scarred by the fear that this scapegoating of disabled people causes.

He continued: "For all of us, it spells the end of the feelings of pity and sadness that we once caused in the general public, and that we hated, to have them replaced by much worse feelings, deep resentment and mistrust. Personally I think this Government should hang their heads in shame."

Elle Wellesley, who runs website Stiletto Wheels (stilettowheels.co.uk) agrees.

"I am very unhappy at the PR campaign by this Government to vilify the entire disabled community by labelling us as 'fraudsters' or 'undeserving' AND implying that we are able to work 'on the same basis' as those without disabilities - completely ignoring the overt discrimination, the physical barriers to our participation in society and the pain and difficulty many of us have to deal with every single day - all significant obstacles we must overcome and which are unlikely to ever be eliminated completely. It is nefarious to suggest there is equal opportunity/ability in the workplace for those with disabilities when surveys AND real life illustrate so clearly that this is not the case."

At the time of going to press, Disability Now was still awaiting responses to questions about the plans from the Department for Work and Pensions.

We will continue to press the Government for greater detail and transparency over the form and reach of their proposals. Lives depend on it.