This blog link was sent to us and is a Must Read.
“The one thing I am absolutely unreservedly and implacably opposed to in all of this is a real world test.” – Chris Grayling, Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, 2011.
An ongoing British government mission of ‘inclusivity’ which has sought to draw into paid employment those previously depicted as ‘excluded’ by conditions of personal circumstance, such as lone mothers, or through lack of ‘skills’ such as NEETS, or to some extent disabled and older claimants, has recently been expanded much further, venturing into territory previously delimited by, and existing under the protection of, certain ‘norms’ – that is the widespread area of sickness and disability. Characteristic of government rhetoric towards an end of ‘including’ the sick and disabled within the work-not-welfare paradigm is the adoption of an ‘abandonment’ discourse when referring to those on long-term health-related benefits (Grayling, quoted in BBC, 2011) – work being posed as their ‘salvation’
Tags: attendance allowance, benefits, carer watch, pats petition, spartacus report, welfare reform
22 January 2012 at 07:32 |
Even those who get fifteen points have to look for work. The Support group is tiny. The issue of making those who cannot walk fifty yards no longer necessarily be entitled to ESA is not whether they have to look for work, but how often they are checked up on.