Disabled Pensioners - this week's government target?

They are pretending that huge numbers of people claiming these benefits are swinging the lead. Another instance of turning one group of people against another group.

Ilovecheese

They are pretending that huge numbers of people claiming these benefits are swinging the lead. Another instance of turning one group of people against another group.

Yes, it's deeply unpleasant. These benefits are not a shoo-in - they can be extremely difficult to get.

I hate the way one group us set against another, just to try and distract from the mess the Tories have made of the economy. 🙁

Has anyone in the government ever tried to actually GET one of the allowances for disability or an attendance allowance? They are hardly dished out like Hallowe'en sweeties.

The forms are long and complicated, asking detailed (and sometimes intrusive) questions about what the applicant can do for themselves and what they need help for, and many of the questions are asked again elsewhere in the form, diffferently phrased - this is to catch out those who are not giving genuine answers.

I don't know what percentage of applicants are rejected, but a surprising number of the people I know to have applied have found that they were not accepted until their third or fourth attempt.

Yes, I know. I've worked in it, then an advocate, and I claim it.

Nothing was very easy -reams of medical evidence, etc.

With an ever increasing ageing population, it's surely obvious, anyway, that more people will need extra help and for longer.🙄

This kind of rhetoric in the gutter press makes me so angry. Todays pensioners lived through the austerity following WWII and have contributed 40-50 years of work to the community plus thousands of pounds in taxes. Being old and/or disabled are not lifestyle choices.

There are fit working age people choosing to work only a few hours a week and still being allowed to claim benefits. Working part time is a lifestyle choice. How about chasing them into full time work.

And we should make the boat people earn their keep while their so called "asylum" claims are being investigated, Entering another country illegally and expecting them to subsidize you is a lifestyle choice. Its also a confounded cheek.

These groups could be made to do some of the jobs Brits dont want to do like picking crops, working in recycling centers and cleaning up graffiti.

Yes, I agree. I don't like targeting any single group, as everyone has a back story, but ageing, disability/poor health and then death are not lifestyle choices.

I'd swap my DLA for good health any day of the week.

But, this is what this government do, with the assistance of tame media - bury their mistakes under a welter of royal/celeb froth and trivia, or take aim at a certain group to deflect it.🙄

Oh Biglouis, your hypocrisy is breathtaking!

You start with agreeing about the divisive language used in the referenced article, and then start your own rant;

There are fit working age people choosing to work only a few hours a week and still being allowed to claim benefits. Working part time is a lifestyle choice. How about chasing them into full time work.

And we should make the boat people earn their keep while their so called "asylum" claims are being investigated, Entering another country illegally and expecting them to subsidize you is a lifestyle choice. Its also a confounded cheek.

Or are only the elderly entitled to benefits in our eyes?

Do have another read at what you have posted!

With respect, biglouis what you are doing is just the same - scapegoating other groups. People need to stick together and campaign for better treatment for everyone. We should make it clear to those who are current contributors that they were provided for as children and may well need support in future - life can turn on a sixpence for anyone. It's not as simple as current taxpayers=good, currently 'economically inactive'=bad, but that is what we are being encouraged to believe.

Yes, we do need to support each other. Fit, healthy people need to be helped into longer work hours, as it's better all round, but that will include extra help for childcare.

In London, the costs of this are eye watering.

I know, from experience, that many young disabled people would like to work - but the barriers are huge.

I expect, although I don't know, that many migrants would prefer to work, on temporary visas, while their claim is decided.

It should be about help, not the government/tame media stigmatising groups.🙁

The Tories always try to stir up ill feeling against needy groups like the disabled and poor to activate their less intelligent voters. The Telegraph and the gutter press offer full support to their strategy. It's disgraceful.

Yep, and certain people fall for it. I think it's backfired a bit on the DM - most comments are supporting disabled pensioners.👍