cutting benefits-for whose benefit?

I neither drink or smoke, I used to have a full and varied life I was also a nurse, however through no fault of my own I became ill, I have c.p and fall quite frequently I also am in end stage renal failure I have limited mobility in my left arm and hand and I now have gout in my right hand due to my renal condition,my hip is so bad I am waiting a special scan as I am in constant acute chronic pain, I cannot go out by myself because of my c.p and I suffer with severe depression because of my varied conditions of which I have told a few of my illnesses,

You say about false claimants and yes I agree their are several on my estate, I just before Christmas recieved a book to fill in for this new pip I was told I had my DLA for the rest of my life that was until Cameron and Duncan smith decided we would all be treated like we,re all on the take

As explained earlier I used to work full time and was an army wife for 25yrs, my husband left me for another woman, he gets an army pension plus a war pension, not for being in any war but because he headed a basketball when he was drunk! Yes all true.

There are many people who do scam the state but why should we all be treated as if we,re scrounges? I am at my wits end constantly worrying wether or not I'm going to have my benefits stopped, I live alone and have a carer who I have for 19 and a half hours a week, although I've had adaptations to my home I still fall over and cannot get up by myself.

A lot of us who truely are ill and disabled are being punished by this goverment because we are all told you can work!! I am prepared to fight for what I am entitled to it makes me mad that this goverment sends billions abroad to other country's who are corrupt and we who were born and bred here are treated like social lepers!

So please don't patronise us who are disabled and really ill stop sending aid to other country's and concentrate on getting the real crooks illegal immagrants, people traffickers and close the doors stop sending child benefits to those who's children don't even live in this country! Then maybe just maybe we won't have to suffer the indignity of having to be punished because we're too ill too work, believe me if I could work I would and it's a bitter pill to swollow knowing I can't.

So look at it from a different angle and look to this goverment and the money they waste on other country's, not everyone is a crook.

You are spot on there Mike.   The message given out by this ideolocally driven Govt. is that  a large amount of benefits are paid erroneously to false claimants.   They then spread this simple message which is taken up by the media and passed on to all of us.   A lot of people choose to believe it so they can jump on the bandwagon of 'bash the current lepers of society'   They do the same with immigration..  At any point in history you will find groups specifically singled out and targeted depening on the social mores of the time.   At the moment it's benefit claimants and migrants.

It's called divide and rule - set the workers against the claimants,  set us all against the migrants and so forth.   Anyone who tries to take a balanced view is dismissed as stupid or a member of the PC Brigade.  I despair of people sometimes.  x

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Well what are you expecting from a party which has defended the banks from an inquiry?  They havn't even attempted to get companies like Starbucks to pay the tax they should be paying.

As for gov figures, I have never believed them and never will. Why? well take the unempoyment figures for example, anyone on JSA who is put on to a scheme or who are told to do voluntary work and stuff like that are then not considered 'unemployed' the moment they start, and thus are not a part of the unemployment statistics. It's just a way for IDS to boast about how 'successful' his reforms are. The guy sickens me, he has wasted 100 of millions on UC, let alone computer systems which still crash a lot I have found out several times.

When I was able to work, able enough from the age of 15. I worked in a printing environment - it was heavy work. I had my daughter and then went part time so I could look after her.We were both working parents

You never invisage what could happen in the future. I worked without benefits and even took another evening job to make up for the shortfall of PartTime work. My hubby was a miner and we all know what happened next!

I became ill in 2000 with pneuimonia and then had complications. When I tried to claim sickness benefit (I was in an industry that didn't pay when sick) I couldn't. They said that I was 2 stamps short. Anyway after a time with worsening sickness and the prospect of not being able to return to work, I decided to start my own business so I could do as much or as little as needed. I still hadn't got any benefits not even JSA. My business grew and was sucessful and I ended up employing 12 people - then things started to go wrong. I became seriously ill with the disease I have and I had to give up the business as I was in and out of hospital fr over 2 years. The fact I had paid my stamp for 10 years after starting my business meant I could claim sickness benefit and that was the first time in my life I ever claimed. I was 45

I sickens me when I hear the word "scrounger" Like most people on here I worked bloody hard and would still be doing so if not for this horrible illness. I'd give anything not to have it and I'd love to go out and earn a living. To work is companionship, a sense of pride and worth. It's the one thing I had been brought up with. Both my parents worked all their life until retirement so benefits were never a part of my family

The system is broken and I agree with all the comments on this thread. I'm not lazy I'm ill,  I'd much rather be well and working

Well I am another hard worker.  I finished school on the Friday at age 15 and started work the next day and have worked full time all my life until 56.   Then with some health problems I took too much time off work and was sacked.  I have not been able to get another job since (not one I can do in this area anyway)  and am now 61. 

I was called all sorts when I claimed JSA - lazy, scrounger,  and told there were plenty of jobs out there.   Thank goodness for private pensions - they are not much but they keep me from having to sign on JSA and be subject to their now draconian terms and conditions.  

I have worked hard all my life and now I am a lot older and worn out I am treated like a piece of dirt.   To make it much worse they have changed the goal posts very quickly so now have to wait until 65 plus for my state pension,  even though I am fully paid up and more.  So I have to somehow survive for the next years on a pittance and try to not go bankrupt.  It makes me mad it does.   x

Yes you are right about the amount of money that goes unclaimed. The worst offenders are those over 60 believe it or not. Years ago it was government policy through the TV, newspapers etc to advertise this fact. They actually went one step further and asked HMRC to check their records against the DWP system in order to identify those over 60 that should be getting Pension Credit but had not made a claim. They started sending them money in the hope that after the 6 months they would start a claim to continue these payments. Surprise, surprise, only 5% of those that had been identified as entitled and had received the 6 months of Pension Credit actually made a claim for it to be continued. The rest just didn't bother. Then they tried to get Age UK involved by paying a commision for every claimant over 60 that they managed to sign up to Pension Credit or Attendance Allowance.That was shelved after a few months as there were no takers.

How do we make sure that everybody claims their entitlement? You can't!

So the government have rightly assumed that as the take up is so slow with very few people being interested in claiming a benefit once they reach 60. They are looking at other ways to use the money.

We already know that Pension Credit is on it's way out, and I now find out that Attendance Allowance is also being closed down. The government's thinking is that what they will save in getting rid of Attendance Allowance and slowly reducing the worth of a Pension Credit award some of that money can be chanelled to the local authorities who are crying out for more money to support the elderly with a better care package. 

People only have themselves to blame when the government start diverting benefit money that isn't claimed  for one reason or another towards something else and someone else that will glady take it off their hands.

And on the subject of PIP - this is portrayed in the first instance as a 'benefit for working age people'. I presume that with the going of Attendance Allowance the disabled elderly will have to fend for themselves in future until they become so criical that they need professional care which will be paid for out the the value of their assets.