Mary says: “Will job training or loss of money take away my son’s autism? Will it cure his health issues? Will it cure cerebral palsy and learning disabilities? It will not change any of that!
“I would love to work, to be back doing research work and group work, but how can I when some days I cannot even remember the names of people I am with? If I was employed, the employer would also need to employ someone else too, to cover when I was too ill to work. Small businesses can’t afford to employ people who can’t work regularly, and big businesses are not going to.
“I feel totally and utterly let down, because when the Conservatives were putting forward cuts and the UN was saying what they were doing was unlawful and should be stopped, Labour were jumping all over them trying to say it was all wrong.
“Now they’re in power, not only have they ignored that, but they are being worse! People say the Government needs to talk to people to understand, but that’s not enough – they have talked to people, they do understand, they’re speaking to people – but they’re doing this anyway! It’s all window dressing.”
“I already get less Universal Credit than my rent, so it’s essential I get PIP, or I would not have anything to eat! I get the standard rate of Universal Credit, as I’m unable to work. At the moment I’m not expected to work, or look for work. My son Adriano is on the special higher rate, and he’s not expected to work.
“I will be in their target group, because it’s people with severe aches and pains they will target. Most of the jobs available in York are coffee shop jobs – how could I work in a coffee shop, having to be on my feet and flexible. I can have good days, but last time I did something exertive, when I went to London for a meeting, I was in bed for nearly a week!
“For me, you can probably get four good hours out of me, but in that time I’d need to get washed and dressed, eat and get to where I would need to be. That could take three hours already… who’s going to give me a job for an hour?!”
“And are we saying people’s only reason for being is to go to work, because then when some people finish work, we’re in so much pain and cannot look after our family or do anything in life. Are they really saying that’s okay? As a disabled person, don’t I deserve a work-life balance like anyone else?
“I know it’s hard to arrange a really fair system, but punishing people who cannot work will not make them work. And for people who would like to work but are disabled, support needs to go to employers to enable that. Telling people to work when no employer would touch them is not going to help.
“After we met Stephen Timms, we were at least tentatively hopeful that there may be some real exchange. The Government’s actions would quash that hope.
“Why can’t we have a Government that is prepared to give real protections and quality of life to disabled people? If the Government could bring themselves to stop scapegoating and instead invest in bettering the situation for disabled people, then perhaps there would be less pressure on social and health services.
“This investment could begin with education. Children with disabilities have been facing cuts to essential services that would allow them to benefit from an education thus refusing them any real aspiration and ambition.”
