{"id":8403,"date":"2016-04-15T12:19:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T11:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=8403"},"modified":"2016-04-15T15:34:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-15T14:34:53","slug":"defending-what-millions-have-died-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=8403","title":{"rendered":"Defending what millions have died for"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Receiving letters in the post can elicit a range of emotions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c frustration at another overdue bill, delight that an old friend is getting married.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But for Sharon, a simple letter precipitated nothing short of a major breakdown. Panicked and sweating, she began hyperventilating and quickly spiralled into full-blown psychosis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The letter came from the Department of Work and Pensions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it notified Sharon in officious language that she would soon no longer receive her Disability Living Allowance (DLA); that she would have to put in a claim for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), DLA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s replacement, but not before being assessed to determine whether she even merits the benefit at all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe subtext of the letter was clear,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 explained her husband Tony, a long-time Unite member. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat my wife and others like her were scroungers; that the government would try everything in their power to take away a benefit that she relies on to live.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sharon has been diagnosed with rapidly cycling bipolar disorder and other associated conditions including depression, borderline personality disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Her mental health began deteriorating in her early 20s \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now 48. Scars lace her wrists from multiple suicide attempts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sharon is unable to work. The stress, Tony explains, has such a profound impact on her mental health that managing a job can, for her, indeed be life-threatening.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The DLA benefit, Tony says, is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bvitally important.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Because Sharon suffers from severe panic attacks taking public transportation, using a car, which the benefit helps pay for, is the only way she can leave the house. DLA also pays for therapeutic activities such as knitting and volunteer work, which allows Sharon to have some semblance of a social life outside of the home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lifeline<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For those with severe mental health conditions, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s these sorts of activities \u00e2\u20ac\u201c going to the shop and a simple hobby such as cross-stitching \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that serve as a lifeline; that enable them to cope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But now all of that may be about to change \u00e2\u20ac\u201c successfully claiming the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which had an initial rollout in 2013, is notoriously difficult. Statistics show that an astounding 51 per cent of all new claims are rejected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This week Channel 4 Dispatches<\/em> blew the lid off the harrowing process that goes into claiming PIP. Claimants must undertake an assessment by private contractor Capita, which received a \u00c2\u0141140m contract by the DWP to undertake this work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dispatches went undercover to find assessors being trained to complete as many assessments as quickly as possible, and those who finished more could cash in on thousands of pounds in incentives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One assessor was caught on camera boasting about earning \u00c2\u014120,000 each month on most months, and also admitting that often he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll complete an assessment before even meeting the claimant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mental health assessments are particularly inadequate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even a Capita trainer called the Mental State Exam (MSE) \u00e2\u20ac\u015bvery shallow\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The PIP benefit was established by the former coalition government in order to reduce the cost of disability benefits.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And so baked into the claim process itself is the idea that you are intrinsically undeserving; that, even if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been on DLA your entire life, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re one 45-minute assessment away from being magically healed and no longer in need of support.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is what Tony and Sharon are up against. But even before going through the process of claiming PIP, all they have is last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s letter \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the one that forced Tony to hide all the knives and other sharp objects from his wife, the one that prompted Sharon to lose all sense of reality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s since been referred to specialist mental health services \u00e2\u20ac\u201c her delicate mental state, exacerbated by the government letter, has yet to return to a state of relative equilibrium.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was the saddest thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen in our time together,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Tony said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt shows just how a government policy can have a very real and lasting impact on people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSharon even began to think of herself as a scrounger after reading the letter,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bShe kept saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098maybe this is all in my head; maybe I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need the benefit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Tony, who met his wife seven years ago on the disability dating site, Enabled Already<\/em>, said that he is determined to ensure that Sharon gets the benefits that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entitled to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The couple are ardently devoted to each other \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they married last year and have since been inseparable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tony, who suffers from diabetes and severe depression, is also unable to work after suffering a massive heart attack three years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

System rigged against disabled <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe system is absolutely rigged against people with disabilities in this country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are made to prove that we deserve benefits to which we are fully entitled. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked most of my life, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve paid national insurance \u00e2\u20ac\u201c disability benefits aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t charity; they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a right.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tony, who is also involved in Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), says people getting together to take a stand against government austerity is the only way to defeat policies that are destroying lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think of it this way \u00e2\u20ac\u201c my father fought in the Second World War and when that generation returned from the war they created the NHS and they envisioned a world where you weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t punished simply for being sick or being poor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen we stand up against this government, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fighting to defend what millions have died for.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bImportant concessions have been wrung from this government\u00e2\u20ac\u201c such as on tax credits and the most latest proposed cuts to PIPs in the latest budget,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut this only came about because of pressure from the Labour leadership, and the work of trade unions and other campaigning organisations. It demonstrates that people power works.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut Sharon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story reminds us why we still have so much work to do to stop this government making cuts and to win policies that enable everyone to live independently with the dignity and respect they intrinsically deserve in a more equal society.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Saturday (April 16) Unite urges everyone to take this same stand against austerity and join us at the People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly march for Health, Homes, Jobs and Education. Find out more about how you can get involved here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Receiving letters in the post can elicit a range of emotions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c frustration at another overdue bill, delight that an old friend is getting married.   But for Sharon, a simple letter precipitated nothing short of a major breakdown. Panicked and sweating, she began hyperventilating and quickly spiralled into full-blown psychosis.   The letter came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[265,76,172],"wps_subtitle":"Members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fight against benefit changes","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8404,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403\/revisions\/8404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}