#universal credit

[ratantics]

Cutting PIP and Universal Credit is not a "brave" or "tough" decision.

A brave and tough decision would be making the richest and most powerful in this country pay their fair share.

Taking away from the most vulnerable in society is cowardly. Simple as that.

[afterthemovie]

if you’re in the uk & worried about the disability benefits reform here’s some things you can do:

from this page you can add your name to scope’s open letter to the chancellor and also fill out a form to send your mp an email inviting them to scope’s parliamentary event to discuss & inform why disability benefits are essential

on trussell’s website you can fill out another form to send an email to your mp asking them to call on starmer to rethink the benefits reform. for both the scope & trussell email form there is a box to add anything you want, but if you want to skip that step you can, just click the button that takes you to the next page :)

there are also these two (one, two) petitions by charity z2k that you can sign. i found both of these through the disabilityrightsuk website

if there are any i’ve missed let me know & i can add them! personally i think that emailing your mp is the most important of any of these, and both scope & trussell have made it very easy to do so !

[turquoisedata]

My favourite thing about Universal Credit is the way that it assumes all claimants are lying scammers unless proven otherwise (there is no way to prove otherwise) and also how you have to give them unending benefit of the doubt when they fuck up but you cannot rely on a single second of grace for your own disabilities

Oh oh oh and also how there are loads of really convoluted rules and regulations that no one ever tells you about and no one explains how they work but it's still your fault if you mess up

[autisticinvolvement]

'Why are you ignoring disabled people?' Blind MP tears into Kendall over PIP benefits cuts

Steve Darling, who is registered blind, criticised the secretary of state during an emotional committee meeting

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall was accused by a fellow MP of "ignoring disabled people" during an emotional committee meeting.

She was blasted by Liberal Democrat Steve Darling in front of the work and pensions committee for her role in the publication of the controversial Welfare Bill in March.

Darling, who is registered blind, said the government had failed to consult disabled people on planned personal independence payment (PIP) and universal credit benefit cuts.

[queerautism]

Every fucking month for like two years Universal Credit (uk benefits I depend on, being unable to work) decides to scare the absolute crap out of me with this shit.

It happens like clockwork on the online system, but the SMS text that warns me "You need to do something for your Universal Credit. Sign in online and check your to do list" comes literally at random times a week or two afterwards, just enough that it could plausibly be something else so I have a mini panic attack until I can go and check.

Whole thing happens because I changed my name here in the UK and in my UC claim, but not on my Spanish passport. I had my settled status confirmed on my claim before that, so it should have never been an issue, and both names are registered together with HMRC. But at some point some automated immigration system got triggered, and the low level employees you can contact through leaving notes on the 'journal' (horrible system btw) have no power to deal with it. I've given them all my documents, deed poll, etc and it's been supposedly escalated twice. Been told just to ignore it until someone deals with it. And just hope it'll be fine and the computer doesn't decide to stop my benefits eventually bc of this shit.

It's absolutely ridiculous. Who knows how many other trans immigrants have to deal with this hanging over their lives? Or just immigrants that changed their name in the UK, trying to make things easier for themselves?

It's just hard to constantly be reminded how precarious your hold on a system is, when you rely on it to live. That there's outdated IT infrastructure deciding your fate, and none of the people you can reach understand how it works or even care about how it affects you. I don't want to push it and rock the boat and potentially fuck up my whole life and be unable to pay rent. Literally can only watch it, keep my head down and hope for the best.

[enbycrip]

ID: First image: a post by Sarah: Changing the Narrative on FB reading “Disabled people do not define themselves as incapable of work; systemic barriers, chronic illness, disability, and discrimination do.

Liz Kendall keeps repeating the harmful phrase “perverse incentives of the welfare system”. So now it’s perverse to support those who can’t work?

Timms was forced to admit last week that the welfare bill has remained stable since before 2008, directly contradicting Kendall’s excuses for these cruel and discriminatory cuts.

The DWP’s own recent report found disabled people were consistently overlooked for jobs, and when they did get work, they were bullied or excluded by employers and colleagues.

Kendall also fails to mention that PIP is an in-work benefit. And LCWRA under Universal Credit is not an out of work benefit either. Many people work part-time, run small businesses, or work around fluctuating health, and are still punished by the system.

Everything this government has said to justify these reforms has been misinformation, spin, or a deliberate omission of fact. All of it.

Thank you to everyone still standing with the disabled community. We see you.”

2nd image: A high contrast graphic with bold black text on a white background. The text reads:

“Disabled people don’t define themselves as incapable of work. The system does.”

The word “system” is highlighted in orange.

Below, smaller black text says: “Barriers, discrimination, chronic illness, not ‘perverse incentives’.”

Behind the text is a faint grey image of a person using a wheelchair facing a brick wall with a keyhole, on the other side of which is a work desk and chair.

[ceevee5]