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Guardian wants to hear from you

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The Guardian wants to hear from people who will be affected by Labour’s planned changes to disability benefits.

They want to know:

How will your household be affected by Labour's planned cuts to disability welfare payments?

What will the loss of income specifically mean for you?

What are your views on the Labour government's proposals?

There is a simple form you can complete on the Guardian website. You can give your information anonymously if you prefer.

More information here.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Monger
    · 20 days ago
    People in work paying National Insurance in 1911, entitled them to sickness benefits and unemployment benefit, because of contributions. The pathways to work green paper is proposing ceasing NS-ESA, which replaced Incapacity Benefit, and before that in 1971, Invalidity benefit, so there has always been access to sickness benefits……based upon National Insurance contributions……!
    (Serving a different purpose and underpinned by fundamentally different principles than Universal Credit, which takes into account certain financial circumstances and savings etc.)
    Eligibility is based upon national insurance contributions, which serve as a premium, which is an earned entitlement.
    Many millions of working people have paid into AN (national) INSURANCE SCHEME, for their entire working lives.
    Think of the outrage and legal challenges which would occur if an insurance company tried to suddenly cancel a life policy which you have been paying into for your entire working life, and then you get a really serious illness and cannot work, but Labour have discontinued the benefit?
    Thats what this Labour government are proposing to do. Stop the only contribution based benefit, NS-ESA. And they are lying about the consequences. Many will not be able to claim UC instead, without being affected, as they have savings, from a lifetime of work, or are receiving a small amount from elsewhere, an insurance payment protection policy, or are in a partnership, and will be assessed as a couple, etc, etc, etc. 
    Reeves and Kendal and Starmer have to be stopped. 
    I really think we need to publish the names of the individual people who have created these horrific proposals inside the unspeakable DWP. They should be sued into oblivion for the scale of terror they  regularly cause, without any consequence to them.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Dan
      · 18 days ago
      @Andy National Insurance was introduced by David Lloyd George in 1911, created to provide a national system of insurance to protect the poorest members of society from facing a loss of income as a result of sickness or unemployment.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Monger
      · 18 days ago
      @Anon a Ive been saving for years to get a house, (after being priced out by the last Evil Labour governement) so Im going to have to try and see if i can open a disabled, vulnerable persons trust, and put a house inside that. 
      I absolutely hate the labour party from Blair onwards
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      sara
      · 18 days ago
      @Anon a @Anon a, don't forget you're entitled to means tested benefits when your savings drop below £16,000, and those benefits are unaffected when your savings are below £6,000. Not what you wanted, but maybe better than you thought. As for deprivation of capital - might you be able to justify a new(er)/different car, for example? Don't allow your savings to be eroded when you could quite legitimately spend some, especially if you or your partner are disabled.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Andy
      · 19 days ago
      @Monger The National insurance act of 1911 was very limited and did not pay for long term sickness or disability. Neither did it provide any support for the elderly.

      Limitations:
      The scheme had some limitations, including excluding certain occupations, families, the elderly, and the long-term sick. 

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anon a
      · 19 days ago
      @Monger This affects me for those exact reasons, my husband has 28k in pension savings taken before any of this was said,infact 2 weeks b4 sunaks statement last year,it's given me a breakdown which I still have not recovered from,why? because of this exact issue,we will not be beable to claim any uc and every penny in savings will be gone,we may have well blown it all on stupid stuff but we didn't and now it would be classed as deprivation of income if we did
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    robbie
    · 20 days ago
    Best I feel I could do would be to send the Guardian a separate letter, without any of my personal details, with the information they want. I suppose that might mean they couldn't use my contribution, but I don't want to reveal my identity to, or be contacted by any newspaper.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Gingin
      · 20 days ago
      @robbie Whatever people feel they can do will help. SLB sent them a what’s app
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    JC
    · 21 days ago
    If we want change then we need to be vocal. This is one way and I would put initials. I have done it and it was easy and I gave minimal personal details like tele number and email
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Slb
    · 21 days ago
    You can do it anonymously through securedrop.  The link is in the info just above the form.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Slb
      · 21 days ago
      @Chlo Going by the recent data leak by the dwp regarding the consultation, you're probably much safer trusting The Guardian.  At some point, we have to stick our heads above the parapet just as we want MPs to.  
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Chlo
      · 21 days ago
      @Slb Has anyone used the securedrop link in the Guardian? I clicked the link but didn’t understand some of the things it then said so decided not to go onto the actual form. 
      Like Robbie said, if people don’t feel it’s anonymous, they won’t be post. 

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    robbie
    · 21 days ago
    It"s a great idea, but unfortunately people will be put off if they have to identify themselves and give contact details. I am, even though the Guardian says we can be anonymous. If there aren't lots of replies it will.seem as if noone's bothered.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Slb
      · 21 days ago
      @Gingin Yeah.  I agree.  We have no choice.  And there is a box on the form saying we don't agree to publication.  
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Gingin
      · 21 days ago
      @SLB Me too SLB - see you in the Tower! I hope they have chocolate - I can’t manage without. 
      Seriously though, I do understand how people feel as my paranoia has certainly increased since this storm (and the quiet before the storm). But we can’t solely rely on charities or others- and the media will respond if we kick up enough of a stink. If they’re giving us those opportunities we should take them. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      SLB
      · 21 days ago
      @Gingin That's basically it, Gingin.  I can confirm nothing bad has happened to me as yet for being a big mouth about this issue online - apart from now being locked in the Tower of London and due for beheading next week! ;)
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Slb
      · 21 days ago
      @robbie You can do it anonymously through securedrop. The link is in the info just above the form.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Gingin
      · 21 days ago
      @robbie I totally get why people are nervous and everyone has to judge for themselves what they should do. But personally I feel that unless people are willing to take some risk and put their heads above the parapet, we’re less likely to succeed in getting the government to rethink. We need the public to see behind the government’s smokescreen and some media is giving us that opportunity to make our views heard. The government certainly isn’t. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    gingin
    · 21 days ago
    My husband's submission: 
    Labour say they will continue to support the most vulnerable, but they are redefining the term 'severely disabled' so that it no longer includes people like me who will be unable to replace this lost income with work. They are pulling the wool over the public's eyes and are trying to do the same with MPs.

    Labour is proposing to take away a vital financial lifeline from disabled people and their carers, the most vulnerable in this country. Their declared compassion is completely false. Disabled people are not fooled, and neither are those MPs who have taken a close look at these proposals.

    Why are Labour not undertaking a full impact assessment before they try to pass these proposals into law? Ask yourselves what they don't want you to see! They have lost the vote of thousands of loyal Labour supporters and they're on borrowed time. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      rookie
      · 20 days ago
      @SLB They'll change the form later to make it impossible to qualify. Wouldn't surprise me if there were no descriptors scoring 4 points, or they'll change the points rule too.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      SLB
      · 21 days ago
      @gingin The most bizarre thing is that they want to change the PIP questionaire but only AFTER they've made the eligibility changes.  So, basically they're having to do all that work twice: getting people trained up on eligibility of the current form, and then train them again on any new form.  
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    gingin
    · 21 days ago
    My submission: 
    Please stop saying you are 'putting disabled people at the heart' of everything you do. Disabled people know you are lying, as do the MPs who have done their homework. Labour is NOT LISTENING. They are putting barriers to disabled people sharing their views about these proposals, by leaving out of the consultation the elements that will have the most devastating impact on disabled people. They are organising in-person consultation events that are almost impossible for disabled people to attend, as the venues are announced with the most minimal notice. The online consultation events are impossible to join or are cancelled. They are delaying the impact assessment until AFTER they hope these proposals are passed into law.

    Labour don't want MPs to see all the facts. Thousands upon thousands of genuinely sick and disabled people who are genuinely unable to work will have ALL FINANCIAL SUPPORT WITHDRAWN. This includes their children. Their unpaid carers will be unable to afford to care for them and this will cost MUCH MORE to this country in the long run - both in a massive extra burden on the NHS and local authorities, and in lives ruined or even lost among disabled people and their carers.

    Talking about 'behavioural change' is utterly insulting to disabled people who struggle every day to manage a myriad of symptoms and to their carers who work hard for a pittance to do a job that the state is unable to provide, due to a social care system in tatters.

    There was not even a whisper of these callous and cruel cuts in the Labour manifesto and thousands of disabled Labour voters feel utterly betrayed.

    You may win the battle, but come more local elections next year and the next General Election, you will lose the war. Think again, Labour. We will never forget. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    Alex
    · 21 days ago
    And they ask for your phone number and email address before you can submit the form.  It's supposed to be anonymous!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Slb
      · 21 days ago
      @Anon a You can do it anonymously through securedrop. The link is in the info just above the form.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Gingin
      · 21 days ago
      @Alex It does say that info is only for the Guardian and won’t be published but I understand your nervousness about it. I only used my and my husband’s first names but did give contact details.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      Anon a
      · 21 days ago
      @Alex I filled it out but didn't submit it for that reason ,I don't want any information getting leaked I'm already a nervous wreck over this and my health 

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