The Welfare Reform Bill is making my blood boil. The vast majority of people who are going to lose their benefits are the people who need it the most but, going by comments I've read on various sites, people think they don't need it or they get everything for free anyway. Well wait until you are affected or know someone who is affected then comment. Why should someone who has a life-time award be re-assessed?

Lynda McIntyre

I couldn’t disagree more, Lynda. The reform bill is well overdue and, as for life-time “awards”, (the sheer mention of “award” makes my blood boil!), they should be scrapped and everyone re-assessed to ensure, as you said, only those most in dire need are helped.

Only recently Millionaire Lottery winners have been exposed as having “lifetime awards” and are still taking their state benefits despite having country cottages and living a very comfortable lifestyle.

Here are two other examples just off the cuff:

Unemployment Benefit -- Having been a British taxpayer for 17years and never taken a single penny of state-handouts, I was made redundant in 2011. I needed to seek welfare assistance with three young kids, a mortgage and a partner working part-time. I was told I would be entitled to essentially nothing. The entire process made me question whether I was actually a human-being and how someone could pay taxes and NI into a system for 17 years which then utterly failed to offer anything back. If this was an insurance policy, you’d demand to speak to the Ombudsman.

I defy anyone to say that honest people get a fair crack of the whip when it comes to welfare benefits – indeed some sanctimonious half-wit Benefits Officer actually took offence when I articulated this point! However if you’ve contributed little and have a needle hanging out of your arm, you are given full wraparound services including money for dog food, mobile phone top-ups, taxi fare to get methadone prescriptions, housing benefit, council tax benefits to mention but a few.

My only positive thought during unemployment was that the “social” was such a grim place it inspired me to become self-employed and self-sufficient when work failed to materialise. I hope I never have to rely on such welfare services again, but if I do then I’d like to have confidence in a “fair” application process.

Housing Benefit -- How can it be fair that working families are struggling to pay high rent or mortgage payments whilst benefit applicants in London or other cities are being offered thousands of pounds, yes thousands of pounds to pay for monthly housing and council tax benefits? In these scenarios, if you do receive housing benefit it should be capped to avoid unscrupulous landlords milking it for all its worth and realistically you should be forced to move or downsize to suit your state-funded budget. Such welfare reforms should take place and sooner rather than later.

Kindest Regards,

John Houston

I agree John that people have worked the system and you have valid points, but what I’m talking about are the vast majority of disabled people who are going to lose their benefits: ie DLA . When I mentioned a “Lifetime award”, these are disabled people who have a chronic and progressive illness and shouldn’t be re-assessed.

Kindest Regards

Lynda McIntyre

I agree with Linda –- welfare reform will be a social disaster and a blight on many individuals. I understand John’s point about the high costs of housing benefit, for which we all pay, but that money doesn’t go to benefit claimants. Surely the problem to befixed here is the combination of high rent and low wages in our cities (plus high travel costs) and the answer is decent, affordable public housing?

What I don’t understand is why people are not more upset about changes to our National Insurance rights.  At the moment, workers pay National Insurance and if we become long-term sick, then we are entitled to basic sick pay (contributory Employment Support Allowance) until we are fit to go back to work. For the unlucky ones who don’t get better, it continues.  It is not a huge amount of money, but it can makes all the difference.  I have paid into the system for nearly three decades and hope I don’t get long-term sick or become disabled, but up to now I have known that I would at least get by. Now the government has decided that it will pay most people for a maximum of one year. Most people recover well before then but what if something really bad happens? I feel as if I’ve paid the insurance, then had the policy stolen.

Welfare reform seems to be about making life harder for people with disabilities and taking away hard-working workers’ rights.  It’s neither right nor fair.

Jane

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