Dear Rachel Reeves and The Labour Government,

I am a recipient of ESA and Universal Credit, I am disabled. That disability comes in the form of Depression and General Anxiety disorder. This has been diagnosed by an NHS Psychiatrist. I’ve struggled with it all my life, I struggle with it every day. I cannot work, and work will in no way help my condition, it has only ever exacerbated my condition. I say this so you know I am one of the people that will be affected by your cruel and questionable decision to target the benefit system and those of us that are unable to work in particular. Do you not think we have suffered enough under 14 years of Tory rule? Benefits have been cut down to the bone, those of us judged to be too ill to work receive barely enough, if enough at all, to survive on. I say survive as no one can live comfortably on benefits, despite right-wing propaganda to the contrary.

You say you find it perverse that those of us on sickness benefits don’t have to do activities to receive those benefits, unlike those that are on unemployment benefit, or that we get larger sums of money than those that are merely unemployed, so I will attempt to explain the reason, since it, worryingly doesn’t seem to appear obvious to you. Those that are not ill, but unemployed, do not have an illness or disability to factor in, they have nothing that impedes them from looking for work or engaging in work related activities. They are simply unemployed, but otherwise fit and healthy so can get work within the near future so only need benefits for a limited time to help them between jobs. That is why they are expected to do certain tasks as part of the process of receiving unemployment benefits.

The “requirements” those of us that are on sickness benefits are that we are able to prove that we are too ill to work and that requirement, as you should be aware, is tough to meet. You must fill out lengthy forms that go into minute detail about every aspect of your life and illness, something not easy to do if you’re ill, be it physically or mentally. It’s like sitting an exam for which you don’t have a clue what is required to pass so you fill it in as best you can. It has been agreed by many that this form is needlessly complicated, as is the whole sickness benefits process, as if it has been designed to turn people away and put people off applying! You have to provide proof from a health professional to go with this form, this means allowing the DWP full access to your medical records, and sending any copies of health documents you might have. During all this, you have to keep sending the DWP fit notes from your GP as you would your workplace. You’d think that this would mean you don’t need to fill out a providing proof from a Doctor would be enough evidence so people shouldn’t have to fill out a lengthy, booklet style form, but, no, you can’t just get signed off by a Doctor or specialist. You send in the form and if your claim isn’t rejected outright you have to attend a work capability assessment. Now that in itself sounds like a requirement and a half but let’s get to the assessment.

In the assessment you will be questioned by a “health professional” though that can mean anything from a former nurse to a former GP’s receptionist. None of them are experts in disabilities, mental health, terminal illness or anything that might be useful. They do have though, a quota to meet of people they need to refuse the benefits to. This means they often turn away genuine claimants, no matter the answers or evidence those claimants provide. Those people then usually get awarded the benefits months or years later after an appeal process that on the majority finds they should have been awarded it at that initial assessment. It is a hostile atmosphere and the assessment process seems to be based on the idea that you are faking it and you must persuade the assessors otherwise, it is not there to help people that are in dire need to receive the help they require. If you have a mental illness then it is even worse as the whole system seems to mainly be there to show you’re physically ill or disabled, indeed the Tories, when in government, were taken to court over the fact that those with mental illnesses were disadvantaged by the system and the court upheld that. This again seems ample requirement to be met.

Hopefully you now understand why sickness and disability benefit claimants get more money than those just needing unemployment benefits, it’s because we’re too ill to work and need the extra money to cover the costs of living with disability and long term illness. Costs those that are fit but unemployed do not have. The requirements we have to meet are persuading a system that is set up against us that we are actually too ill or disabled to work. We do not have ongoing requirements because, unless there is a giant leap forward in medical science, we aren’t going to suddenly get better and be fit to work. Whereas those on unemployment benefits will get a job at some point. Got it now?

The question must be raised, why are you targeting the sick and disabled? It is not our fault that we are unable to work. We deal with an already hostile system to get the benefits we do, and those benefits are the bare minimum needed. In fact for many they don’t even cover the amount needed to live their life without suffering. Surely, as a Labour government, and socialists, as you claim to be, you should be making the benefits system fit for the 21st Century and for all recipients, rather than trying to cut costs and appeal to certain voting demographics that think all those on benefits are fakers, or worse that no one, no matter how ill, should receive help and should just be left to suffer and/or die. You should know there is nothing left to cut! In fact this has been upheld by the High Court, that the reforms the Tories wanted to make were only based on cost cutting measures, not to help the people that need the benefits system. I would think, an experienced economist such as yourself, with a former Human Rights Lawyer for a boss would know exactly where cuts could be made without targeting one of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in society?

Let’s look at those areas. Did you know that 36% of those on Universal Credit are in work? Universal Credit amounts to about £60 billion of the welfare bill, so in-work benefits cost the taxpayer £23.4 billion pounds. You could save that money by introducing laws that mean employers must pay their employees enough to live on and you could bring in rent control so those in work can afford rent payments out of their salary rather than requiring benefits to top up that salary. £23.4 billion pounds is basically corporate and private landlord welfare. Now, let’s look at corporate welfare, at least £100 billion is given to businesses in subsidies and tax breaks etc. Now, I don’t know about you but many big companies seem to be making record profits, year in and year out even when we are living through rough economic times. How about you trim the fat from those subsidies?

These are cuts you could easily make, but no you are targeting a vulnerable demographic. This letter is to ask you, in fact beg you, to change course on this “perverse”, callous and uncaring line of policy. If you want to reform benefits then increase the amount we receive, remove in work benefits by having a minimum wage that people can live on, and give the sick, disabled, and vulnerable a compassionate and supportive system where they receive amounts needed for a comfortable life, rather than facing the horror of a system and the disdain of politicians, and society at large. We’ve faced cuts and paid more than our fair share. You promised change so show us change, show us you are not just the same out of touch and nasty politicians that made up 14 years of Tory misrule. Fund your budget from areas and shoulders that can take it, not from those of us with very little to begin with!