At a recent House of Commons debate Green MP Caroline Lucas said :
".... the Atos assessment process is not only humiliating and demeaning for those involved-and often plain wrong-but counter-productive, in the sense that it adds to the stress they are under, making sick people even sicker?"
She really speaks up for those who need help, the many hit hardest by Cuts.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-01-17a.1050.0&s=speaker%3A24910#g1057.1
1 year ago
6 comments:
We have far too many spongers in the UK whick you (Green) seem to support merely on the basis that they 'want'.
Making people qualify for free money is right and proper and shows respect to the taxpayer.
Anon.........I'd be the first to say that there are far too many people who claim things that they are not entitled to..........however the record of ATOS for finding people who may be on their deathbeds as 'fit for work' is absurd.
I suspect that the reason might be that they are likely to be achieving a handsome bonus for each person that they find 'fit for work'. Did you see the Panorama program on this very subject ? One of the people they case studied died of a diagnosed heart condition before he could have an operation to rectify the problem. And yet while he was waiting for the op ATOS found him 'fit for work'. There were other examples of a similar nature and it is clear that something is very very wrong with the testing procedure. Another figure given on the show was that (and I quote from memory) something like 30 people a week(or month can't remember which) who died while being 'fit for work' and presumably before their appeals could be heard. Once people are found to be 'fit for work' they lose benefits that are in many cases desparately needed. Sure there has to be a test and rightly so.......but it has to be done properly and clearly this is not the case right now!
Good one Howard I agree. Nothing wrong with a test that pa attention to what doctors have said about their patient.
Anon, my response is to quote Commenting Green councillor Rob White said: "it is wrong that people claim benefits they are not entitled to. But it is worth remembering that for every £1 lost in benefit fraud £17 goes unclaimed because people are too frightened to claim them. For comparison another £15 is lost in tax fraud, and £70 in tax avoidance. It is clear to me where the biggest problem lies."
“£17 goes unclaimed because people are too frightened to claim them. For comparison another £15 is lost in tax fraud, and £70 in tax avoidance”
It is totally impossible to substantiate the three made up claims you make.
The first would have to be based upon knowing every status, ailment and illness of everybody all the time; the second and third would have to be based upon knowing every status and hour worked by everybody all the time – you have made these up.
I applaud your communistic ideals but you're going to bankrupt the country before you've saved the last scrounger.
Howard - are you the CSP Howard Thomas?
The comment was a quote, and I dont have a source for it. So I looked it up, no mind reading necessary. I found my own, similar numbers, not quite the same. Im probably using a different year.
First unclaimed benefits. The source for this is the DWP:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17139088 "The DWP has outlined data on the various income-related benefits that were not claimed. The latest figures, which refer to 2009-10, include:
Up to 620,000 people failing to claim up to £2bn in income support, and employment and support allowance
Up to 1.6 million people failing to claim up to £2.8bn in pension credit
Up to 1.1 million people not claiming up to £3.1bn in housing benefit
Up to 3.2 million people missing out on up to £2.4bn in council tax benefit
Up to 610,000 people failing to claim up to £1.95bn in jobseeker's allowance"
TOTAL 12.3 bn.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21121840
" money lost to tax evasion is the equivalent of £530 for every household in the UK" if we say 22 million households thats £12 billion.
http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/how-much-does-benefit-fraud-cost/3423
Quotes the DWP benefit fraud £1 billion a year.
The numbers are not quite the same but the point is valid, not paying tax is a much bigger problem than benefit fraud. But the tories and some of the press focus on benefit fraud, they are less likely to get party donations from them after all.
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