Here we go again

[davidgillon]

Today's budget, beyond its massive pensions freebie for the 1%, basically axes the entire existing disability benefits system. It's branded as doing away with the hated Work Capability Assessment, but my immediate reaction "They'll just have renamed it", turned out to be almost exactly right - they're going to use the Personal Independence Payment assessment instead, only that's not fit for purpose if it also has to cover whether you're fit for work or not. I've already been approached to be part of the team taking the white paper apart to find out how it won't work - probably for another Spartacus Report, though I'm not sure I'm up to it. My immediate concern is that it may have completely erased the idea of being unfit for any work.

The whole thing, with its emphasis on how everyone 'needs' 'fulfilling work' just reeks of Talcott Parsons and his categorisation of the 'sick role', aka disability, as deviant.

Comments

[jadelennox]

"deviant central" sounds like the cool place to be, except for the part where Sunak wants everyone in it to starve and/or freeze because he isn't cool enough to hang out there.

[cesy]

I am so furious about the pensions thing, it's such a massive unnecessary gift to the 1%

[vass]

Fuuuuuuuck.

[havocthecat]

...urgh, I'm sorry, that sucks.