I had a whole list of things planned for this week, but, whilst Monday started well, by the afternoon I could barely walk and had got myself into a right tizz! Could trimming a couple of shrubs on the Sunday have done this?...Unlikely, it was more likely reading about the coalitions plans for 'refining' DLA that sent me into a trough.
I am sick and tired of being demonized by Cameron and his cronies. The figures speak for themselves for goodness sake! 0.5% of DLA claims were found to be fraudulent, meaning that 99.5% are genuine, and yet the government wants to reduce claiment numbers by 20%...not by finding cures...just by making it impossible for a large percentage of disabled people to qualify. Under new proposals the lower rate for adults will be removed...this is the rate that I'm on for my depression. I don't qualify for mobility at the moment, and no, I don't understand why either! It will be worse for children; with plans to remove both lower and middle rates. Currently, to qualify for higher rate, you have to require care during the night. This means that countless, highly disabled children, who sleep at night, will no longer receive money.
It doesn't end there, the implications of this are that their carers will no longer qualify for 'carers allowance'. This means no access to 'income support' and will force them on to 'job seekers', where they can then be penalised (with reductions in benefits) if they refuse to accept employment or attend job clubs, when their children may require full-time care. It's worth reading the report which you can find at www.ekklesia.co.uk/files/response_to_proposed_dla_reforms.pdf and if you haven't already please sign the petition before tuesday 10th January, which is when the governments proposals come before parliament. That can be found at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968.
Whether this fear for the future has been the cause of my health dip this week is a matter for conjecture. But it certainally hasn't helped!! I now find myself sleeping for 13-14 hours a day, unable to rouse myself, even with the prolonged cacophany of the workers building the new bridge span beneath my window at seven in the morning....zzz
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