The RNIB in conjunction with MIND have a letter which you can copy to your MP against the proposed changes to esa. The campaign includes the time limit of 1 year. Please forward to anyone and everyone you think might be interested!
http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/camp ... nd_IB.aspx
I contacted my MP regarding various questions about my husbands IB, and received a letter,that she received from the DWP, explaining...YAWN...all the details of their plans and the reasons they are doing them, no one in the labour party seems interested in the one year limit, and she made no mention of it although i stressed this point, and others, in my letter to her.
I will send another as you suggest but i can't help thinking that they will not change their minds.
Thanks for the info, Regards Jan
Originally Posted by saintjanet
I think a lot of people (including MPs) are not paying as much attention to the proposal to time limit esa because there are so many welfare cuts (and other cuts) that a lot is getting lost. This is intentional, no doubt, on the Government's part. But we can make people aware of it and how it will affect us (apparently it will affect 1 million claimants).
I write to my MP quite regularly though I get the impression he is not that informed about welfare benefits for disabled people. Sadly, you may find that you know more about the subject than they care to do. I believe, whether rightly or wrongly, that my MP has had to become more informed in order to provide me with responses to my letters. Indeed I have noticed that his replies appear to have been much more "genned up" of late!
We can also get support for our cause from disability groups. I notice your husband has agoraphobia and both MIND and Rethink are involved in campaigning against the proposals for esa. Please contact them - they always need testimonials from people directly affected by the cuts, to give more credibility to their campaigns. There are also forums on websites such as this. You may also have noticed groups springing up throughout the country since October 2010 in protest. Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) have just got their own website and publicise protests etc up and down the country.
Most of all, DON'T GIVE UP - that is what the Government want so they can push the changes through quietly.
Last edited by oscar; 02-20-2011 at 01:20 AM.
Of course people are doing something, I have been out on a mrach in London written dozens of letters emails to MP's Ministers, I have sent press cuttings, I have been on the BBC radio twice, and once on TV.
But when you see articles like this in the press it's worrying.
Now this is a press release in Scotland so do not panic down here.
The two claimants, both from West Dunbartonshire, died from the conditions which caused them to claim Incapacity Benefit (IB) while waiting for appeals to be heard against cuts to their benefits.
One was deemed fit for work during a work capability assessment, despite having a deteriorating chronic illness, and lost both incapacity benefit and disability living allowance.
When his support worker appeared at the appeal tribunal she had to report her client could not be there because he was dead. The appeal was upheld and the backpayment will become part of his estate.
The other had a congenital condition which caused difficulty in walking but was assessed capable of work and his incapacity benefit was withdrawn. He was waiting for a date for an appeal tribunal when he died.
The assessment was inadequate and very unprofessional. The doctor simply did not have the information
A third person, again from West Dunbartonshire, died recently after winning a second appeal tribunal following three years of repeated assessments and decisions being overturned.
He worked as a shop assistant in his 20s but was forced to give up due to severe heart and lung problems caused by a degenerative syndrome.
What to help write to your MP it may seem to you as if it means nothing, but if we can get enough people writing it will make a difference.
treborc, These are the things that should be on the front page of the daily papers, instead we get stories of cheryl cole, jordan, simon cowell and footballers with more money than they could ever spend.The world has gone mad!
oscar, my last MP WAS SOCIALIST LABOUR, and a great help in years gone by, as i have said before he has now retired, due to, of all things, ill health, it was surprising that after i contacted him in 1997, when my husband received his 2nd ib50, he did not receive another until 2006.
I don't know if this was due to his intervention or just coincidence, but i take your point, about contacting them however, i fear that as many ideas came from labour in the first place and i suspect very few of the coalition are interested, that we really need a champion, in parliament, or the house of lords, someone like the late Lord winstanley.
I have seen the groups you mention and hope they do some real good, it's a pity though that this did not happen sooner, i have read all the Hansard discussions and there are some people within that are sympathetic to the fears of people who will be affected, it just seems they are easily fobbed off by answers that don't reveal the true facts, which is a shame.
As i have said before again, i feel for the younger people and those who will find very little availble to them in the future, when they need it, if the powers that be keep making things harder, that is the only thing in my husbands favour, retirement early in 2016, no more involvement in ib/esa then, may even improve his health, i can only hope so,
Regards Jan
Jan, please write to Dame Anne Begg, Chair of Parliamentary Select Committee on Work & Pensions, who is fighting the proposals and state your case.
Also, here is an up to date list of campaigns and petitions that can be accessed via the internet.
CITIZENS ADVICE ESA CAMPAIGN
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ind...esaactions.htm
MIND CAMPAIGN FOR WELFARE REFORM
http://www.mind.org.uk/campaigns_and...rm/take_action
CARERS WATCH WELFARE CAMPAIGN
http://carerwatch.com/mhealth/
RNIB CAMPAIGN FOR WELFARE REFORM
http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/c..._concerns.aspx
PETITION AGAINST ESA
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...es-to-esa.html
PETITION AGAINST DWP REFORMS FOR GENUINELY SICK AND DISABLED
http://www.petitiononline.com/12buckle/petition.html
I forgot to add Anne Begg's email address which is
anne.begg.mp@parliament.uk
Thanks for that oscar, i will act on it, since i last posted i have spoken to an MP "involved in the debate" perhaps something will come of that, one can only hope, Jan.
LAST CHANCE TO STOP THE ESA TEST!
http://funnyoldlife.wordpress.com/20...-the-esa-test/
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