As Swine Flu mass vaccination looms the UK Government plan to cut disability payments

As the rise in Autism, ADHD and other serious disabilities reach an all time high in the UK, the UK Government, at whatever the cost to human suffering, has decided to cut all disability benefits currently being paid to disabled people and instead hand them to Social Services in a bid to save money.

Disability Cuts - Benefits and Work

This conveniently coincides with the mass H1N1 vaccination programme that is being prepared for every child under 16, all pregnant women, health workers and people with serious underlying health issues about to take place as soon as the vaccine arrives at the end of the month. Is the Government taking early precautions if their untested and inefficient flu vaccine should lead to serious adverse reactions one has to wonder?

About the Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance.

Information on DirectGov on Disability Living Allowance says:-

"Disability Living Allowance - sometimes referred to as DLA - is a tax-free benefit for children and adults who need help with personal care or have walking difficulties because they are physically or mentally disabled.

Who can get Disability Living Allowance?

You may get Disability Living Allowance if:

You have a physical or mental disability, or both

your disability is severe enough for you to need help caring for yourself or you have walking difficulties, or both

you are under 65 when you claim

If you are aged 65 or over, you may be able to get Attendance Allowance.

Attendance Allowance - introduction

You can get Disability Living Allowance whether or not you work.

It isn't usually affected by any savings or income you may have.

Disability Living Allowance - eligibility

Special rules - if you are terminally ill

If you have a progressive disease and you are not expected to live for more than another six months there are special rules for claiming to make sure you get your benefit more quickly and easily.

Medical examinations

You will not usually need a medical examination when you claim for Disability Living Allowance."

Many disabled people in the UK rely on these benefits to pay for care, taxi's and trips out and to make their lives just a little easier to bear. They are also a lifeline to many parents of disabled children.

So why are the Government so keen to abolish these benefits?

Thirty six meetings have already been organised for people working in both the Government and the caring professions. The new idea of a National Care Service which oversees the system will then be discussed.

However, not all organisations have warmed to the idea. The Royal National Institute for the Blind RNIB is one such organisation. They took the brave decision to speak out on behalf of their members, risking the wrath of six secretaries of state rather than to desert their members and have issued a statement and guidelines on their website.

Others are following suit. It is very important to stop our disabled children especially those who have suffered adverse reactions from vaccines from suffering further. Cutting benefits is further confirmation that the UK Government is not acknowledging the part they have played in destroying our children's futures by vaccinating our children with unsafe and untested vaccines. Vaccines such as Cervarix. Cervarix the HPV vaccine being used across the UK has been found to be untested and unproven in papers recently disclosed.

Cevarix GlaxoSmithKline's Cervical Cancer Candidate Mandate. Media Backgrounder and Presentation of advisory report Vaccination against Cervical Cancer from the Health Council of the Netherlands Secretary to the Health Minister, Wealth and Sport show how Cervarix is being tested and it is our children that are the lab guinea pigs.

Instead the Government prefer to play it safe and take away the crutch of the many disabled citizens in the UK as they prepare to cause more possible harm with the pending vaccine, putting wealth before health.

I urge anyone concerned to write now as time ticks by at alarming rate to their MPs and also all disability organisations stating the following points:-

1 Explain very briefly that you are concerned about the proposals in the Shaping the Future of Care Together green paper to integrate some disability benefits into a new funding stream for a National Care Service.

2 Explain why DLA care component or AA is important to you.

3 Point out that it's vital that their organisation work with other disability charities to fight with you on this issue, because the government will find it hard to ignore a wide coalition of disability organisations.

4 Point out that RNIB have put a statement on their website saying they will oppose the scrapping of AA and other disability benefits and that if such a reputable organisation is prepared to do this then there's no reason why every disability organisation can't do the same.

5 You might want to explain that at the moment the campaign against abolishing disability benefits is being led by a private sector company and that you think this is highly inappropriate, it ought to be a coalition of charities leading the way.

6 You may also want to suggest that if charities look the other way as their members are deprived of a vital part of their income then it may result in charities getting a great deal less support, fewer members and fewer donations in the future.

7 Most important of all: ask for a reply. And if you don't get one, keep going back until you do. And when you do, send us a copy and we'll publish at least some of them. Or if you're a Benefits and Work member, post the reply in the forum here:

Benefits and Work Guides you can Trust

Stop this madness now. These benefits make a difference to the lives of many disabled people in the UK. It can mean the difference between having help to take a disabled person out for the day or staying at home. It can be the difference between helping to buy wheat free, dairy free foods for a disabled person who has dairy and wheat intolerance or not. It can mean a disabled child can enjoy music therapy or art therapy which they can not have access to. It can help to pay for respite care. If the money goes to social services it means that every disabled person in the UK has to have a social worker which is unrealistic as there is a massive shortage of social workers currently with some areas in a critical position. One UK newspaper said the following:-

"At present, around one in ten social work positions across the country are unfilled while 5,500 are filled by temporary staff". Social worker shortage forces UK to recruit in Australia Nick Mcdermott Daily Mail 13th April 2009.