Posted by: flashsays on: 2012-01-09
Today on Twitter you will see many disabled people and charities saying “I support the #SpartacusReport”. So what is this report and what does it mean? The Spartacus Report is a piece of research, released today, entitled “Responsible Reform”. It looks at responses to a government consultation about replacing Disability Living Allowance. The report was [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2011-03-11
[This article was published at Where's the Benefit, where I am one of the team.] Beryl is a woman in her 50s, who has worked all her life and feels she’s always done an honest life’s work. She works as a piano tuner – a very physical job, but one she loves and had every [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2011-02-18
I have followed up to several stories I reported in the last year. Here are the updates. The new Routemaster – if this is the future, I’m not on board I revisted the Routemaster on 27 January and found that two poles had been moved so that it was now possible to get into the [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2011-01-08
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit? where I am one of the team] The government’s proposed changes to DLA have been much reported – and you can see articles about why it matters on Flash Says and across the blogosphere, including Where’s the Benefit of course. The news that 20% of people will no longer qualify, [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-10-09
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit where I am one of the team. Don't worry, there is a normal FlashSays article coming soon, but I couldn't let today pass without recognition.] Today is World Mental Health Day. It’s also a supposedly auspicious date; many couples are rushing to marry on 10/10/10. But for those with mental [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-09-30
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit where I am one of the team.] It seems that Disability Living Allowance (DLA) can be quite misunderstood. Even government ministers seem to get confused, sometimes referring to it as an “out-of-work” benefit. (It isn’t.) And now DLA, along with many other essential benefits for disabled people, is under threat. Here [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-09-14
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit where I am one of the team.] Last week Chancellor George Osbourne paid lip service to helping disabled people saying “Of course, people who are disabled, people who are vulnerable, people who need protection will get our protection, and more”1 but then in the next breath made reference to people [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-09-09
I am on holiday this week, but here’s a quick blog I posted on Where’s the Benefit. The BBC report that Welfare spending is to be cut by [an extra] £4bn – apparently this is what George Osborne has told them. The article makes for grim reading. For example: ‘The BBC understands discussions are continuing [...]
Posted by: flashsays on: 2010-08-29
[Crossposted to Where's the Benefit where I am one of the team.] This week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published a report assessing the impact of June’s budget1. It was no surprise to find that the poorest and disabled people have been hardest hit by benefit cuts in a budget that is far from [...]
