The cruelty of this administration knows no bounds. Just when you thought it could sink no lower with its beleaguered attempts to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, a country notorious for its human rights abuses, it comes up with a new shocker – withdrawing up to £390 in essential financial support from some of the most vulnerable people in society.
From 2025, those people who would, in the past, have been deemed too unwell to work or to look for work will now be required to find a job that they can do from home or risk having their additional health-related benefit stopped. This includes people with autism, the learning-disabled, those with long Covid and anyone with a mental health condition.
Prior to the rule change, those who were deemed as having a limited capacity for work or work-related activity (LCWRA) could claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC) and an additional health-related benefit, worth up to £390.06 per month, without having to worry about meeting job search targets.
Now, in a little over a year’s time, the worlds of many new ESA and UC claimants with a disability or long-term health condition will be plunged into darkness when the rule change to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) comes into effect, and they are forced to find employment in a working world that penalises women for becoming pregnant.
The work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said that the “increase in flexibility and the availability of hybrid and home working jobs” provides greater opportunities for the ill and the disabled to move into work. Yet, a recent survey of 2,000 recruiters revealed that 84% of them had witnessed a fall in the number of home-based roles once the pandemic was over. Moreover, many large firms are ordering their staff back into the office.
The changes to the WCA will pitch many vulnerable adults into poverty, desperation and even homeless when they fail to meet their work search targets. Some may develop mental ill health due to the stress and anxiety of seeking employment when they are in no fit state to work. Disability charities are urging the government to rethink this cruel move.
This new policy will be especially hard for those ESA or UC claimants who had to quit their careers after an illness developed to into a debilitating, long-term health condition simply because they were unable to receive timely NHS treatment. Yes, work is a balm for the soul. But for some people who want to work, a job is not an option. It’s time that this government, and governments of all persuasions, acknowledged that.
