‘Social cleansing’ of London is well under way – BBC documentary
There were no disabled parents or children shown in the programme. However, I grew up in Brent and have many disabled friends who lived there. I have to wonder- how many disabled adults, or parents of disabled children, will be moved from their homes as a result of this policy? If a disabled person has to move council, they often lose vital services or have them cut. It would change, and negatively affect, their lives very significantly.
Cartoon by Martin Shovel.
Leading Conservatives must be delighted with the success of their benefit cap in getting single mothers and people with large families out of London – as depicted in the BBC Panorama special, Don’t Cap My Benefits, yesterday evening. (Thursday)
The change means that nobody in the UK is allowed to receive more than £26,000 in benefits per year. The government has claimed this is the same as the average family income, but readers of Vox Political will know that this is a flimsy lie and average family income is in fact more than £5,000 per year higher, at £31K+. The reason benefits weren’t pegged at that level is that far fewer people would be affected by it. Make no mistake – this measure was enacted to shift people from the capital.
The film shows the effects of the change on a number of families in Brent…
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Same Difference 
Please clarify: 31k before or after income tax & national health contribution? Is the 26k taxed or is that the net figure? Thanks
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Andy C, the more important questions & comparisons surely have to be, what do disabled people really need to live on; what their unreasonably capped income has to pay for & who actually benefits from their benefits and who exactly gains from the cleansing of London of all the unwanted poor & disabled via these benefit caps? The housing scandal & just who is making money out of it has been reported on by many including these enlightening reports from The Independent & The Guardian:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/duchy-of-cornwall-and-crown-estate-received-over-200000-in-housing-benefit-payments-last-year-9150472.html
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/12/right-to-buy-housing-scandal
Largely it is not the benefit claimant who benefits from benefits payments but via their housing benefit, their rich landlords; via their disability benefits to pay for care charges, their carers & their carer’s families & the local housing, shops & services their carers spend their wages on, etc, etc.
As The Guardian says: ‘It turns out that benefits street is populated by rich people
Wealthy private landlords are being exposed as the new face of the benefits scrounger taking Britain for a ride’ http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/25/benefits-street-populated-rich-people-private-landlords
All the available, highly respected, research shows that disabled people are twice as likely to be living in poverty and this was before the caps being arbitrarily placed on their benefits or the cuts to the services they rely on!
Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported: ‘Study exposes the extra costs of living that drive disabled people deeper into poverty….“Official statistics show that 30 per cent of disabled people are in poverty but these figures are based on income and don’t take into account the additional costs of disability. Our research highlights just how substantial these additional costs are and so it clearly shows that the extent of poverty among disabled people is seriously under-estimated. Even maximum benefit levels fall well short of meeting the true costs of disability; and it is equally clear that many disabled people in paid work cannot achieve the income required to meet their needs either. Much could be achieved if society was prepared to fund the sort of improved support services that would reduce costs that currently fall on individuals. But disabled people also need more income so they can achieve an acceptable quality of life and come closer to achieving a ‘level playing field’ with non-disabled people.”
Officially, at 30%, disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty, but according to Leonard Cheshire: “When the extra costs of disability are factored in, well over half of disabled people live on less than 60% of median national income, as opposed to the unadjusted figure of around 30%.”- Disability Poverty in the UK.
‘To end disability poverty is not only a means to drive down poverty throughout the UK, and to improve the economic health of the nation, it is also an absolute necessity of social justice and inclusion in a civilised society.’ Disability Poverty in the UK – Leonard Cheshire Report 2008
Interestingly The Guardian created this guide to calculate & compare exactly where individual incomes place us in ‘Breadline Britain’ but as with most comparisons, it does not take into account any of the disability costs disabled people need to meet over & above the usual expenses that everyone has to meet. http://www.theguardian.com/society/datablog/2012/jun/22/household-incomes-compare
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I work 60 hours a week and earn nowhere near the 26K ‘average’ wage. Yes, I could go onto benefits and be better off, but pride has to come into the equation. I can’t choose where I live, I live where I can afford, so why should someone who doesn’t work be in a better position then me.
I also believe the programme stated that those with disabilities were exempt from the cap.
Finally, how and why is it that people claiming benefits as single, or dual parents feel that is ok to keep having children and expect to keep receiving extra benefits for them?
When someone begins their claim for benefits it should be capped on how many children they have at the time. I really do object to having to work so hard so that someone else can be a breeding machine at my expense.
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