She Crashes!!!! She Burns!!!! They think it;s all over !! It is for today.
But just before I go back to bed, PLEASE read the brilliant Rhydian Fon-James from Broken of Britain and his response to the useless, pathetic, dishonest Maria Miller, Minister for Disabilities yesterday.
Yep, she lied. No surprise, but depressing nonetheless. Really, are we happy to allow this? Really? In response to the largest collection of sick or disabled people in UK history protesting as part of the Hardest Hit march in London yesterday, she claimed that it isn't fair that more alcoholics and drug addicts claim DLA than those who are blind.
1) Alcoholism and addiction are diseases whether our current crop of politicians like it or not.
2) She lied. Pure and simple. She misled the country.
Over to Rhydian :
"....The final story is regarding Maria Miller's interview on BBC Breakfast yesterday. Having swallowed a copy of the Daily Mail with her breakfast cereal, Ms. Miller said: "Well, it can't be right that we have a benefits system where, under DLA, more people who are either alcoholics or drug addicts are in receipt of the higher rate of disability allowance than people who are blind".
The real figures are:
DLA - 0-15 age group
Blindness - 5,300
Alcohol & Drug Abuse - 100
DLA - 16 - 64 age group
Blindness - 45,800
Alcohol & Drug Abuse - 20,900
DLA - over 65 age group
Blindness - 18,900
Alcohol & Drug Abuse - 2,000
The figures are not broken down according to payment rate so that Ms. Miller could not have had data to support her claim, and it is improbable, given the sheer numbers involved, that a higher number of alcoholics and drug abusers claim the Higher rate of DLA. This may have been an honest mistake, but the Minister has seriously misled the public whether by design or not."
If you cared about the march yesterday, if you were there or willing them on in spirit, if you watched Ms Miller on the news and felt cross, if you were outraged at the lack of news coverage or scrutiny, please share this with your friends, your family and your networks.
If our government ministers are prepared to lie, all we can do is to make sure OUR networks defeat them. Please share until your fingers bleed.
It's pretty grim reading sue this Maria Miller just doesn't have a clue
ReplyDeleteHow the hell you can have a fit person in charge for such an important policy is breathtakingly arrogant as there is no way on earth she will ever understand our needs or ever could do even if she was honest she would still not understand our needs
David Cameron does but has failed to appoint the right person for the job in hand ?
You start to think that she really believes the stuff she comes out, you think any other minister would have to appolgise for getting such a big fact wrong but no it dosnt matter becuase it just reinforces the " they are all underserving" media flogging we have come to expect.
ReplyDeleteEven if it was true, are we going start picking and choosing who to support, what about all those with cancer and breathing difficulties from smoking surely thats just as self-abusing? Good job some of us stand together
And even if we belive what she says that the whole reason to reform and reasses everyone on DLA is because they are drug and alchol abuses on it, then surely they could just as easier be taken off if after all they know why they have.
ReplyDeleteIts just an excuse to get geniue people off, ditto all the blue badge abuse, oh yes to stop people using stolen badges or using grannies we wil have another medical to reasses all genuie, anyone see a pattern here??
Fourbanks: I'm afraid it's worse than that, much worse. David Cameron has made it abundantly clear at Prime Ministers Questions that he does NOT have a clue. He has 3 times claimed that living in a residential home is the same as being in hospital and has even suggested that the best thing the Government is doing for disabled people is protecting the health service. Well, I'm sorry, but if the health service could cure us we wouldn't be disabled, would we? Duh!
ReplyDeleteI nearly swallowed my tongue when Maria Miller stated on C4 News that the reason so many disabled people were marching was because "they feel they have got no control". Erm I think if they were just feeling the loss of control they wouldn't have spent so much time, effort, energy and pain going to the march. Most disabled people feel loss of control from day 1 it's part of the nature of the beast, you are NOT in control of your body. People were angry about the additional indignities being heaped on them by a government who doesn't even try to understand.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone really surprised that she misled people? I'm not David Cameron does it all the time!
ReplyDeleteBob Dylan song cones to mind (The changing of the guard) its coming, yesterday proved that united we stand and united we will fall. Come on Mr C do us a favour and admit you may have got it wrong about the less than able people.
ReplyDeleteZimmie
Maria Miller has no understanding or empathy for the ill and disabled comunity why is she the disability minister ? as she is obviously incompetent to hold that post and also vile and heartless strong words but if you or I were in that role as the voice of the weak and vulnerable you would put your heart and sole into such a noble job and take the utmost care and effort to help your fellow less fortuanate human brothers and sisters all of the problems faced by the comunity she represents seem to be overlooked why i do not Know is it power, profit, ideology, what is wrong with the truth, correct facts, reasearch and effort.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.petition.co.uk/sack-maria-miller-as-disability-minister
She is a real symbol of this cruel, heartless ConDem Goverment who distort , lie to justify the unjustifiable. What cruel person. Together we are strong and we cannot let them allow us to suffer and die, whilst they allow the banks etc. to steal billions. We are3 united and strong !! Miki Hall
ReplyDeleteAnon wrote
ReplyDelete'you would put your heart and sole into such a noble job'
Well she certainly put the boot in, from what Sue has exposed, Anon!!
She needs to get the boot herself it would seem. She came over to me more confused than malevolent but it all adds up to the same result.
Any idea when Blogspot are putting the missing comments back? I found the full figures Rhydian was looking for and posted them in the comments over at Broken of Britain but they were swallowed in the downage.
ReplyDeleteAppears to be working no...............
ReplyDeleteMaria Miller lied, pure and simple and even if she hadn't lied she still likes to play one group off against another which is wrong and should be sacked for that alone
ReplyDeleteA disability or illness is a disability however miner and the person or persons responsible who are engaged in policy making should be well qualified to make well meaningful decisions soundly based for our needs and to neither guess or stereotype or to lie
There is no need for debate from maria miller she has already shown her true colours and has declared she hasn't a clue about illness or disability (good for her)so how the hell can she be relied upon to bring about policy's on our behalf ?
In my experience it is very unlikely for there to be any award of DLA for alcohol or drug abuse in isolation. As the post pointed out awards will be for needs relating to other problems, potentially caused by the abuse but often separate issues to the substance abuse anyway. The figures, either way don't reflect the reality that DLA awards are based on ability not on diagnosis, excepting some deeming conditions. Unfortunately the political discourse never seems to reflect that.
ReplyDeletei have just read about maria miller and the figures for DLA given to the alcoholics and drug addicts and i am disgusted, i am 38 years old and i am in my third appeal for E.S.A and i am in an appeal for D.L.A, i have a serious heart condition, a pacemaker and i am very limited to what i can do everyday, ,y partner does most things for me ie the shopping, housework as i am always too tired to do anything. i won myE.S.A appeal last year then lost it again in feb of this year, i am digusted thatb the government and maria miller is doing this to vulnerable genuinely ill/disabled people like myself , taking away all our benefits and letting the alcoholics and druggies get all the benefits the want, its despicable and so not fair. why is this happening, i remember hearing david cameron say that all the genuinely ill/disabled people would not miss out and not be affected by the benefit system changes, what a lie and from maria miller, how callous and nasty. its not a nice thing when you are living in financial poverty!!
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the point, Tracec - they are not "giving DLA to druggies/alcoholics" and they certainly don't "get all the benefits they want". This is actually quite contrary to what is actually happening but it's a great bit of spin to turn disabled people onto one another. Read up on other posts here on Sue's blog and you'll begin to see that the whole idea of "deserving/undeserving disabled" is a huge trap which is specifically designed for people to knee-jerk about.
ReplyDelete