Here Are A Few Eternal Truths

Michael Savage writes:

The row over the government’s decision to slash winter fuel payments is set to be reignited after new evidence revealed that more than 1 million older people are skipping meals because of financial concerns.

The fresh study also suggested that millions are already cutting down on their heating, with warnings about the impact on the NHS. A spike in applications for pension credit, which enables people to receive the winter fuel payments, also means that even some of those who qualify are having to wait up to 12 weeks to receive it because Whitehall has been “overwhelmed” with claims, the Observer has been told.

With Storm Darragh ravaging parts of Britain this weekend, more than 7 million pensioners say they are turning down their heating or reducing the hours they turn it on to help them cope financially.

The research by the Age UK charity also estimates that the figure includes two-thirds of those over 66 living with long-term health conditions.

More than 1 million people aged 66 or over have been skipping meals, according to Age UK’s data. Again, vulnerable groups are seriously affected, with 620,000 pensioners suffering long-term conditions estimated to be missing meals.

Similar numbers were found to be reducing the number of hot meals they had. Four in nine pensioners – about 5.5 million people – said they were worried that they would not be able to heat their home enough this winter. More than 900,000 pensioners with long-term conditions said they were worried about getting into debt.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced a huge scaling back of winter fuel payments in July – a measure designed to save £1.4bn and help close a black hole in public spending this year.

Under the new system, only those who qualify for pension credit will receive the allowance.

However, there are now warnings that some of those eligible for the payments will not receive them until the end of the winter because the government is struggling to cope with the number of claims, which are running at about 10,000 a week.

“There are long delays now waiting for pension credit,” said Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s director. “The problem is the whole system has been overwhelmed. I understand they’re about 12 weeks now. Somebody could apply today for pension credit and be eligible, but if you work it out, they’re not going to hear even if they are successful until the back end of the winter.

“It’s really worrying that people with long-term health conditions are going to be badly hit because they are the most vulnerable. That is extremely bad news for the NHS. We could have avoided this. If this disaster has shown anything to the government, us and the public, it is that the idea that all older people are doing fabulously well and are all very affluent is, sadly, not the case.”

Official figures show that the government has received about 150,000 claims for pension credit in the 16 weeks since Reeves’s announcement in July – a 145% increase in claims in the previous 16 weeks.

Officials argued that pensioners will benefit significantly from an increase in the state pension of up to £1,900 this parliament, while 1 million will receive winter fuel payments and more are being signed up for pension credit.

A spokesperson said additional staff have been deployed to deal with the spike in claims, with a 51% increase in cleared claims since the decision to limit the payment was made. They also said many others would benefit from the £150 warm home discount and cold weather payments.

Age UK, meanwhile, has been documenting the concerns being raised by pensioners this winter, receiving testimony from almost 30,000 people.

“We cannot afford to heat the bungalow, which is uninsulated and has damaged double glazing,” said one. “We are just above the limit for any help.”

Another said: “I have ischaemic heart disease and need to keep warm but am too worried about the cost to put my heating on. I keep warm by wrapping up in blankets or going to bed.”

Both the Liberal Democrats and the Tories are attacking the government over its winter fuel decision.

“The government needs to swallow its pride and reverse these reckless cuts that will leave millions of vulnerable people having to choose between heating and eating this winter,” said Steve Darling, the Lib Dem work and pensions spokesperson. “We are reaching the point of no return.”

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners, with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.

“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment and our drive to boost pension credit take-up has seen applications more than double, with over 40,000 more pensioners now receiving pension credit, as well as the winter fuel payment.

“We have deployed additional staff to support processing applications, seeing a 51% increase in the number of cleared claims since the chancellor’s announcement.

“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount and cold weather payments this winter, while our extension of the household support fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.”

And Frances Ryan writes:

Have you heard of the “sickfluencers”? I admit the phenomenon had passed me by until this week. “Sickfluencer” sounds like a term to describe the world’s least aspirational Instagrammer, where instead of trips to Bali and fine jewellery, brands send codeine and incontinence pads. #gifted #bestlife

In fact, it’s about the disability benefits system. But then what isn’t, nowadays? Just a week after the government published its unemployment white paper, Channel 4’s Dispatches: Britain’s Benefits Scandal reported that disabled and chronically ill social media users – dubbed “sickfluencers” – are using platforms such as YouTube and TikTok to share advice on securing disability benefits. Some are publishing template answers that followers can use to fill out their own forms. Others are sharing tips on Facebook and Reddit.

For the rational among us, this might seem perfectly reasonable, not least after a decade of decimated welfare rights services and legal aid cuts. When in-person support is removed, those left to fill in lengthy and complex paperwork alone – all while enduring debilitating symptoms – will naturally turn online for support.

But if the Daily Mail has taught us anything, it’s that rationality has no place in discussions of “welfare”. Instead, try unbridled hysteria. When former Spectator editor Fraser Nelson investigated the story alongside the wider benefits bill on Dispatches this week, his brow was furrowed for a full 48 minutes. At one point, Nelson stared at pixelated influencers on his phone with the anguish of a daytime TV presenter seeing a cowboy builder fleece pensioners rather than, say, a mum on YouTube helping cancer patients access money for food.

Scroll through the Times or GB News reports and they are similarly frenzied, breathlessly describing one influencer as “a self-proclaimed anarchist” who suggests followers tell assessors “about your absolute worst day”. Perhaps – and I’m just spitballing here – that’s because people with fluctuating conditions are often more likely to be unfairly rejected for benefits.

That “sickfluencers” are being “exposed” in the context of the rising number of people off work due to illness or disability makes the implication behind all this clear: claims for disability benefits are soaring not because of NHS waiting lists, growing poverty or a pandemic, but because sneaky scroungers are helping each other game the system.

It is a deeply nasty narrative, of course, in which sick people’s desperation is framed as duplicity. More than that, though, it distorts the structural problem of an opaque benefits system defined by faulty decisions and errors into a story of personal character failings. This is a system that asks people with Down’s syndrome how they “caught it” and quizzes depressed claimants about why they haven’t killed themselves yet. One so absurdly broken that 70% of appeals are successful, and benefit delays and rejections are a key reason the majority of people turning to food banks have a disability.

It is not hard to understand why, faced with this rigged game, some disabled people turn to each other for help to at least understand the rules.

Contrast the furore over “sickfluencers” giving out benefits advice to the glee of television items that reveal “pension secrets” or newspapers that promote tax-saving tips to wealthy workers. Indeed, over the past few months alone, the Times has had multiple articles advising its readers how to cut their tax bill. What’s legitimate for the rich and healthy is cheating for the poor and sick.

If we were honest, we’d admit that some take pleasure in judging disabled and chronically ill people, typically while being hyper-paranoid they’re garnering some sort of advantage (no matter how minuscule). Any disabled driver who’s been verbally abused by a stranger for using a blue badge space because they “don’t look like” they need it knows all too well that receiving help from the state gives the green light to others to police our bodies and behaviour.

The rise in disability benefit claims has only encouraged this, perpetuating the bizarre idea that illness is something to covet rather than avoid. Read the comments under one of the many recent pieces on “workshy Britain” and you will see a good chunk of the general public appears to be channelling Miss Marple if she specialised in detecting Munchausen syndrome. It is reminiscent of the spate of articles musing that the rise in chronic illnesses and diagnosis rates of ADHD could be down to influencers and celebrities talking about them, as if long Covid was a buzzy new Thai restaurant. Disability has been the hot trend for 2024 in the same way that the bubonic plague was in the 14th century. When it feels like everyone else has an armpit pustule, you’ve just got to have one.

If this is starting to all feel rather ludicrous – and it really should – perhaps it is worth going back to basics. So, here are a few eternal truths. No one wants to be sick. Very few people enjoy being unable to work. Fraud rates for the key disability benefit are effectively zero.

Britain’s social security system is riddled with scandal – just not the one you hear about. The rollout of universal credit is going to make thousands of disabled people significantly poorer. Benefits are already so low they often don’t cover regular meals or rent. Disabled benefit claimants have been left housebound because their adapted cars were taken away.

That there is more outrage directed towards the ill people finding ways to navigate this rotten system than the politicians who are responsible for it is the real sign of a sick society. There are people who should be shamed for their part in this mess – and it is not the ones on TikTok crying out for help.