Royal Mail worker accused of insulting disabled child

[dvbuk55]

remember the old blue cars, used to see them at football grounds.

The inappropriately and not quite PC - InvaCar

Bring em back! I don't want to be sudsidising posh cars for others.

[fishtank]

i saw 1 cuming out of b&q and then drove a range rover sports, cum on is that fair ?

Is it fair that some people get to drive a range rover?
or
Is it fair that someone with a disability gets to drive a range rover?
or
Is it fair that that someone who shops in B&Q gets to drive a range rover?

Personally i think that anyone driving a range rover should have their license taken off them,disability or not.

[Lounge Lizard]

remember the old blue cars, used to see them at football grounds.

The inappropriately and not quite PC - InvaCar

That or a Combo van ? A hard choice.

[dvbuk55]

i saw 1 cuming out of b&q and then drove a range rover sports, cum on is that fair ?

Is it fair that some people get to drive a range rover?
or
Is it fair that someone with a disability gets to drive a range rover?
or
Is it fair that that someone who shops in B&Q gets to drive a range rover?

Personally i think that anyone driving a range rover should have their license taken off them,disability or not.

Damn right toffee nosed gets - make em get the subsidised bus service - but not when I'm using my bus pass for local journeys.

[rhino49]

I don't think Autism qualifies for a Blue badge therefore she shouldn't have one in the first place.

Autism has a very broad spectrum and at one end of the scale is as deblitating as any serious physical disability, needing in some cases one to one care and constant vigilant supervision.

[rhino49]

Chuckychucks from memory, the blue badge scheme was originally introduced for those with mobility difficulties, Amputees, cerebral palsy, wheelchair users etc, so that they can park near doctors, shops without penalty for a maximum of 3 hours.

It has however been abused in the past, how it expanded to include those with non mobility issues, Deaf people don't have it, I cannot see the justification for those with mental issues but have mobility qualifying for it, all this means there will be less disabled parking spaces for those with mobility issues, it also makes my blood boil when I see people in top of the range 4x4s, BMWs , Mercs park in such spots frequently with a pass, it does look sus, also there similar such people in posh cars parking without a pass hogging the space needed by disabled people.

Just because they have a posh car, doesn't mean they're not entitled to a blue badge... yes, there has been system abuse, but disabled people receive enough abuse from others who don't believe they should be parking in a disabled parking bay without even knowing what their disability is (not that it's any of their business).

It would be the GP that decides if they have a blue badge in which case they would be entitled to it according to local rules, not Joe Public, I still think its not being used by the right people if they are driving top of the range cars, in my experience most disabled are not that rich except for a small proportion that got lucky, most tend to drive medium sized cars that don't so much to run. DLA only goes so far.

The photo blue pass should cut fraud down a lot, like somebody said it should be used if there is a disabled person driving or is a passenger, one of the most popular abuses in some families the disabled person doesn't actually have to drive or is housebound, a family member can use that card for their own convenience and yes I have seen it been done.

Disability is no respector of wealth or class and whether an expensive car is involved or not - the ability of the accredited disabled person (in this case a child)to negotiate any walking distances involved without problems is the only important criteria here.

[avenger]

I don't think Autism qualifies for a Blue badge therefore she shouldn't have one in the first place.

wrong,and you don't need a blue badge to park in a private disabled space

[TeeferTiger]

I can't believe some of the responses I'm reading on here.

The media have whipped up such a frenzy about the abuse of the benefits system etc and so many people (some on here included) clearly have no idea what's really going on. The are judgements being made about people you've never met, only seen and who "look" OK to you. You don't know what daily struggles they have to go through and how much pain having that blue badge has saved them. Unless you traded places, which I doubt you'd want to do, you'd have no idea what they're going through.

[dvbuk55]

I can't believe some of the responses I'm reading on here.

The media have whipped up such a frenzy about the abuse of the benefits system etc and so many people (some on here included) clearly have no idea what's really going on. The are judgements being made about people you've never met, only seen and who "look" OK to you. You don't know what daily struggles they have to go through and how much pain having that blue badge has saved them. Unless you traded places, which I doubt you'd want to do, you'd have no idea what they're going through.

There is undoubtedly abuse of the benefits system and it does need to be looked at seriously. Look at those that are caught that have abused the system for years turning up to court with a walking stick/crutches being shown playing golf etc. Personally I would have a far more rigourous medical system to weed out the malingerers and those who profess to be suffering from nothing worse than many people who put up with it day in day out. In that same vein if they are fraudulently claiming benefit they are probably fraudulently using a blue badge. It sometimes surprises me that there are any normal parking spaces left there are so many disabled parking spaces available.

[TeeferTiger]

I can't believe some of the responses I'm reading on here.

The media have whipped up such a frenzy about the abuse of the benefits system etc and so many people (some on here included) clearly have no idea what's really going on. The are judgements being made about people you've never met, only seen and who "look" OK to you. You don't know what daily struggles they have to go through and how much pain having that blue badge has saved them. Unless you traded places, which I doubt you'd want to do, you'd have no idea what they're going through.

There is undoubtedly abuse of the benefits system and it does need to be looked at seriously. Look at those that are caught that have abused the system for years turning up to court with a walking stick/crutches being shown playing golf etc. Personally I would have a far more rigourous medical system to weed out the malingerers and those who profess to be suffering from nothing worse than many people who put up with it day in day out. In that same vein if they are fraudulently claiming benefit they are probably fraudulently using a blue badge. It sometimes surprises me that there are any normal parking spaces left there are so many disabled parking spaces available.

This is my point! The rate of abuse is so much lower than everyone is led to believe!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/ ... m-analysis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In particular:
"There has also been a growth in younger claimants. "We have more disabled children surviving, which is a positive thing," he adds. "What is disturbing is the suggestion that this is down to fraud and abuse. The DWP's own estimates put fraud at 0.5%. There isn't a 30% of abuse of DLA," he said."

and

""There has been a rise in verbal abuse of disabled people, which is inflamed by comments like these which suggest that people are on the fiddle, when actually they have a higher cost of living. The language used, and the assumption that there is a large level of fraud and abuse will inflame hostility towards disabled people."

Around one-third of disabled people already live in poverty, because of the higher cost of living associated with disability. With councils also making cuts to the amount they spend on supporting disabled people, Coyle warns that the savings-driven reform of DLA is likely to cause real hardship.

DLA is not an out-of-work benefit, and many people use the money to help subsidise the extra costs of getting to work. Disability Rights UK estimates that at least 25,000 people could be forced to give up their work as a result of the drive to restrict payments, pushing up unemployment payments."

[dvbuk55]

I can't believe some of the responses I'm reading on here.

The media have whipped up such a frenzy about the abuse of the benefits system etc and so many people (some on here included) clearly have no idea what's really going on. The are judgements being made about people you've never met, only seen and who "look" OK to you. You don't know what daily struggles they have to go through and how much pain having that blue badge has saved them. Unless you traded places, which I doubt you'd want to do, you'd have no idea what they're going through.

There is undoubtedly abuse of the benefits system and it does need to be looked at seriously. Look at those that are caught that have abused the system for years turning up to court with a walking stick/crutches being shown playing golf etc. Personally I would have a far more rigourous medical system to weed out the malingerers and those who profess to be suffering from nothing worse than many people who put up with it day in day out. In that same vein if they are fraudulently claiming benefit they are probably fraudulently using a blue badge. It sometimes surprises me that there are any normal parking spaces left there are so many disabled parking spaces available.

This is my point! The rate of abuse is so much lower than everyone is led to believe!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/ ... m-analysis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In particular:
"There has also been a growth in younger claimants. "We have more disabled children surviving, which is a positive thing," he adds. "What is disturbing is the suggestion that this is down to fraud and abuse. The DWP's own estimates put fraud at 0.5%. There isn't a 30% of abuse of DLA," he said."

and

""There has been a rise in verbal abuse of disabled people, which is inflamed by comments like these which suggest that people are on the fiddle, when actually they have a higher cost of living. The language used, and the assumption that there is a large level of fraud and abuse will inflame hostility towards disabled people."

Around one-third of disabled people already live in poverty, because of the higher cost of living associated with disability. With councils also making cuts to the amount they spend on supporting disabled people, Coyle warns that the savings-driven reform of DLA is likely to cause real hardship.

DLA is not an out-of-work benefit, and many people use the money to help subsidise the extra costs of getting to work. Disability Rights UK estimates that at least 25,000 people could be forced to give up their work as a result of the drive to restrict payments, pushing up unemployment payments."

So if only a few people kill somebody it's hardly worth pursuing them? I have absolutely no objection to people who are truly disabled receiving benefit BUT they must be disabled and if they are they should have no worries about undergoing tests to confirm that. Perhaps we should also look at the level of benefit paid for disabilities, perhaps some people don't work because they don't want to not because they can't.

[fishtank]

So if only a few people kill somebody it's hardly worth pursuing them? I have absolutely no objection to people who are truly disabled receiving benefit BUT they must be disabled and if they are they should have no worries about undergoing tests to confirm that. Perhaps we should also look at the level of benefit paid for disabilities, perhaps some people don't work because they don't want to not because they can't.

Benefit fraud is a red herring.
Far more money goes unclaimed because people are either afraid of the stigma attached to claiming or don't know their rights than is ever lost to fraud.
It's just a handy distraction for the masses from the real industrial strength fraud that carries on under your nose in the name of politics,finance and global business.
Politicians don't want to stop individual benefit fraudsters anyway,it's way too expensive pursuing them through the courts and when you want to make wholesale cuts across the whole benefit system what better than a few isolated cases to whip up the Daily Mailers into a frenzy of anti-disability bollocks.
I'm surprised you buy into this DV,you're usually quite a sensible old goat,not normally prone to having the wool pulled over your eyes so easily.
Perhaps people should also be made to work until they're 90,maybe we should have medical tests to prove you're truly decrepit enough to be considered a pensioner,maybe even look at the level of state pension again...maybe some of these oldies just don't want to work.
Kids,chimneys etc,etc.

[TeeferTiger]

The current testing system is demeaning, demoralising and stressful as it is. There are people losing their benefits when they are definitely entitled to them, and some of them don't appeal because they can't stand the stress of the appeals system. They then go onto jobseekers with no prospect of getting a job because they're not fit to work-one of the criteria of being on JS in the first place. And the government know this.

[dvbuk55]

So if only a few people kill somebody it's hardly worth pursuing them? I have absolutely no objection to people who are truly disabled receiving benefit BUT they must be disabled and if they are they should have no worries about undergoing tests to confirm that. Perhaps we should also look at the level of benefit paid for disabilities, perhaps some people don't work because they don't want to not because they can't.

Benefit fraud is a red herring.
Far more money goes unclaimed because people are either afraid of the stigma attached to claiming or don't know their rights than is ever lost to fraud.
It's just a handy distraction for the masses from the real industrial strength fraud that carries on under your nose in the name of politics,finance and global business.
Politicians don't want to stop individual benefit fraudsters anyway,it's way too expensive pursuing them through the courts and when you want to make wholesale cuts across the whole benefit system what better than a few isolated cases to whip up the Daily Mailers into a frenzy of anti-disability bollocks.
I'm surprised you buy into this DV,you're usually quite a sensible old goat,not normally prone to having the wool pulled over your eyes so easily.
Perhaps people should also be made to work until they're 90,maybe we should have medical tests to prove you're truly decrepit enough to be considered a pensioner,maybe even look at the level of state pension again...maybe some of these oldies just don't want to work.
Kids,chimneys etc,etc.

Yes and Yes again - why stop at 90? The worst thing they did was bring in the clean air policy and do away with coal fires - look what happened, instead of bunging the kids up the chimney, they turn into hooligans - how times have changed - 50% of the population are sick, lame or lazy and everyone else is supposed to make allowances for them..................bah humbug. Whilst they're sat at home watching some banal women spouting nonsense they could be out picking litter from the street or donkey stoning their front step. Enough is enough

[andy2007]

So if only a few people kill somebody it's hardly worth pursuing them? I have absolutely no objection to people who are truly disabled receiving benefit BUT they must be disabled and if they are they should have no worries about undergoing tests to confirm that. Perhaps we should also look at the level of benefit paid for disabilities, perhaps some people don't work because they don't want to not because they can't.

Benefit fraud is a red herring.
Far more money goes unclaimed because people are either afraid of the stigma attached to claiming or don't know their rights than is ever lost to fraud.
It's just a handy distraction for the masses from the real industrial strength fraud that carries on under your nose in the name of politics,finance and global business.
Politicians don't want to stop individual benefit fraudsters anyway,it's way too expensive pursuing them through the courts and when you want to make wholesale cuts across the whole benefit system what better than a few isolated cases to whip up the Daily Mailers into a frenzy of anti-disability bollocks.
I'm surprised you buy into this DV,you're usually quite a sensible old goat,not normally prone to having the wool pulled over your eyes so easily.
Perhaps people should also be made to work until they're 90,maybe we should have medical tests to prove you're truly decrepit enough to be considered a pensioner,maybe even look at the level of state pension again...maybe some of these oldies just don't want to work.
Kids,chimneys etc,etc.

Yes and Yes again - why stop at 90? The worst thing they did was bring in the clean air policy and do away with coal fires - look what happened, instead of bunging the kids up the chimney, they turn into hooligans - how times have changed - 50% of the population are sick, lame or lazy and everyone else is supposed to make allowances for them..................bah humbug. Whilst they're sat at home watching some banal women spouting nonsense they could be out picking litter from the street or donkey stoning their front step. Enough is enough

You obviously don't know anyone who's gone through the current assessment process. Firstly, it's performed by ATOS (we all know how incompetant those fools are!). Secondly, the sheer number of appeals against them, should also be an indicator for you.
Now, I DO know someone who's been through the ATOS "assessment" (if you can really call it that), and had to appeal, because they tried to say that she no longer needed the higher rate (which qualifies you for Motability). The fact that she can't walk far, and is incapable of driving an unmodified car, should have given them some clue, that she needed a Motability car. Yes, she's quite capable of buying her own car (she still works). But couldn't afford to have all the modifications done, or afford to buy her old Motability car off them at the time (you get that option). And they weren't prepared to wait until she saved up a deposit. Luckily, she won on appeal, and was able to stay in the Motibility scheme.

So you tell me: Is even the current assessment system fair?
Just how bad do you want it to be, for the genuine cases. Just to catch a minority of crooks, who abuse the system?
No matter what you do, there will always be a minority who try to abuse any system. There are all kinds of Benefit fraud, not just for disability Benifits. But for unemployment, housing, etc., etc.. Why punish the majority of claimants, who have a genuine need, more than they already are. Just because of a small minority of criminals?