enlighten.me.uk

In my earlier post I expressed that I might “even organise a campaign or two of my own. Although if I’m honest that’s more likely to be next year.”

Reading that back made me feel a tad uncomfortable. I could hear myself saying something meant genuinely, but ultimately meaningless. “Tomorrow,” he said, “I’m going to quit procrastinating.”

That discomfort got a lot stronger as I prepared for my recent ESA appeal tribunal hearing. Essentially this new benefit is now the only sickness benefit that is available, with one horrible twist: eligibility is not based on whether you are ill! Instead they have a checklist of tasks which may not be in any way related to your illness, and each one you can do counts against your claim. Alarmingly, the fact that performing the task would have negative consequences for your health (e.g. causing pain, exacerbating mental illness) is not allowed to be taken into consideration. I’m not making this up; the judge told me this herself. My appeal was allowed not because of my physical health problems, but because I eventually got myself arrested in the course of my subsequent mental breakdown.

I guess this is a rather cynical move to reduce unemployment figures. Anyone who can’t work (therefore not eligible for JSA) but fails the ESA criteria won’t show in any stats. Of course they’ll struggle to pay the bills, too. This system is particularly discriminatory against people like me with invisible conditions, who may suffer levels of chronic pain and fatigue which would make them a liability to an employer, and makes their working days a misery. At those times, what they really need is to be at home, away from stress, until it gets more bearable again.

To tell us that our pain doesn’t count, that our incapacity is not real, is unfair, insulting, and downright cruel. You’d have to be seriously confused to choose a life on state benefits instead of the pretty decent salary I was on, if you were capable of work. Being unable to pay my debts, or to keep a home over my children’s heads; yes, that’s a rational choice I’d make any day.

I decided I can’t just stay silent about this injustice, and today my first ever e-petition went live. I guess now I have to find creative ways to convince people to sign it. Please, if you care, add your support and spread the word. If you don’t care, please don’t be cruel enough to campaign against us. Either way, I’ll tweet any updates as @painisreal if anyone is interested.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/chronicpain/