Great writing, T. Dreadful what's happened to C4; time was they were the gaff you could rely on to cut through this kind of shite. Journalism is dying on its arse. Thank Christ for people like you and Sophie Smith. Did ya see this one?
Thank you for watching for those who can’t stomach it. I’m 32, in July 2023 I had to go all the way to tribunal for PIP, I have EDS, CPTSD and autism (those are just the headline health issues there’s more) - I have no parental support, I was in a women’s shelter in 2022 after leaving a relationship in which I was pushed down the stairs, I was scammed out of £4.5K in 2023 from someone who worked for the disability law service when I was seeking help, the person who helped me do my PIP application previously is now too sick themselves to help again - despite all my conditions being life long, despite that I’m still waiting for support from Birmingham city council who started my assessment in January of this year (they wouldn’t even put me on the list until I had PIP), despite that I’m still waiting for Access to work (I had to pay for someone to help me with that application as I couldn’t do it alone) - despite it being less than 18 months since I went to tribunal - I just received a PIP review form that has to be completed and returned by December 25th. I literally cannot complete it by myself (physically I can’t write that much because of joint pain in my fingers and mentally with autism and adhd it’s fucking difficult and due to how traumatic going to court was previously every time I look at the form I start to shake) I have no idea what I’m going to do. They go on about helping people to work. I would love to work - when I am able to I earn between £250 - £750 A DAY but with the level of social care at home (zero currently) and still no access to work support for that work yet I’m currently only managing about 7 days every few months. This system is impossibly cruel.
Brilliantly put, Terri. The narrative of benefits being more than wages infuriates me. During a low patch a couple of years ago I needed UC…and got £325 a month! £80 a WEEK! Fuck me, I defy anyone to even buy food for that, let alone pay the bills. It’s obscene…
Fuck me this was good. Terri White at her BEST.
THANK YOU! Come right from the belly (and soul) xxxx
Great writing, T. Dreadful what's happened to C4; time was they were the gaff you could rely on to cut through this kind of shite. Journalism is dying on its arse. Thank Christ for people like you and Sophie Smith. Did ya see this one?
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n24/sophie-smith/sleeping-women
Thank you for watching for those who can’t stomach it. I’m 32, in July 2023 I had to go all the way to tribunal for PIP, I have EDS, CPTSD and autism (those are just the headline health issues there’s more) - I have no parental support, I was in a women’s shelter in 2022 after leaving a relationship in which I was pushed down the stairs, I was scammed out of £4.5K in 2023 from someone who worked for the disability law service when I was seeking help, the person who helped me do my PIP application previously is now too sick themselves to help again - despite all my conditions being life long, despite that I’m still waiting for support from Birmingham city council who started my assessment in January of this year (they wouldn’t even put me on the list until I had PIP), despite that I’m still waiting for Access to work (I had to pay for someone to help me with that application as I couldn’t do it alone) - despite it being less than 18 months since I went to tribunal - I just received a PIP review form that has to be completed and returned by December 25th. I literally cannot complete it by myself (physically I can’t write that much because of joint pain in my fingers and mentally with autism and adhd it’s fucking difficult and due to how traumatic going to court was previously every time I look at the form I start to shake) I have no idea what I’m going to do. They go on about helping people to work. I would love to work - when I am able to I earn between £250 - £750 A DAY but with the level of social care at home (zero currently) and still no access to work support for that work yet I’m currently only managing about 7 days every few months. This system is impossibly cruel.
Brilliantly put, Terri. The narrative of benefits being more than wages infuriates me. During a low patch a couple of years ago I needed UC…and got £325 a month! £80 a WEEK! Fuck me, I defy anyone to even buy food for that, let alone pay the bills. It’s obscene…