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“Very disturbing” new government figures show a steep fall in the proportion of disabled people being found eligible for out-of-work disability benefits. Disabled campaigners fear the figures show the government is cutting spending on disability benefits “below the radar”, after being […]
The Liberal Democrats are set to call for the much-criticised “fitness for work” test to be scrapped, as part of a major shake-up of the party’s social security policy. The annual party conference will next week debate a new policy paper […]
A string of activists, academics, politicians and journalists have welcomed the publication of a new book by a disabled researcher which exposes how successive governments have planned the “demolition of the welfare state”. Mo Stewart has spent eight years researching the […]
A physiotherapist took just 35 minutes to carry out a face-to-face assessment that led to a man with complex mental health problems being found “fit for work”, a decision that appears to have triggered his suicide. Last week, the parents of […]
A government contractor has told a traumatised abuse survivor he must be reassessed for employment and support allowance (ESA), just a week after a minister faced a call to resign for threatening to stop another of his disability benefits. Justin Tomlinson, […]
Official figures suggest that a new appeal stage introduced for unsuccessful claimants has been little more than a delaying tactic aimed at reducing the number of disabled people claiming benefits, say campaigners. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has finally […]
Disabled activists and disabled people’s organisations have explained why they are backing a call for two former work and pensions ministers to face a criminal investigation for misconduct in public office. Many of the country’s leading disabled campaigners have spoken out […]
A disabled former Liberal Democrat MP has refused to criticise the Tory work and pensions secretary for covering up a report that linked the “fitness for work” test with a disabled man’s suicide. Stephen Lloyd, who narrowly lost his Eastbourne seat […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to confirm reports that it plans to force more sick and disabled people into work through its imminent shake-up of employment support. In an interview with the Daily Mail, work and pensions […]
Damning new evidence suggests that senior figures in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) covered up a coroner’s warning about the grave dangers posed by a new disability assessment. Disability News Service (DNS) has seen a series of letters that […]