The case for keeping DLA

I have been wanting to do a blogpost on this subject for sometime. But my earlier blogpost on the governments plans to replace the disability living allowance and reform the benifit totally and this blog post here
http://carerwatch.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/welfare-system-%e2%80%98does-not-need-overhaul%e2%80%99/

have encouraged me to put my own views across in a blogpost.

I am myself registered blind. Having lost my sight back in 2004 through a rare genetic disease named Lebers optical neuropathy disease. This caused me to loose my central vision over the space of a few months. Leaving me with very little sight.

I started claiming DLA from the end of that year. I feel that DLA adds to my life. It enables me to be independant getting about to social events by taxi's which in my opinion are a rip off anyway but there we go. It enables me to pay my mum for rent to the stay in her house and furthers my life i feel.

I do think there could be changes to this benifit where people who are not that disabled or that impaired should maybe be removed from it or have their payments reduced somewhat. But the idea that the DLA is discouraging people from working is absolute nonsense as first of all the DLA is not a work based benifit. You may still claim it while you are in work. I do exactly this as i work 2 days a week currently.

It is not also there to boost your income per week, income support is there and working tax credits are there for that.

I personally can see little point in a mass over haul of this particular benifit. It is not a substitute for work and we shuld not buy the line that the government are throwing at us that it encourages people who are disabled not to work.

I feel it goes a long way to helping disabled people live a independant life. I for one will be protesting to protect the DLA if i possibly can and hope that many other blind and other disabled people join with me to oppose this disgusting move by the government.

The plan is to bring this new benifit in in 2013 with strict medical assessments taking place from then on. I fear for myself and others who will no doubt miss out on this and be left in a worse position than t hey are now.

I think this move is going totally the wrong way, we should be looking to increase the DLA to disabled people not taking it away or reforming it as they cleverly disguise it as.

Of course ther are cases wher people may be claiming it wrongly and have more sight and can cope quite well but this can easily be resolved by medical assesments and a doctors letter backing up their claims or not.

I see no need fora huge overhaul of the welfare system and the disabled benifit system at all. Just like the post i link to further up we all agree this is unessesary and heaps further missery on the less well off in this country.

To me it is a further attack on the poor and the weak. If we taxed the bankers a lot lot more and made sure to close the tax loop holes that certain companies seem to still be getting away with we could afford to support our elderly and disabled and sick properly like a proper modern country should do.

Please if you are against this move by the government and its proposals please look up my facebook page for keeping the disability living allowance

that is at the follwoing link http://is.gd/ii4D1

please join it and spread the word. If anyoen would like to help me start a campaign to protect DLA please do contact me through twitter or email
@markwrightuk88
or markwrightuk@gmail.com

many thanks for reading