March
25, 2016
Minister
made comments the day before replacing Iain Duncan Smith - and later
admitted they were 'inaccurate
|
Stephen
Crabb has been appointed as the new Work
and
Pensions Secretary AFP/Getty
|
People
with brain tumours, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease and a number of
other conditions are “able to
work”, new work and pensions
secretary Stephen Crabb has said.
Mr
Crabb made the comments the day before he replaced Iain Duncan Smith,
who resigned from his position because he found the planned cuts to disability
benefits announced in the latest Budget "not defensible".
The
MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire wrote on his Facebook
page last Thursday: “A decision was taken by MPs to change the
benefit awarded to a specific group of people who receive Employment Support
Allowance.”
The
43-year-old - who later backtracked on the statement - added: “These
people are in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) and they do have a
disability or illness but are able to work.”
In
response to a freedom of
information request, the Department for Work and Pensions
confirmed disabilities and illness under the employment and support allowance
work-related activity group include: strokes, brain haemorrhages, multiple
sclerosis, brain tumours, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease,
quadraplegia, polio and cerebral palsy.
Mr
Crabbs’ words were not well-received online.
Brian
Davies, a member of the public, wrote on the
Facebook post: “Could you explain how people who are admitted are unwell and
really shouldn't be put under this kind of pressure, how does lowering money
help them?”
Natalie
Windsor added: “This would be great if it were true. The government, however,
has not adequately responded to either help, correct error, or even apologise
for the thousands of people who have wrongly been diagnosed as able to work.”
The
controversy follows on from the Government’s u-turn on the Budget, which
had previously suggested a saving of £4.4bn by 2020-21 through
cuts to the disability budget.
Mr
Crabbs has since updated his Facebook post, admitting “it previously contained
a factual inaccuracy.”
He
added: “Of course we absolutely continue to protect those who are ‘too ill to
work’. There is no question about that. Those with the most severe health conditions and
disabilities will quite rightly continue to get a higher rate of benefit and
support.”
A few days ago:
Stephen Crabb:
A few days ago my constituency office was vandalised in response
to my recent vote to approve changes to the Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
This was not an isolated attack as other MPs offices were targeted by
individuals involved in a social media campaign.
I’m disappointed that some individuals choose to do this instead
of making an appointment to see me to discuss their concerns. Sadly all these
individuals achieved on Saturday was to create an inconvenience to my office
staff, local residents, and the Police. There are lots of ways to communicate
to convey concerns but criminal damage just isn’t an option.
There has been a lot of miscommunication about this vote which I
want to put right. A decision was taken by MPs to change the benefit awarded to
a specific group of people who receive Employment Support Allowance. These
people are in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) and they do have a
disability or illness but are considered able to work with support in the
future.
The overwhelming majority of people in this group say they want
to work, and so I think it is right that we do all we can to help them get back
into work. The changes mean that this group will now access the same level of
benefit as those on Job Seekers Allowance, but will be given better tailored
support to help them into employment. It doesn’t affect anyone who is already
claiming ESA, they will receive the exactly the same amount of benefit as they
do now.
The truth is that not all disabilities prevent people from
working. A great many disabled people get enormous fulfilment from being in
work. They would be extremely offended not to be considered equal in the job
market, and this benefit change means that more people will be able to take
these important steps from being benefit-dependent to the workplace.
Of course we absolutely continue to protect those who are ‘too
ill to work’. There is no question about that. Those with the most severe
health conditions and disabilities will quite rightly continue to get a higher
rate of benefit and support. And despite the political banter from Labour, the
disability budget is actually going to be rising by more than £1 billion over
the next 5 years which means that more money is being spent in real terms on
support for disabled people than at any point under the previous Labour
government.
I can see that there have been a few comments on this page and I
encourage people to email me directly if you would like a personal response
from me. I don’t always have time to reply to every comment on Facebook as I am
busy working on constituent casework via the telephone, email, letter and face
to face appointments. If you email me, I will always provide a response to
people who are living in Preseli Pembrokeshire. I cannot respond to people
outside of the area and suggest they contact their own MP directly.
Note: This post has been updated, as it previously contained a
factual inaccuracy.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/work-pensions-secretary-stephen-crabb-disability-able-fit-a6951946.html
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