Incapacity Benefit Solutions

by Craig Chapman - 08:52 on 23 October 2008

Speaking to a guy yesterday certainly put a few things in perspective for me. 

He works for Remploy, a group of companies around the UK that employ mostly handicapped staff in packaging, assembly and manufacturing roles. He told me about the passion they have for their jobs, how it all improves their lives and gives them a feeling of worth and belonging and how hard they try to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. 

He told me about one guy who worked there for 22 years but his condition led to his eyesight eventually failing. He had to change roles as his vision deteriorated. Once he couldn’t safely work anymore, he lost his job there, but he still drops by the office a couple of times each week where the staff, help him out with anything that needs writing or replying to. 

Now let us look at how many people in the UK are claiming sickness / incapacity / disability benefits. Figures as high 4.5 million have been suggested many of whom I’m very sure are indeed unable to work. However..... 

(eg) My father took sickness benefits from the age of 53, having had a heart attack and double bypass surgery. He lasted another 21 years, however he wished that he could have worked perhaps 2 days each week for a few more years, which he was confident that he could have handled and in turn been less of a burden, however our benefits system did not work that way and it still doesn’t now. He knew his limitations, but he also missed his work mates, his routine, his pleasure in making things work again for people - he was a very good electrician. 

Popular Alliance propose that a work share system should be introduced for those people on sickness and incapacity benefits who believe that they could carry on in part time or less demanding work, but cannot work a full week due to whatever medical problem they have. For the working days, they should receive the wage due for that position and for the other days they should be entitled to their benefits.

It is good for someone’s self esteem to know that they still have a worth and can pass on their skills and knowledge to someone else and that people believe in them. 

It is not good for a workforce’s confidence in its government to know that they cast people aside, take huge amounts from our tax payments to feed and house them and then in turn tell us that we need to allow the rest of the world to come here and carry out those very jobs. 

We as a nation cannot afford to just cast these people aside once they cannot work full time and likewise, this nation cannot afford to have so many sitting around claiming benefits.  

A common sense solution is to offer 1-2 days per week work for those unable to work a full week. At an average of one day per week job share, we drop the burden upon our taxes by 20%. How can this be wrong ?

Popular Alliance also has very good, common sense policies regarding :-

i) minimum wages and their correlation with the amount that the work shy scroungers can claim by not working, many people say that they cannot afford to work ???

ii) scrapping income tax on all wages below £15,000 to encourage people out of the claim culture

iii) ensuring that anyone coming into this country to scrounge from our hard earned taxes, has to pay upfront to benefit from NHS, school, welfare, etc, services.

If these ridiculous situations, permitted and almost encouranged by our past and present governments, make your blood boil as they do ours, then please do take time to read more about Popular Alliance and consider joining us as a Full or Associate Member. This country will not improve whilst everyone keeps their thoughts to themselves.

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