DISABLED people in Cheshire are among the first in the country to claim a new benefit but campaigners say the change is ‘a straightforward cut’.
The Government says the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA), is designed to support disabled people to live independent lives.
But campaigner Richard Atkinson of Boughton, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, said: “The government expect to save over £1 billion a year by stopping or reducing the Disability Living Allowance paid to over 500,000 disabled people of working age.
“Disability Living Allowance is not an optional extra or luxury. It is the only income disabled people have to help meet the extra costs of their disability and maintain their independence. Its loss or reduction with the transfer to the misnamed 'Personal Independence Payment' will mean a massive loss of income and independence for disabled people.”
Mr Atkinson, who worked as a welfare rights adviser for more than 20 years, said the ‘biggest reason by far’ for increasing numbers claiming DLA is that disabled people are simply living longer.
He claimed hundreds of thousands of disabled people had been mis-assessed for the new benefit by French computer company ATOS, using a tick box system.
He added: “Cuts to disability benefits were part of the reason why George Osborne was booed when he appeared at the Paralympics.”
