There is a basic and essential principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
This parliament, the authorities and the right-wing media are circumventing that principle by means of propaganda and mass accusations.
It is now assumed within these groups (and elsewhere) that a person in receipt of disability benefits is defrauding the taxpayer. They are standing the legal entitlement to a presumption of innocence on its head.
They are taking apart a vulnerable section of the community and forcing them to prove their innocence of that accusation, not just once, but over and over again.
Wherever there’s any doubt about the validity of a claim, guilt is assumed and the benefits stopped. This happens to thousands of people every week, not because they are defrauding the taxpayer, but because the assessment process is deeply flawed and heavily biased against claimants.
The consequences are extremely serious. People are starving, losing their homes, their already damaged health and in so many tragic cases, their lives.
Added to this outrage is an utterly inadequate appeals system. In the many cases where appeals are eventually successful, enormous damage has already been done to the lives and health of the claimant.
I struggle to believe that this is all the result of catastrophic incompetence. This parliament is eagerly pursuing the same frenzy of contempt and hatred whipped up in the electorate by sensationalist media.
There is no leadership, they are selling their souls for votes and the chance to continue ripping off the nation via dubious expenses claims and the feathering of corporate nests. In any society worth belonging to, this vile witch-hunt would be outlawed rather than driven by the government.
My knowledge of the law is only that of a layman but I have a strong sense of justice. Surely there’s someone out there with enough knowledge and experience to stand up against this social cancer which is destroying this once Great Britain?
Mark Williams
WNS
