Missing the point on disability

The BBC are running a story on cuts to disability benefit.

In true BBC style, it's emotional, factually incorrect and designed to make us think cuts to the public sector will be the downfall of civilisation.

It includes quotes from this woman

with a sob story about her severely disabled son who will not be able to function without government money.

The trouble is, they are reporting about the wrong people. They should be running a story about my mate, we'll call him Burt.

Burt used to drink in one of the pubs I used to work in. I still see him often when I'm down the pub and we've become friends. Burt used to be a landlord himself and he is a raging alcoholic. He tells me that when he ran a pub he used to drink thirty pints a day. I find that a bit impossible but these alcoholics can achieve some amazing drinking feats.

He also has epilepsy, and by his own admission, this condition was brought on by his excessive drinking.

Apparently he wants to work (I don't believe that for a minute) but he can't get a job because of his epilepsy. Something to do with insurance.

This man gets more money off the government than I have ever earned in a full time job.

Quote from the BBC article:

"The human rights act says individuals have a right to a quality of life, the whole purpose of the DLA is to put them on an equal playing field with everyone else.

"Any proposal that fails to appreciate those fundamental rights could find it is an infringement of the law.

Paying this man a bigger wage than the average full time worker, is not putting him on an equal playing field, it's elevating him above the playing field of everyone else, the very people who work to pay for his booze.

I've always made my feelings clear on his benefit payments and he has always agreed. At the end of the day, as far as he is concerned he is getting the money and will continue to do so, so my opinions matter not.

Another chap I met in the pubs was receiving three hundred and five pounds a week on disability benefit, plus all his bills, rent, council tax etc, paid for him.

I told him my opinion of that and he said, "If you woke up with a chest like mine every morning you would understand". I said I probably would wake up with his chest if I blew 305 quid per week on fags and booze as he does, and no I wouldn't understand. (This man drinks Stella in the shower in the mornings)

The BBC are telling us that cuts to disability benefits are a bad thing while parading the severely disabled in front of us to make their case.

It's people like these alcoholics with self inflicted disability that should lose their money, and it's people like these that the BBC should be reporting.

Another quote from the article:

Charities including Disability Alliance claim the proposals are not about simplifying the system but are about removing 380,000 claimants from it.

Target the right claimants and you could easily remove 380,000 and then some.

And tell the charities to fuck the fuck off.