Bronwyn

A reminder to @Helen_Whately and other politicians hell bent on cutting critical services and support, that treating welfare reform as nothing more than a cost-saving exercise has very real human consequences. In 2010, Scottish poet Paul Reekie took his own life, aged 48. He left no suicide note. Instead, on his desk were two letters. One informing him that his incapacity benefit had been stopped. The other informing him that his housing benefit had been stopped. His GP subsequently raised his death as a warning about the consequences of welfare reforms. This is what gets lost when politicians reduce disability, illness and poverty to numbers on a spreadsheet. We're talking about people who depend on this support to survive. People already facing enormous challenges, who are then pushed further into poverty, insecurity and desperation by decisions made in Westminster. Of course we should all want a welfare system that works better. But reform should be about improving people's lives, providing meaningful support and addressing the reasons people need help in the first place. That means creating genuine opportunities for those who can work, removing the barriers that prevent them from doing so, and ensuring that those who can't work have the security, dignity and support they need to live fulfilling lives. The measure of success can't simply be how much money the Treasury saves. It must be how many lives we improve, how many opportunities we create, and what happens to the people whose support is taken away. The human cost of getting that wrong is irreversible.