<DIV>Don't make the assumption that the approval of "disability groups" means end of story. There are many disability organisations, particularly the large national charities, who are organisations <EM>for </EM>disabled people, rather than <EM>of </EM>disabled people. It will be interesting to see who thinks it's a good idea.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chris<BR><BR><B><I>Dan <dan@aktivix.org></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">At last, some details! Toynbee sez:<BR><BR>"For a long time now, No 10 has been muttering and threatening over <BR>Incapacity Benefit. Nasty ideas have floated across the Atlantic - such <BR>as time-limiting the benefit: get well, get a job, get out or die.<BR><BR>"It didn't happen. It only sounded that way, as yet again this week Tony <BR>Blair announced the new policy with a flourish of sabre-rattling <BR>designed to appease not inform. It sent anxious frissons through the <BR>ranks of those who have been on IB for years. Backbenchers were cracking <BR>their knuckles ready for a heavyweight fight on this one. MPs <BR>representing zones of post-industrial despair know those on IB. The <BR>usually loyal Stephen Byers was sending up flares, talking of men whose <BR>spirits and bodies had been broken by long years of hard physical toil, <BR>men who don't deserve to be harried and
threatened now."<BR><BR>"The result? A climbdown by the No 10 electioneers and a more thoughtful <BR>new policy from the astute and worldly-wise Alan Johnson, the work and <BR>pensions secretary. It was greeted by backbenchers and disability groups <BR>alike with a surprised degree of welcome. The opposition parties were <BR>wrong-footed, and an explosive issue was defused. The new system has a <BR>better chance of working than anything more punitive could ever have done."<BR><BR>http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1405606,00.html<BR><BR>Hmm... Perhaps the first meeting in March could be to assess all this. <BR>How actually will the law pan out? The devil is always in the detail, <BR>not in the headlines or Polly Toynbee's rosy view of people's fluffy <BR>urge to get back into work at any cost...<BR><BR>On the other hand, if disability groups genuinely, and generally, <BR>believe it's a fair, supportive and workable change, then there ain't <BR>gonna be much to
do...<BR><BR>Dan<BR><BR>-- <BR>07968 997861<BR>0114 2412723<BR><BR>The true meaning of life is to plant trees,<BR>under whose shade you do not expect to sit.<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><p>
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