On the 21st of April, David Cameron delivered a speech in which he promised ‘tough action’ for the 80,000 people claiming incapacity benefit for drug or alcohol related reasons. Despite this being an obvious, hollow and crowd-pleasing manoeuvre, I think it also demonstrated an inexcusable ignorance on Cameron’s part.
Of course, with the local elections approaching he needs to appeal to the stereotypical ‘worked hard all my life’ Tory voter, who generally holds the paradoxical opinion that the only citizens deserving of assistance from the welfare state are precisely those (like themselves) who don’t actually require it.
However, the figures Cameron quotes do not show the full picture, as the BBC’s Mark Easton notes:
According to one screaming tabloid headline today: “Blitz on benefits: 887,000 fiddlers exposed”. Echoing stories in many of this morning’s papers, the Daily Express says that three-quarters of Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants are “workshy spongers feigning serious disability”. Shocking, if true.
But it isn’t true. The key point [..] it that these are new applicants – people applying to see if they might be eligible for additional financial support.
Some will be trying it on, knowing they are quite well enough to work but hoping to hoodwink the assessors into giving them sickness benefit. But I suspect many are simply individuals who don’t want to miss out on a welfare payment to which they may be eligible. There is nothing ‘dodgy’ about seeing if you meet the criteria for something.
Unsurprisingly, many people learn that under the tough new medical assessments, they do not qualify. Others, on realising that they have to undergo detailed checks, withdraw their application.
This has nothing to do with a coalition “blitz on benefit cheats” or a “government crackdown on welfare scroungers”, however much Ministers would like to spin the stats. I would also note that today’s stories bear an uncanny resemblance to reports six months ago on the previous tranche of ESA data which said almost exactly the same thing. Far from providing evidence of sicknote Britain, the figures could be seen as evidence of citizens following government advice to ensure they “don’t miss out”.
More importantly, Cameron delivered his speech without stopping to consider that whilst addicts do indeed have to accept a share of the blame for their addiction, various other factors are in play behind the scenes of these benefit claims. He also appears to confuse recreational users with those who have developed a psychological dependency.
For an illustration of why Cameron’s remarks are so damaging, I’d like to turn to Jez Lewis’ fantastic documentary Shed your Tears and Walk Away, released last year. After returning to his home town of Hebden Bridge for the funeral of yet another childhood friend, Lewis decides to investigate why so many of his fellow classmates were succumbing to drink and drug related deaths.
Lewis meets up with his old friend Cass, who is locked into a cycle of alcoholism, with brief and unsuccessful stints in detox. The town is quiet and dull, slowly being overtaken with expensive flats for those wanting to escape the rat race. The addicts of Hebden Bridge spend their days in the park, many filled with a sense of total despair. Unemployment also plays a large part in their predicament.
However, as the film continues and Lewis explores the psyche of those in the town it becomes increasingly evident where this cycle of self destruction emerges from. In the case of Cass, this began with his abuse at the hands of his father, something which has haunted him ever since. In the film’s most moving scene, an addict known only as ‘Silly’ makes a hasty exit from a pub during a football match, and Lewis finds him outside, weeping uncontrollably.
Silly then proceeds to describe his time in the foreign legion during his youth, including the particularly moving story of how – during his time in Chad – he accidentally killed a 12 year old boy. Silly is clearly still suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. He speaks of his uncontrollable fear, his sleepless nights, wrecked relationships and importantly how he attempts to ‘blank it out’ with Heroin. For silly, these experiences have ‘fucked up’ his life and led straight down the road to addiction.
The only clear solution to this is treatment. However, funding for treatment facilities is being scaled back under the Tory-led austerity agenda. Additionally, any suggestions of withdrawing benefits from these users, or replacing with a US style food-stamp system are doomed to failure in my opinion, because as we all know, an addict will generally stop at nothing to get their fix, even if this involves a turn to crime. However you look at it, investment in treatment facilities is just common sense, socially and economically.
The tone of Cameron’s remarks also struck me as particularly harsh, wrapped as they were in a faux layer of care and concern. For example: would Cameron dare to suggest a similar plan for the 400,000 people claiming incapacity benefit for depression, given they too share a psychological condition, through no fault of their own. Can you imagine the outcry if he were to suggest that those with depression should simply have a cup of cocoa, get a job and cease their incessant drain on the public purse. Didn’t think so. The fact he feels he can apply this same reasoning to those with a drug or alcohol dependency is nothing short of scandalous.
Overall, the Conservative party needs to start treating drug and alcohol dependency as what Alcoholics Anonymous defines it as: a physical compulsion, coupled with a mental obsession, instead of resorting to cheap point-scoring at the expense of those who (partly thanks to him) are unable to rid themselves of a damaging psychological problem.
