The time-limiting of ESA is targetted on disabled people who are put in the ESA Work Related Activity Group because they are expected to be able to rejoin the workforce at some point in the future. The problem is the ‘at some point’. I’m in the WRAG and under the current proposals after 12 months (Tories) or 24 months (Labour) my benefit will be cut to precisely nothing, even though my situation isn’t actually improving and has actually gone backwards rather than forwards, and that is true for 700,000 other disabled people.

Essentially we’re being punished for having the temerity to not be cured within a year, yet to borrow the words of a memorable advert, a disability is generally for life, not just for Christmas.

This is not just The Nasty Party it is The Evil Party.

Not only that but the government defence is that these people “have other means of support”

What is this support?

A working partner earning just 7k or over.

Could you support a sick or even dying relative on 7k a year?

@Sue: Essentially this policy is telling me that I was a fool to save money while I could work, I should have been as profligate as possible, because having savings as a disabled person just means the government will force you to expend them when your disability forces you out of work.

Or from another perspective, disabled people who can’t work aren’t allowed to have savings.

To be fair though the Tories are simply putting the New Labour plans for the disabled into action. They’ve speeded it up yes, but at the heart of the policy has always been the premise that disabled people are parasites who need to be forced into work by private contractors.

The Tories are particularly unpleasant in this, but they are just carrying out James Purnell’s solution to the disabled problem.

Solution to the disabled problem? are we living in 1930′s Germany now?

The only problem disabled people have is the procession of mediocre bureaucrats who believe they have a right to tyrannize over people who are less fortunate than themselves.

This is the caring Conservative Party that Cameron believes in.

He just doesn’t have a clue.

@Ben2: There’s nothing ‘fair’ about both Tory and Labour parties having actively disablist benefit policies and being engaged in continuing demonisation of disabled people. Meanwhile the best that can be said for the LibDems is that they have allowed their Tory puppetmasters to thoroughly gag them on the issue without even a peep of protest for their supposed principles of social justice.

What I’m saying is that if New Labour are going to pretend to be the friend of the disabled and oppressed, they should probably stop conflating disabled people and irresponsible bankers in terms of the damage they’ve done to the economy.

Which is exactly what Ed Milliband did in his latest speech.

The problem is they’re a largely voiceless minority that the Daily Mail hates (rather like the jews in the 30s) and populist bigotry is far more important to the Labour party than any sort of moral principle.