Definition Of A Carer?

So what is a carer? Easy question isn't it? Well not really.

Why ask the question? Well if you go to most carer forums, even the national charity ones you will see that almost every one of those who post on them say that Carers Allowance is too low. I don't think many people would disagree with that, but here's the thing, is there really over 6 million carers in the UK? National charities seem to include people who just support older people in that 6 million but they would not be eligible for Carers Allowance so should they be classed as “a carer”?
I've always said that carers need to have an actual 'definition' of what a carer is, for example: Carer Worker, Foster Carer, Care Support Worker, the list goes on, hell there’s even an Animal Foster Carer (link http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/how_to_help/animal_foster_carer) . The statistics pushed out by Carers UK (link http://www.carersuk.org/) are absurd! 45% of people have given up work to care for someone? Absolute nonsense.


To be eligible for Carers Allowance you need to fulfil a set of rules, the government states-

Carer’s Allowance is £61.35 a week to help you look after someone with substantial caring needs.

You don’t have to be related to, or live with, the person you care for.

You must be 16 or over and spend at least 35 hours a week caring for them.

The person you care for must already get one of these benefits:

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) daily living component

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - the middle or highest care rate

Attendance Allowance

Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, or basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension

Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)

Going by that there are about 1.5 million people getting or should be getting Carers Allowance so where does the “6 million carers” come from? I’ve been shouted down about this before but the thing is you cannot get justice for carers if their numbers are falsely inflated, the opposite will apply. Including people who do the odd bit of shopping for a pensioner or does their garden once in a while as being carers is insulting to actual carers anyway but this is what’s happening and it’s stupid, damn stupid.

This is where the idea of an actual definition for those people who get or should get Carers Allowance comes into play. It’s simplistic but it seems you need to start somewhere. Petitions and mass email campaigns to MP’s have done nothing to raise Carers Allowance no one can say it has. So go back to the drawing board, start with those carers that can be defined by the Carers Allowance they receive or should receive (there are people that should be eligible for Carers Allowance but the overlapping benefit rule hits them like people who draw the state pension or they are children who are carrying out a caring role for example).
Okay this is rehashing an idea from when I ran UK Carers (link http://www.ukcarers.net) but it is still valid, and to this day I still cannot work out why national carer charities want to falsely inflate the number of carers.


Stop mixing carers in with every other group or organisation that is connected to “carers”, define us - pay us, simples.

And while we are stop excluding carers. The list of groups that needed reminding that carers actually exist is pretty astounding, the WOW petition group, Labours Disability Poverty Taskforce, the Spartacus group to name just a few. Oh, even the People’s Parliament (link http://thepeoplesparliament.me.uk/) doesn’t seem to have a single mention of carers. Are all carers feeble-minded simpering old biddies? No we are not! I’ve seen groups saying that there should be unity between online disabled groups and still fail to grasp the fact we carers exist.

Being the realist I am though I know that there never will be unity. I know that there are those online like myself that people hate, personally I don’t give two hoots (*though I toned that down) Anyone that is different to the norm, has ideas that others don’t like such as refusing to accept anything that carer charities pump out tend to be taken as weirdos to be avoided. That’s fine, I have no problem with that, safe to say though that in the many years campaigning for carers the one issue that comes up time and time again is the fact that Carers Allowance is too low. So perhaps we ‘weirdos’ aren’t the problem after? I‘ve even been called a “dangerous man“ for challenging one national carer charity to work ‘for’ carers rather than to decide what is ‘best’ for carers.

Define us - pay us, it isn’t rocket science, it’s not that hard to do at all. Carers need to get out of the mind-set that they are a shadow of the disabled person they care for. They aren’t shadows they are an important part of the lives of our carees. But the thing is getting carers to realise they are important because they damn well are.

Morning Star Thanks As Usual & Caroline Flint

It seems the only newspaper that is constantly interested in highlighting the plight of disabled people and carers is the Morning Star.

Once again this excellent newspaper allowed me to do a piece about Conservative attacks on disabled people and their unwillingness to meet with carers or disabled people.
The article I mentioned is about Justin Tomlinson and David Cameron voting against giving disabled people an income that didn't mean they had to endure poverty. Being able to heat their homes, eat decent food and not have to have the added worry about getting a referral to a food bank, not worry about bills. This isn't "welfare dependency" this is about lessening the effects of living a life with a disability for Gods sake!

Labour still haven't learnt that an opposition "opposes" attacks on disabled people and the poorer in society not supports cuts to benefits. Another good example would be Caroline Flint who said that Labour should be comfortable giving those it thought were choosing to live on benefits a “kick up the backside”.

This shows that Labour haven't moved from being "Tory-lite" and will be destined to stay in opposition for years.
Also those who haven't chosen to "live on benefits" but have no choice but to exist on benefits for one reason or another will continue to be the targets of millionaire out-of-touch politicians.
Lets add an honorary mention of Iain Duncan Smith's plans to plunge 40,000 children into poverty
Disabled people and those that cannot find work need to fear the Tories, even if those "Tories" are Labour politicians like Ms Flint who seems to have failed to research why Labour came into being. There could always be the alternative of the Lib Dems led by Tim Farron, the politician who opposes the Tories bedroom tax so much that he voted in favour of it almost every single time.

Social Media And Anti Disabled People Comments

I've always said that being "reasonable" gets you no where when it comes to dealing with the likes of Daily Mail/Sun/Torygraph readers, the sort of people that say in the comment section of articles that "there's loads of fraud in disability benefits, we all know someone who cheats the system".


As I said many years ago you have to be proactive against these internet idiots, put the facts in front of them, if they get stroppy then get stroppier. Make these people realise that disabled people and carers are ready to fight back. Hell, take on Katie Price if you feel like it. If you can make these people realise that their bullshit will be called out and virtually slapped around till they either accept they are wrong or block you.


After some idiot decided to say there are many who defraud disability benefits by "needlessly" claiming them (*cough-multi millionaire David and Sam Cameron-cough*)  for their child that had ADHD was forced to face facts and after exchanging insults, anger and foul language they decided to call me a bully and block me.


That's great, maybe next time @claytonrogers18 on Twitter decides to attack disabled people because of their ignorance or bigotry they will think twice.


There  morons have to be faced down, disabled people and carers cannot allow their misinformation to go unchallenged. If anyone is struggling with a tory troll then give me a call @ukcarers   


Be as "unreasonable" as you possibly can, being reasonable does nothing      

Justin Tomlinson Minister For Disabled People And Cameron's Puppet

　
It is with some fear that disabled people will have to have Justin Tomlinson foisted on them as the latest Minister for Disabled People, the latest in a long line of totally inadequate Ministers as I've said before.


Being a carer and a campaigner for carers for almost 20 years now I’ve seen them come and go. I cannot recall one Minister from any party that actually wanted to help make things easier for disabled people let alone carers.


Justin Tomlinson has voted against protecting the benefits of disabled children and those undergoing cancer treatment but why did he vote against this?


Now perhaps when it comes to children David Cameron has a poor memory, but surely he remembers he had a disabled child? And that David Cameron himself was so pleased that Disability Living Allowance was there to help with the extra expenses for Ivan? Things must have been hard for a multi millionaire family that they needed to claim disability benefits, the same benefits that Tomlinson would rather wasn’t ‘protected’. That should have made him think twice about giving Tomlinson his position.


Disabled people were scared when hearing that the Tories had won the General Election, they can now move that up a notch to ‘being petrified‘. He will not only be Cameron’s lapdog but Iain Duncan Smith’s puppet, and we all know that IDS has no sympathy for people who are not millionaires.


Tomlinson will be the worst Minister for Disabled People ever. I’m not saying this because I hate the Conservative Party I am saying this from experience AND because I hate the Tory Party. The man has no morals.


Tomlinson does know about carers as he has taken part in many ‘Carers Week’ events so he must also be aware of their worries like 40 to 50% of carers that will lose their Carers Allowance if the Tories have their way. This is on top of the 25,000 former MP (and it’s so nice to be able to say that about this woman) Esther McVey
.
The blame for Tomlinson’s views about disabled people cannot be completely placed at his door, in fact if you look through the “They Work For You” website you will see many or most Conservative and Lib Dem politicians from the coalition have all voted the same way when it comes to providing vital financial help for disabled people.


So the big question is who instructed these politicians to be so anti disabled people, it has to come from the top, the Prime Minister surely? David Cameron who had a disabled son, a son he loves to use as a tool when it comes to the NHS and benefit system so how did he vote when it came to paying higher benefits for those unable to work because of being disabled?


After checking the way many ConDem MP’s voted I found out that David Cameron voted against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability! How can he keep using poor Ivan when he has no time for disabled people at all? Or was Ivan the only disabled person David Cameron cared about?


Justin Tomlinson will do whatever the Prime Minister tells him when it comes to disabled people, if David Cameron thinks so little of his late son Ivan then he will have no trouble making the lives of other disabled people hell.


It’s going to be a very long, very miserable 5 years if you are disabled or unemployed or both.

Justin Tomlinson - Just No Backbone

             I challenge any of these MP's to meet withcarers and disabled people


Well I got my reply from the DWP for a meeting with the Minister for Disabled People requesting a meeting regarding the removal of Carers Allowance for up to 50% of carers, the reply should come as a surprise to no one

            Dear Mr Arnold

Thank you for your email of 12 May to the Minister for Disabled People about Carer’s Allowance. Government Ministers receive a large volume of correspondence and they are unable to reply personally on every occasion. I have been asked to respond.

The Government recognises and applauds the enormous effort and commitment of those who have the responsibility of caring for others. However, I am sure you will appreciate that owing to his commitments, the Minister will be unable to meet with you.

As you know, Carer's Allowance is a non-contributory benefit available to people who have given up the opportunity of full-time paid employment in order to provide substantial care, of at least 35 hours a week, to a severely disabled person. The person being cared for must be receiving either the highest or middle rate of the Disability Living Allowance care component, Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance at the appropriate rate, the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment or Armed Forces Independence Payment. In addition, recipients may qualify for higher rates of Pension Credit and of income-related benefits like Income Support or Housing Benefit.

All Governments keep the benefit system under continual review, but there are no plans to remove support for carers.
Yours sincerely
John Herron

This is a 'par for the course' reply when asking to meet a Minister, also the usual patronising platitude is rolled out to attempt to placate any carer that contacts them. After 20 years that don't work! I was getting the same replies from Labour last time they were in power.

I've emailed back saying I don't accept their refusal to arrange a meeting and would travel anywhere even for a couple of minutes to speak to the guy who voted to take away vital financial support for disabled children. Hell I even said I'd accept a meeting via Skype to get to talk to this Minister.

If politicians from any political party decide to attack disabled people and carers at least they could be brave enough to face the people whose lives they are going to decimate. I'm ready, I'm here, talk to me Tomlinson, I've no fear of you why do you fear a humble carer?

Anyone media sources want to help make this happen? Anyone want to join in a Skype meeting with Justin Tomlinson? How about anyone else from IDS's department? It's time to fight, no one else will speak for us effectively so it's time to get out of your comfort zones and get in their faces

Justin Tomlinson - The Hypocrite Stoops Lower Still

Just when it seems like the Tories can't stoop any lower we have a great example of how our latest Minister Against Disabled People Mr Justin Tomlinson paying a visit to Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group

If readers might care to remember Mr Tomlinson is the MP who voted against protecting benefits for disabled children. What on earth persuaded Swindon Down's Syndrome Group to invite an MP who would deny these children vital help? This blatant PR exercise shows Tomlinson has no morals, no ethics and will exploit disabled children in the same way  David Cameron exploited his own son!




As a carer I've seen many mistakes made by campaigners, hell I've made quite a few myself and I'm not afraid to admit it, but I've yet to see a full-blooded attack on Justin Tomlinson's appointment. There's been the odd mention, loads of comments on Twitter, but no 'go for the throat' attacks, and that is a mistake.


This 'man' has shown himself to be a bigot, someone that views disabled people as not worth helping, a burden on society. Tomlinson must face disabled people and carers anger, lets hope the groups that are left discover that change won't happen from being reasonable,
won't happen from some online petition,
won't happen by selling out to the enemy (Sue Marsh reference)
won't happen by relying on charities,
things will happen when disabled people and carers finally get it through their thick heads that they need to demand they speak for themselves and demand that MP's face them to give them answers.
My only question to Justin Tomlinson is "why"?

Justin Tomlinson And Carers.....And Hypocrisy

Seems Justin Tomlinson can't help being a hypocrite or a self-serving 'toe-the-line' Tory.



The article here shows Mr Tomlinson meeting with carers and pledging his support. It's a shame that he didn't tell them that he will be voting with the government to scrap Carers Allowance for up to 50% of carers.

I'd like him to prove me wrong but lets see how this picture

 

 comes back to bite him on his a$$ given that he is highly likely to vote to scrap Carers Allowance for approximately 40% of carers.

Placing this man in a position of fighting for disabled people is a very callous  move by David Cameron. Cameron knows this man will vote against any measure to help disabled people and carers.



Due notice is being given David Cameron on Justin Tomlinson, your actions are now being monitored. You might have conned the likes of the Daily Mail and Sun readers but most other people with a consciance know what you are doing.

Cameron's Casualties is nothing to be proud of