Mon 3 Feb 2020 13.51 EST
Last modified on Mon 3 Feb 2020 14.30 EST
The death of Errol Graham (Disabled man starved to death after DWP stopped his benefits, 29 January) brought back sad memories. In September 2018 my son was found dead, weighing under five stone after a long period of mental health problems including severe OCD, and a non-specific eating disorder underwritten by Asperger syndrome. Like Mr Graham, he had cut himself off entirely from his loving family.
However, it is possible to get a more humane response from the DWP. I applied for disability living allowance (DLA) and later employment and support allowance (ESA) for my son without his knowledge or cooperation. As in Mr Graham’s case, he had refused to be assessed face-to-face or to cooperate with any public body. I attached a long letter, backed up by my wonderful GP, explaining this. To my surprise and gratitude he was given DLA at the full rate and, later, ESA with extra for severe disability, and put in the non-working group without having to go through the nightmare of the very stressful and unfair personal assessment.
I have every reason to be grateful to the DWP, but would point out it was a difficult and fraught process. Perhaps I was lucky to succeed, but sadly this did not keep my son alive. The assessment process is, in most cases, severe and not fit for purpose, but there are some decent people still willing to bend the rules.
Jane Ghosh
Bristol
• Why does the Guardian not call out the death of another disabled person related to Britain’s benefit system for what it is – social murder? The philosopher Friedrich Engels used this term to describe the maiming and killing of working-class people through poor wages, and working and living conditions in the 19th century. His point was that even then the consequences of such circumstances were known and predicable and, therefore, avoidable.
Similar arguments can be made about austerity-driven social security policies in contemporary Britain. The impact of such policies on the income poorest people are known and, hence, they are also predictable and avoidable. Those in positions of power, however, choose to ignore their responsibilities in demanding policies that are harming disabled benefit recipients, and wilfully refuse to urgently overhaul a benefits system that routinely leads to hardship and, for some, to ill-health and death. The social murder of Errol Graham is another shameful indictment of the way disabled people are treated.
Dr Chris Grover
Department of Sociology, Lancaster University
• Last week I received a letter from the DWP telling me that, upon turning 80, I am entitled to a pension increase of 25p a week. I am trying to be grateful and am resolved not to spend it all at once. I have asked every 80-year-old I know (those who aren’t too busy making marmalade) what one can buy with 25p and how they feel. Their answers are mostly unprintable.
Amanda Theunissen
Bristol
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