By Erica Crompton Martha Cliff
A SENSE of ease comes over me, as I read the news on the sun-trap terrace which overlooks my sprawling garden as I realise my benefits aren鈥檛 going anywhere.
Until Tuesday a guillotine was hanging above me, threatening to cut off my monthly PIP payments, but thanks to a retreat from Keir Starmer they鈥檙e safe鈥 for now.
Reforms would have seen disabled Brits like me face stricter tests to qualify for support the changes have now been shelved entirely 鈥 with no set date for when, or if, they will happen
How long my comfortable life will last remains to be seen as it seems my 拢14,400 income from Universal Credit and PIP are always up for grabs, no matter the party in power.
I鈥檝e come to see the majority of political parties as the real thugs.
Whoever is in power, you can guarantee they鈥檒l have threatened – or have already implemented – major cuts to my income.
Had Labour鈥檚 suggested cuts come into play I may have lost 拢600 of the total sum of 拢1200 I receive in benefits a month.
It might seem like a lot but I implore you to bear in mind that minimum wages, full-time, meets 拢2,000 a month. So, my total benefits aren鈥檛 exactly a footballer鈥檚 salary or an heir’s trust fund.
For Universal Credit, I now get 拢381 housing benefit; 拢201 for caring over 24 hours a week and 拢400 for being unemployed due to my schizophrenia (it seems to change month-by-month and is constantly under review meaning this could also be up for grabs).
PIP is a standard, monthly payment of 拢295 I always get. It helps with costs associated with my illness – regardless of whether or not I鈥檓 in work.
The proposal of a points system for PIP meant I would lose it completely as I only score 2 points for a few concerns over 12 questions (in total mine was 11 points).
For example: communication can be hard in groups and I often fall out with friends and family – especially on the internet, phone or Whatsapp.
Or I might need prompting for my weekly bath, simply because I鈥檓 getting smelly.
These side effects all only score 2 points, not the proposed 4 to keep PIP.
This week Reeve鈥檚 plans were watered down by Starmer, thanks to some more moral Labour backbenchers (with backbones?)
Given the hateful responses I receive when I speak publicly about claiming benefits, I doubt I鈥檝e heard the last of any of our 鈥榙isability benefits being axed.鈥
As I casually scroll through the comments I received on social media, I get more angry faces and hateful comments than murderers, child killers and rapists.
I have to disagree with all of them and believe I – we – deserve support from the state for a severe mental illness, mine is schizo-affective disorder, and for putting in 50 hours a week caring for my partner, a wheelchair user.
I also believe without the cost of children, I should be able to spend my stipend on little luxuries like my 60 fags a day habit and hand-painted cat food bowls which I imported for 拢75 from India.
I鈥檓 aware that many countries’ welfare states don’t exist, like India where my cat bowls hail from, so I’m still grateful for any support I do receive.
It鈥檚 not just trolls saying I鈥檓 a 鈥榣eech鈥 or 鈥榮crounger鈥 who I face criticism from though – even doctors can’t agree on what schizophrenia is and many naysayers even go as far as to say “it’s only in the mind & there’s nothing wrong at all” or that it鈥檚 just a 鈥渉uman response to traumatic life events鈥.
But what they don鈥檛 factor in is the major physical toll my mental health takes on my body.
I’d like to offer these negative Nellys a day’s worth of my medication and see how they get on.
My boyfriend Paul was mostly in bed asleep for three days after just one dose he mistook for a paracetamol which I鈥檝e taken three times a day for over two decades.
This tiredness is real.
Paranoia is real, it鈥檚 hard to be around more than one person when you鈥檙e trying to read code behind everyone鈥檚 speech (a typical schizo-spectrum symptom known as 鈥榯hought broadcasting鈥).
The poor personal hygiene is real, I might only bathe once a week. My anxiety is crippling, too, but I鈥檝e learned to put on a brave face and try to remain calm and positive. Still, even a brave face doesn鈥檛 erase a churning stomach.
But Reeve鈥檚 鈥榝our point鈥 system didn鈥檛 take these things into account. You may well have needed to prove that you have an actual carer come in to wash your bottom twice a day to get 4 points on PIP benefits.
Never mind reeking too much to leave the house and be in public – let alone in an office.
This idea that work might make us better – which Reeves drove home and used to justify her cruel cuts – felt like gaslighting. 鈥淲e believe if you can work, you should work.鈥 she stated.
But PIP is a benefit you can also claim while working.
Like me, many need their benefits – both PIP and Universal Credit – to 鈥渢op-up鈥 part-time work wages and that allows them to manage their disability, to care for a loved one, or both.
For ten years in my twenties I worked two-three jobs to make ends meet. I always ended up on the mental health crisis phoneline, with a duty nurse telling me I needed to take substantial time off or quit my job.
Eventually I quit working full-time for good, and my mental health has improved markedly.
I now care full-time and put in 10-16 hours of writing a week.
I know first hand, poverty doesn鈥檛 cure mental illness (or any disability) – it exasperates them, and only makes them worse – putting even more strain on an already underfunded NHS.
Therefore any kind of cuts to disability benefits, particularly those that penalise people with mental health issues will only cost us more in the long run, both in budgets and lives.
And while I appreciate that reforms may be on hold for now I dread to think what could come out in Sir Stephen Timms鈥 PIP review at the end of 2026.
But I beg Labour not to cast people like me aside. We鈥檙e not scroungers and for us PIP is a lifeline.