Dad had radio four on as we drove to campus this morning. It may be uncool for people my age to admit to liking radio four, but I love it. It has great authority perhaps the greatest authority and gravitas of any radio station in Britain – yet can let its hair down on occasion. (Mornington crescent, anyone?). anyway, I was very amused to hear of the new Tory plan to cut down on benefit fraud. I mean, who are they trying to kid? Benefit is an urban straw man; I admit it’s a problem, but its nowhere near as widespread as people, especially those on the right, make it out to be. The benefit fraudster is a popular bogeyman, and nothing more. CaMoron might as well have promised to get rid of the grinch.

More seriously though, this has profound implications. The conservatives will make it much harder to claim incapacity benefit. This is hard enough already:

apparently, there have been cases of people having heart attacks during this process. Moreover, many people have hidden disabilities, such as arthritis or late onset m.d, which, while hard to verify, render one incapable of working.

If I was paranoid, I would say the Tories intend a war on disabled people. with their attitude towards inclusion, and now this, it certainly seems that way. The recent polls scare me. I just hope the country comes to it’s senses before it does something really stupid and turns back to the right.