Dan Biddle, who lost his legs, one of his eyes and his spleen in the 2005 London attacks, was asked to give information about how long he can stand and how many steps he can take.
In an interview with the Sun, 36 year old Biddle, who is Welsh, said:
"It is a betrayal. To be asked questions like 'How long can you stand for?'. How insensitive is that? If this isn’t re-affirming how bad my life is going to be because of my injuries, I don’t know what is."
Biddle had left his job in 2014 after suffering from stress disorder and started claiming Employment and Support Allowance. Now, if he does not provide the requested information, he could stop receiving his money. In a statement, a spokesperson of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said:
"It’s important that people claiming Employment Support Allowance receive all the support and benefits they are entitled to which is why, on occasion, we ask for questionnaires to be completed by the claimant or their next of kin."
Biddle’s is not an isolated incident. Just hours after the terror survivor’s story emerged, reports were published of a Derbyshire boy without arms and legs at risk of losing his benefits.
Edward Bright, a 16-year-old who lost all four his limbs to meningitis when he was seven, has been receiving a monthly US$482 (£388) Disability Living Allowance.
On turning 16, Bright was ordered to attend a face-to-face meeting with DPW to demonstrate his disability or lose his Personal Independence Payment.
The agency backtracked only after Bright’s mother complains and eventually accepted to carry out the meeting at Bright’s home and pay him interim allowance until the meeting takes place.
Benefits Tourism
Benefits have been at the center of the UK’s political debate for a while, and the issue is intertwined with the Brexit negotiations. It is thought that some European immigrants engage in "benefits tourism", visiting the UK just to claim benefits and mail the money back home.
@becky_turner2 @guardian Think about it- do you really think the EU which benefits massively from UK tourism is going to restrict it
— Ken Davies (@kensdavies) February 14, 2016
This includes tax credits, housing support and payment of child benefits to children not living in the UK
Between 2008 and 2013, the number of EU working age benefit claimants doubled from 65,000 to 130,000— but EU citizens still make up just over the 2 percent of the total claimants.
