Charities write to BBC Panorama
11 November 2011
Action for M.E., along with ten other organisations representing disabled people including the Stroke Association and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Association (NRAS), has written to BBC Panorama to raise our concerns that too much emphasis was put on incapacity benefits fraud in its programme Britain on the Fiddle, without acknowledging that:
- The vast majority of claimants of incapacity benefits are genuine.
- A far greater chunk of money is due to errors made by staff in the Department for Work and Pensions.
We also made the points that:
- The disproportionate representation of incapacity benefit fraud in the media is contributing to a groundswell of public scepticism towards all claimants of incapacity benefits.
- Irresponsible representation of benefits claimants causes considerable additional distress to those who are in genuine need of incapacity benefit .are often subjected to prejudice and abuse as a result
- Many claimants of incapacity benefits have disabilities which are not outwardly apparent or understood by the general public.
Finally, we urged the BBC to investigate the number of cases of British taxpayers who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in situations of real need, who are denied help and forced to go through a prolonged and stressful appeals process before their situation is addressed. incapacity benefits, many of whom may have disabilities which are not outwardly apparent or understood by the general public
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