Benefits cut is a cruel blow

The pay was good, the hours decent and it was nearer to home than her then current role.
But she turned it down. She was simply unable to stomach the fact that she felt she would be required to 'test' and sit in judgment on others.
Her decision may have had something to do with the experience of another chum whose father had recently been called for a reassessment of his benefits.
The man is in his late 70s. He hobbles about with a stick. Crucially, he has been blind for 50 years having lost an eye in an accident.
Yet he keeps being summoned to 'prove' he still qualifies for the support he receives. As he pointed out to his assessor last time - nothing has changed. There is little chance of his eye ever growing back.
If we judge a society by how it treats the most vulnerable within it, then this week's announcement of a proposed £5bn cut to disability and incapacity benefits means we deserve to be found wanting.
Dress it up how you like, the ideas presented by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, are plain wrong.
Worse, they are cruel.
Vulnerable households will lose income. Vulnerable people will suffer. And those already under the stresses and strains of living with or caring for someone with a disability will come under even more pressure.
You can blame the Tories for the years of austerity when they were in power. You can point to a poorly structured benefits system both my friend and my mate's dad would attest to that.
You can even highlight the fact that the ever growing rise in claims is unsustainable a fact which should concern us all and appe...