Tory MPs respond to their constituents on DWP lies

Some time ago, I asked readers to write to their MPs about the blatant lies told by the government, and in particular the DWP, about disabled benefit claimants. The responses of Tory MPs have been remarkable for the pure nonsense they contain – and many were almost identical.

I posted last night a guest article detailing a remarkable series of emails between John LeBrocq and his MP Andrew Murrell, but my thanks go to everyone who took the time and trouble to write to their MP about the disgraceful behaviour of Work and Pensions Secretary Iain (Duncan) Smith and his colleagues. If I used every single response, this article would become very unwieldy, but the selection shown is very representative.

As you read these responses, bear in mind the context:

1. The government’s claim was very clear – that almost 900,000 people “dropped their ESA claim rather than face medical assessment”.
2. The UKSA issued a clear rebuke, stating that the government had ‘conflated’ figures to justify a completely misleading press release (which then mysteriously disappeared from circulation but a copy was still obtained by the UKSA).
3. The UKSA noted that the figure of 878,300 referred to new ESA claims, not existing claimants transferring from incapacity benefit – and that it was an improper cumulative total of a perfectly normal monthly ‘churn’ of people dropping their new claims before assessment.
4. The UKSA pointed to evidence that this churn occurs because they waited so long to be assessed that they’d either recovered and gone back to work, found a job even though they were disabled, or else were moved onto a different benefit.

So, with that in mind, on to the responses:

Reply #1: Rory Stewart MP (Penrith and the Border)

From: Rory Stewart [mailto:rory@rorystewart.co.uk]
Sent: 14 June 2013 12:46
To: Elizabeth Jeffrey
Subject: Re: FW: Letter from your constituent ELIZABETH JEFFREY

Dear Ms Jeffrey

Thank you for contacting me about the Department for Work and Pension’s use of statistics.

As the Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority noted in his letter, research from the Department for Work and Pensions does show that an important reason why ESA claims in this sample were withdrawn or closed before they were fully assessed was because the person recovered and either returned to work, or claimed a benefit more appropriate to their situation.

I do believe this highlights the progress the Government is making in fixing the welfare system to ensure that work always pays.

I am proud that this Government is capping benefits so that no out-of-work household can claim more than the average working family earns and introducing Universal Credit which will benefit three million families by an average of £168 a month.

I hope this reassures you that the Government will continue to help those who can work get back into employment while providing support for those who cannot. Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

With best wishes,

Rory

Rory Stewart MP
Penrith and The Border
www.rorystewart.co.uk

Jason McCartney MP, Colne Valley

From: “MCCARTNEY, Jason” <jason.mccartney.mp@parliament.uk>
To: XXXXXXX
Sent: Thursday, 6 June 2013, 13:03
Subject: RE: Statistics

These replies, following the same pattern almost word for word, were overwhelmingly in the majority. Clearly the Tory party knew it had been rumbled in its Big Lie and had prepared a rote response for its MPs in case they received messages asking about it.

This stock reply is, of course, pure nonsense. As the constituents noted in their letters, the UKSA had already highlighted that the figure of 878,300 related to a perfectly normal ‘churn’ of discontinued claims – a figure that goes back, remarkably consistently, to years before the coalition took office. It’s absolutely clear that it doesn’t in any way “highlight the progress the Government is making in fixing the welfare system”.

The stock response also entirely fails to answer the questions posed by those who wrote in – who asked among other things whether the MP would raise the issue in Parliament.

Only a couple of Tory MPs bothered to actually write a non-standard reply. Sadly, these were just as ridiculous:

James Wharton MP (Stockton South)

This one doesn’t even bother to refer to the DWP’s deliberately misleading statistics – and the constituent’s letter did not ask how Mr Wharton handles statistics, but what he would do/say about the DWP’s handling of them.

Simon Reevell MP (Dewsbury)

Dear Shaun
Thanks very much for your email and apologies for the delay in responding.
I agree with you that it is very important for politicians to use statistics properly. This is especially the case when policies are working and exaggerating their success actually detracts attention from the fact they are doing so.
Kind regards
Simon

This one appears to be parsed from the stock reply and still claims, ridiculously, that the Tories’ policies are working. But hey, at least he took the time to personalise it.

I guess it’s no surprise that Tory MPs tamely parrot their party’s line even when it refers to the criminal incitement of hatred toward disabled people (and oh so many other groups). But somehow it still manages to be shocking.

This really is a parliamentary party that’s rotten from top to bottom, with tragically few exceptions.