Matt Showering is a Conservative activist in Bristol and explains how the system designed to ensnare unwitting welfare claimants nearly destroyed his life.
At the 2009 Conservative Party Conference, David Cameron drew a standing ovation by setting out his strategy for ending New Labour’s culture of big government and welfare dependency, promising to “reward those who take responsibility and care for those who can’t.”
Cameron thus perfectly captured the mood of hard-working folk despairing not only of the layabouts and benefit cheats whose numbers have swelled in the twelve years since Tony Blair swept to power promising to dramatically reduce them, but also of Labour’s prowess for luring conscientious citizens into the welfare trap. The dark truth is that what Labour have done is actively discourage anyone facing any impediment from taking any responsibility, and attempt to make them completely dependent on the state.
I, of all people know this.
I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (mild autism) at 16, just over a year before I started university. Although life as a student proved far from smooth, I graduated with first class honours and won a place on a prestigious Masters course. Then disaster struck when domestic woes condemned me to depression so overwhelming that I lost all my zest for my studies and the subject. I soon found myself cast adrift, with no idea of my potential career path and no marketable skills outside academia.
Subscribe to this blog's feed