I agree with pretty much everything said on this thread. Just wanted to add another point.
The social security system in the UK is supposed to support people to meet the basic financial obligations for their needs when they are unable to meet them themselves through employment. Everyone who receives benefit is subject to intense stigma from the rest of society for being 'scroungers' too lazy to get a job, as well as wrongly taking taxpayers money to support themselves. Benefit cheats are an incredibly miniscule occurrence, but they are sensationalised so much, society targets anyone on benefit and completely ignores the true villains, tax dodging corporations and individuals. Disabled and downtrodden people face being ostracised and hostility from everyone around them due to the indoctrination that they are basically criminals for being vulnerable. And then they wonder why people kill themselves and call them selfish. What. The. F***.
Universal credit was supposed to reform the benefits system. Despite it being a catastrophic failure, the government continues to laud it for 'helping and encouraging' people back into productive members of society. Behind the scenes, however, the punishments meted out in sanctioning vulnerable people by taking away their small income, and the persecution of interrogation through intrusive, stressful and shameful tests of worthiness are literally driving many more people to suicide than ever. There are quotas to strip as many people of their benefit as possible, but that would never be admitted. The true scale of it is a traversty and it's all covered up as much as possible. Meanwhile, people starve to death because they've had their income removed and no help at all offered to change the situation they're in.
