WIREDGOV

Responding to research that shows over 100 people a day with a mental health condition are having their benefits stopped as a sanction, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“These sanctions show a government that is more interested in punishing vulnerable people than supporting them in their attempts to find work.

“What’s more, sanctions are causing people with mental health conditions additional anxiety and presenting them with yet another hurdle they have to overcome in order to find a job.

“Rather than punishing claimants we need a genuine system of support that gives people with mental illnesses extra help and does far more to combat disability discrimination at work.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A Freedom of Information request by the Methodist Church from the Department of Works and Pensions revealed in March 2014 approximately 4,500 people with mental health problems were sanctioned. For further information contact Anna Drew at 0207 467 5191  

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

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