Covid made politicians look at our miserly benefits. But is £20 the best they can do? | Frances Ryan

Preventing starvation hardly counts as generosity. Now is the time for change on a much more ambitious scale

I’d like to tell you about a man called Chris. In his early 40s, Chris has spent years holding down low-paid jobs, all while caring for his elderly mother. Chris has autism, a mild learning disability and a stammer. And, as is the case with many people in his situation, employers tend not to want to give him a chance. Over the past year, he has been furloughed from his part-time cleaning job; he is given a few hundred pounds a month to somehow pay the bills. Disability benefits helped to keep his head above water. That was until a new assessment last year took them away.

Last month, Chris appealed against the decision at a “phone call” tribunal. Lockdown has stopped in-person court dates but benefit cuts carry on. Sat in his mother’s house, with a pile of paperwork, he was turned down again. Now, Chris relies on food packages from local aid groups; pasta and veg in a cardboard box. “Having to receive food parcels is the most humiliating experience of your life,” he says. “You don’t forget.” Chris adores Star Trek and likes to draw pictures of the stars and space, his crayons sketching the possibility of a kinder world. Mostly, he says, he just wants a hug.

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Coronavirus | The Guardian

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