
Millions of Brits on DWP Universal Credit warned over important new rule change
Millions of Universal Credit claimants have been issued with a warning over a rule change being forced "through". National disability charity Sense has raised concerns ahead of the Universal Credit Bill passing through the House of Lords and all remaining stages of the legislation later today.
Sense remains deeply worried about the Universal Credit alterations this bill aims to implement, which will result in some disabled people assessed as facing the greatest employment barriers being £47 a week worse off if they make claims after these modifications take effect.
James Watson-O'Neill, chief executive at the national disability charity Sense, said: "We're grateful to everyone who campaigned to secure important concessions on this bill, but we remain deeply concerned about the impact these changes will have on disabled people who claim Universal Credit in the future.
"When over half of disabled people with complex needs who rely on benefits can't afford essential bills, cutting support should never have been on the table.
"We want the government to scrap its proposal to remove the health-related element of Universal Credit for disabled people under 22. This would leave thousands of young disabled people with complex needs £100 a week worse off – an unacceptable blow to those who already face significant barriers and extra costs. Any future benefits reforms must be co-produced with disabled people.
"We have the ideas and expertise as disabled people, and as organisations working alongside disabled people, to make the benefits system fairer and more effective – now it's time for the government to listen."
Birmingham Live reports that James continued: "The government has promised to tackle the barriers preventing disabled people from entering employment – such as negative attitudes from employers, the lack of assistive technology in JobCentres, and the unlawful denial of reasonable adjustments.
"We welcome this commitment, but we will hold the government to account to ensure these changes are delivered effectively and in genuine collaboration with disabled people."
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BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
'My dad started spying on my mum' - the drugs causing sexual urges
When "Sarah" climbed up into the attic of her father's house - she was completely unprepared for what she would father, "James", was a modest man who worked most of his life for the same company. He retired about 20 years ago when he was diagnosed with Parkinson' had managed the tremors and balance difficulties caused by the disorder by taking a prescription drug called during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sarah had grown increasingly alarmed about her father's secrecy and wanted to see what he had been spending his time the loft, she discovered reams of handwritten notes and a dozen recording devices he had been using to bug his own writing and on tape he had documented innocent sounds his wife had made as she moved around the house, and while she slept, to try to prove she was having an affair. He had also catalogued details of numerous chat lines and porn websites he had been obsessively Sarah told her elderly mother about what she had found, she was horrified to hear that James had also been sexually coercive towards was only when Sarah took him to see his specialist nurse five years ago that she learned the medication her father was on could have such extreme side effects."Oh, he's gone down the randy route, has he?" the nurse couple are now living separately in their old age, because James poses too much of a risk to his wife, says Sarah. James lives in a specialist care home and Sarah says she has been told that he has sexually assaulted staff there."This medication has torn my family apart," says Sarah - whose name we have changed along with her father' has power of attorney for both her parents, including for their medical has carefully weighed their interests in deciding to tell her family's story, she says, but wants people to know about the impact the drugs can have. James's case is one of 50 the BBC has now been contacted about, the majority concerning men being treated for movement disorders whose behaviour changed dramatically after being prescribed medication from a specific family of drugs. Often, behaviour changed after many years of taking the medicines at increasing doses, the men told March, we revealed how women had not been warned by doctors that taking the same type of medication for restless leg syndrome (RLS) could cause them to cruise for sex and gamble compulsively - placing them at personal risk and ruining their finances, careers and of the cases we have now learned of involve the exploitation of women and children. These include: A man who was convicted of child sexual offences after abusing a childAn octogenarian who says he has become addicted to pornography including bestiality and child abuse imagesA father of three children who said the drugs left him needing to have sex up to seven times a day - and caused him to walk out on two marriages when partners could not satisfy him All three men said they had had no previous history of such sexual behaviour before taking the drugs. They also said they felt profound shame about their behaviour but believed the medication helped their men the BBC spoke to said they did not want to take themselves off the drugs because the medication had led them to discover new sexual interests - which are legal and consensual - and because they enjoyed their increased married grandfather in his 60s has begun crossdressing and has entered into online relationships with men. Another man says the drugs disinhibited homosexual feelings he had not previously records show that some of the men we spoke to tried reducing their dosage but all felt it had negatively impacted their Ropinirole that James takes belongs to a family of drugs known as dopamine agonists, which are prescribed for Parkinson's, RLS, pituitary tumours and other risk of impulsive behaviour side effects of dopamine agonist medication have long been known - but the BBC has discovered that doctors are still not warning all patients who have been prescribed the drugs for a variety of conditions. In March we revealed how British drug company GSK had found a link between Ropinirole and what it called "deviant" sexual behaviour - including paedophilia - in told the BBC it had shared these findings with health authorities, included this safety advice in medication leaflets, and conducted extensive trials for the drug which has been prescribed for 17 million warnings about such behaviour were not included in leaflets until 2007 - and, even now, only specify "altered" sexual interest and "excessive" or "increased" libido as advice about the medication's "toxic" side-effects needs to be strengthened immediately because their impact can be "devastating", according to the acting chair of the Health Select Committee, Labour MP Paulette Hamilton."Nine out of 10 people do not read what is on those leaflets," she says."And if you do read it, what does it mean by altered sexual interest? I haven't got a clue." The drugs work by mimicking the effects of dopamine, a natural chemical that helps transmit messages in the brain, such as those governing movement. Dopamine is also known as the "happy hormone" because it is activated when something is pleasurable or we feel agonists can over-stimulate such feelings - helping sufferers of some movement disorders which may be caused by low levels of dopamine. But they can also diminish the appreciation of consequences, leading to impulsive behaviour - according to medication can also actually worsen existing symptoms of restless legs - according to dozens of the people who spoke to the BBC - sometimes causing an uncontrollable urge to move in other parts of the body. This is a well-documented risk for those who take the medication over a prolonged period, and is known as augmentation. If you have more information about this story, you can reach Noel directly and securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +44 7809 334720, by email at external or on SecureDrop The BBC has also learned of concerns about two studies that looked at the ability of another dopamine agonist drug - Rotigotine - to tackle such exacerbation of health conditions. Both were sponsored by the drug's manufacturer, Belgian firm have been told that senior officials at the company repeatedly dismissed evidence of augmentation caused by Rotigotine, during the first study in of its authors, Dr Diego Garcia-Borreguero, says UCB staff sat-in on and discussed findings with academics. He says the interference was "subtle", but that the published results were not BBC has also discovered that eight out of nine authors of a second Rotigotine study in 2017 had been paid at some point by UCB - and that five of them were direct company paper's conclusions - that Rotigotine was effective in treating augmentation - are "ridiculous", according to Dr Andy Berkowski, a neurologist who has co-authored clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of RLS in the says data shows that more than 50% of the patients stopped taking the drug during the study largely because of adverse events or a lack of effectiveness - and more than half of those who completed it required an increase in dosage, potentially because of the worsening of their RLS says its studies were unbiased, underwent independent peer review, and that authors who were its employees, or who it had prior affiliations with, fully complied with guidelines on disclosing conflicts of said that Rotigotine's effectiveness was proven in multiple trials and most patients who completed its 2017 study experienced a significant clinical improvement. This corresponds to 37 of the 99 patients who began the study. A list of organisations in the UK offering support and information with some of the issues in this story is available at BBC Action Line. Dopamine agonist drugs were prescribed nearly 1.5 million times by GPs alone in England last year, according to published data seen by the drug, Aripiprazole - a partial dopamine agonist used to treat mental health problems - is also known to cause impulsive behaviours. It was prescribed for more than 1.7 million treatments in England alone last year, often to younger patient taking the drug told us his compulsive gambling had become so bad that he was stealing to fund his habit. The mother of another believes the medication caused her son to expose himself in UK's drug safety regulator, the MHRA, says it has no plans to change its warnings about dopamine agonist previously told the BBC that sexual impulses vary and a general warning about activities which may be harmful is Royal College of GPs said its updated curriculum - which is used to train doctors and will be published next month - will now include the monitoring of impulsive behaviour side effects for RLS, thought to affect between 6% to 17% of patients.A side effect can be considered to be "common" when it affects just 1% of the people who take the medicine, according to health guidance body Department for Health and Social Care did not comment.


Glasgow Times
19 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Fact check: ‘Asylum hotels', employment data and ‘enhanced customs monitoring'
Is the Government 'opening up' asylum hotels? Earlier this week, amid concern about unrest outside a hotel in Epping used to house asylum seekers, shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly MP claimed in a broadcast interview: '[Labour] are opening up asylum hotels, they are increasing the use of asylum accommodation around the country'. It is true that under Labour the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has increased, as our Government Tracker explains. According to the latest available data, 32,345 asylum seekers were housed in hotels at the end of March 2025, up from 29,585 at the end of June 2024, just before Labour came into office. The data also showed there were 71,339 asylum seekers living in other types of non-hotel accommodation at the end of March 2025, compared with 67,057 at the end of June 2024. The majority were in 'dispersal accommodation', which is longer-term temporary accommodation managed by providers on behalf of the Home Office, with others housed in 'initial accommodation', which is typically shared accommodation while an asylum seeker is having their claim for support assessed. The Home Office told us that 210 asylum hotels are currently in use as of July 23, and that they expected more to close. On March 3 2025, Dame Angela Eagle MP, minister for border security and asylum, said that in July 2024 there were 213 hotels in operation, suggesting the number of hotels in use is currently slightly lower than when Labour first came into office. According to the Home Office's latest accounts, 'the total number of contracted hotels reduced by 71 across 2024-25', although it did not specify the starting or end totals, and this time period also includes figures from when the Conservatives were in office. It is worth noting however that while the overall number of hotels in use appears to have come down slightly, there have been recent reports of new hotels being intended to house asylum seekers. It is possible this is what Sir James meant when he said Labour was 'opening up' hotels. We have contacted Sir James for comment. Unemployment and jobs: what has happened under Labour? In recent weeks we have seen contrasting claims being made about the labour market – in particular, on how unemployment has changed since Labour came into Government in July 2024. There are a number of different sources of statistics on the labour market. These datasets all measure slightly different things, and as a result debate on employment, unemployment and jobs can often be confusing – for example, we regularly see seemingly contradictory claims on these topics made during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), when in fact each side is referring to completely different data. For instance, during some recent sessions of PMQs, both the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner have claimed that 384,000 jobs have been created under Labour. These claims have been challenged by the Conservative party and others, who have pointed out that under Labour unemployment has risen. This confusion is likely because Sir Keir and Ms Rayner are referring to workforce jobs data, which includes both employed and self-employed jobs and does indeed show a 384,000 increase in the number of jobs between June 2024 and March 2025 (the latest month for which figures are available). But these figures look at the number of jobs and are not comparable with data on actual employment (or unemployment), which looks at the number of people who are (or are not) working, as some people have more than one job. Going abroad four times a year will not flag you to HMRC for 'enhanced customs monitoring' We have seen a number of social media posts claiming that the Government is introducing a new system called 'enhanced customs monitoring' on August 4 to 'track UK residents who leave the country more than three times within a 12-month period' to check they are living within their means. But this is not true, and no such system exists. Videos circulating online claim that on someone's fourth trip abroad, an automatic alert will be sent to the 'mobility oversight unit', said to be a new branch under HMRC and the Home Office, which will check whether people's 'declared income, employment status and tax residency match [their] lifestyle'. The videos claim this new system was revealed after a leaked briefing was reported by the Guardian newspaper. They go on to say this includes both holidays and work trips, and all modes of travel. A spokesperson for HMRC confirmed the information is untrue and told Full Fact that 'this video is disinformation, designed to cause undue alarm and fear'. They added: 'Anyone wanting information on rules around taxation should go to or seek advice from a tax professional.' Full Fact could not find any results for 'enhanced customs monitoring' or a 'mobility oversight unit' on UK Government websites, or on the Guardian website.

South Wales Argus
a day ago
- South Wales Argus
Fact check: ‘Asylum hotels', employment data and ‘enhanced customs monitoring'
Is the Government 'opening up' asylum hotels? Earlier this week, amid concern about unrest outside a hotel in Epping used to house asylum seekers, shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly MP claimed in a broadcast interview: '[Labour] are opening up asylum hotels, they are increasing the use of asylum accommodation around the country'. It is true that under Labour the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has increased, as our Government Tracker explains. According to the latest available data, 32,345 asylum seekers were housed in hotels at the end of March 2025, up from 29,585 at the end of June 2024, just before Labour came into office. The data also showed there were 71,339 asylum seekers living in other types of non-hotel accommodation at the end of March 2025, compared with 67,057 at the end of June 2024. The majority were in 'dispersal accommodation', which is longer-term temporary accommodation managed by providers on behalf of the Home Office, with others housed in 'initial accommodation', which is typically shared accommodation while an asylum seeker is having their claim for support assessed. The Home Office told us that 210 asylum hotels are currently in use as of July 23, and that they expected more to close. On March 3 2025, Dame Angela Eagle MP, minister for border security and asylum, said that in July 2024 there were 213 hotels in operation, suggesting the number of hotels in use is currently slightly lower than when Labour first came into office. According to the Home Office's latest accounts, 'the total number of contracted hotels reduced by 71 across 2024-25', although it did not specify the starting or end totals, and this time period also includes figures from when the Conservatives were in office. It is worth noting however that while the overall number of hotels in use appears to have come down slightly, there have been recent reports of new hotels being intended to house asylum seekers. It is possible this is what Sir James meant when he said Labour was 'opening up' hotels. We have contacted Sir James for comment. Unemployment and jobs: what has happened under Labour? In recent weeks we have seen contrasting claims being made about the labour market – in particular, on how unemployment has changed since Labour came into Government in July 2024. There are a number of different sources of statistics on the labour market. These datasets all measure slightly different things, and as a result debate on employment, unemployment and jobs can often be confusing – for example, we regularly see seemingly contradictory claims on these topics made during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), when in fact each side is referring to completely different data. For instance, during some recent sessions of PMQs, both the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner have claimed that 384,000 jobs have been created under Labour. These claims have been challenged by the Conservative party and others, who have pointed out that under Labour unemployment has risen. This confusion is likely because Sir Keir and Ms Rayner are referring to workforce jobs data, which includes both employed and self-employed jobs and does indeed show a 384,000 increase in the number of jobs between June 2024 and March 2025 (the latest month for which figures are available). But these figures look at the number of jobs and are not comparable with data on actual employment (or unemployment), which looks at the number of people who are (or are not) working, as some people have more than one job. Going abroad four times a year will not flag you to HMRC for 'enhanced customs monitoring' We have seen a number of social media posts claiming that the Government is introducing a new system called 'enhanced customs monitoring' on August 4 to 'track UK residents who leave the country more than three times within a 12-month period' to check they are living within their means. But this is not true, and no such system exists. Videos circulating online claim that on someone's fourth trip abroad, an automatic alert will be sent to the 'mobility oversight unit', said to be a new branch under HMRC and the Home Office, which will check whether people's 'declared income, employment status and tax residency match [their] lifestyle'. The videos claim this new system was revealed after a leaked briefing was reported by the Guardian newspaper. They go on to say this includes both holidays and work trips, and all modes of travel. A spokesperson for HMRC confirmed the information is untrue and told Full Fact that 'this video is disinformation, designed to cause undue alarm and fear'. They added: 'Anyone wanting information on rules around taxation should go to or seek advice from a tax professional.' Full Fact could not find any results for 'enhanced customs monitoring' or a 'mobility oversight unit' on UK Government websites, or on the Guardian website.