Urist McDorf

Joyce said many claimants were set up for a fall even before they came into her office in Cadogan Street, Glasgow.

She said: “If they made it in by themselves, that was seen as a sign they could function.

“They also had to fill in a form. If they did it, it showed they could think, write and were capable of managing.

“We also had to assess their appearance. If a woman was wearing make-up and was nicely dressed, she was deemed as functioning and capable.

“If someone came in with a toddler in tow, they were doomed because if they could manage a child, they could surely work.

“If someone had a pet, they were able to function and if they smiled while talking about a pet, I had to mark down that they smiled spontaneously and were therefore not depressed.

“It was so unfair. There could be a very depressed or ill person sitting in front of me but on paper, thanks to the leading questions I had to ask, they could be judged fit to work.”

And yet there are still people, including many I’ve had to deal with just last week, who believe that disability benefit claimants are all scroungers.  The government really has worked hard to turn ordinary people on the most vulnerable in society.  Easy targets, I suppose, and a handy distraction from the ways they continue to screw us over.