Edition 66
www.thecourier.es
Spain is smiles better for Lucy ...but mum Pauline faces a new legal battle
Friday, May 25, 2012
BENEFITS SHAKE-UP WILL KILL MY CHILD
UK revamp revives Pauline’s life-or-death dilemma By AMANDA BLACK WHEN Pauline Stewart was told her sick child would be dead before she reached 21 unless she moved to a warmer climate, she did what most mothers would do. She upped sticks and got her family out of damp, cold Britain. But ever since arriving on the Costa Blanca 12 years ago, Pauline has been forced to battle the British government to keep daughter Lucy’s disability benefits - the support that allows her to stay in Spain and to stay alive. Last year Pauline thought she had finally won the war, only to be told a fortnight ago that the latest shake-up in the UK benefit system means Lucy, who has Down’s Syndrome, will lose her hard-won rights.
LUCY, THE FULL STORY ONLY IN THE COURIER
Pauline, 67, insists: “If they take away her benefits and she is forced to go back to the UK, my daughter will die.’’ A former NHS nurse, Pauline has spent the past 11 years battling in the UK and European courts. And last September she won a landmark ruling at the European Court of Justice that should have meant Lucy’s benefits were finally safe. But then came the shock news, given to her ‘unofficially’ by a Whitehall official, that changes to the system mean Lucy’s benefits will be stopped within a year. “Cutting her benefits is sentencing Lucy to death,” says her distraught mum. Lucy has a life-threatening immune defi-
ciency illness and it was at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital that Pauline was told to take her abroad. She recalls: “The consultant said to me, ‘Get her out of here. If you want to save your daughter’s life, for goodness sake get her out [of the UK].” In England, Lucy suffered repeated bouts of pneumonia with infections going to her heart. On one occasion she was even given the last rights – and her mother firmly believes she is only alive today because they came to Spain. Lucy, 22, cannot work to support herself so needs her benefits while living here in Orihuela Costa. But while some of these benefits can be claimed outside the UK, others cannot. And complex benefit rules and crackdowns on cheats are leaving genuinely disabled,
deserving claimants like Lucy vulnerable. The Brussels victory saw the UK government back down and agree Lucy could have Incapacity Benefit paid in Spain. The ECJ declared UK residency rules illegal – but Britain stopped short of putting the ruling on the statute books and allowing all people in Lucy’s position to claim. Pauline, who has been forced to become something of a legal expert, vowed to use her knowledge to fight for other disabled Brits living in Europe. But before that fight could gather momentum, the Welfare Reform Bill scrapped Incapacity Benefit – and replaced it with Employment Support Allowance. Pauline was told Lucy would not be able to claim this outside the UK, so her benefits
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