Disabled Ex-Soldier On The Brink After Benefits Were Stopped In January
12 October 2018, 12:01 | Updated: 12 October 2018, 16:16
A former soldier who broke his back during service has told LBC he is struggling to make ends meet after his benefits were stopped in January.
Mark from Guildford said “the only thing that keeps me going is my daughter’s face” in the call which Nick Ferrari described as “quite incredible”.
The caller said he was interviewed under caution after a mix-up over the benefit he was entitled to.
He served in the army for seven years but was left disabled when he fell 30ft in an armoured vehicle during a training exercise in West Germany, he said.
Mark is now living off savings, his war pension and money earned in the limited jobs he can do with his injuries.
“I’ve just had to adapt and overcome, but it’s very difficult,” he said.
“The only thing that keeps me going is my daughter’s face, her smiling face.”
He was speaking after Theresa May and the Chancellor came under pressure to increase funding for universal credit.
Ester Mcvey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, admitted that some people would be "worse off" under the Government's new welfare system.
Some reports claim 3.2 million households will lose more than £2,000 each year.
A government spokesman said: "Universal credit is based on the sound principles that work should always pay and those who need support receive it.
"We are listening to concerns about achieving these principles, improving the benefit, and targeting support to the most vulnerable, including for around one million disabled people who will receive a higher award under universal credit.”
