‘I feel intimidated and judged at the Jobcentre’

Michelle, from Acomb in York, had arrived at the Jobcentre for a meeting about switching to Universal Credit.

She has had ME, a chronic fatigue condition, for about 27 years, which requires her to use an electric wheelchair to get around.

“Nobody in that Jobcentre understands what it is or how it affects me,” the 49-year-old said.

“If they force me to do any level of activity, I could end up bedridden – unable to speak and unable to chew food.

“There are a lot of people with my condition who spend decades in bed just staring at a wall. It’s like living like you’re dead.”

Michelle said she had been out of work since 1997, when her condition worsened, but had lived in fear she would be declared fit and well.

“The reason I’m in this power chair is because when I first got the illness, people didn’t believe someone who was 21 could be seriously ill like that and I was forced to over-exert,” she said.

“Since my disability developed, I felt like if I did any level of activity at all, I would be punished: I’d have my wheelchair taken off me, my benefits would be cut, and they would see it as an opportunity to declare me fit for work or say my illness isn’t real.”

Michelle added that as a result of this, she had spent her life “just existing”.

“It’s like a Department for Work and Pensions prison I’ve been living in because of my beliefs,” she said.

“I feel like I can’t work with them. I can’t trust them and I can’t be me without something horrible happening.”