Amputee cricketer Shaun Rigby has told GB News he has "lost everything" after his disability benefits were scrapped by the Department for Work & Pensions.The DWP claimed a video taken of Rigby playing for his local cricket club showed that he was "not disabled enough".FULL STORY HERE.
00:00I'm joined by the first amputee cricketer, Sean Rigby.
00:04He's lost his disability benefits after being filmed playing for his local club.
00:10Now, the Department for Work and Pensions claimed the video showed that he wasn't disabled enough.
00:16And I'm joined in the studio by that man, the amputee cricketer, Sean Rigby.
00:20Sean, thank you for coming down to join us in the studio here in Westminster.
00:24It's an incredible story.
00:26So, you've got one leg.
00:28I understand you lost your leg when you were two, when you were a kid, and you've played cricket healthily.
00:37You're a huge inspiration to people.
00:39And you've had your benefits taken away.
00:41Tell us about it.
00:42Yeah, so I've played cricket since the age of seven.
00:46Back in 2012, I went on the first England physical disability tour to Dubai.
00:52Obviously, an amazing experience.
00:54Recently, back in August last year, I received a letter from the DWP to say that there was a report against me and I had to go for an interview under caution.
01:04Basically, somebody reported me for playing cricket and taking my family to Disneyland Paris on holiday.
01:09But the fact of the matter is, you play cricket for England.
01:14It's not like you're trying to hide it.
01:15No.
01:16No, you've fought through.
01:18We can see a picture on the screen now of your...
01:21This is when you, as a child, you've lost your leg.
01:24You have a very painful wound just below the knee, right?
01:28You have a prosthetic limb.
01:29You have to take medication to be out and about.
01:32You are registered disabled legally.
01:35You've played cricket against the odds.
01:37You've played for your country.
01:39And someone's basically, what, dubbed you in?
01:41Yeah, basically, yeah.
01:42No reason why.
01:43Don't know who.
01:43Don't know why they would do it.
01:45Yeah, just received a letter through the post.
01:48And just to quantify for our viewers and listeners, you've received benefits for your disability, which is completely legal.
01:55You've only got one leg.
01:56You're not gaming the system.
01:58And how much money do you get?
02:00You get a mobility car, and that's all been taken away now?
02:03Yeah, so from 2016, I had standard rate daily living allowance.
02:07And then that was, funny enough, awarded through a friend who actually works for DWP and checks the forms and said,
02:14why don't you claim it?
02:15You're entitled to it.
02:16So he helped me fill the forms.
02:18Three years later, I had a face-to-face interview with an examiner coming to the house.
02:24And his exact words were, why am I here?
02:26Your leg's never going to grow back.
02:27You'll get this for life.
02:29He then put the forms in for me to get the lower rate mobility, which was granted.
02:36And his words, again, were, in years to come, things are not going to get better.
02:40So when things do get slightly worse, just keep letting the DWP know that circumstances are changing.
02:47And then come to a point where you might be entitled to the car, which I got back in late 2022.
02:52And then they've took everything away now and said that I'm not entitled to any other.
02:56And, Sean, just to be absolutely clear with our viewers and listeners, you work.
03:01Yeah, I work full-time since 16.
03:04You work full-time since you're 16.
03:06You play cricket for your country.
03:09You inspire people through what you do.
03:12You're not like a leech off the state.
03:16You're an amazing, positive member of society.
03:21And we're hearing about this £100 billion benefits bill and having to make cutbacks.
03:25But how do you feel about the fact that they've put the laser on you?
03:29It's embarrassing.
03:30It's embarrassing to be part of the country.
03:32I say I don't know what more proof I have to give.
03:34I've got arthritis in the knee because of the prosthetic limb.
03:39Obviously, they just don't class an artificial leg as an aid for some unknown reason.
03:45But crutches are classed as an aid, but an artificial limb's not.
03:47I've got bulges of my lower spine, which are going to spinal surgery, all because of the prosthetic limb.
03:57And have you a right to appeal?
04:00Have you decided what you're going to do about this?
04:01Yes.
04:01So, I called yesterday for the mandatory reconsideration.
04:05I did that over the phone yesterday.
04:07That can take up to 16 weeks.
04:10I've got a month to send as much evidence back to them again to prove for some unknown reason why I feel that I'm entitled to it.
04:20And then if it goes negatively again, then I have the right to appeal again.
04:27I'm sure, Sean, you'll understand the fact that we have a ballooning benefits bill and we need to address that.
04:36When we did an earlier item on the show, about 20% of Brits now claim they have anxiety and mental health issues.
04:43And I was challenging the veracity of some of those claims.
04:50I mean, you're clearly disabled.
04:51Yeah.
04:52I'd say my mental health hasn't been brilliant myself, but I've never claimed for that.
04:57I've never gone to DWP and said, oh, this as well.
05:01It's just not, I've just got on with life the best I can.
05:04I've got a young family, a wife, and cricket was just my time.
05:09But I'd say it's all been taken away.
05:11Presumably, if you sat around and got depressed and didn't work and became morbidly obese, became diabetic, you get all the benefits of the world.
05:21But because you're a striver, because you don't want to be defined by your disability, because you play cricket, you're out and about and try and make the best of your life.
05:29Do you feel that's, as a consequence, you've been penalised?
05:31Yeah, definitely.
05:32As you say, I could sit at home seven days a week, do nothing, which the DWP obviously want people to do.
05:39But for some unknown reason, I get told by the health professionals, stay active, it's good for your mental, physical health.
05:49And then I do that, and DWP is basically saying, no, don't do that.
05:53So it's just a strange one.
05:55What's your message to the Prime Minister, people like that, the Department of Work and Pension, if they're making an example of people like you, what does it say about our country?
06:08It's shameful.
06:10People like myself, who've obviously got a physical disability, it can't be faked.
06:15I don't know why I'm having to go backwards and forwards to GPs to get evidence to say that I've got an artificial leg and the stress that I have to go through to live with that.
06:27Yeah, it's a bit of a joke, to be honest.
06:30Let me shake your mind now and get a bit.
06:32Phenomenal to have met you.
06:33No, and you, thank you very much.
06:33Thanks for coming out to the studio.
06:34Thank you very, very much.
06:37Well, we contacted the Department of Work and Pension, but they declined to comment because there's an ongoing investigation.
