even being employed is not rosy ...

example, a true story ...
a certain very british supermarket employs a lot of indian students on the night shift
these are 10 hour shifts (9pm to 7am) on a 4 night week

3 months ago most of these students worked about 40 hours OT in that 1st month but were not paid
they were advised it would be sorted next pay (4 weekly)

so they worked more OT about 40 hours each (1 days OT per week)
this was also not paid but would be sorted by next pay day (4 weeks away)

so they worked more OT about 40 hours each until the last pay day in march (end of the financial year)

they were then informed that they would not be paid anything for their OT as they were on student visas
thats about 120 hours of OT each, over a 3 month (4 weekly) period, for at least 12 people in just one very british supermarket store, a true story but not the worst i could post ...

Possibly a silly question... but are you even allowed to work on a student visa?

yes, but it limits working hours and any OT, due to the visa limits
also please note
OT was only offered to these students
no other member of staff (british) was offered any OT within these 3 months ...

Sometimes even the obvious questions need to be asked

no problem ...

I may be wrong, but up until now, I thought that GPs were fairly involved in the assessment. Some people were sent for independent assessment, but not all. As I understand it now, everyone claiming will be assessed by someone who is not their GP (or the doctor who has been dealing with the case - I’ll continue to use GP to mean this) as it is felt that GPs are too close to the person, and will not make an objective decision. Which, of course, is BS - that person is uniquely qualified to make an accurate medical determination based on contact with the patient.

You’ll no doubt notice that the majority of the language used by ministers will be pejorative and negative. I am surprised that none of them have used the word “workhouse” yet. Points for the person who can post a quote from an MP who does.

If you are ever sent for an assessment the doctor assessing you is not your GP. That will stop any abuses, but the problem can be is that the assessments are not done with respect to your disability. I have a quadraplegic friend who could be told that he could work in a call centre, because that is what he can do with assistance.