So, I have a health condition and my GP told me I am not fit to work. I had to see the DWP health assessor who asked me generic one-size fits all questions that do not relate to my condition, and I was declared on the basis that I could get upstairs and sleep well. They completely ignored that I cannot sit for long periods of time, and nor can I be physically active for long either.

They have referred me to one of their work programs called Reed in Partnership, and they too believe I am not fit to work. I am wanting to go down the self-employment route, and it is something I can do with my condition and they support me in it. My Universal Credit adviser, however, couldn't care less and supported the ruling of the health assessor who didn't even look my the effects of my condition on my body.

They have me looking at jobs that I couldn't physically do, and Reed in Partnership has told me that other clients have said similar things where Universal Credit have no compassion for anyone with health issues. It is not a place of support or helps to get you into a decently paid job, it is a degrading place of punishment where the threat of sanctioning hangs over.

Personally, I do not see the point of the 2D-minded, box-ticking robots in the Job Centres. What are they for? They do not give me any useful information, and they are completely hopeless when it comes to self-employment. They know nothing. They come across more as an enforcer of policy that has been set out by the Minister and look down upon you with the strongest sense of contempt as if you are undeserving.

To get away from these vacuous people, I am going to have to find a job against the advice of my GP. I will have to risk infection (only to myself) and probably put my business in jeopardy as I fear I will lack the time to work on it. This is the problem with Universal Credit. If your business idea is simple in the sense of retail, dog walker, restaurant owner and such, they can help you. If you are someone like me who has digital media in mind, they play stupid and won't help you. One called my business a hobby, and that demonstrates their ignorance as the industry my business is in, is the fastest-growing form of media in the world. I just feel like I am being sabotaged by these people, with one telling me to give up because they didn't understand it. If you do not understand digital media and e-commerce, you are in the wrong job.

This lends weight to what I hope is my last point although I could go on and on. They are stuck in an old-fashioned mindset about work that would have been relevant in the 1970s. The typical office job that you end up doing for 30 years and never progressing... rather much like their own. They need to modernize, otherwise, they will just end up choking other people's career paths.