Disability rights

The Independent Living Fund provides funding for severely disabled people to live independently in their own homes and participate in society — so it's an obvious target for the Tory-LibDem government to cut! Mike Penney, then minister for (attacking) disabled people, announced in March this year that the Fund would close immediately to new applicants and then close completely. Disabled people's organisations and trade unions have campaigned vigorously against this appalling cut. A legal challenge succeeded in having the government's policy declared illegal under judicial review. But the...

A unison activist reports on the struggle for disability rights. Download PDF

A police crackdown on a long-running peaceful protest in South Yorkshire led to the arrest of two protesters on Monday 23 June. The “Freedom Riders”, Tony Nuttall, 65, and George Arthur, 64, have since been charged with fare evasion and obstructing a police officer. The Freedom Ride protests started in April following the decision by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE)’s decision to make cuts to concessionary travel to make up a £234,000 budget shortfall. Free train travel for pensioners and disabled people was axed completely, with bus concessionary fares pushed back to 9...

Personal Independence Payment, the benefit launched last year to replace Disability Living Allowance, has already run into trouble. Like Universal Credit, the new benefit combining payments to working-age claimants currently made through Jobseekers’ Allowance, Income Support and Working Tax Credit, PIP is being piloted in Northern England before being extended to the rest of country. It is supposed to be in place by the end of next year although it now seems almost certain that the deadline will be missed. Despite its limited geographical introduction, there is already a large backlog of...

Martin Thomas’ article on Facebook (“Facebook, CPA, and socialism”, Solidarity 302, 6 November 2013) makes some valid points about the ways in which people interact online, and the benefits of face-to-face interaction. However, I don’t think it should be forgotten that for some people online interaction is the only or main kind they can have. This may especially be the case for some people with disabilities. My health has been poor of late, and this has largely prevented me from attending meetings, but I value the online interaction I get via Facebook and email, even when I only read and don’t...

In the opening plenary of Workers’ Liberty “Ideas for Freedom” event (20-23 June) RMT Executive and TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee member Janine Booth argued for class-struggle liberation politics to be at the heart of the Marxist project. On 23 June 2012, Steven Simpson, a gay autistic student, was verbally abused, stripped, and his body scrawled with homophobic slogans. He was then doused in tanning oil and 20-year-old Jordan Sheard set fire to his crotch with a cigarette lighter. The flames engulfed his body, his attackers fleeing as neighbours tried desperately to extinguish the flames...

The opening plenary of Ideas for Freedom 2013 explored key "Marxist ideas to turn the tide". Unite activist Elaine Jones discussed the idea of a workers' government, Unison shop steward Ed Whitby explained the meaning of "transitional demands" such as the call for the expropriation of the banks, and Greek revolutionary Theodora Polenta shared recent experiences of struggle and workers' control in Greece. RMT Executive and TUC Disabled Workers' Committee member Janine Booth argued for class-struggle liberation politics - on race, gender, sexuality, and disability - to be at the heart of the...

This year's TUC Disabled Workers' Conference roundly condemned government attacks on disability rights, and pledged action against cuts in jobs and benefits. Meeting in London on 23 and 24 May, around 200 trade union delegates debated issues including work capability assessments, benefit cuts and the propaganda war against claimants. On the first day, Conference adjourned an hour early to take part in direct action against the cuts, blocking Tottenham Court Road for an hour. Two Conference fringe meetings discussed autism and neurodiversity in the workplace, and disabled access to public...

This year's TUC Disabled Workers' Conference roundly condemned government attacks on disability rights, and pledged action against cuts in jobs and benefits. Meeting in London on 23 and 24 May, around 200 trade union delegates debated issues including work capability assessments, benefit cuts and the propaganda war against claimants. On the first day, Conference adjourned an hour early to take part in direct action against the cuts, blocking Tottenham Court Road for an hour. Two Conference fringe meetings discussed autism and neurodiversity in the workplace, and disabled access to public...

Godfrey Bloom, MEP for the United Kingdom Independence Party (Ukip), which threatens to scoop many Tory votes in the May elections, has told Ukip leaders: “We do not have the resources to write serious papers on major subjects, why reinvent the wheel? Why not buy policy ‘off the shelf’?” He suggests that the party literally pay right-wing think-tanks to write policies for it, since otherwise the party will be dogged by “retired dentists, who understand the most intricate political solutions for the nation” and will argue at length about their own crank idea for suppressing migrants, trade...