Anger over Labour’s ‘shameful’ silence on universal credit’s ‘deadly faults’
Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people has angered activists after failing to express concern about safeguarding flaws at the heart of the universal credit system, including a suicide linked by a coroner to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Vicky Foxcroft made no mention of the coroner’s concerns about the safety of universal credit, or of a series of recent reports on the flawed universal credit system, in a statement likely to have originated in Labour’s press office.
A coroner warned work and pensions secretary Mel Stride earlier this month that he needed to act to prevent flaws in universal credit leading to further deaths, following the suicide of Kevin Gale, from Penrith, Cumbria, who had become overwhelmed by the application process.
Disability News Service (DNS) approached Foxcroft for a comment after Labour’s silence following this and other reports that have highlighted significant safeguarding concerns about the universal credit system and within jobcentres.
Among those stories were the coroner’s comments about the death of Kevin Gale, as well as a secret DWP report that revealed that the design of universal credit (UC) was “inadequate for vulnerable groups” and that some UC claimants were “not adequately supported”.
Foxcroft was also reminded that whistleblowers had told DNS how DWP safeguarding failures at an Oxford jobcentre had put the lives of benefit claimants at risk.
The whistleblowers also described how conditions at the jobcentre became so stressful that 15 members of a team of 23 work coaches quit within a 12-month period, with at least eight experiencing a significant collapse in their mental health following a sudden increase in workload in late 2021.
DNS had asked Foxcroft whether all this evidence – including the coroner’s warning – raised fresh concerns over the safety of universal credit and the government’s latest welfare reforms.
But the statement from Foxcroft made no reference to the suicide of Kevin Gale or to the serious safeguarding concerns about DWP.
Her statement failed to even mention universal credit.
Instead, she said: “Labour has been saying for a long time that the current flawed system, which has forced too many disabled people into desperate circumstances, needs to be reformed.
“A future Labour government will work with disabled people to carry out a comprehensive review of welfare and support so that the system works with other services to incentivise those who can work to find a job, whilst providing full support for those who can’t.
“Under Labour, people will be able to try work without fear of losing their income or having to be reassessed if the job doesn’t work out.
“We will combine these plans with our ambitious programme to drive down NHS waiting lists, transform mental health provision and introduce a new deal for workers.”
But her statement has caused anger and frustration at Labour’s latest betrayal of disabled people, particularly those within the social security system.
Kathy Bole, chair of Disability Labour, which is affiliated to the Labour party, said: “I am concerned that there has been nothing from Labour about the significant developments which have come to light with regard to the safety of the universal credit system and further safeguarding at a job centre.
“I don’t understand why it seems impossible for Labour to express any outrage about the deadly faults at the heart of universal credit.”
She added: “There should be outrage about the lack of safeguarding and deaths related to universal credit.
“The lack of reaction is a bad look for Labour when they are wanting to show voters that they are the party of the people and fit for government.
“If they don’t speak out when these things come to light, how can disabled people and their families trust them to change things and to save more people from dying?
“We need Labour to speak out and challenge the government.
“They also need to show the families of those who died some compassion and call for action on the safeguarding issues.”
Bob Ellard, a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts, said: “Labour obviously couldn’t give a damn about safeguarding our lives from the evils of universal credit.
“This shouldn’t be a surprise from the party that inflicted the work capability assessment on us in 2008.
“Labour have a long tradition of not giving a shit about disabled people.”
And John McArdle, co-founder of Black Triangle, said: “Labour should be hammering the Tories on the litany of deaths and avoidable harm that the Tories have caused to disabled people and continue to cause.
“The fact that they are silent on the issue just makes them complicit in the harm and leaves disabled people thinking that the Labour party actually supports everything the Tories are doing.
“It’s high time that they stood up proudly in defence of disability rights and stopped their shameful silence.”
Meanwhile, the Commons public accounts committee has warned that the government could deliver a new service for claimants of disability benefits without important improvements to claimants’ experience of the system.
DWP began its much-delayed Health Transformation Programme more than five years ago, and aims to digitalise the benefits process, allow applications to be made online and improve the way benefit claims are handled.
The department plans to roll out its new Health Assessment Service for managing assessments and claims for personal independence payment by 2029.
But in a new report, the committee warns that “the greatest risk to this work is that the DWP focuses exclusively on the delivery of a new digitalised service, without achieving the important transformational change for the experience of claimants”.
The MPs said DWP was more likely to improve the service “if it works with disabled people and their representative bodies”, but the report raises concerns that DWP has “not done enough to communicate and engage with the public and claimants about what they can expect from the revised service”.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative MP and the committee’s deputy chair, said: “Disability benefits are designed to help people both with extra living costs and with everyday life.
“The government’s work to reform the complicated, stressful and lengthy application process is hugely significant for the approximately 3.9 million claimants, their relatives and advocates.
“These reforms will only be successful if they truly transform service users’ experience, rather than simply delivering the bells and whistles of a new digital platform.”
30 November 2023
Activists welcome decision to reassess status of UK’s ‘pathetic’ human rights watchdog
Disabled activists have welcomed an international body’s decision to consider downgrading the status of the UK’s much-criticised and “discriminatory” human rights watchdog.
The chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Baroness Falkner, decided to leak the information that its “A” status as an international human rights institution was under threat by publishing a column in the right-wing Daily Telegraph.
The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which will review EHRC’s status, made it clear this week that recommendations made by its sub-committee on accreditation (SCA) were still “considered confidential”, although they would be published soon.
It is not yet clear whether GANHRI will only be examining concerns around EHRC’s stance on the rights of trans people, which Baroness Falkner focused on in her article, or whether it will also address concerns raised by disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) about the commission’s failure to hold the UK government to account on disability rights issues.
GANHRI is partly funded by the UN and oversees national human rights institutions around the world.
DPOs have been calling for EHRC to lose its prestigious “A” rating for more than a year, after concerns that it has become a cheerleader for the UK government.
In August, EHRC faced accusations that it was failing to hold the government to account on disability rights, after a high-profile submission to a UN body was branded “not fit for purpose”.
The commission had been asked to assess the progress of the UK government since it was found guilty of “grave and systematic” violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2016, but a report submitted by EHRC and the UK’s three other equality and human rights bodies contained far more criticism of the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland than it did of the UK government.
Linda Burnip, co-founder of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), said this week: “Following the pathetic report made by EHRC for the UN reporting last August, we feel it is essential that their A status ranking is reviewed by GANHRI as soon as possible.”
Dorothy Gould, founder and coordinator of the user-led, rights-based organisation Liberation, said: “I’m strongly encouraged by GANHRI’s decision to review the EHRC’s status – the discriminatory position which the commission has adopted towards trans people is deeply troubling.
“The EHRC is meant to be setting the lead on human rights in the UK, not undermining them.
“My strong hope is that GANHRI will also address ways in which the EHRC is badly letting down disabled people.
“It was shocking and hugely distressing that the commission produced a report for the UNCRPD committee last summer which let disabled people down in so many ways: for example, in its flawed approach to welfare benefit issues, despite the devastation which that system has caused and continues to cause; in its praise for the draft mental health bill, despite the bill’s major breaches of our rights under the UNCRPD; in its use of only 2.5 lines out of an 85-page report to cover recent evidence about the major abuse and neglect of people detained against their will in psychiatric hospitals and huge numbers of deaths among them.
“Yet even now, there is no sign of fundamental change at the EHRC.
“Do our full human rights not matter to it? Do our very lives not matter to it? If not, then this is in no way a commission that deserves the status it has.”
There have been many other criticisms of the commission’s recent record on disability rights and its failure to hold the government to account.
Earlier this month, EHRC struggled to explain why its major report on Britain’s “equality and human rights landscape” ignored key breaches of disabled people’s rights by the UK government.
In the same week, DNS revealed that EHRC had failed to follow through on threats to take legal action against the government over its efforts to cut the number of autistic people and people with learning difficulties who have been detained in secure hospitals in England.
There have also been repeated concerns about the commission’s failed attempts since April 2022 to persuade DWP to sign a section 23 legal agreement that would force the department to improve its treatment of disabled claimants of benefits.
Last year, DPAC said the commission was “not fit for purpose”, that it had been “co-opted” by the government, and that its primary mission appeared to be to “avoid rocking the boat”.
That criticism came as DPAC submitted a statement to GANHRI, along with a similarly-critical statement about its stance on transgender issues from the LGBTQ+ organisation Stonewall, with support from the Good Law Project.
In a letter to GANHRI last year on behalf of DPAC, Stonewall and the Good Law Project, law firm Bindmans criticised EHRC’s “lack of actual and perceived independence” from the government.
The letter said the commission had been seen as “increasingly close to, and unwilling to criticise” the government since 2015 and particularly since the election of a Boris Johnson-led government in 2019.
Among the concerns raised by DPAC last year was EHRC’s refusal to carry out an investigation into countless deaths of disabled benefit claimants that have been linked to the failings of the Department for Work and Pensions, despite “ample evidence”.
DPAC said last year that EHRC’s leadership and policy direction represented a “serious threat to not just the rights of disabled people, but all communities targeted by this Government”, including those who were trans and non-binary.
In a statement this week, Baroness Falkner said: “We take seriously our duty to protect and promote equality and human rights for everyone.
“That includes considering, carefully and impartially and on the basis of evidence, how the rights of one person, or group, might be affected by the rights of another.
“We are disappointed that we will have to defend our accreditation status in this way and remain very confident that we will be able to respond robustly to any questions the SCA may have.
“We have already written to the committee to highlight inaccuracies in the submissions made against us, and to strongly reject claims that we are not compliant with the Paris Principles*.
“We take great pride in our independence from government and continue to demonstrate our impartiality through our willingness to robustly challenge them.
“At the EHRC, we keep our eyes on our first public duty, which is to protect and promote equality and… everyone’s rights – not merely those that shout the loudest.”
*The Paris Principles set out the minimum standards that national human rights institutions must meet “in order to be considered credible and to operate effectively”. They include “independence from government”
30 November 2023
Disabled HGV driver accuses ‘back to work’ ministers of hypocrisy over equality laws
A disabled lorry driver is accusing ministers of hypocrisy after they called for more people on disability benefits to go back to work, while refusing to make simple changes to equality laws that would help him and many others keep their jobs.
David Chambers says the Equality Act offers no protection to disabled HGV drivers who need simple adjustments made for them when they deliver or collect loads at depots run by large companies like Amazon and Tesco.
He says this is because the act only protects employees from discrimination on business premises, but it offers no protection to disabled people who are not employed by the owners of those premises.
This is the case with all the large depots he delivers to, because they are not obliged to make reasonable adjustments for him under the Equality Act.
And he says the same lack of protection will apply to disabled people in other jobs, such as travelling salespeople, who need to visit premises that are not owned by their employers.
Chambers says he is appalled that the government is publicly insisting that more disabled people must find work, while ministers are refusing to make the small change to legislation needed to ensure that he and other disabled drivers can stay in work.
Although he is legally fit to drive a heavy goods vehicle (HGV), his mobility impairment – he has a blue badge for parking and receives personal independence payment – means he finds it difficult to walk, and he uses a mobility aid.
But when he delivers a load to a depot, he is often asked to wait in a drivers’ room while it is unloaded – due to safety rules – but this can mean a walk of up to half a mile to get there and back.
On other occasions, when he is collecting a load, he faces a long walk to pick up the relevant paperwork.
On one recent occasion, he was told he would have to climb 50 steps to collect the paperwork before he was allowed to take delivery of a load.
Fortunately, a helpful worker overheard the conversation and offered to collect the papers for him.
He believes the adjustments he would need – allowing him to stay in his cab while it was being unloaded, with relevant safeguards put in place, or having someone collect his paperwork for him – would be cheap, safe and not time-consuming.
But without a change in the Equality Act, he fears he may soon have to give up the job he loves and start claiming out-of-work benefits.
Chambers praised the efforts of his MP, Labour’s Cat Smith, who has written letters to ministers and asked questions in parliament about what she sees as a gap in the law.
He told Disability News Service (DNS) that his employer has also been “fantastic” and has made all the reasonable adjustments he requires, including ensuring that he does not have to deliver to sites where he needs to climb up from the ground to secure the load.
But he said: “They can only do so much. They cannot control what bay I go on, or how many steps I have to climb to get paperwork.
“If the law does not change so there are reasonable adjustments for everyone, regardless of where or who you work for, I won’t be able to continue to work for much longer.”
Smith told DNS: “David has identified a loophole in disability legislation which is clearly letting down HGV drivers and other workers who are required to work on premises which are not directly owned by their employers.
“Earlier this year, I asked the government if they would consider amending the Equality Act to require employers to make reasonable adjustments for people with a disability visiting a premises for work purposes, such as HGV drivers visiting a depot.
“Sadly, they refused to do so, with no reasonable explanation as to why.
“This is extremely disappointing and frankly hypocritical of a government which is threatening to take away the benefits of disabled people who do not find work.
“I will be looking for further opportunities to raise this with ministers.”
Despite repeated requests, no-one from the Government Equalities Office had commented by noon today (Thursday).
An Amazon spokesperson said: “Disability inclusion is very important to us.
“We have mechanisms in place to review any requests for adjustments from the third parties we work with as well as their employees and partners.
“We are happy to review this isolated case.”
Chambers said: “They say they have policies in place but I think they need to let their staff know.”
He said he had been told by one depot manager that they would need to contact Amazon head office for guidance.
Tesco did not provide a statement but said this morning that the needs of those working with the company were extremely important and it would encourage drivers to make distribution centre staff aware of their requirements.
It also said it would be happy to talk to Chambers to understand what it could do in the future to assist him.
30 November 2023
‘Warrior’ disabled mum takes crucial step in ‘justice for Jodey’ fight
The “warrior” mum of a disabled woman who took her own life after her benefits were cut has welcomed another crucial stage in her fight for justice, which is now well into its seventh year.
Joy Dove was at Teesside Magistrates’ Court in Middlesbrough on Friday for a pre-inquest review, ahead of a second inquest into the death of her daughter, Jodey Whiting, which is set to take place in the spring.
The Court of Appeal ordered a second inquest into the 42-year-old’s suicide in March so there could be a public examination of the “consequences” of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) stopping the benefits of disabled people who rely on social security.
Senior coroner Clare Bailey pledged on Friday that there would now be a “full and fearless” inquest.
The first inquest into the death of the mother-of-nine and grandmother, from Stockton-on-Tees, took place in May 2017 and lasted just 37 minutes.
It failed to examine DWP’s role in her death or take evidence from any DWP witnesses, and it lasted just 37 minutes.
There was no criticism of DWP by the coroner, even though Jodey’s mother had told the inquest that she blamed the department for her daughter’s death, her sister Donna had said that having her benefits stopped had been a “triggering factor” in Jodey taking her own life, and Jodey’s daughter Emma had blamed DWP for her mum’s death.
Joy, who is also disabled, has been campaigning for justice for her daughter since approaching the local newspaper, the Gazette, just days after Jodey’s death.
Jodey’s sister Donna told Disability News Service (DNS) this week: “I have watched my mam crying her eyes out in the first video interview she did, and then gone from that to this warrior woman.
“What she’s done, it amazes me. Now my mam is a political activist and warrior. I’m proud of her.”
Joy told DNS that she did not believe she had changed over the years of her battle for justice.
She said: “I am just me and I just thank everybody who has helped me get this far.
“I don’t look at the enormity of it even though I know it’s important and it’s taking on the government and the DWP.”
She said earlier that the pre-inquest review was “an important step” in her legal journey, and she thanked her family and her legal team at solicitors Leigh Day, led by human rights partner Merry Varney, for their crucial support.
She said: “I hope that the full inquest will help us finally get to the truth and will initiate vital change, as well as providing justice for Jodey.”
Jodey Whiting took her own life in February 2017, 15 days after her employment and support allowance (ESA) was wrongly stopped by DWP for missing a work capability assessment.
She had been a long-time claimant of incapacity benefit, and then ESA, and DWP and its assessors had previously noted the severity of her mental distress, and the risk of harm if she was found fit for work, and they were aware of her long history of suicidal thoughts.
The high court rejected Dove’s request for a second inquest in September 2021, despite two key pieces of new evidence.
But the Court of Appeal ruled in March that it was “in the interests of justice” for there to be another inquest.
Among the new evidence that will be considered by the second inquest will be a report by the Independent Case Examiner, which concluded in February 2019 that DWP failed five times to follow its own safeguarding rules in the weeks leading up to her suicide.
A second piece of evidence – which was crucial in persuading the Court of Appeal to overturn the high court judgment and order a second inquest – was a report by psychiatrist Dr Trevor Turner, who said Whiting’s mental state was likely to have been “substantially affected” by DWP’s actions.
Varney said: “It is a privilege to represent Joy and her long legal battle has not just been about getting justice for her daughter Jodey, but also has shone a light on DWP failings more generally and the impact these can have.
“The pre-inquest review hearing today marks the first step in the second inquest into Jodey’s death, which the Court of Appeal ordered must take place earlier this year so that the question of whether the DWP’s failings in stopping Jodey’s employment and support allowance caused or contributed to Jodey’s death can be fully, fearlessly and publicly examined.”
30 November 2023
Disabled students told their access needs are ‘a nuisance’, survey finds
A significant proportion of disabled students are being told by university staff that their access needs are a nuisance or unreasonable, or even that they are trying to cheat the system by asking for adjustments, according to a groundbreaking survey.
One in five (20 per cent) of the disabled students who took part in the survey said they believed they had faced disability discrimination by their university.
The first Annual Disabled Student Survey is the largest ever carried out into university accessibility, with more than 1,300 responses from disabled students.
Analysis of the responses was published this week by Disabled Students UK (DSUK) in its Access Insights Report 2023.
Among the findings, the report says only one-third of disabled students (36 per cent) said all the adjustments agreed for them by their university were put in place.
But of those who felt they had received sufficient information about the possible adjustments that could help them, and who had not had a requested adjustment rejected, and had all the agreed adjustments put in place, 85 per cent reported having all the support they needed at university.
Among the reasons given by university staff for rejecting an adjustment, 33 per cent of students who had support rejected were told the adjustment would not be fair to other students, and 25 per cent were told they did not really need the adjustment.
Only a third of students with mobility impairments (36 per cent) said their university campus was accessible, while half of disabled students believed they had received a lower mark due to an inaccessible assessment.
Although 65 per cent of students reported that a staff member had stated or implied that it was ok to need support, more than one in four (26 per cent) reported having been made to feel unwelcome by staff at their university due to their impairment.
More than two-fifths (43 per cent) of those with a mobility impairment had felt isolated by the adjustments that were made for them, such as being made to use a separate entrance or sit apart from their fellow students.
More than one in five (22 per cent) said they believed staff members had stated or implied that their accessibility needs were a nuisance or unreasonable, and more than one in seven (15 per cent) said staff members had stated or implied that they were trying to “cheat the system” by asking for adjustments.
One student told DSUK: “I wonder why it is so incredibly challenging for institutions to be inclusive.
“I worry about the long-term impact feeling like an after-thought in a field I have worked for so many years to sit within, will have on my happiness.”
Only one student in 10 said they believed that those staff members who worked to make their university accessible had enough resources to do so.
One student said: “The University needs to speak to disabled students and stop silencing or ignoring us when we make our concerns known.
“I was part of a group that wrote an access report to the university detailing everything that is unacceptable and needs improvement.
“It’s been about 2/3 years now and I’ve seen very very little change. They created working groups from this but it was clear they didn’t actually want to change.”
Among the report’s recommendations are for disability advisors to have the time and knowledge to be able to give the right advice to disabled students who ask for support, and for university disability services to provide support that is tailored to each individual student, rather than providing “tick box adjustments”.
The report also calls for disability services to have a “clearly signposted process of appeal”, so disabled students who have an adjustment rejected have somewhere to turn.
Mette Anwar-Westander, founder and chief executive of Disabled Students UK, said it had become clear over the years how the views of disabled students have been overlooked.
She said: “With conventional routes being unsuccessful, we knew we needed to build a way for disabled students’ voices to be heard, systematically and in large numbers.”
DSUK started building the survey two years ago, working with university accessibility staff and consultants, although it stressed that the survey was written by disabled students, for disabled students.
It was designed to map disabled students’ experiences of university accessibility over a 10- year period, allowing DSUK to “find solutions and track progress over time”.
30 November 2023
Music festival operator signs legal agreement after multiple access failings
The UK’s leading music festival operator has been forced to sign a legal agreement with the equality watchdog after serious access failings at events it ran both this summer and last year.
Live Nation, which runs Festival Republic, has signed a section 23 agreement* with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), following concerns raised by disabled festival-goers about its Wireless festival in 2022 and Download in June 2023.
Despite the agreement, Disability News Service understands that some disabled people are still taking legal action of their own under the Equality Act following the events that took place at this year’s Download rock festival in Leicestershire.
There were reports at Download of disabled people being forced to camp on gravel because of overbooking, of dangerously-long waits for accessible shuttle buses, a lack of accessible toilets and grab rails, and poorly-trained staff.
One disabled festival-goer reported at the time how the accessible campsite was “overbooked to the point of being a fire hazard” and that she and her partner were unable to find staff to support them, while there was a shortage of accessible toilets and charging points for powered wheelchairs.
EHRC said its concerns followed “multiple reports of poor accessibility” at Wireless in July 2022, with these concerns “heightened” after reports of access issues at Download in June 2023, including obscured stage visibility and poor facilities.
Under the section 23 agreement – which will also cover other Live Nation festivals, including Latitude, Wilderness, Reading and Leeds – the company has promised to carry out a “robust lesson learning exercise” to investigate the causes of the problems at the two festivals, and “ensure they are not repeated”.
It will also introduce a new accessibility manual “to assess and promote accessibility on all existing and new festival sites”, which should act as “a one-stop shop for all accessibility-related policies and processes”.
And it will review all its policies and procedures to “ensure accessibility provisions are included”, carry out organisation-wide training on “disability awareness and accessibility”, and employ mystery shoppers “to ensure that staff are responding properly to accessibility needs in festivals”.
Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, said: “Our disabled fans are incredibly important to us and to the festivals they love.
“We acknowledge and apologise for the fact that two of our festivals fell short and people’s experience was not what it should have been.
“We are grateful to the EHRC for working with us to develop a constructive action plan to improve accessibility going forwards.”
At the time that this year’s festival was taking place, Download is believed to have held a “gold” rating with the accessible music charity Attitude is Everything (AiE) under its Live Events Access Charter, but that now appears to have been removed.
Despite repeated requests, AiE had not provided details of the current and former charter ratings of Download and Wireless, and had declined to comment on the legal agreement by noon today (Thursday).
But an AiE spokesperson said in a statement: “Attitude is Everything will be working with the organisers in the months ahead as they work to implement the points outlined in the agreement prior to next summer.
“As part of this, we hope to assist the event access teams to reapply the standards of our Live Events Access Charter as they work up revised plans to make the events in question accessible for disabled live event attendees in 2024.”
Baroness [Kishwer] Falkner, EHRC’s chair, said: “Live music and festivals are a pivotal part of British culture, and we are lucky to have such a vibrant array of events each year that can cater for every individual taste.
“Festivals deserve to be enjoyed by all, including disabled people.
“No one should be subjected to poor treatment when attending or being put off from attending altogether due to unacceptable access issues.
“The reported experiences at both Wireless and Download festival were unacceptable and should never have happened.
“We welcome Live Nation’s commitment to improve their services and the signing of this agreement will ensure disabled people are not left behind at future events.”
*Under a section 23 agreement, an organisation “commits to not breaching equality law, usually in a specific area where there have been previous concerns”
30 November 2023
Disabled people ‘must rediscover appetite for fighting oppression’
A leading disabled activist has issued a call in a new book for the disabled people’s movement to rediscover its appetite for fighting oppression and transforming society.
In Disability Praxis*, Bob Williams-Findlay argues that the disabled people’s movement has gradually drifted away from focusing on how disabled people are “disabled by society” and instead now emphasises the removal of disabling barriers.
But the campaign for civil and human rights should have been seen as “a means to an end”, he writes, because the focus on barrier removal meant the movement lost sight of “the bigger picture” and the need for a critical evaluation of capitalist society.
He criticises how influential parts of the movement, such as the British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) – he is a former BCODP chair – the UK Disabled People’s Council and the National Centre for Independent Living, gradually re-invented it as a rights-based movement in the post-1997 New Labour years.
In so doing, they “moved away from exploring how disabled people are materially excluded from and marginalised within capitalist societies”.
Global capitalism, he says, is “the bedrock of disablement” and should have been the focus through fighting for “transformative change”.
“Whilst it is understandable for disabled people to want to end their social exclusion and be rid of discriminatory practice,” he writes, “one must question the politics behind the belief that the entitlement to rights would automatically confer ‘social acceptance’, or lead to an end to social oppression.”
A key element of the book is his argument that there are four “cornerstones” of disability politics in Britain: the fundamental truth that disability is a “social” issue; the self-organisation of disabled people through the disabled people’s movement; de-institutionalisation and the tensions and contradictions around promoting independent living; and disability culture and identity.
In the second half of the book, he begins to discuss how disabled people can do more than just engage in “firefighting” against austerity and can instead “build a strategy for furthering disabled people’s emancipation”.
Williams-Findlay says that disabled activists should combine campaigning for rights with the fight for social change and transforming wider society.
Over the last decade, he says, there have been repeated calls for action to breathe “new life into the Movement”, and that has been partially successful with the launch of the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance (ROFA), although he says ROFA remains “small and marginal”.
He expresses his frustration at the “complete lack of resources and political will” for disabled people to self-organise, despite the emergence of organisations such as Disabled People Against Cuts in 2010 and disabled people in Britain finding themselves in “one of the most oppressive” situations in living memory, facing brutal cuts to services and benefits and the fear that many of them would be forced back into institutions.
Campaigning against austerity, he writes, is “little more than a form of firefighting” when what is needed is “collective political leadership” that will propel disabled people forward in their “struggle for social and political emancipation”.
He also suggests that the insights offered by UPIAS (The Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation), Vic Finkelstein and Mike Oliver – all closely associated with the development of the social model and the idea that disability is about disabled people’s oppression and is caused by the way society is organised – should not be “simply assigned to the past” but should still be “reflected upon in the present”.
Williams-Findlay concludes that the prospect of developing a new “disability praxis”** in Britain appears to be “bleak”, particularly as a decade of trying to resist a “punitive” state has left many disabled activists in survival mode.
But he says that developing any such praxis must be done through co-production, and that it must acknowledge the intersectional nature of oppression, remembering that the movement has a history of marginalising intersectional issues.
*Disability Praxis: The Body as a Site of Struggle, by Bob Williams-Findlay, published by Pluto Press
**Praxis refers to the process of putting a theory into practice, or, in Williams-Findlay’s words, critically appraising and then “taking action” to address disabled people’s social oppression and “disturbing, disrupting and ultimately destroying” capitalist society’s dominant position
***John Pring’s book, The Department, will be published by Pluto Press next year
30 November 2023
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week
People with Covid-19 were discharged to care homes over fears about the NHS getting “clogged up”, the pandemic inquiry has heard. Professor Dame Jenny Harries, England’s deputy chief medical officer during the pandemic, told the inquiry how an email she sent in mid-March 2020 described the “bleak picture” and “top line awful prospect” of what needed to happen if hospitals overflowed: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/jenny-harries-nhs-people-sajid-javid-covid-b2455450.html
Women dealing with severe mental illness are still being jailed despite prisons being “ill-equipped” to offer suitable care, a major review has warned. Many women and health providers view the prison environment as “unfit for purpose”, while six in 10 inmates said the “inconsistent” health and social care services across England’s 12 women’s prisons needed improvement, the long-awaited NHS and Prison Service review found: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prison-women-mental-health-care-b2452523.html
30 November 2023
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
