Feb 132024
 

Online meeting

Date: Sunday 18 February 2024

Time: 3 – 5pm

Zoom Link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83785735292?pwd=YjGm5MtbQiYOv1p6a9i1nClm3JrgQA.1

Meeting ID: 837 8573 5292

Passcode: 709981

British Sign Language Interpretation and palantypists provided

Speakers: Bill Scott, Senior Policy Advisor, Inclusion Scotland; Andy Mitchell (@BenClaimant), Unite the union; Michael Erhardt, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Disability Rights UK; Ellen Clifford, Disabled People Against Cuts and author of The War on Disabled People; La Toya Grant, DPAC Deaf group.

 

This meeting will go through the key changes currently planned for the social security system affecting Deaf and disabled people.

Topics covered will include:

  • Plans to tighten the Work Capability Assessment. Key groups of people affected by this will be those with mobility impairments or those at risk of harming themselves and others if forced to engage in work search activity.

 

  • Plans outlined in Transforming Support: the health and disability white paper published in March 2023. These include scrapping the Work Capability Assessment and replacing Employment and Support Allowance/Universal Credit Limited Capability for Work and Work–Related Activity with a new Universal Credit health component that is dependent on eligibility for Personal Independence Payment.

 

  • The roll out of in-work conditionality. This disproportionately impacts on disabled workers and women.

 

  • How Deaf and Disabled campaigners will be taking these plans and the harm they will cause to the United Nations Disability Committee in March.

 

There will also be a campaigns meeting in Parliament on Monday 19 February to explore how we can build a united resistance against these plans to punish hundreds of thousands of poor and disadvantaged people.

The meeting is open to all those who want to attend. Please let your MP know about the meeting and ask them to come along.

 Posted by at 03:55  Tagged with:
Feb 132024
 

Time: 6.30 – 8.30pm

Date: Monday 19 February 2024

Place: Thatcher room, Portcullis House, 1 Victoria Embankment, London SW1A 2JR

British Sign Language and Palantypist provided

Co-chairs: John McDonnell MP and Martha Foulds, Disabled People Against Cuts [DPAC]

Speakers: Martin Cavanagh, DWP President, PCS union; Ellen Clifford, DPAC and author of The War on Disabled People; Meg Thomas, Disability Wales; Andy Mitchell and Brett Sparkes, Unite the union; Paula Peters, DPAC; La Toya Grant, DPAC Deaf Group.

 

This meeting will explore how Deaf and disabled people and our allies can campaign against changes to the social security system which will punish and remove essential income from the poorest in society.

We’ve seen and experienced the cruelty of welfare reform now for over a decade. Now we are facing new government plans to shake up the disability benefits system that will unquestionably lead to further harms and avoidable deaths, to deeper and more widespread poverty and to greater inequality.

In one example of this, savings included in the November budget are linked to lowering benefits for 371,000 disabled people who are already on poverty level incomes.

Plans published in Transforming Support: the health and disability white paper in March 2023 shocked and terrified Deaf and disabled benefit claimants. These were followed by a consultation launched in early September 2023 to tighten the Work Capability Assessment. Key groups of people affected by this will be those with mobility impairments and those at risk of suicide and of harming themselves or others if forced to engage in work search activity.

The plans are justified by unevidenced government claims that Deaf and disabled people can be freed from poverty through lowering benefit payments and mandatory activity supporting them to find work. The reality for many, if not most, will be greater poverty and hardship.

The plans have also been accompanied by media attacks on disability benefit claimants. Covid made it acceptable to openly treat disabled people’s lives as dispensable. Whereas media attacks during early welfare reform inflamed hostility towards claimants in the guise of condemnation of benefit fraudsters, now those attacks are directly targeted at disability benefit claimants with accusations that the system is too generous and open debate about whether those on long-term disability benefits should be supported by the social security system at all.

We know that the majority of the public are in favour of a social security system that provides a genuine social safety net and is targeted at the most disadvantaged in society. However, too many people are unaware of what is happening or unsure how to show opposition to it.

This meeting will hear from campaigners and trade unionists about what we are doing to raise awareness and to challenge the proposed changes.

It will be a chance for Deaf and disabled people and our allies to discuss what more we can do and how to build a united resistance that demands a social security system that is fit for purpose and fair for all.

 

Please forward details about this meeting to your MP, explain it is important to you as their constituent and ask them to attend.

For those DPAC members who can come in person, reasonable travel costs can be covered. Please contact mail@dpac.uk.net for more information.

Please also share information about this meeting among your contact networks.

 

 

Jun 302023
 

Tuesday 18 July 2023

7 – 8pm

Online:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81570206769?pwd=RXNuUVd4YlJ0My9BTzczRHNvNkxEZz09

Meeting ID: 815 7020 6769
Passcode: 910122

 

This webinar organised by DPAC and other Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs) will provide an update on activities that are happening to monitor Deaf and Disabled people’s rights in the UK under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.

We will give feedback from the big consultation that our organisations carried out in 2021—22 into how far the major issues facing Deaf and Disabled people in the UK had changed since the last examination by the Disability Committee in 2017.

We will also provide information about the reporting that we are undertaking this Summer as the Disability Committee prepares for a special one day examination of the UK. This examination will focus specifically on the government’s progress implementing the recommendations from the Committee’s 2016 investigation which found evidence of grave and systematic violations of Deaf and Disabled people’s rights due to welfare reform and austerity measures.

Speakers: Linda Burnip (Disabled People Against Cuts), Ellen Clifford (UK DDPO CRDP Monitoring Coalition/Disabled People Against the Cuts)

Mar 072023
 

For International Women’s day we are re-posting the following article written by DPAC member Saliha Rashid originally posted here: Impact of gender-based violence on the mental health of disabled women (womensaid.org.uk)

A new outlook: shining a light on the impact of gender-based violence on the mental health of disabled womenBy survivor and campaigner, Saliha Rashid

Disabled women are nearly three times more likely to experience domestic abuse (including honour-based abuse), in comparison to non-disabled women, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Shockingly, in the majority of cases, the perpetrators are those who supposedly care for and love these women the most. Many victims are subject to various forms of abuse for long periods of time, which leads to feelings of worthlessness, isolation, and low self-esteem. Yet the impact upon the mental health of disabled survivors is rarely spoken about and is an area which is extremely under-researched.

For many disabled women, the abuse they endure is compounded by their disability or health condition. This may include physical abuse such as taking away their walking aids or moving them out of reach, withholding medication, and physical violence. Psychological abuse includes taunts related to having a disability, being made to feel incapable, and being told that you will not amount to anything. It may also include financial abuse –through withholding their money/benefits. This often coincides with controlling behaviour, including not being allowed to leave the house, and having day-to-day activities monitored. Dangerously, perpetrators will often argue that they are protecting the victim and acting in their best interests, resulting in women not being believed by professionals when seeking help. This exacerbates the feelings of isolation and entrapment, as well as feelings of worthlessness.

In September this year, I was invited to a weekend in the beautiful Lake District — my favourite place on earth! This was not just any weekend; it was a weekend volunteering with the Outlook Trust — a charity founded by teachers from the school I attended when I was a child. The charity provides short breaks for young people who are visually impaired, like me. For the weeks leading up to this, I felt child-like excitement and joy at the prospect of water sports, something I always felt when I was young. Sadly, as a teenager, this wonderful activity was taken away from me.

Coming from a community that upholds an honour system, my life drastically changed during my teenage years, when I was seen as a woman – and no longer a girl – in the eyes of my community. An honour-based system is one that is particularly used to control the behaviour of women and girls within families, to protect supposed cultural and religious beliefs, values and social norms in the name of ‘honour’. Consequently, everything in my life was restricted, so that everyday things that people take for granted – from going out with friends, to the time I went to bed and the books I read – were under constant scrutiny. More significantly for me, being prevented from going on school trips had a detrimental impact upon my mental health. Whilst my peers would excitedly relay what they got up to during these trips, I would listen enviously. I lost my self-confidence during this time, and, for many years, I forgot what it meant to have fun. I look back at my teenage years as the most isolating period of my life.

During my teenage years, I would reach out to my teachers about the abuse I was experiencing at the hands of my own family, some of whom believed me, but were powerless to take action. However, the response from other staff members was not so positive, they thought that I was exaggerating my circumstances.

When I reached out to other organisations, they did not know how to support a disabled person. I felt trapped, and like there was no way out.

It takes tremendous bravery and courage for all women and girls to take steps to leave an abusive situation. Disabled survivors face additional barriers, such as inaccessible refuge accommodation—less than 10% of refuges are accessible to disabled women. Accessing necessary care and support also takes time, and often requires women to relocate, resulting in women feeling isolated in an unfamiliar town or city. This is in addition to the continued abuse faced by survivors, often lasting for many years after leaving a relationship. Other survivors lose their whole family overnight, and are forced to build their lives back up, miles away from everything they have known. All these factors negatively impact the mental wellbeing of survivors, and in many cases, lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.

It took me three attempts to leave behind my abusive home environment and gain independence. I made two attempts to leave during my late teenage years, and returned home each time, due to the lack of support available to me. I finally left in 2012 whilst at university, and didn’t look back. I am extremely fortunate to have rebuilt my life – it has taken a huge amount of healing and self-reflection. For me, becoming a campaigner was my therapy, and I am extremely lucky to have been given the platforms to speak out. Finally, it is of great significance to me that I am now involved with the Outlook Trust, the same charity that I was prevented from accessing, with the aim of empowering young people to embrace this adventure we call life.

[Image Description: Saliha is sat in a rubber boat, she is wearing a life jacket]
Jan 082023
 

Join us in London or call a protest in your local area

Saturday 11 February, Assemble 12 noon
Department of Levelling Up, 2 Marsham St, London SW1P 4DF

  • Rent Freeze Now! – Service Charge Freeze Now! – Stop the Evictions!
  • Demand the Government funds a rent freeze!

As the social emergency intensifies, more and more of us find it harder to cover the basics – living on poverty wages and inadequate benefits. In many places rents are rising faster than inflation, private landlords force prospective tenants to pay for viewings and tenants in social housing are faced with a 7% rent rise in April 2023. We came together to protest at the Department of Levelling Up in October and we supported the London Renters Union and Greater Manchester Tenants Union on their Rent Freeze Day of Action on 3 December.

Homes for All invited housing groups and trade unions to a Round Table to talk about what we could all do next. We were joined by representatives from Defend Council Housing, Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC), Grenfell Community Campaigners, UNISON, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), UNITE Community, Action on Empty Homes, Fuel Poverty Action, University of Manchester Rent Strike, Southwark Group of Tenants Organisations (SGTO), Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), NASUWT, Deputy Leader of Islington Council, Labour Campaign for Council Housing and others.

The group agreed to call a Day of Action on 11 February 2023 to demand a rent freeze and call attention to associated housing issues such as poor conditions, mould, reduced services and fire safety. A letter has been written to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to demand that the government fund a rent and service charge freeze.

This demand builds on the example from Scotland where the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act was passed on October 2022,  freezing rent until March 2023, with regulations allowing an extension until March 2024. This is a fantastic win for Living Rent Scotland, shows the impact of political pressure from the housing movement and also how the Labour Party, who proposed the policy, can support a 0% rent rise. We also welcome Sadiq Khan’s call for a rent freeze for private renters and a rent rebate for social housing which in effect is a rent freeze.

Facebook event: London Demonstration- please share

Use these hashtags: #RentFreezeNow #ServiceChargeFreeze #StopEvictions #FundRepairs

Contact us to support the rent freeze,  join the Day of Action on Saturday 11 February 2023 in London or to organise in your own area infohfanew1@gmail.com

Jul 152022
 

Disabled People Against Cuts is releasing a statement on this complex case to provide clarity on our position. 

In short we are both pro-choice and anti-discrimination, and we do not believe that removing rights from one group of people is the solution to achieving equality for another.

We salute Heidi Crowter as a disabled young woman motivated to take action against disability discrimination and at the same time do not agree with the legal action taken by herself, Maire Lea-Wilson and on behalf of
Maire Lea-Wilson’s son as the way to address the particular discrimination their case is ostensibly seeking to challenge.

We respect the work of Simone Aspis in trying to influence the #DownrightDiscrimination campaign around the legal challenge to be more inclusive of disabled people and to make links with campaigners
with Down’s Syndrome in order to introduce them to the social model of disability. Sadly, disabled people led campaigns and Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations were too over-stretched to properly support their
efforts and build a big enough intervention to counter the pro-life agenda behind the campaign.

We do believe that the difference in time limits for pregnancy termination constitutes discrimination and encourages the view that the lives of disabled people are worth less than other people’s.  This is the result
of Changes to the Abortion Act 1967 introduced in Parliament through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The time limits were lowered from 28 to 24 weeks for most cases while removing restrictions for late terminations in a cases including fetal abnormality.

 
We agree with the UN Disability Committee 2017 Concluding Observations recommendation: “that the State party amend its abortion law… Women ’ s rights to reproductive and sexual autonomy should be respected without legalizing selective abortion on the ground of fetal deficiency.” How to implement this in practice is not a simple task.

Under current legislation, late terminations of pregnancy for fetal abnormality may only be considered if there is a substantial risk that the child, if born, would “suffer physical or mental abnormalities that
would result in serious handicap.” Whether a risk will be regarded as substantial varies with the seriousness and consequences of the likely disability. Guidance on judging the seriousness of the disability drawn up in 1996 advises that medical professionals should weigh up factors including the probability of being able to live
alone and to be self-supportive as an adult and the likely level of dependency on others to stay healthy as well as the degree of suffering, self-awareness, ability to communicate with others and possibility for
treatment. 

The inclusion in this guidance of measures of dependence on others goes against disabled people’s independent living philosophy and against social model and human rights approaches to disability. According to these, disabled people have a right to support that enables us to have equal life chances with others; we should not be treated any differently because of needing support. 

Health economists have produced cost/benefit evaluations of different prenatal genetic screening technologies calculating savings to the economy through better detection of impairments resulting in more
disabled people aborted before birth. Such work is underpinned by a view of disabled people that is framed entirely in terms of deficit. The promotion of prenatal screening then encourages public perceptions of
disabled people as a burden on society. We know of disabled people who have been told by strangers that they should have been aborted before birth.
 
Whilst we are in favour of challenging disablism we are not in favour of any further restrictions to women’s hard won abortion rights. Removing rights to late terminations currently legislated for would represent a
regressive for women’s rights and is not something we support.

 
Whilst we might support the extension of abortion rights by removing any time limits and thus removing any differential treatment on the grounds of disability, this is not what the Crowter challenge seeks to do. 

The Crowter legal action challenges the current law in terms of the rights of an unborn disabled child and questions late terminations of a fetus “at a time when it is both viable and sentient”. If a judge was to find in favour of these grounds and to uphold the rights of an unborn child over those of a mother’s right to choose, this would have dangerous implications for abortion rights over all and open the way for attempts to introduce further time limitations covering abortion on any grounds. Women’s hard won right to choose is constantly under threat and must be defended.

We do not agree with arguments that pose the rights of one group against those of another. Divisions between different groups only help those who benefit from the exploitation and disadvantage of others. We welcome any disabled campaigners and allies who want to get more involved in the fight against all forms of oppression and towards a society that is fairer for all.

The case raises difficult issues that are highly emotionally charged, interweaving the oppressions of women and disabled people. If we ignore them, it makes it easier for those with agendas that aren’t in our interests to take control of the issues. With the correct analysis – one that understands the structural nature of oppression and seeks to unite all those experiencing different forms of oppression in fighting for social change – we can look at these questions without falling into division and fragmentation of our collective strength.

Jun 152022
 
DPAC were contacted by an individual who was having difficulties renewing his Access to Work. He had been told that their backlog meant his AtW package would not be renewed before it ran out and that in the meantime he would have to pay for his own support.
He successfully challenged this and suggested we share what he did in order to help others in similar situations for which we are grateful.
He says:
“The internal complaint being raised has resulted in my being contacted by a renewal case manager yesterday who will complete my renewal review on ahead of schedule.
 
The three important steps in my case were as follows –
 
(i) Phone call to AtW speak to staff and confirm that they advise the internal complaint route if your circumstances warrant it and show that expected delay(s) would aggravate conditions / cause detriment.  Its important to do this so you can tell the AtW staff member that you complained as a result of advice from their colleagues – this carries more weight. 
 
(ii) Submit a letter of complaint to atw.complaintsresolutionteam@dwp.gov.uk The key elements are to keep it short (1 page)  but set out the detriments linked to delay if there are any.
(iii) Phone call to AtW a couple of working days after the letter has been submitted in order to confirm they have it , then explain to the AtW staff member why you need the case escalated in this manner. This call with prompt the AtW member of staff to complete an online note of their system, creating the complaints process timetable and generating an auto-reply within 24 hours explaining the process.
 
It was within 24 hours of the last phone call I made to AtW that i was contacted by a renewal case manager to start the renewal process.”
Mar 222022
 

Today Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations from across the UK came together to launch the next round of civil socety shadow reports under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. We are asking you to sign up in support of the Westminster shadow report.

All reports – covering issues within the remit of Westminster, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Welsh governments – will be sent to the UN Disability Committee to inform their next examination of the UK to monitor implementation of the Convention. This was originally scheduled to start in 2022 but was delayed due to the pandemic.

 The launch of the reports are the culmination of six months of evidence gathering involving consultation events, a call for evidence and survey. Many thanks to everyone who contributed.

The Westminster report addresses a series of themes concerning implementation of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (CRDP) by Westminster Government. The themes were identified from evidence gathered within the earlier stages of our consultation process and then confirmed and enhanced through further consultation and data gathering.

The themes detailed within the report concern:

  1. Intersectionality: disadvantage and barriers are compounded, for example for Disabled women, Black DDP and DDP from racialised minorities, DDP who are LGBTQ+, asylum seekers, refugees or have No Recourse to Public Funds
  2. Continued retrogression: worse conditions across many aspects of DDP’s lives
  3. Institutionalisation: a specific aspect of retrogression that reinforces, and is underpinned by Theme 6 on our lives being undervalued
  4. Silencing DDP: the further marginalisation of DDP and our voices, in the face of continued retrogression
  5. Disaster Planning and Humanitarian Emergencies: failures to consider DDP in fundamental aspects of public policy development
  6. Lives less worthy: the response to the pandemic, and other policy responses that under value DDP’s lives

Key conclusions drawn from evidence across all themes are that:

  • There has been continued regression since the last public examination of the UK under the CRDP in 2017 
  • Westminster Government has adopted progressive initiatives in discrete areas but has not addressed the fundamental issues affecting DDP’s lives
  • The COVID-19 pandemic response discriminated against DDP and violated our equal right to life
  • Disability equality and human rights approaches towards disability have been further undermined since 2017
  • There is insufficient monitoring and promotion of the CRDP by Westminster Government

You can find the Westminster report here: Shadow report United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People Westminster Government Civil Society Shadow Report – Inclusion London

 

To sign up in support please go to: UNCRDP Westminster Government civil society shadow report sign up (google.com)

 

For reports covering issues within the remit of the devolved governments see:

Disability Action (Northern Ireland): www.disabilityaction.org

Disability Wales: www.disabiltywales.org

Inclusion Scotland: www.inclusionscotland.org

Oct 132021
 

UN Disability Treaty Online Event 

20 October 2021 6 – 7.30pm

Watch live or on demand via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter

BSL interpretation and speech to text

What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (CRDP), why do we have it and how can Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs) use it to advance our rights? – all these questions and more will be answered by our panel of experts as the UK gets ready to be examined again by the CRDP Committee.

Panel to include:

  • Gertrude Fefoame, current member of the CRDP Committee and Chair of both the Committee’s Working Group on Women and Girls with Disabilities and the Committee’s Task Force for developing a General comment about the right to work and employment (Article 27).
  • Catherinne Pedreros Puentes, from the CRDP Secretariat who has supported the CRPD Committee for 9 years as well as working with other UN Committees.
  • Tara Flood, UK disabled people’s rights campaigner, involved in drafting the CRDP in 2006.
  • Linda Burnip, who gave evidence to the CRDP Committee for their special investigation in 2015.

At the event, the England Shadow Report Project will also launch our call for evidence to feed into the next examination of the UK under the CRDP. Watch to find out how you can get involved.

@InclusionLondon

www.facebook.com/inclusionlondon/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnzKmTH5r0MCiNWQmaajD6Q

 

Please note that for information about how to get involved in evidence gathering within Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland you should contact Disability Wales, Inclusion Scotland or Disability Action Northern Ireland.

Sep 282021
 

On the event of the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit, protest online with DPAC’s #AudioRiot and make some noise in opposition.

DPAC is aware that many of us in our community are still isolated, shielding, or even just protecting themselves and their loved ones; and are cautious about taking part in public activism.

Join us online, in parallel to our protest opposite Downing Street, and demand that the government listens to us when we say Stop the Cuts to Universal Credit and give #20MoreForAll.

When: Thursday 30 September 2021 from 5.30pm

Where: On Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media.

How: Post on social media and share why you oppose the cuts to Universal Credit. Link articles (see examples below) that detail the appalling consequences of austerity and use graphics and videos to create an eye-catching statement (see below). Make sure you use the hashtags below so your shouts can be heard!

Why: This month the UK government are reversing the £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit payments, a lifeline that thousands have been depending on during the pandemic. The decision has the potential to push 840,000 people into poverty. At the same time, disabled people on legacy benefits (such as Employment and Support Allowance) never received the uplift to begin with.

Hashtags: #AudioRiot #20MoreForAll #CancelTheCut #StopAndScrap

Article links:

#20More4All: testimonies, stats & facts – DPAC

https://nowthenmagazine.com/articles/i-predict-an-audioriot-against-universal-credit-cuts?fbclid=IwAR3moYEsJksaHgQFIycTIQpTED54NHh4tPr0QYj107C1JaHwngoZ8YEBxkE

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-universal-credit-cut-really-24936714?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mirror_main&fbclid=IwAR3pngGRP-Pxf5DseoaikNqPY5kq9ZY93g04Ad9TfI799yC0eiGkCC8BoV4

https://dpac.uk.net/2021/09/disability-news-service-23rd-september/

https://dpac.uk.net/2021/09/disability-news-service-16th-september/

Tories refuse to accept protest letters from disabled people ahead of budget (socialistworker.co.uk)

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2021/09/Universal%20Credit%20-%20HRW%20Letter%20to%20MPs%20-%20September%202021.pdf

https://disabilitybenefitsconsortium.com/2021/08/26/test-post/

 

Links to interviews with DPAC activists about the cut to Universal Credit and our week of action:

https://www.socialistthinktank.com/podcasts/socialist-night-live-30-audioriot

 

Video links:

Promo film for #AudioRio week of action:

#AudioRiot opening rally:

 

Videos with Boris “Piffle” Johnson:

#AudioRiot #20MoreForAll DPAC Protest September 2021 – YouTube 

Graphics:

To post these images to your social media, right hand click the picture and select ‘save image as…’. Then, upload this saved graphic to your Twitter or Facebook posts via the add image option.

section of handmade banner saying "#AudioRiot" in purple
Black square with the word "#AudioRiot" outlined in white travelling diagonally across at different intervals
Turquoise square with "#AUDIORIOT" in black with a red shadow at the top. The DPAC logo is in the middle. A slogan in black text at the bottom says "We will not be silenced!"
White square with DPAC logo faint in the background. The word "#AUDIORIOT" in black text with a red shadow travels diagonally across the middle of the square. The same word in a black outline sits either side of this.outlined in black
Cream coloured rectangle. Slogan in brown says "Universal Credit - a crime against claimants". A chain links the capital "U" and "C"
Photo of artist-activist Vince Laws from Norfolk DPAC dressed as Boris "Piffle" Johnson standing at a lecturn with a cardboard back drop painted to look like Number 10 with the hashtag #20More4All running up the side
Section of a handmade banner showing the hashtag "#CancelTheCut~
Black rectangle with a photo of Labour MP Dan Carden and a quote from him that says "Universal Credit clearly isn't making work pay; it's making working families pay the price for this government's incompetence."
Section of a handmade banner by artist-activist Vince Laws that says "DISABLED PEOPLE ARE BEING KILLED BY TORY POLICIES ENFORCED BY DWP"
section of a handmade banner showing a rat holding a sign that says "JUST DOING MY JOB"

Painting of a skeleton with blonde hair in a suit with a forked tongue holding a knife in one hand and a Union Jack flag in another painted over an orange DPAC "No cuts to benefits" poster

Close up photo of a DPAC "STOP & SCRAP UNIVERSAL CREDIT" badge
white vertical rectangle with "TORY CUTS KILL" scrawled in red around a clever with blood on it and a DPAC logo

Black vertical rectangle. Text in white at the top says "IN WORK OR OUT OF WORK" followed by what looks like a DWP communication that says in blue "UC Universal Cruelty For the many, not the few". The slogan at the bottom says "WAKE UP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE" written over a picture of a pair of white underpants on fire
Section of a hadnmade banner. White text on purple says: "WE HAVE A BETTER PLAN". White text below this on a green background says "WWW.COMMISSIONONSOCIALSECURITY.ORG"
Photo of a long black and white banner laid out on grass stretching out into the distance. One of the slogans on it says "WE WILL NOT BE SILENT"

yellow square - at the top it says "#AudioRiot" above a DPAC logo, under that is says "We will not be silenced!"

Jul 062021
 
photo of Heidi addressing supporters outside the high court
Disabled People Against Cuts sends solidarity to Heidi Crowter who is taking a legal challenge against the fact that disabled foetuses can be aborted right up until the time of birth while there is a legal cut off for non-disabled foetuses. Heidi’s lawyers will argue that this is discriminatory.
DPAC was outside the high court today to show support for the first day of the hearing along with members from Inclusion London, the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance and the Alliance for Inclusive Education. Alongside disabled campaigners including Heidi’s husband James were parents of disabled people including the actor Sally Phillips.
It is right that self-advocates such as Heidi and others supporting her whoul get their voices heatrd in highlighting the inequalities and discrimination they suffer on a daily basis. Ideas and attitudes that see disabled people, and particularly those with learning difficulties as inferior, are still sadly common in society today – they aren’t confined to right wing bigots but sit at the core of many of the services that disabled people rely on for essential support. We’re taught that the exclusion and lesser life chances of disabled people are somehow inevitable and that disabled people are a burden on others.
But this isn’t true.
There are realistic alternatives.
Access and inclusion, fairness and equality are all possible there is a will to achieve them. By embracing difference and valuing diversity society is far stronger.
DPAC therefore supports the idea that the difference in time limits provided for by the Abortion Act is discriminatory. We nevetheless firmly view the Abortion Act as a piece of progressive legislation and are opposed to any curtailment of a woman’s right to choose.
We are concerned that this legal challenge will be used to pit disabled people’s rights against women’s rights and would argue that this does not need to be the case and that both can be defended. It is important that all of us – women, disabled people and those of us who are both and everyone else who cares about social justice – are united in ending all forms of oppression.
United we can but divided we fall.
#DownwithDiscrimination #HoldHands4Equality
Photo of campaigners Simone Aspis and Michaelle Daley outside the high court supporting Heidi in front of banners from Inclusion London, Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance and DPAC
Photo of Heidi's husband James addressing supporters outside the high court
May 082021
 

The People’s Covid Inquiry has been called by campaign organisation Keep Our NHS Public.

The Inquiry has been hearing testimony from many witnesses and takes place with support from a wide variety of individuals and organisations including Disabled People Against Cuts.

The Inquiry Panel, is chaired by Michael Mansfield QC.

Find out more including how you can have a say see: Home | PeoplesCovidInquiry
The next session Profiteering from the people’s health? will be held on Wednesday 19 May from 7pm with witnesses including:

David McCoy – Professor of Global Health Medicine, Institute of Population Health Sciences, QMUL; Centre for Health and the Public Interest

Dr David Wrigley – GP in Carnforth, North Lancs, Deputy Chair BMA, co-author ‘NHS for Sale’ and ‘NHS SOS

Caroline Molloy – Editor at openDemocracy and ourNHS/openDemocracy

Dr Michelle Dawson | NHS Consultant Anaesthetist, trustee Healthcare Workers’ Foundation charity (previously ‘Heroes’)

As well as a special guest appearance by Michael Rosen – author, poet, broadcaster and former UK Children’s Laureate

You can register for this session here: Profiteering from the People’s Health? | PeoplesCovidInquiry

 

Disabled People Against Cuts contributed to Session 4 of the Inquiry which explored the impact of the population – Families, social care, disabled people

May 082021
 

This is a press release from the European Network for Independent Living:

In Brussels, 5th May 2021 – Today, as we mark the 8th European Independent Living Day, we are calling for the release of Siarhei Drazdouski and Aleh Hrableuski, from the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Belarus. Both men have been detained for over three months and are facing up to four years in prison for their work defending human rights. They must be cleared of all the charges and allowed to continue the important work of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Siarhei Drazdouski and Aleh Hrableuski were detained on February 3, 2021 and taken for questioning to the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus. Aleh Hrableuski was placed in pre-trial detention, where he will stay until at least August this year. Siarhei Drazdouski was placed under house arrest and has been deprived of all communication with the outside world, including letters. Prior to that, the Department of Financial Investigations searched the organisation’s office and confiscated all equipment.

At present, Siarhei’s and Aleh’s lawyers are under a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). All that is known is that they were charged with fraud, which carries a prison sentence of up to four years. In reality, Siarhei and Aleh are being targeted because the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities helped people access legal assistance, which they needed after participating in protests (referred to as “unauthorized mass events”). Both Siarhei and Aleh have been recognised by the international community as political prisoners.

The European Network on Independent Living – ENIL, the European Disability Forum and the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities, from Ukraine, wrote to the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus in February, asking for the immediate release of Siarhei and Aleh from detention, and for all charges to be dropped. Front Line Defenders, the international organisation protecting human rights defenders at risk,  has launched urgent appeals for both men. Despite the international attention, the Investigative Committee continues to persecute them.

With this year’s European Independent Living Day dedicated to movement and mobility, it is worth remembering that fighting for the rights of disabled people is dangerous in many parts of the world, and can lead to imprisonment. Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders has therefore made disability rights defenders one of the priority groups for her mandate. She has been informed about the case Siarhei and Aleh, as well as that of Ana Kotur-Erkić, whose treatment by the public and the local authorities in Republika Srpska ENIL reported on earlier in the year.
The European Independent Living Day gives us an opportunity to come together and stand in solidarity with all those fighting for the rights of disabled people, and to demand full implementation of Articles 4.3 and 33.3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the General Comment 7, on participation of disabled people in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention . We therefore call for the following:

  • Immediate release of Siarhei Drazdouski and Aleh Hrableuski from detention and withdrawal of all charges that are being brought against them;
  • Putting in place conditions for the Office for Persons with Disabilities, and other organisations of disabled people, to be able to safely and independently carry out their work to promote the rights of disabled people, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
  • Involvement of the EU institutions, the Council of Europe and the international community in the case of Siarhei Drazdouski and Aleh Hrableuski, and using any means at their disposal to ensure their release, as well as creating an environment where NGOs can work without state interference and danger of persecution.

Notes for editors:

Siarhei Drazdouski was born on November 24, 1973 in Minsk. Siarhei is a disabled person and a wheelchair user. He graduated from the Belarusian State Technological Institute, and later from the Academy of Management with a degree in jurisprudence. In 1997 he participated in the creation, and in 2001 headed the Association of Wheelchair Users. Since 2006, he has worked in the Belarusian Society of Disabled People. In 2011, he created the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He graduated from the High Courses in Human Rights in Warsaw. He is one of the experts of the Council of Europe and UN organisations.

Aleh Hrableuski was born on August 15, 1976 in Orsha. Has a higher education in jurisprudence. He is an alumni of specialized programs in the field of human rights, including the High Courses in Human Rights (Warsaw). He began his career while studying as a lawyer at the Free Trade Union. At the same time, he worked as a journalist for the independent newspaper “Kutseina”. For more than 20 years, Aleh’s professional activity has been associated with civil society organizations. He provided cooperation and legal support in the consumer protection society, independent trade unions, patient, human rights organizations, for example, the Center for Legal Transformation (Lawtrend). Since 2017, he has been a lawyer in the free legal office of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a human rights organisation, aimed at changing the understanding of disability in Belarus. The office based its activities on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. They raised awareness about disability not being a medical issue, but a barrier in accessing human rights. Belarus has joined the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, inter alia thanks to the enormous work of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For many years, the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been advising disabled people on violations of their rights, advocating for changes in legislation, and conducting educational activities to change attitudes towards disabled people.

Ways to support Siarhei Drazdouski and Aleh Hrableuski:

You can also support Aleh by sending him a letter or postcard. His address is: Minsk, Volodarskogo str. 2, 220030, Belarus, for Aleh Glableuski [СИЗО №1, Минск, ул. Володарского 2, 220030, Буларусь, Олегу Граблевскому.]

May 012021
 

Disabled People Against Cuts and Extinction Rebellion are today unveiling their Virtual Reality Kill the Bill protest, as part of the National Day of Action to resist the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) bill which is currently going through Parliament.

Participants in today’s trial will be able to attend today’s central London protest remotely in a digital space designed to look exactly like the real world site. They will be able to view artwork and imagery provided by today’s organisers on billboards around the site.

They will be able to speak to representatives from some of the groups who are staffing virtual stalls within the site.

Those attending will be able to take selfies and post to social media.

Attendees in the real world site can click on a link to the game website Mozilla Hubs and join their counterparts in VR to chat and chant together.

Those onsite in the real world can also join using a VR headset provided by XR.

This will allow disabled people and others who can’t physically attend to do more than just physically watch livestreams – now they can participate and share in an experience which is as close to the real thing as has been attempted so far.

The Kill the Bill Coalition statement says that those living at the sharpest edge of state violence will be made unsafe if this bill becomes law.

This overwhelmingly includes disabled people. For decades disabled people have experienced State violence first-hand through long-stay hospitals and institutions such as Assessment and Treatment Units. Most recently, policies and legislation enacted by successive governments under the guise of austerity caused the UK government to be found guilty by the United Nations of grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s rights due to the sheer depth and scale of their adverse impacts.

Currently, a government prioritising a public finance landgrab over the health of its citizens has seen hundreds of thousands of people dead – a significant majority of them being disabled people.

The limited rights and freedoms disabled people have today were only achieved by disabled people coming together historically to take part in collective forms of protest and civil disobedience. In these ways we held a mirror up to society and challenged it to do better and forced changes that improved the lives of disabled people.

Such actions will be criminalised under the PCSC bill.

The bill targets other communities such as migrants, sex workers and the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. DPAC reaffirms our solidarity with those communities and our commitment to campaign alongside them to kill this bill “with all the means at our disposal”.

To allow this bill to pass without resistance is to condemn all of us to a bleak future, and for many disabled people, no future at all.

As we move into a post-COVID world, it’s more important than ever that we create the kind of society where disabled people and other oppressed communities are drivers for cultural and systemic change. That can only be achieved by a society that is willing to include the voices from those communities – especially when they dissent. That is how inclusive societies are defined.

Technology and our emergence into the digital age bring opportunities for disabled people and other previously marginalised communities to be part of shaping social change in ways not possible before.

We must grab these opportunities.

Today, through our Virtual Reality protest we explore and ask questions about what might be possible.

Andy Greene.

Mar 252021
 

A photo of a white banner hanging from a bridge saying "No Cuts 2 Universal Credit #20More4All"

Fight for £20 more for claimants on legacy benefits

The government has extended the £20 uplift to Universal Credit for another six months but we know how callous and cruel it is not to apply it to legacy benefits, as explained in this short animation from Sheffield DPAC:

 

You can read DPAC’s report #20More4All – Why the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit must be applied to legacy benefits: testimonies, stats & facts here: https://dpac.uk.net/2021/03/20more4all-testimonies-stats-facts/

 

Why it’s important to take action

The government increased Universal Credit by £20 per week at the start of the pandemic, when nearly two million more claimants came onto the benefit, exposing the social security system to greater scrutiny.

Many claimants never got the £20 uplift in the first place. It was only applied to Universal Credit so those still on legacy benefits and not yet moved over to Universal Credit were missed out. Many of these are disabled and their living costs have been significantly higher as a result of the pandemic and needing to shield.

Out of work benefits in the UK are well below the amount needed for a decent standard of living. All benefits need to be significantly increased, not cut.

We need people to be properly supported in these difficult times. The benefits system needs a complete overhaul. The Universal Credit system doesn’t work – it has been proven be toxic and massively harmful.

As well as fighting for a permanent uplift – we must fight for it to be scrapped and replaced with a social security system that provides a genuine safety net for all that need it.

The free school meals saga shows that when people fight back the Tories can be pushed into U-turns.

We understand that many people are still unable to leave their homes and we are NOT asking anyone to put their lives at risk or to break social distancing guidelines.

We are asking people to do just whatever you can to build support for this issue and to let claimants know there is a fightback they can get involved with.

 

Ideas for what you can do to support the campaign

  • Take and share selfies hashtags #20More4All
  • Put up and share posters in support of the campaign. You can:

                            – make your own

                            – download a copy here: https://dpac.uk.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20More4All.pdf

 

Mar 122021
 

We are issuing this statement both to reassure our members and supporters that DPAC is actively responding to this situation, and to provide some clarifications following the statement issued by Novara media yesterday.

 

1)    We would like it noted that it was DPAC who initially reached out to Novara following the Peter Singer interview and justifiable outrage which it provoked. Our intention was to educate Novara about disabled people’s oppression and to find a resolution agreeable to disabled people which could lead to a marked improvement in their coverage.  We received a positive response from some members of the Novara team.

2)     We have asked for a meeting with Novara in order for our members, especially those with learning difficulties, to express their dismay, hurt, and political objections to how the interview was conducted. We are pleased that this request has been accepted and await confirmation of the date we have suggested.

3)    We are disappointed that prior to this incident Novara had consistently failed to take up advice from individual DPAC members concerning the importance of acquaintance with the social model of disability and the particular form of oppression that disabled people face. This led to a situation where Singer was given a platform to express views that encourage division and hate without challenge, and at a time of rising hostility towards disabled people and the explicit devaluing of disabled people’s lives that has characterised the pandemic – which we are still living through. Either the interviewer lacked even the most basic understanding of why Singer’s views are problematic for disabled people or he chose not to deploy those arguments. We are not in a position to know which. DPAC members are currently drafting a longer statement to explain our objections which we hope to make publicly available next week.

 

It is important that we challenge the exclusion and marginalisation of disabled people and all the more frustrating when we have to do this among those who consider themselves to be progressive.

 

As upsetting as this episode is, we (literally) cannot afford to let this distract us from important activity such as continuing the fight for #20More4All. A millionaire Chancellor has just passed a budget denying disabled people the ability to bathe, do laundry, eat and heat their homes. Please continue to pressure the Tories on social media, raise the issue through relevant radio/TV phone ins and local newspapers, write to your MPs and use banners and posters to draw attention to the issue.

Mar 012021
 

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 012021
 

To coincide with today’s day of action, DPAC is publishing “#20More4All – Why the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit must be applied to legacy benefits: testimonies, stats & facts”

The testimonies collated in the document have been collated together from three sources:

  • Responses to an online survey set up DPAC Sheffield and @ImaJSAClaimant. There were 177 respondents. 17% of these are on Universal Credit and have received the uplift. 84% reported they are in receipt of legacy benefits.
  • Responses to a survey carried out by Unite Community. 539 Community members responded. These include disabled people and unemployed workers.
  • Emails sent to Disabled People Against Cuts. These include three from legacy benefit claimants describing their everyday financial struggles and another 25 with copies of letters sent to constituency MPs asking them to support the extension of the uplift.

We have left the comments in people’s own words as we received them.

The research evidence section collates key findings from a number of recent reports that clearly evidence the need not only for the £20 uplift to be extended to legacy benefits and made permanent, but also the urgent for a new social security system that ensures a guaranteed decent income for all.

Linda Burnip, co-founder of DPAC, said: “The survey results show how necessary an uplift to legacy benefits is needed. People especially those in the WRAG who are being forced to live on a measly £74 a week are being left to starve or freeze. Even in austerity struck Tory Britain this is totally unacceptable.”

Andy Mitchell, @ImaJSAClaimant on twitter, said: “For me the comments quite clearly demonstrate how much the extra £20 is needed for the most basic of human needs. In a wealthy country, even after spending 10 years living through and being affected by austerity, it is deeply troubling that disabled people and families with dependent children are missing out on meals and cutting back on heating, As Linda rightly says, it is totally unacceptable – but it is something too many in society have turned a blind eye to for far too long.”

Jen Jones, founder of DPAC Sheffield and herself a claimant of legacy benefits, said:”I cried reading the replies, so many people who feel just like me. Forgotten, unwanted, or a burden, stated that they would wish the extra support for only the most basic necessities. To eat 3 meals a day, to be able to wash themselves and their clothes and to keep warm. We’re not asking for the moon on a stick. Support us to live.”

#20More4All – why the £20 uplift must be extended to legacy benefits – final

Feb 242021
 

Hellooo beautiful Poetry Peeps!

The 4th Thursday of the month is nearly upon us, so here’s the flier for the next Survivors’ Poetry Back-in-Lockdown Lounge Party for this Thursday 25 February at 7.30pm – 10pm. The live link is on the flier below, and our facebook page Survivors Poetry Gigs, and here again :
Meeting ID : 816 6827 5722
Passcode : 270157
We have a fantastic lineup for you to enjoy, plus lots of space for Open Mic so take the plunge if you feel to and bring a poem or a song to share, or just come along to watch – the more the merrier and YOU create the magic by your presence! We will celebrate our community, heal each other with our words and music, tell our stories, reach our hands out to each other in virtual space and give each other solace and solidarity and friendship. Bubble up with us!
Our featured Guest Artist on Thursday is rising star of the poetry world based in Northern Ireland, Survivor poet Mike Wilson. This is his biog :
Michael Wilson is a national award-winning published performance poet. His writing is a balance of light and shade. He is a multi national slam finalist and winner of several slams, including Cheltenham Lit UK slam and Belfast Book Festival slam. His show and book were performed during a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, gaining a five star review from Bouquets and Brickbats. His first full book, Bedlam’s Best and Finest, is an experimental poetic expose of mental illness and health.  Michael has toured the UK and Ireland extensively and last year toured central and east Canada. Michael often performs his poems along with sign language. He has been broadcast on BBC Radio regional and national as well as RTE Radio 1 in the Republic of Ireland. He has been organising events for years and cut his teeth in Manchester. He most recently won the NZ At Your Place slam. He resides in Portstewart, Northern Ireland.
We also have a fantastic array of Special Guests – Wendy Young (Misery With Oomph), Manny (imaginative journey, Be The Change), Jeanette JuPierre (be  prepared to be stunned and shaken), John Adlam (tangled up in blue), and Armorel (brave, raw and heartfelt songs), plus all the superb poets from the floor.  As usual at our events there is a real mix of more established and less experienced poets, all incredibly talented, yes that means YOU!
There will be more tributes to our dear Frank Bangay on Thursday who passed away at home on 25 January, we dedicated the night to him last month. Once Core Arts have got any handwritten poems they can find and his PC from his flat and transferred the poems he had on there to his newly-developed website and we have access to as much of his work as possible, we will have a special tribute night for him on zoom. And of course a night in his honour at the Poetry Cafe once we can get back there… If you would like to share some memories of Frank on Thursday and maybe one of his poems please feel very welcome to do so.
A note – you will have received the Special Bulletin from Survivors’ Poetry last week outlining plans etc for Frank and including obituaries that have been written for him – there was a typo in the link to Colin Hambrook’s piece in Disability Arts Online magazine – here it is again :
Finally, there was much interest in our featured artist last month, Skylar J Wynter, who has just published her first collection of poetry, Pieces of Humanity.  Here again are the links to her social media platforms and links to where you can purchase her book.
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
LINKEDIN
YOUTUBE
TWITTER
BOOK PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AUS
See y’all on Thursday!
Survivors’ Poetry
Feb 202021
 

 

Fight for £20 more for claimants on legacy benefits

The government is set to extend the £20 uplift to Universal Credit for another six months but we know how callous and cruel it is not to apply it to legacy benefits. 

Please do whatever you can to join our day of action on 1st March. 

 

Ideas for what you can do:

  • Take and share selfies on the day using the hashtags #20More4All

 

  • Put up and share posters and stickers. You can:

                            – make one,

                            – download a copy here: https://dpac.uk.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20More4All.pdf

                            – or email mail@dpac.uk.net and ask us to post you one or some.

 

 

  • We are also looking for disabled people on legacy benefits who haven’t had the £20 uplift and are struggling to manage financially to speak to the media. If you could help us please send an outline of your situation and contact details to mail@dpac.uk.net

 

  • You can also have your say anonymously – about your experiences and what the uplift means to you but filling in this extremely quick and straightforward survey: https://forms.gle/Y5uB5Mp95oJfzgAg6 [Thanks to Sheffield DPAC and @imaJSAclaimant for producing this].

 

  • Make your own banners for local banner drops that can be done without breaking social distancing guidelines.

 

  • For those that can, go out and hold socially distanced protests.

 

 

Why it’s important to take action

The government increased Universal Credit by £20 per week at the start of the pandemic, when nearly two million more claimants came onto the benefit, exposing the social security system to greater scrutiny.

Many claimants never got the £20 uplift in the first place. It was only applied to Universal Credit so those still on legacy benefits and not yet moved over to Universal Credit were missed out. Many of these are disabled and their living costs have been significantly higher as a result of the pandemic and needing to shield.

Out of work benefits in the UK are well below the amount needed for a decent standard of living. All benefits need to be significantly increased, not cut.

We need people to be properly supported in these difficult times. The benefits system needs a complete overhaul. The Universal Credit system doesn’t work – it has been proven be toxic and massively harmful.

As well as fighting for a permanent uplift – we must fight for it to be scrapped and replaced with a social security system that provides a genuine safety net for all that need it.

The free school meals saga shows that when people fight back the Tories can be pushed into U-turns.

We understand that many people are still unable to leave their homes and we are NOT asking anyone to put their lives at risk or to break social distancing guidelines.

We are asking people to do just whatever you can to build support for this issue and to let claimants know there is a fightback they can get involved with.

If you are a member of a union branch or a local campaign please ask them to support the day of action on 1sr March.

 

Feb 202021
 

At the Spring budget on March 3rd the government are set to announce a 6 month extension to the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

This is welcome news.

But yet again the needs of disabled people have been overlooked. The government is making a deliberate calculation that they can get away with this; while they fear a public backlash if they make the £20 cut now, they aren’t worried about a fall out over their treatment of disabled people.

And why would they be when they have got away with the grave and systematic violation of disabled people’s rights over the past decade? But we have also seen over that period how they can be pushed into making concessions when they feel enough pressure over an issue. One example of this was in March 2016 when Chancellor George Osborne was forced to make a u-turn over plans to tighten PIP eligibility for people with access to mobility aids and equipment. At that time, different campaign groups, trade unions, charities and many Parliamentarians were all united in the same demand.

We have the same situation now: whether it’s DPAC’s #20More4All campaign, the Disability Benefit Consortium’s #IncreaseDisabilityBenefits or Unite Community’s #UniveralDiscredit campaign, we are all calling for the same thing.

But we can only succeed if we ALL make an effort and do what we can however small.

We are asking all our supporters to email your MP telling them why it is important to you that the uplift is extended to legacy benefits. You can find a template letter here: https://dpac.uk.net/2021/02/email-your-mp-to-call-for-20-uplift-to-stay-be-applied-to-legacy-benefits/

Please also email a copy to us at: 20More4All@gmail.com that we can send on the both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. We want to deliver as many letters and expressions of concern on this issue as possible to before the Spring Budget on 3 March.  

You can also have your say anonymously – about your experiences and what the uplift means to you but filling in this extremely quick and straightforward survey: https://forms.gle/Y5uB5Mp95oJfzgAg6 [Thanks to Sheffield DPAC and @imaJSAclaimant for producing this].

We are also looking for disabled people on legacy benefits who haven’t had the £20 uplift and are struggling to manage financially to speak to the media. If you could help us please send an outline of your situation and contact details to mail@dpac.uk.net

Please have your say. Disabled people’s voices are too often unheard. It’s time for us to show we have voices and to use them.

Feb 072021
 

image with the campaign slogan "No cuts to benefits Keep the £20 uplift & fight for more" with the hash tags #2-More4All #NoCutsToBenefits

Saturday 6th February saw a widely supported day of action to demand a £20 per week uplift to legacy benefits and that the government scraps its proposals to cut Universal Credit by £20 per week. See the report back here.

But there is still more to do over the next few weeks before Chancellor Rishi Sunak gives his Spring budget on March 3.

Help us build support for these demands and force the Tories into a u-turn.

What you can do:

– Put a poster in your window. You can download one here or ask for hard copies to be sent to you by emailing mail@dpac.uk.net

– Get on social media and post selfies and videos using the hashtags #20More4All and #NoCutsToBenefits

– Write to your MP about why this issue is important to you. There is a template letter you can download here

– Raise awareness and build support for the demands from your trade union, Unite Community branch or campaign group

– Organise or support on social media, local socially distanced protests or banner drops

 

For reasons why this is important:

https://twitter.com/imajsaclaimant/status/1357399387140460545?s=20

https://twitter.com/imajsaclaimant/status/1357401280751280128?s=20

 

 

Feb 072021
 

#20More4All #NoCutsToBenefits

Thank you to everyone who joined in the day of action called by DPAC, Homes4All and People Before Profit for 6th February 2021.

People shielding joined in online while socially distanced protests also took place outside job centres up and down the country from Portsmouth to Glasgow, Cambridge to Birmingham, East London to Lancaster and many more. Below are just of the videos and images that were posted up – sorry to everyone’s that we have missed. 

See also write up by @MrTopple in the Canary with more.

 

 

 

Image

https://twitter.com/DPACSheffield/status/1358224397417512969?s=20

https://twitter.com/Cov19Glas/status/1358073569364828165?s=20

 

 

 

Jan 312021
 


image with the campaign slogan "No cuts to benefits Keep the £20 uplift & fight for more" with the hash tags #2-More4All #NoCutsToBenefits

#20More4All #NoCutsToBenefits 

Say NO to the proposed £20 per week cut to Universal Credit

Fight for £20 more for claimants on legacy benefits

Disabled People Against Cuts, Homes For All Campaign and People Before Profit are calling a National Day of Action to fight plans to scrap the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

The government increased Universal Credit by £20 per week at the start of the pandemic, when nearly two million more claimants came onto the benefit, exposing the social security system to greater scrutiny.

Now, while the pandemic is still raging, they are planning to take the £20 uplift away. This seems particularly cruel and unnecessary, especially when Johnson found enough money for a £16 in defence funding in November.

Many claimants never got the £20 uplift in the first place. It was only applied to Universal Credit so those still on legacy benefits and not yet moved over to Universal Credit were missed out. Many of these are disabled and their living costs have been significantly higher as a result of the pandemic and needing to shield.

Out of work benefits in the UK are well below the amount needed for a decent standard of living. All benefits need to be significantly increased, not cut.

We need people to be properly supported in these difficult times. The benefits system needs a complete overhaul. The Universal Credit system doesn’t work – it has been proven be toxic and massively harmful.

As well as fighting for a permanent uplift – we must fight for it to be scrapped and replaced with a social security system that provides a genuine safety net for all that need it.

The free school meals saga shows that when people fight back the Tories can be pushed into U-turns.

We understand that many people are still unable to leave their homes and we are NOT asking anyone to put their lives at risk or to break social distancing guidelines.

We are asking people to do just whatever you can to build support for this issue and to let claimants know there is a fightback they can get involved with.

If you are a member of a union branch or a local campaign please ask them to support the day of action on 6th February.

Here are a few ideas for what you can do:

– Take and share selfies on the day using the hashtags #20More4All and #NoCutsToBenefits.

– Put a poster in your window. You can make one, download one at peoplebefore-profit.com/resources or ask us at mail@dpac.uk.net to post you one.

– Write to your MP to tell them why we need the uplift. There is a template letter you can use below – remember to include information about the issue personally affects you as MPs respond better to personal rather than blanket letters.

– Make your own banners for local banner drops that can be done without breaking social distancing guidelines.

–  Use your local media to raise awareness of the issue.

 

Dear [insert name of MP]

I am writing to ask you as my MP to oppose the proposed cut to Universal Credit by £20 per week. This represents more than one fifth of income that claimants depend on for essentials such as food and heating.

Many claimants who have not yet been moved on to UC missed out on the £20 uplift when it was introduced in March. This is despite the fact that many of those claimants are disabled with underlying health conditions and their expenditures have significantly increased as a direct result of the pandemic and the need to shield for almost a year now.

I ask also that you support the extension of the £20 uplift to legacy benefits.

This personally affects me because… [insert]

Keeping and extending the uplift would have substantial economic and social benefits. These same outcomes will not be realised by the one-off for that has been suggested by the Chancellor as an alternative and to which claimants who have not yet been moved onto UC will be exempt.

UK social security payment levels represent only a relatively small percentage of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). This is the amount calculated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as what is needed for an acceptable standard of living. After the uplift, UC payments are just 43.4% of the MIS.

For those still on legacy benefits, as they have been throughout the pandemic, the amount they continue to receive in benefits represents just 33.9% of the MIS.

One impact of an inadequate income is that it pushes people further from employability: online access, the kind of nutrition able to sustain concentration and the ability to stay clean and presentable for interviews all require a level of income that is not achievable if the £20 per week cut takes place.

Keeping and extending the £20 uplift is vitally important to prevent greater poverty, debt and misery and to help those currently out of work to find employment.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

[name]

[address]

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 312021
 

DPAC are collecting disabled people’s experiences of how the NHS contacted you to book an appointment for the coronavirus vaccine and were your access needs met for booking, time of appointments offered and travel to vaccination centre.

We are hearing some disabled people’s experiences of only contacting the vaccination centre by email; missing phone calls and taken off the vaccination list meaning person has to make alternative arrangements with local pharmacy and offered an appointment miles away from their home with no support in place to attend the appointment.

If you have had the vaccine, how were you contacted?  did you experience experience  any barriers to book an appointment and  what support you needed to book  an appointment, having to change appointment time offered as early morning appointment times are often inaccessible for disabled people to attend due to access needs for example.

Did you feel anxious to travel to your appointment because you’re sheilding worrying about public transport or the expense to travel there? were you offered an appointment at your nearest vaccination centre or one some distance away?

Your experiences are important to us and treated confidentiality. Your experiences will be collated to be given to MPs

Please contact us here mail@dpac.uk.net