Fighting the War against Disabled People
Event to launch release of new book “The War on Disabled People: capitalism, welfare and the making of a human catastrophe” by Ellen Clifford and to reflect o current campaign priorities for activists and allies.
6.30 – 9pm
Monday 15 June
Facebook/twitter/YouTube live
British Sign Language interpretation and live captioning throughout the meeting plus access break.
Speakers: John McDonnell MP, Liz Carr (actor and star of Silent Witness), Linda Burnip (DPAC co-founder), Ros Wynne Jones (journalist), Professor Colin Barnes (Emeritus Professor, University of Leeds), Debbie Abrahams MP, Laura Pidcock (national secretary, People’s Assembly against Austerity), Paula Peters (DPAC), Professor Peter Beresford (Professor of Citizen’s Participation, University of Essex), John Clarke (formerly organiser of Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, now Packer Visitor in Social Justice at York University in Toronto), Ann Galpin (co-chair, TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee), Austin Harney (PCS), Mark Dunk (Unite the union – personal capacity), La Toya Grant (Deaf campaigner), Ray Johnson (self advocate and star of The Undateables), Simone Aspis (campaigner against segregation) and Nicola Field (author of Over the Rainbow: money, class and homophobia). Chair: Mandy Colleran (DPAC)
… with music from John Kelly, aka Rockinpaddy, poetry from Robert Punton and a Q and A with The War on Disabled People author Ellen Clifford facilitated by Stephanie Onamade.
Ten years ago the Tories came to power with the Coalition government. Disabled people realised from the start that this would have dire consequences for disabled people and the poorest in society. That year Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) was formed following a protest outside the Tory party conference.
What has happened since 2010 was worse than anything we could have anticipated. Death is now part of a benefits system designed to punish those unable to earn an adequate income through employment. Disabled people have become re-institutionalised within their own homes as a result of drastic cuts to essential daily support.
Throughout, disabled people have engaged in active struggle in an attempt to minimise the harm inflicted on our communities.
Into this picture the most right-wing government in modern British history was elected in December 2019. In 2020, Covid-19 highlighted even more starkly the growing equalities gaps within society, with official responses to the pandemic confirming that the lives of disabled people are still commonly seen as less valuable than those of non-disabled people.
On 15 June, DPAC will be hosting an event for disabled activists and allies. We will consider the current situation, following a decade of relentless attacks waged on the most disadvantaged people in society by their own government, and explore both the immediate priorities facing us and ideas for building a stronger movement for change.
The event will mark the launch of a new book, ‘The War on Disabled People: capitalism, welfare and the making of a human catastrophe’. The book, written by a disabled activist, analyses recent government disability policy within the context of the history of disabled people’s oppression. It argues that an understanding of wider political economy is necessary both to make sense of the treatment of disabled people and to formulate effective strategies for resistance.
The event will be streamed live on DPAC’s Facebook page, twitter account and YouTube channel.