PETER MASON applauds the revival, 39 years later with the same team and cast, of Manfred Karge’s version of Brecht’s 100-year-old play, Mann Ist Mann
How and why the most vulnerable are under attack
Crippled is a harrowing account of how austerity has impacted on millions of disabled people, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
Fighting back: Disabled people demonstrate against 'fit for work' reviews
[Andy Worthington]
New releases from Biita Houdei, The Mary Wallopers, and The Tubs
New releases from Biita Houdei, The Mary Wallopers, and The Tubs
MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds a fearless attempt to bring to the stage the 1984 toxic gas disaster in Bhopal, India
ALEX HALL applauds the account of a dogged, traumatic and punishing campaign for justice that has lasted from 1998 to the present day
NICK WRIGHT laments the political bias of an epic attempt to tell the history of the liberation of France from the Nazis, that excludes both the decisive contribution of the Soviet Red Army, and of the French communist party itself
Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People
by Frances Ryan
(Verso, £12.99)
IN GIVING a voice to millions of disabled people, Frances Ryan’s Crippled is urgent and essential reading.
It provides comprehensive statistical evidence demonstrating that disabled people have been disastrously and disproportionately affected by the last decade of public spending cuts, combined with interviews and case studies showing just how badly our society is failing.
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As a proportion of GDP the total welfare bill is lower than it was 15 years ago. The claim that it is spiralling out of control is mythmaking, argues DIANE ABBOTT
The government’s Pip review looks like a carefully managed exercise in legitimising future cuts to disability support, argues Dr DYLAN MURPHY