Danni Perry’s flag display at the Royal Opera House sparked 182 performers to sign a solidarity letter that cancelled the Tel Aviv Tosca production, while Leonardo DiCaprio invests in Tel Aviv hotels, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
Claimants must be central to development of a new social security system
ELLEN CLIFFORD introduces the new ‘user-led’ approach of the Experts by Experience Commission on Social Security fighting to give claimants a say in the benefits system
YANA PETTICREW explains what’s behind the strike and how the entire sector rests on super-exploiting an unorganised workforce
STEPHEN ARNELL casts a critical eye over the sudden rash of challenges to the two-party system on both sides of the Atlantic, noting that today’s performative populist politics sadly lacks Roosevelt’s progressive ‘Bull Moose’ vision of the early 20th century
BILL KIDD MSP says increasing Britain’s nuclear arsenal at this time is dangerous and expensive folly
ROGER McKENZIE asks whether the US’s shift to targeting everyone at once will instil greater co-operation among rising powers
INITIAL proposals from a groundbreaking initiative were launched for consultation on August 12. The focus of the project — to develop proposals for the future of social security — is a subject that has received no little attention as opponents to the government’s welfare reform agenda attempt to develop alternative ideas.
What stands out about the Experts by Experience Commission on Social Security is that it is led entirely by those with lived experience of the benefits system. There were no big-name speakers at the online launch for the consultation, only benefit claimants and grassroots campaigners against the current system.
The commission is notable for its rejection of traditional approaches to policy-development where high profile advocates are prioritised above those with lived experience. A case in point is the new disability commission set up by the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank founded by Iain Duncan Smith in 2004.
The chair of this commission is Lord Kevin Shinkwin with members including former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as well as representatives from City firms such as Clifford Chance and Deloitte.
More from this author
ELLEN CLIFFORD explains why disabled people see assisted dying as an existential threat — yet there has not been proper consultation with those most affected by potential changes as the legislation is rushed through Parliament
There has been another report from the UN that vindicates what disability campaigners have been saying and experiencing — we are being scapegoated as our rights are violated, reports ELLEN CLIFFORD
The warnings from Canada and elsewhere are clear – there are dangerous implications for disabled people and the whole of society if elective suicide becomes normalised, writes ELLEN CLIFFORD of Disabled People Against Cuts
On the International Day of Disabled People, ELLEN CLIFFORD looks back on the activism of Disabled People Against Cuts and assesses the prospects for the future of radical anti-austerity politics
