JOE BESWICK of the London Renters Union talks to the Morning Star’s new Left on Record programme
Latest editorial
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
Tory Austerity
The unnecessarily violent police intervention at a Quaker place of worship is a PR disaster and will only serve to deepen the chasm between them and the public. SYMON HILL reports
ANDREW MURRAY wonders whether recent opinion polling and a fresh local authority by-election result in Ilford are an indication that the time is ripe for the left to make inroads
Due to the actions of this government, the challenges facing those with disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries, are nigh on insurmountable, argus RUTH HUNT
General secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions GAWAIN LITTLE calls for support and participation in the national partnership organised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1926 general strike
After brutal police crackdowns on pensioners and the forced approval of secret IMF deals, trade unions are finally responding to grassroots pressure and fighting back against savage neoliberal reforms, reports BERT SCHOUWENBURG
Bizarrely, Trump’s latest attacks now include the National Zoo, but his real and racist agenda is to strip everything black from the country’s cultural institutions, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
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