by Ramzy Baroud
FOURTEEN years of the Tories in power have led to disabled people being pushed further and further into poverty, and the actions of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) led to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
On top of this, the loss of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) in Britain (with the exception of Scotland which has retained it) has led to disabled people losing their social care funding and becoming trapped at home without the support they need to join in with society.
In addition to this, for most people now, including disabled people, it is often impossible to get a GP appointment and hospital waiting lists have never been so long, as our NHS has been ground into crisis.
Plans to delay access to the universal credit health element until age 22 have triggered fierce opposition from disabled people’s groups, who warn it would deepen poverty and entrench discrimination against young disabled people under the guise of ‘encouraging work.’ DYLAN MURPHY reports
Labour will find increases in the state pension age are unacceptable, just as cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance, personal independence payments and universal credit are — it needs to change direction immediately, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
A new report from the Citizens Advice destroys the government narrative about disabled people ‘choosing’ not to work, showing the £3,000 annual cuts will create a two-tiered system based on claim dates rather than needs, writes DYLAN MURPHY



