Disabled People for a Labour Victory
Disabled People for a Labour Victory
We need to come together all those disabled people in the UK who want a change from Tory austerity and blaming disabled people and violating our fundamental human rights and campaign for a Labour Victory.
The Government Record on Disabled People
Cuts in livelihood. Since 2010 the Coalition and Tory Governments have removed the social safety net, as part of austerity. ‘Government have deliberately removed this and replaced with an uncaring ethos’. (United Nations).
Cuts in benefits, universal credit, bedroom tax and social service care. Disabled people have borne the brunt of cuts. They are 9 x harder hit and severely disabled people 19x harder hit than the average person. This has led to 130,000 more deaths than expected across UK.
Hate crime fuelled. 1 in 5 disabled people report experiencing hostile or threatening behaviour or been attacked.
Failure to make trains accessible. Southern Rail and some other privatised train companies have decided to cut the guards, leaving many trains without anyone to assist disabled passengers.
Housing. Only 7% of housing stock in UK meets minimum disability access standards, leaving hundreds of thousands trapped in their homes.
Education fails disabled students. Disabled children/students are increasingly unable to participate in mainstream schools/colleges. Budget cuts, league tables, rigid curriculum and behaviour policies, lead to a dramatic and very expensive rise in segregated provision.
Labour will:
Scrap demeaning and unworkable Universal Credit. Introduce a fair benefits system.
Support Independent Living for disabled people with a national social support system.
Create a more secure society. Get rid of the insecurities in work, housing and welfare which lead to hate crime. Take a tough line on persistent hate crime perpetrators.
Start a major accessible social house building programme.
Legislate to nationalise the rail system. Accelerate the rate of introducing accessible transport.
Education for all. Set up a National Education Service based on a principle of inclusivity, restore funding cuts, bring academies and free schools under local democratic control, revise the curriculum and assessment, so all can thrive and develop their potential.
Restore Disabled Students Grant, cuts in FE, HE and Adult Education,reintroduce student maintenance grant for 16 to 19 year old’s and scrap student loans all of which will create more disability equality in post schools education
Introduce grants for home insulation for a greener future and save money on energy by nationalising energy companies so reducing the threat of hypothermia to old and disabled people
Restore our hollowed out and internally marketed NHS so it can deliver high quality health care for all. Introduce low cost drug manufacture cutting out the millions paid to big ~Pharma so creating more money for our healthcare.
Respect and fund Disabled People’s Organisations and fully implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and incorporate it into UK Law.
So let us come together to get the 13.8 million disabled people and their carers and families to understand that a vote for Labour is a vote for a better deal for disabled people and their families.
Richard Rieser