Government reforms to disability living allowance (DLA) could lead to more than 835, 000 disabled people losing an “essential lifeline of support”, according to three leading disability organisations. The Disability Rights Partnership (DRP) – the working title for the proposed merger […]
Disabled people to play lead role in TUC protest
Disabled people are set to play an important part in a protest planned by the TUC against the government’s public spending cuts. Disabled people will be at the front of next month’s march – which will start at London’s Victoria Embankment […]
UKDPC says government’s DLA plans ‘will kill aspiration and hope’
Government plans to reform disability living allowance (DLA) are “obscene” and represent the “death of aspiration and hope” for disabled people, according to the UK’s leading representative voice of disabled people’s organisations. The UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) has told the […]
Minister seeks clemency for thalidomide survivor from Philippines president
A government minister has written to the president of the Philippines to ask for the release of a thalidomide survivor who has served 18 years in prison for drug smuggling. Liberal Democrat Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne has asked Benigno Aquino […]
Welfare reform bill: Government could be set for two U-turns
The government could be set for major climb-downs over two of its most controversial cuts to benefits claimed by disabled people. As the government launched its new welfare reform bill, work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith confirmed that plans to […]
Welfare reform bill: Reform efforts ‘will be undermined by cuts’
Disability organisations have greeted the government’s new welfare reform bill with a mixture of caution and outright hostility. The bill will see disability living allowance (DLA) replaced by a new personal independence payment (PIP), with a new assessment to test eligibility. […]
Proposals ‘will help more disabled people into parliament’
The government hopes a new strategy will help more disabled people become local councillors and MPs. The £1 million-a-year package of six proposals includes a new Access to Elected Office Fund to help would-be disabled politicians meet the extra disability-related costs […]
EU action means new rights to bus and coach travel
Disabled people have finally secured “important rights” to travel on buses and coaches across the European Union (EU) following two years of negotiations. The new EU regulation will guarantee non-discriminatory access to transport and a right to accessible information before and […]
Consumers ‘are being overcharged for mobility aids’
Disabled consumers are being overcharged for mobility aids, and many are buying low-quality products and equipment that fails to meet their needs, campaigners have told the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT said that disabled people, consumer groups, charities and […]
Government to scale back vetting and barring scheme
Millions of people working or volunteering with “vulnerable adults” and children will no longer need to have their criminal records checked under new government proposals. The government said it wanted to “scale back” the Labour government’s plans for the vetting and […]