Human Rights

June 7, 2018 0

Memorial and procession will highlight need for reform after brutal murder

Campaigners will take part in a procession later this month to mark the murder of a disabled asylum-seeker and highlight the need for sweeping changes to the system that failed him. Disabled asylum-seekers and activists, grassroots groups, academics and policy-makers will come together for the event in Bristol, nearly two years after Kamil Ahmad’s

Human Rights

Delegates at the disabled workers' conference

May 31, 2018 0

TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference: UN convention ‘must become part of UK law’

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Disabled trade unionists have called on the TUC and unions across the country to campaign for the UN disability convention to be incorporated into UK law. Disabled members of 22 unions, who were at the annual TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference in Bournemouth (pictured), voted unanimously for a motion calling for a national campaign on

Human Rights

May 24, 2018 0

Office for Disability Issues staff levels have plummeted since 2010, DWP admits

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The number of staff working in the government’s Office for Disability Issues (ODI) has plummeted by more than two-thirds under the coalition and Conservative governments, new figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed. In March 2010, just before the Tory-led coalition came to power, there were the equivalent of 48 full-time

Human Rights

May 10, 2018 0

EHRC appoints eight disabled people to advisory committee

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The equality and human rights watchdog has appointed eight disabled people to its disability committee, including leading activists, advisers and academics. The new appointments mean that all 14 members of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) disability advisory committee (DAC) will be disabled people. The committee was formed last year to replace the

Human Rights

May 3, 2018 0

Mental Health Act review ‘is just tinkering around the edges’ of reform

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Mental health survivors and service-users have been left “underwhelmed” by the interim report of a review into mental health legislation in England and Wales ordered by the prime minister. One campaigner said it was clear that the review – chaired by Professor Simon Wessely –was “tinkering around the edges” of the Mental Health Act

Human Rights

May 3, 2018 0

Government refuses to say what has happened to its disability strategy

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to say what has happened to its cross-government disability strategy, following the release of new material under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). Despite repeated requests for the department to clarify whether it currently has a disability strategy, it has refused to do so. The

Human Rights

April 12, 2018 0

Government takes small step over risk of NHS care home discrimination

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The government has taken a small step towards addressing the discrimination faced by service-users with complex healthcare needs who risk being forced into institutions. Last month, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wrote to 13 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as the first step in a potential judicial review of their policies on long-term

Human Rights

March 22, 2018 0

NHS bodies face legal action by human rights watchdog over care home threat

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The equality and human rights watchdog has written to 13 NHS primary care organisations to warn them about discriminatory policies that could see service-users with complex healthcare needs forced into institutions. The letters from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to 13 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across England are the first step in

Human Rights

Dr Phillip Lee speaking in the House of Commons

March 8, 2018 0

Minister suggests ‘realities of the world’ mean government will not halt attack on rights

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The justice minister responsible for human rights appears to have dismissed calls for the government to do more to protect the social and economic rights of disabled people and other groups. Dr Phillip Lee, a junior justice minister whose responsibilities include human rights, was speaking at the launch of the Equality and Human Rights

Human Rights

Virginia Bras Gomes speaking at a podium

March 8, 2018 0

‘Huge danger’ of UK austerity policies damaging rights, says UN expert

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There is a “huge danger” that the government’s austerity policies are damaging the well-established social and economic rights of disabled people and other groups, according to the chair of a UN human rights committee. Virginia Bras-Gomes, chair of the UN committee on economic, social and cultural rights (UNCESCR), said there was a “growing concern”

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