Disabled activists pledge ‘no hiding place’ for Labour’s new government

Disabled activists have today “thrown the gauntlet down” to the new Labour government, as more than 100 protesters gathered opposite the House of Commons to call for action to address the damage caused by 14 years of Conservative rule.

They demanded that the new government takes urgent action to address the poverty, marginalisation and isolation facing disabled people across the UK.

More than 100 disabled people and allies (pictured) took part in the event in Parliament Square this afternoon (Thursday), just 24 hours after the Labour government laid out its plans for new legislation in the king’s speech (see separate story).

In contrast to the new government’s plans, which largely ignored disabled people, disabled people’s organisations have presented their own “achievable” solutions to the problems left by a decade-and-a-half of austerity.

Among their demands, set out in The Disabled People’s Manifesto, they have called for legislation to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into UK law – a pledge made and then dropped by the Labour party while in opposition.

They also want to see a legal right to independent living; action on accessible housing; a right to mainstream education; and a fully accessible transport system.

They have also called for new laws to abolish forced detention and treatment of people on mental health grounds; an independent inquiry into the deaths and maltreatment of disabled children and adults “incarcerated” in mental health institutions; and parliament to block attempts to legalise assisted suicide.

None of these measures were included in the king’s speech.

The protest and celebration of disability culture was led by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), with support from organisations such as Recovery In The Bin, Bromley and Croydon Unite Community, Disability and Migrant Network, Trans Safety Network, and the People’s Assembly.

Separate events took place in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester.

The Disabled People Demand event was described beforehand as a “statement of intent” by disabled people towards the new prime minister, Keir Starmer, and his Labour government.

Paula Peters, a member of DPAC’s national steering group, told the event that there would be “no hiding place” for the new government.

She said: “We will use our demands as a marker to measure the success or failure of the new government. Today, we throw the gauntlet down to Labour.”

Peters added: “The narrative used by successive governments under the Labour government, the coalition and the Tories to cut resources and services have seen disabled people being unjustifiably blamed for government spending.

“And here’s a message to [Keir] Starmer: we will not take more of the same.

“We are not to blame for austerity or the cost-of-living crisis.

“These cuts to public services were not forced upon the government by disabled people or migrants; they were an ideological, political choice, and we have paid a heavy cost.

“Disabled people have died, are in deep poverty, marginalised, and isolated because of government policy.”

She called for UNCRPD to be enshrined into UK law, and for a “fully independent” inquiry into deaths linked to the benefits system.

John McDonnell, the Labour MP and former shadow chancellor under Jeremy Corbyn, a long-standing DPAC member who has supported the disabled people’s anti-cuts movement for more than a decade, said the message so far to disabled people from the incoming Labour government has been “wait, wait…”.

But he said disabled people had been waiting more than a decade for action from successive governments of what is the sixth richest country in the world, while there are “disabled people and their families experiencing immense suffering, hardship, and, tragically, loss of life”.

He said: “So the message to the government is that we can’t wait anymore.

“We cannot allow this suffering to go on, this hardship and this loss of life.

“So we’re going to take the demands set out by DPAC today, and yes, we’ll take them into parliament, we’ll force the debate, we’ll force people to recognise the situation that people are in, but also we want to force action.

“We need the resources to lift people out of poverty. We need the resources to provide people with basic human rights.

“We need the resources to enable people to have an independent life.

“And we need the resources to protect people from the abuse that we’ve seen in many of the institutions that are supposed to care for disabled people.”

Ben Sellers, of the People’s Assembly, told the protest there had been a “shameful erasure of disabled people” during the election campaign, with “almost complete silence” on disability-related issues.

He said: “The erasure of disabled people is often framed as pragmatism.

“We’ve heard it all before: financial discipline, fiscal rules, tough choices.

“It’s nonsense. What it is, in fact, is cowardice. Running from the Daily Mail, and the perceived views of the wider public, isn’t about tough choices, it’s exactly the opposite: it’s easy, lazy choices.

“Real leaders seek to change reactionary views where they exist, and they challenge them and expose them where they can’t be changed.

“That’s what we must tell our politicians.”

Lucy Wing, a member of ALLFIE’s Our Voice project, which aims to amplify disabled young people’s voices, called for action on inclusive education but also a “complete end” to the widespread “discrimination, abuse and torture of disabled people in segregated, institutional and residential settings”.

The celebration of disability culture that followed the speeches was set to include poetry from activists Penny Pepper and Rob Punton, music from John Kelly, and an exhibit by Disability Action Research Kollective (DARK) of its collection of zines, while artist Zita Holbourne, co-founder of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts, brought the art works she created for the Deaths by Welfare project.

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