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London’s biggest ever disabled march

CENTRAL London came almost to a standstill yesterday as an army of 5,000 disabled people, their families and friends marched through the streets to warn the Government that public spending cuts will push disabled people over the edge.

Many travelled by coach and by train from all over the UK to take part in what is being hailed the biggest gathering of disabled people in the UK ever.

The demonstrators marched from Victoria Embankment to the Houses of Parliament waving banners and brandishing placards with slogans such as “Blame Banks Not Disabled People” and “Don’t Leave Me Stranded”.

Supporting them were actresses Jane Asher – president of Arthritis Care, National Autistic Society and Parkinson’s UK, Julie Fernandez, and Sally Bercow, writer and wife of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow.

Mrs Bercow, whose eldest son is autistic, said: “It was a real privilege to be here and I very much hope that this Coalition Government will not go through with cuts that will impact on disabled people, their benefits and services.”

Jaspal Dhani, chief executive of the United Kingdom Disabled People’s Council, said:

“The march was a great success and we’d like to thank everyone who was involved. It’s now up to the Government to listen to what we are saying: stop the cuts.”

Dame Anne Begg MP, chair of Work and Pensions Select Committee, said: “There were thousands here. But there are thousands more people that couldn’t be here.”

Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said:

“There’s a real depth of people furious that government welfare reform plans are about to descend into chaos.

“People agree that the welfare bill needs to come down but we should do that by getting people into jobs not by pushing them into poverty.”

Alex from Wolverhampton travelled to London to attend the march. As a student who’s fearful about losing his Disability Living Allowance, he’s worried about whether he can afford to go to college. He also faces losing his bus pass in September because of local funding cuts.

Carol from the Westminster Society for People with Learning Disabilities was among a group of campaigners all concerned about the future of DLA.

“The Disability Living Allowance is essential and without it we simply wouldn’t be able to afford the additional costs of disability.”

Ken, who has sight problems, travelled to London from Dudley with his wife, who has multiple disabilities. He said: “If the changes go through, we’ll lose our home and my wife will have to go into a care home.”

Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller MP, declined an invitation to speak at the rally.

The march was organised jointly by the UK Disabled People’s Council and the Disability Benefits Consortium.

 

The Hardest Hit coalition calls on the Government to:

Scrap plans to cut Disability Living Allowance, a vital benefit that enables disabled people to live independently.

Make sure Employment and Support Allowance, which replaces Incapacity Benefit, has a fair and effective assessment process, does its job and supports disabled people.

Stop cuts to services that are essential to disabled people’s quality of life, such as day care, transport and respite care services.

 

The Hardest Hit campaign is organised jointly by the Disability Benefits Consortium and the UK Disabled People’s Council and is supported by Action Duchenne, Action for Blind People, Action for M.E., Age UK, Arthritis Care, Breast Cancer Care, Broken of Britain, Carer Watch, Carers UK, Changing Perspectives, Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice, Clic Sargent, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Deafblind UK, Disability Alliance, Disability Awareness in Action, Disability Wales, Elizabeth FitzRoy Support, Epilepsy Society, Every Disabled Child Matters, Guide Dogs, Haemophilia Society, Hammersmith and Fulham Against Care Cuts, Hampshire CIL, Inclusion Scotland, LASA, Leaning Disability Coalition, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Macmillan Cancer Support, Mencap, Meningitis Research Foundation, Mind, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association, MS Society, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, NCIL, National AIDS Trust, National Autistic Society (NAS), National Deaf Children’s Society, Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People, Parkinson’s UK, Public and Commercial Services Union, People First Ltd, Rethink, Royal Association for Disability Rights (RADAR), Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), RSI Action, Scope, Sense, Skill, Spinal Injuries Association, Sue Ryder, Transport for All, TUC, United Response, Vitalise, Where’s the benefit?

 

 

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