Yesterday Was A ‘Black Day’ For Disabled People- Lord Low

A Facebook status from campaigner Sue Jones:

“The fact is that Ministers are looking for large savings at the expense of the poorest and most vulnerable. That was not made clear in the general election campaign; then, the Prime Minister said that disabled people would be protected. – [Official Report, Commons, 2/3/16; cols. 1052-58.]”
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I started an article about the ESA WRAG cuts which the Tories have hammered through on the back of “financial privilege,” and after Priti Patel informing the Lords that they have “overstepped their mark” in opposing the cuts twice. The Peers have been forced to back down, with Lord Low describing yesterday as a “black day for disabled people”. It is. I’m too depressed to finish it tonight.

But contrary to what is being reported, it won’t be only new claimants affected by this. Anyone with a break in their claim (and that could be a reassessment with a decision that means you have to ask for mandatory review), and those migrated onto Universal Credit will also be affected.

Paralympic gold medallist Baroness Grey-Thompson said she was bitterly disappointed that this “dreadful and punitive” part of the Bill was going ahead.

Parliamentary procedure had prevented her putting down another amendment opposing the move, which will have a harsh, negative impact on thousands of people’s lives.

Facing a UN inquiry into grave and systematic human rights abuses of disabled people, Cameron remains completely unabashed in his government’s blatant attack on a protected social group, and the Conservatives continue to target disabled people for a disproportionately for austrity cuts. Whilst the public remain bystanders.

The “justification” the Tories offer for the cut of almost £120 a month to the lifeline support of people judged to be unfit for work by their own doctors AND the state, is that it will “help people into work”. I’ve never heard of taking money from people who already have very little described as “help” before. The Tories are such lying shameful bastards. Only this bunch of nasty, vindictive and cruel shits would contemplate cutting money from sick and disabled people, whilst gifting the millionaires with £107, 000 each per year in the form of a tax “break”.

Reducing disabled people’s incomes won’t “incentivise” anyone to find a job. It will just make life harder. Baroness Meacher warned that for the most vulnerable the cut was “terrifying” and bound to lead to increased debt.

Condemning the “truly terrible” actions of the Treasury, she urged ministers to monitor the number of suicides in the year after the change comes in, adding: “I am certain there will be people who cannot face the debt and the loss of their home, who will take their lives.” Not only have the government failed to carry out an impact assessment regarding the cuts, Lord Freud said that the impact and suicides won’t be monitored , apart from “privately” because details can’t be shared and because that isn’t a “useful approach”.

He went on to say “We have recently produced a large analysis on this, which I will send to the noble Baroness. That analysis makes it absolutely clear that you cannot make these causal links between the likelihood of dying—however you die—and the fact that someone is claiming benefit.” Actually, a refusal to investigate a correlation is not the same as that correlation not having a causal link, you stupid man. You cannot disprove that there is a causal link, and therefore commenting that there isn’t one established, whilst withholding crucial evidence in parliament and from the public domain is the action and behaviour of a f*cking tyrant.