DISABILITIES HOME PAGE
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Use this page for Disabilities appeals and events, support and advocacy contacts, information and research links, news,                                                                                                                                                                 culture and comments
Disability Labour (Official): 
Nothing about us Without us!
PLEASE NOTE THE NEW FACEBOOK PAGE OF DISABILITY LABOUR (Official)

"There is reliable evidence that the threshold of grave or systematic violations of the rights of persons with disabilities has been met"
​ "...a Labour government would incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People fully into law to ensure that disabled people's rights are protected"
'The ability of government departments to deliver targeted policies towards disabled people has been significantly eroded' 

  • Fran Springfield 14 March, 2018
Why Labour’s Democracy Review Is Key For Disabled Members
        LOCAL AND NATIONAL SUPPORT AND                                     ADVICE CONTACTS:
​       RESEARCH, ARTICLES AND NEWS/ADVOCACY                      RESOURCE:​
Disability Equality ACT Labour - view document on Facebook:

NEWS/ARTICLES:

'I never feel safe': meet the people at the very sharpest end of the housing crisis - disabled millennials
The Guardian: Frances Ryan 21/8/18

GOOD WORK KATIE PRICE!
MPs have won praise after calling on the government to ensure disabled people finally secure equality in the protection they are offered by hate crime laws
John Pring: Disability News Service

"a Labour government would incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People fully into law to ensure that disabled people's rights are protected"
​Labour accuse Tories of not taking disabled people's rights seriously as staff in key department halved
'The ability of government departments to deliver targeted policies towards disabled people has been significantly eroded' - Mattha Busby, Independent

Britain’s treatment of disabled people reminds me of The Handmaid’s Tale
​For the Conservatives to host the inaugural Global Disability Summit, with their track record, is a staggering hypocrisy
The Guardian: Frances Ryan
"Britain’s Got Talent: Lost Voice Guy’s victory is a win for all disabled people:
​The talent show success of the standup comedian, who has cerebral palsy, will help normalise disability far more than any charity campaign" - Frances Ryan, Guardian



"OpinionA comedian with Asperger’s who isn’t an antisocial introvert? It’s no joke
Robert White is turning Britain’s Got Talent into Britain’s Got Tolerance – and demolishing Asperger’s myths on the way" 
​Yousif Nur, Guardian


Tuesday 1 May marks the start of a month dedicated to raising awareness of an often misdiagnosed, misrepresented and misunderstood chronic illness and disability. It’s Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
and May is EDS awareness month
https://www.thecanary.co/discovery/2018/05/01/today-is-the-start-of-a-month-dedicated-to-one-of-the-most-neglected-disabilities-going/
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Now is the time for Labour to reach out to disabled people, young and old
Frances Ryan
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/labour-reach-out-disabled-people-jeremy-corbyn



Corbyn urged to win votes by pledging £10bn more on care for disabled elderly: 
Fabian Society research identifies shortfall in funding for 1.2 million older people
www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/18/labour-corbyn-older-voters-social-care-fabians

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Wheelchair users in UK to be given enhanced rights for bus travel
Decision follows supreme court ruling that bus companies must do more for wheelchair users
​www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/08/wheelchair-users-uk-enhanced-rights-bus-travel-supreme-court​



Accessible cities
What would a truly disabled-accessible city look like?
Most cities are utterly unfriendly to people with disabilities – but with almost one billion estimated to be urban-dwellers by 2050, a few cities are undergoing a remarkable shift


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Read the EHRC report on how well the UK is performing on disability rights:
www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/how-well-uk-performing-disability-rights



On Vogue’s ‘New Suffragettes’: Frances Ryan asks where are the women with disabilities?https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/07/vogue-new-suffragettes-women-disabilities


Marsha de Cordova on disability rights, the job market, Brexit and Philip Hammonds prejudice
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/12/marsha-de-cordova-disabled-minister-equality-battles

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Hammond states that a higher participation of marginal and disabled people in the workforce may have had an impact on the overall productivity measurement
I've tweeted the following on our Labour4Equalities @MaidenheadCLP twitter page:
I'd like to hear Philip Hammond explain his comments publicly and for @jeremycorbyn and @Marshadecordova to demand this.  To not do so will become a missed opportunity for both to raise the social value of disabled people and lay bare their own complicity
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/07/philip-hammond-causes-storm-with-remarks-about-disabled-workers
Campaigning makes people accountable, inertia doesn't:
Paralympian Anne Wafula-Strike wins her compensation case after wetting herself on a train due to the disabled toilet being out of order
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-42084435
THE UNITED NATIONS' ENQUIRY INTO THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY: 
"There is reliable evidence that the threshold of grave or systematic violations of the rights of persons with disabilities has been met"
UN Committee, November 2016
The report emphasises the impact of changes to Housing Benefit entitlement, eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), social care, and the closure of the Independent Living Fund
researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7367#fullreport
"Social security has become a system of institutionalised bullying and degradation...the Tories have created a hostile environment for disabled people... A Tory Government puts tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of care for the disabled of our sociaty" (Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party Conference 2018)
PIP AND UNIVERSAL CREDIT NEWS AND UPDATES:
 PERSONAL INDEPENDENT PAYMENTS:


CONGRATULATIONS ON THIS CAMPAIGN...
More than 160,000 people could get disability benefit back-payments from Department for Work and Pensions
DWP says it won’t dispute High Court ruling that benefit system ‘blatantly discriminates’ against people with mental health problems
The Independent January 2018

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**Increased PIP payments for 10,000 claimants after assessment shortfalls acknowledged** 
The Independrnt Nov 2017​
​...keep appealing keep campaigning


'Rot in the System'
Despite £500m of tax payers money paid to private companies to carry out PIP assessments, year long delays, administrative chaos inaccurate and dishonest outcomes plague the system
Frances Ryan, The Guardian, October 2017


PIP reports downgraded
- Radio 4 You and Yours talks to a mental health nurse who worked as a PIP assessor and found that reports were downgraded
November 2017


Tribunal ​Judge says his time is wasted by poor appeal evidence submitted by the DWP
​Buzzfeed Nov 2017
UNIVERSAL CREDIT: 
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  • The Labour Party's campaign to fix Universal Credit
  • The Tories’ failing Universal Credit programme is plunging millions of people into poverty, leaving them unable to pay rent or put dinner on the table, and facing debt and eviction as a result.
  • Stand With Us
  • We're calling on the Tories to urgently pause and fix Universal Credit.
  • You can help us by signing the petition here

Universal Credit matters to disabled claimants because the system          disadvantages all and the job market discriminates against the many


Government to pay thousands to disabled men who had benefits cut​:
DWP was found to have unlawfully discriminated against men who were forced on to universal credit:
Guardian 31/7/18

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Disabled People Against Cuts:
call on the Labour Party to ramp up their 'pause and fix' UC campaign to 'stop and scrap' 
​Canary, Nov 2017

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***Government backs down on Universal Credit Wait*** 
Guardian Nov 2017 
...keep appealing keep campaigning
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The Guardian's Frances Ryan sets out how UC disadvantages disabled people
​Oct 2017

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MAIDENHEAD CLAIMANTS:


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**PLEASE NOTE - Universal Credit was rolled out in Maidenhead on 23/5/18.  The Council will support claimants of Universal Credit with applications and budgeting.  You can visit the following website and or call this number to arrange an appointment

https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/info/200123/benefits/343/apply_for_benefits/4

01628 796036



​#Stop and Scrap Universal Credit
DPAC (Disabled people Against Cuts)
MENTAL HEALTH 

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"We need to address the socioeconomic causes of mental health issues if we really want to tackle the problem
Debt and having a poor-quality job – such as those with zero-hour contracts or where there is little control or reward to be had – are risk factors for experiencing mental illness" - Annabel Head, Jessica Bond, Independent



Mentally ill subject to 'physical violence and verbal threats' while held under Mental Health Act, finds report‘The inherent power imbalance means detained patients are vulnerable to potential coercive mistreatment, abuse and deprivation of human rights, leading to physical and psychological harm’
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mentally-ill-mental-health-act-detained-physical-violence-threats-treatment-a8329891.html



The Independent:
"The coverage of Ant McPartlin today makes a mockery of all the work the media has done on mental health reporting"
www.independent.co.uk/voices/ant-mcpartlin-media-reporting-mental-health-tramadol-painkillers-ethics-a8263476.html



Today's Report On The Mental Health Act Exposes A Broken System
Huffington Post
​Luciana Berger Labour and Co-operative MP for Liverpool Wavertree, President of Labour’s Campaign for Mental Health

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"Unlicensed online therapists ‘preying’ on desperation of people with mental health problems as NHS struggles to meet rising demand, experts warn"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/online-counselling-therapy-mental-health-mentally-ill-exploited-unaccredited-nhs-a8123131.html
Advice is:
1. Advice is to check with an online therapist which professional body they are registered with.
2 . Make sure that body has been accredited by the Professional Standards Authority(PSA) at:
https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/what-we-do/accredited-registers/find-a-register/-in-category/categories/professions/psychotherapy
or:
www.professionalstandards.org.uk/what-we-do/accredited-registers/find-a-register/-in-category/categories/professions/counselling
3 . From the PSA website click on the link to the accredited organisation's website to check that the counsellor/therapist is registered with that organisation


Mental Health Crisis:
"Twelve mental health bodies write open letter urging ministers they ‘cannot go on’ with so many patients ‘locked out’ of vital services"
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/leading-mental-health-bodies-warn-government-the-crisis-is-here-a8035776.html

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Dr Jay Watts is a consultant clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, at Queen Mary, University of London for the Independent:
Assertive outreach and rehabilitation teams are being cut despite robust evidence that these type of treatments not only work but are also cost-effective.  Jay Watts attributes this to the the Neo-liberal agenda which places the responsibility of mental illness/health on the individual rather than with early trauma and an unjust society
www.independent.co.uk/voices/mental-health-treatment-tory-government-nhs-funding-access-work-benefits-a8037331.html


​Recovery in the Bin - RITB
RITB argue that mental health should be placed within the context of the wider class struggle and that capitalism and social inequality are bad for mental health and mental health services.  Good recovery, autonomy and self-determination are to be attained through qualitative models and social justice
recoveryinthebin.org/recovery-in-the-bin-19-principless/
CULTURE
ART

Disability Arts Online DAO: 
Features, Blogs, Listings, Projects, Directory promoting disability art:
​"We are bold and fearless in instigating intelligent debate to support the development of disability arts and culture"



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