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


Labour's National Disability Campaign: Nothing about you Without You - A Manifesto with and for Disabled People 


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:



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 elderlyFabian 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 value of the disabled pound: ​
Shoppers on poor retail accessibility:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/30/no-one-wants-to-accept-the-disabled-pound-shoppers-on-poor-retail-accessibility?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail
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
 PERSONAL INDEPENDENT PAYMENTS:

CONGRATULATIONS ON THIS CAMPAIGN...
DWP says it won’t dispute High Court ruling that benefit system ‘blatantly discriminates’ against people with mental health problems
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/benefits-dwp-work-and-pensions-disability-benefits-mental-health-assessment-high-court-scope-a8168496.html

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**Increased PIP payments for 10,000 claimants after assessment shortfalls acknowledged** 
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dwp-benefits-pip-government-admits-too-little-money-support-a8034011.html
​...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:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/30/staggering-rise-pip-complaints-rot-system-disability-benefits

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:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09bxk9d

Tribunal ​Judge says his time is wasted by poor appeal evidence submitted by the DWP
https://www.buzzfeed.com/emilydugan/most-dwp-benefits-cases-which-reach-court-are-based-on-bad?utm_term=.ibywzmX9n#.urY4xwejG
UNIVERSAL CREDIT: 
​Universal Credit matters to disabled claimants because the system disadvantages all and the job market discriminates against the many


Scathing secret reviews of Tories' flagship benefit shake-up detailed for the first time:The ten memos - which ministers were forced to release by Parliament - reveal:
-Universal Credit "was on the brink of complete failure” by 2013, 
-The benefit still costs £963 per claim, almost four times the target set to achieve by May next year.
-Ministers' central boast that UC helps people into work is "highly uncertain” because the estimate relies only on single, childless, unemployed claimants, the MPs said.
-Ministers are slammed for not having produced a full business case for UC even now, eight years after it launched.

Disabled People Against Cuts:
call on the Labour Party to ramp up their 'pause and fix' UC campaign to 'stop and scrap' 
www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/11/20/devastating-email-disabled-person-shows-universal-credit-must-stopped-scrapped/

***Government backs down on Universal Credit Wait*** 
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/15/six-week-wait-for-universal-credit-set-to-be-reduced
...keep appealing keep campaigning
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The Guardian's Frances Ryan sets out how UC disadvantages disabled people:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/31/universal-credit-pushing-disabled-people-into-povert
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**PLEASE NOTE - Maidenhead 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


​NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: 1/3/18
​#Stop and Scrap Universal Credit
organised by DPAC (Disabled people Against Cuts)
https://twitter.com/Dis_PPL_Protest/status/953941602661273605
MENTAL HEALTH 


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

​
"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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