DISABLED people in their thousands are to demonstrate at Westminster today, the latest group to bring their case against government cuts to the heart of the capital.
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Billed as the Hardest Hit march, the demo aims to publicise the likelihood that disabled people are to suffer among the worst financial hardship brought on by government spending cuts.
“Disabled people feel they are being attacked and marginalised by the government,” said Jaspal Dhani, of the UK Disabled People’s Council.
“We’ve expressed our concerns about the impact the spending review is likely to have on the lives of disabled people, but we feel the government has not taken this on board.”
A recent report from pressure group Demos backs up the ‘Hardest Hit’ theory, partly on the basis that disabled people are already much more likely to be on low incomes, so that any cuts have graver consequences.
“[Disabled people have a ] substantially greater risk of living in poverty than non-disabled people, [and are] disproportionately more reliant on welfare benefits than other low income groups,” reads the report.
Given the difficulties many disabled people face in travelling, the 10,000 expected on the demo represents a huge thumbs down for government cuts.
Among the demands the demonstrators plan to make when they meet MPs in the House of Commons, are that the government should reverse plans to slash disability allowance and end cuts to services such as transport and respite care.
Famous disabled charities like Mencap, Mind, the MS Society, the Royal National Institute for the Blind and Scope will all have representatives on the march.
