Some long-term sick and disabled people face being forced to work unpaid for an unlimited amount of time or have their benefits cut under plans being drawn up by the Department for Work and Pensions.
This is a scandal as the WRAG ( work related activity group) is not a fit place for disabled people.
Sign Pats Petition now and get everyone else to sign here
Update from Mark D’Arcy at BBC News Politics – includes details of the Welfare Reform Bill going back to House of Commons.
Tuesday’s …. and then it’s on to consideration of the latest set of Lords amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill – with peers still digging their heels in over the proposed under-occupancy penalty for Housing Benefit and the Universal Credit. This week they voted, by a majority of 10, to exempt war widows, foster carers and the severely disabled from the so-called “bedroom tax”. Will the Commons be asked to reverse that change and continue the current round of Parliamentary ping-pong?
list of supporters Pat Onions has submitted an e-petition to the government website. Pat is blind and Pat is also a carer. When we asked her why she submitted this petition she said -
This is a scandal. Disabled people face unlimited unpaid work or cuts in
benefit
The Work Related Activity Group is not a fit place for disabled people.
Sign Pat’s Petition and get every one else to sign.
Received from Paul Swann , Disability Wales
Actions for consideration
DW supports the e-petition set up by Pat Onions, another independent disability campaigner and carer, which calls upon the coalition government to “Stop and review the cuts to benefits and services which are falling disproportionately on disabled people, their carers and families”. The petition now has over 30,000 signatures but many more are needed if is to have a significant impact.
DW encourages all third sector organisations and the people they represent to actively support and promote this e-petition.
The e-petition can be accessed here
DW also urges third sector organisations to consider approaching the DWP to seek an invitation to the PIP Implementation Development Group meetings in London, and/or to a series of DWP Customer Representative Group meetings to be held in Merthyr Tydfil during April 2012 – January 2013.
For further information about these meetings please contact either:
Paul Swann paul.swann@disabilitywales.org or Miranda French miranda.french@disabilitywales.org
see DW Paul Swann – Welfare Reform Bill campaign update
Many mothers are carers or disabled themselves
3% of UK children under 16 have one or more impairments
population trends indicate a rise in the numbers of children with complex and significant needs
3% of mothers with disabled children work full-time, compared to 22% of mothers of non-disabled children
the annual cost of bringing up a disabled child is three times greater than for a non-disabled child
an estimated 55% of families with disabled children are living in poverty, or on the margins of poverty
33 per cent of unemployed single parents have a disability or longstanding illness
34 per cent have a child with a disability
We are demonised and punished financially because of our disabilities and our childrens disabilities, we are being hit from multiple angles by the Government’s austerity programme, particularly welfare cuts and ‘reforms’.
None of us know when illness or disability may strike. No one knows when they may find themselves replying on benefits, support services, or public services that help to make life a little easier for them and their families.
This Government are already forcing thousands of families into poverty. The Welfare Reform Bill and public sector cuts will make life unbearable for many of us.
We urge the Government to halt this programme of austerity to prevent us, our children and our parents from living a life of misery, poverty and fear.
MAC was formed to help fight injustices such as these which is why Pat’s Petition has our full backing.
Mums Against the Cuts
find us on – Facebook
Twitter - @MACNW1
PLEASE SUPPORT THE PETITION AND SHARE THE LINK AS WIDE AS POSSIBLE. HELP GATHER SUPPORT AND ASK YOUR CONTACTS TO DO THE SAME.
‘Deafblind UK is committed to ensuring that deafblind people do not experience an unfair reduction in their benefits. We support Pat’s Petition and urge the government to consider how the cuts to benefits and services are falling disproportionately on disabled people, their carers and families.’
We will also be promoting the petition via our social media as well.
Kind regards
Christine Hardy
Policy, Information and Advice Manager
Please sign the petition here and share with your contacts asking them to do the same.
Carers Federation Ltd fully support the aims and sentiments of Pat’s petition against cuts to disability services. We are not only concerned about the impact of the cuts on people with disabilities but also how they will impact on their carers. We urge our supporters to sign the petition as a soon as they are able to.”
Robert Gardiner
Deputy Chief Executive
Sign Pats petition here and ask all your contacts to do the same
A blind woman who cares for her war hero husband urged Lords today to “stick to their guns” as they prepare to consider MPs’ attempts to push through welfare reforms next week.
Pat Onions spoke of the “appalling propaganda” being driven by MPs who she accused of “fighting dirty” and “giving up playing fair” in their bid to see the Welfare Reform Bill become law.
Ms Onions is not only blind but also cares for her husband David, a war veteran who broke his back while serving in the Royal Navy.
Her selfless struggle has led her to become the figurehead of Pat’s Petition, which seeks to stop the reforms and review their effects before they are forced through Parliament.
read article in Morning Star here
Being an electronic petition this means every one putting the link to Pat’s Petition in newsletters, on websites, in mail outs, social media sites – every where you can. Ask people to sign themselves, and also to ask friends and family and people on their networks to sign.
Please encourage everyone to be proactive in this. In the age of social media – we can do this.
Pat’s Petition is for all of us. For every one who is angry about the way the government is treating disabled people and their families.
.
The government has reversed its House of Lords defeats on the Welfare Reform Bill by reaching for an archaic convention on ‘financial privilege’. It’s a very dangerous precedent
When I wrote my last blog, after the third of seven defeats in the House of Lords for the Welfare Reform Bill, I was – I admit – feeling buoyant. The media narrative around disability and scrounging seemed to be turning, the wider public were actually starting to scrutinise the implications, and the Lords started to oppose many of the proposals that came before them.
posted by Claudia Wood on Public Finance
If you are concerned about cuts to benefits and services sign this petition and ask as many others to do the same.