I was so pleased last night to hear that MPs Anne McGuire and Liam Byrne have acknowledged that the WCA is not working. Reports in the Guardian suggest that they have clear enough evidence of the impact of the changes.
I hope they are looking at the cumulative impact – the impact of welfare reform at the same time as NHS reform and cuts to local authority budgets, but I am heartened that they are now acknowledging “We believe that this government is forcing disabled people to pay for its economic mistakes.”
On Sunday Karen and I are off to the Labour Party Conference in Manchester where we look forward to hearing more about this.
We’re aiming to publicise the petition so that the Labour Party knows that nearly 50,000 people have signed asking for a pause – to stop and review the changes.
But what should we do while we’re there? If you have any thoughts or recommendations, please do leave them in the comments below. And we’ll try to keep tweeting from @patspetition if you’re a twitterer.
While we’re away, please keep signing and sharing the petition link. Now more than ever we have to show all Parties the size of the disability voices.
Pat x.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968
www.facebook.com/patsepetition
http://twitter.com/patspetition
email - patspetition@gmail.com
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Tags: labour conference, liam byrne, wca
i wonder if you could ask the question how labour are going to be fairer to the disabled with the benefit reform
i believe the conservatives are saving money by taking benefits of the disabled which they cannot live without ,so the government save the benefit money that the disabled are entitled too ,but they will not only save money on that , they will also save on the health care that the disabled need because a large percent of them are taking ending their lives as they see this as their only way out is this the goverments plan to save on both
PLEASE get them to understand that some people who are ‘disabled’ are also very sick. They just do not seem to get that!!! They are now focusing on getting people into work with the right support etc – but still no mention of support for those who are just too ill to work. Very important distinction.