Disabled block central London in protest


by Newswire    
2:51 pm - January 28th 2012

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Oxford Circus was completely blocked today as a group of people from Disabled People Against Cuts, Disabled People’s Direct Action Network and UKUncut came together to protest against the government’s Welfare Reform Bill.

At 12 o’clock, a group of 15 wheelchair users chained themselves together in the middle of Regent Street using handcuffs, causing a backlog of traffic to build up and bringing Oxford Circus and the surrounding area to a complete standstill.

They were joined by over 100 more people who had responded to a call by UK Uncut to meet at Holborn station to ‘shame the government into withdrawing the bill completely’.

A crowd of people, including a samba band, gathered there and marched together towards the target, which had been a secret until the wheelchairs were chained in place.

Some people said they had travelled from as far as Manchester, Cornwall and Edinburgh to take part in the action, which was called by disabled activists and others directly affected by the bill.

The protest comes after a week in which the bill stalled on its progress through Parliament, with many aspects rejected by the House of Lords.

Opposition has been mounting following publication of the ‘spartacus report’ which was written, researched and funded by disabled campaigners, and which claims that the government misled the public and ‘broke its own code of consultation’.

Nearly half a million people would lose their Disability Living Allowance, including disabled children.

From a press release

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Reader comments


1. Richard Shrubb

WELL BLOODY DONE. We disabled are far too often the ‘downtrodden’ and ‘voiceless’ (if only to deaf Tory ears).

More militancy needed. If they won’t listen, use more wheelchairs to block off Downing Street so they do…

2. So Much For Subtlety

Half a million people are going to lose their Disability Allowance and they could only get 100 or so to turn up to a protest? Come on people. You could more than that to turn up to the opening of an envelope. This is just embarrassing.

Although it is nice to see British civility and double standards for the disabled are still strong. If 100 able bodied people had done that to protest, say, the fox hunting ban, the Riot Squad would have had a very different response.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
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  9. Creative Corner Cafe

    https://liberalconspiracy.org/2012/01/28/disabled-block-central-london-in-protest/

  10. The Taxman

    Disabled block central London in protest | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/NdOlNrWK via @libcon

  11. Me BALLET

    Disabled block central London in protest | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/Ik7IgQmM via @libcon

  12. Jim Newton-Smith

    Disabled block central London in protest http://t.co/e2g1TC3n Good for them! Those 'nice' Tories want to ignore them – and they won't be!

  13. People With Disabilities | A Taxi Dog Diary

    [...] Disabled block central London in protest (liberalconspiracy.org) Share:FacebookTumblrMoreEmailPrintRedditStumbleUponLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Cartoons and tagged aphasia, disability, Disabled, hypomania by The Taxi Dog. Bookmark the permalink. [...]





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