International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2018

Today is International Day for People with Disabilities (#IDPD2018).

[Image description: the writer in wheelchair sporting WoWPetition paraphernalia]

Here in the UK, matters are deteriorating for disabled folk. Despite treaty obligations, the UK has reduced support for individuals with disabilities. For example, Legal Aid to take action to enforce one’s rights when one has been discriminated against, has been so severely restricted, that is now almost impossible to access one’s rights. Social Security benefits have been reduced or even taken away from individuals. This has then resulted in people having their Motability vehicles, their mobility-scooters and even electric wheelchairs taken from them. Multiple reports, including several by UN agencies, have castigated the UK Government, but they pay no heed. Instead the Conservative Executive continue with dogmatic policies with no evidence base and ignoring the great harms they have caused and still do. The Tories even ignore the evidence that some of their policy changes cost more than the policies they replaced. The UK Parliament also issues reports evidencing the damage done, but has proved impotent when it comes to taking any actions to counter the heinous actions of the Government and its agency the notorious Department for Work and Pensions (aka DWP - which is found to be constantly in breach of the Law but it considers itself above the Law) nor rein them in. The UN itself has also shown it is powerless to enact change for the better in the United Kingdom.

Between 1:5 and 1:6 UK citizens have a disability. WE deserve to be able to work, shop, travel, have relationships, enjoy entertainment, participate in sport, gain an education, just like the majority of Brits. We very often cannot.

Even when we have the ability and the relevant qualifications, we struggle to access the world of work due to the built environment and prejudice, having a much lower employment-rate than non-disabled folk.

The Government has come up with Purple Tuesday, one day a year when disabled people will be treated fairly and assisted at the shops. Imagine if you were limited to a single day per year when you might access all shops!

Around half of all train-stations are inaccessible to many disabled, and for that matter elderly folk, because they are not step-free.

Social services, G.P.s, carer agencies and even charities fail to support people with disabilities who want to explore relationships. As far as I am aware there is not a single English social services department that enquires after a disabled person’s sexual needs. Nor are there any who offer support in pursuing a relationship.

Many places of entertainment are inaccessible to all kinds of disabled folk. Wheelchair-users are frequently barred from entering night-clubs, bars, restaurants, pubs, cinemas and theatres. But they are not the only kind of disabled to be so treated. Folk with learning disabilities are also frequently refused permission to enter such establishments.

Many swimming-pools are inaccessible to folk who become less disabled once they can actually enter the water. Many Premier League stadia do not provide the mandatory number of places for disabled folk.

Statistics consistently and continuously show that folk with disabilities do not achieve as well as their non-disabled peers, due to lack of opportunities, discrimination by schools, failure by local education authorities to provide adequate home-teaching, and so on.

Only UK voters can ensure the position ameliorates. Alas, too many refuse to vote (abstain) or choose to vote wilfully blindly, without considering the consequences to people with disabilities let alone the effects of their vote on the rest of British society.

Please, when next you vote, consider the ramifications on others of that x!

#DisabilityRights #DisabilityDiscrimination #DisabilityHate #DisabilityDeath

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You can support the current WoWCampaign on Twitter or go to wowpetition.co.uk

Gay Bars versus Apps

I randomly came across this video (click on link above to hear the discussion from Rise and Fall of “Men of the Den” on YouTube). You make good points.

As a disabled and queer person, I do not see gay bars in quite such a rosy light. I live in the suburbs of Manchester, England, which has its own gay Village. For me the vast majority of the venues and in some cases the actual streets are inaccessible to me.

When I have visited, prices are high - too high! And the area is inundated with groups of young wimmin, supposedly seeking safer spaces. Many LGBTI folk have deserted the Village and prefer to mix with straights in the less expensive, boho Northern Quarter. From my perspective, this area is far more disabled-accessible and thus disabled-friendly.

Living in the suburbs, there is a dearth of gay bars. However, I am fortunate to reside in an affluent and tolerant community. Nonetheless, it is very often difficult to know who is queer or straight these days for various reasons. So, for myself and others, using apps helps us make friends and acquaintances, folk with whom we chat online about art, politics and so forth. In my case, my housemate & I also have been introduced to queer neighbours and arranged a meet-up in our local pub. I have also used apps to make friends with folk in foreign lands prior to visiting on holidays.

Apps usually do not discriminate against disabled queers; bars often do discriminate due to lack of accessibility. For me there is no real-world gay community; there is however a very real online one.

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Another Office for Disability Issues Fail

It has emerged that the UK Government refused to spend £125 + V.A.T. to obtain a statistical anaysis from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) into employment rates in respect to disabled individuals finding work. It was left to a disability people’s organisation (DPO), Inclusion London, to pay for the research. The Disability News Service (DNS) article can be found here. The item quotes Ellen Clifford of the DPO:

“Studies have confirmed that unsuitable employment is worse for people’s health than no employment.”

And it should be borne in mind that much self-employed work does not earn sufficient for most workers to have a decent standard of living. In other words the self-employed tend to be less wealthy than those in full-time equivalent employed positions.

Ellen Clifford ‘urged the government to “look at the types of jobs and work that disabled people are moving or potentially being pushed into and to address issues of quality instead of making the aim to get people off out-of-work benefits at any cost”.’

I should suggest that there are other issues that also need to be investigated: 

*   the appropriateness of the work to the individual, taking into consideration the nature of impediments, health & well-being;

*   whether the work creates sufficient income from effort expounded, bearing in mind that those with impairments &/or serious health issues have a much higher cost of living than non-disabled/healthy workers;

*   and, does the work have long-term or even medium-term potential.

Surely these are issues that the Office for Disability Issues (#ODI) - a fiefdom of the notorious Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) - ought to have been investigating as a matter of course. The fact they would not spent £125 + V.A.T., against a budget of £millions, to even do the initial investigation is outrageous. It also further demonstrates the UK Government’s continuing systematic failures to adequately and appropriately support disabled folk.

This is further evidence of the department’s, and of course thus the Government’s, ongoing disability discrimination. Given this has been continuing  since 2010, despite the United Nation’s (UN) reports of grave and catastrophic violations towards British disabled folk, one can only infer that the Conservative Party (the current ruling group) is riddled with hate for disabled folk.

Does the language we use include or exclude?

Anyone who follows me on my social media (Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn & Twitter) will probably have noticed that I am a reader of Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT)'s blog and sometimes repost or refer to their articles. The perspectives are those of four UK churches who work together ecumenically: the Baptist Union, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church. During my lifetime I have regularly attended churches of all bar the Scottish member. I was a sunday-school teacher for two of them. Nowadays I feel attached to the Society of Friends, the Quakers. The commonality is our pursuit of social justice.

I subscribe to JPIT's email newsletter and today received:

Rachel reflects on the Anti-Trump Protests which happened all over the country last week. 

The author writes that she and the other quarter of a million or so demonstrators are angry:

"Trump represents a toxic cocktail of misogyny, racism, xenophobia and lies."

But note what's missing from this statement: inter alia homophobia, classism and disablism (ableism). There is no attempt to be all-inclusive. The statement by including only certain examples with no caveat, excludes other areas of hostility and discrimination. One way the sentence could be rewritten to be more inclusivist is as follows:

Trump represents a toxic cocktail of hate and lies. Amongst other things, he is a misogynist, racist and xenophobe.

The blog-post continues with a laudable assertion:

"We believe that everyone is made in the image of God and is entitled to dignity and respect and therefore, that discrimination is an assault on the image of God."

By using the term "everyone", this is an all-inclusive statement. However it is then immediately qualified by the very next sentence.

"We believe that everyone is equal in the eyes of God regardless of race, gender or nationality and all are welcome to be part of the body of Christ."

The "everyone" in this sentence has been limited. Again note what's missing: inter alia, sexuality, creed, class, age and disability.

The United Nations (UN), in article two of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states:

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

The UN by using the phrases "without distinction of any kind", "such as" and "or other status" ensures that all are included and none are excluded from its definition of "Everyone".

Not only does what we say convey meaning, but what we do not say also is open to interpretation, to inference. If we use exclusivist language, then some will feel or believe themselves to be excluded. Others will take our views as exclusivist of certain groupings.

If one uses the search-box on the JPIT's site, one will find no results for "homophobia", "homosexuality", "homosexual" nor "sexual orientation". There is only one mention of "gay" in a fleeting reference to the mass-murders in Orlando in 2016. By contrast the terms "disabled" and "disability" (but not "disablism") connect to several articles. JPIT raises many important questions and encourages its readers to take action. Are the folk behind the site and its contributors deliberately excluding some groups? I hope not. I suspect that the likelihood is that the matter of being inclusive just had not occurred.

None of us, including myself, are perfect: we all exclude others, either wittingly or unwittingly. Nonetheless, I encourage us all to try to be more inclusivist in the language we use.

Disablies are Dying in the UK

I have been having a really bad few months.

Since prior to my housemate finding new employment, I have been trying to obtain a formal statement of need from my local social services.  I had one but being socially minded, I chose to let my housemate look after me whilst he was unemployed, thus saving the Council money in paying for formal carers. A social worker got involved this time, instead of the usual council assessors. The assistance was requested in October, and only just before this bank holiday weekend did the social worker contact me with her assessment, which completely ignores my known needs as backed by my own G.P. (family doctor). This will now of course require me to appeal, further delaying the assistance I need to eat, take medications and deal with my personal care. My housemate now is so fed up of it all, that he has decided to throw his hat in the ring and advise Trafford Council that they either come up with an appropriate care package, or he will refuse any caring for me. This of course will then mean the council and social services will have to provide a much more expensive package as well as the cost of more frequent visits from the social worker and other bureaucrats. There is a social care crisis in England & Wales: tens of thousands of elderly, disabled and sick folk cannot obtain a care plan and thus the care they need just to stay alive.

I was assaulted and injured in December by an acquaintance who knew full well I am disabled and could not fight back. Because he is dating one of my good friends I feel constrained about reporting it to the police, as he would end up with a criminal record and the likelihood is that he would lose his livelihood. This then would likely put inordinate pressures on my friend’s affinity. The evidence is mixed, but the general consensus is that disability hate crimes have been on the increase since 2010. A report by the EHRC was misreported as stating that there had been no increase; but the agency swiftly issued a clarification. Unfortunately, by then the media was reporting the non-increase in hate crime...

In January I finally received my electronic Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim-form from the UK’s notorious Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). It was necessary to get my Member of Parliament (MP) involved as the DWP were very reluctant to assist me with a non-paper form and provide me with one that could be completed via computer. This is a legal requirement of UK anti-disability discrimination legislation. However the DWP regularly fails to issue forms appropriate to inter alia blind & partially-sighted folk, for example, so is constantly breaching the Law. They also do not publicise the email address from which one can request accessible format forms. I only found it out due to having connections from my disability rights activism. (Ultimately I hope to lodge this issue with the Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Unfortunately, the UK government has cut this body’s funding to the bare minimum, so that it is now very difficult for them to fulfil their statutory obligations.) Due to arthritides writing for me is exceptionally difficult if at all possible. The form is actually a forty-plus A4 page booklet. I have cognitive difficulties at the best of times; but during the winter months my (progressive) aphasia is at its worst. Thankfully, I dealt with a very understanding civil servant who permitted an extension, so I had sufficient time to fully answer all the questions. It is now more than two months since the DWP received my claim and I have still had no decision.

Very large numbers of disabled individuals have been losing their disability payments as they are moved from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) the UK’s previous, far from generous, top-up payment for the extra costs incurred by those with impairments and disabilities. Losing this extra cash is not the only ramification of being found ineligible for PIP. It is an access payment to other social security benefits, such as housing benefit and the Motability scheme, whereby one is entitled to an adapted vehicle, electric wheelchair &/or mobility-scooter. Tens of thousands of disabled folk have had their adapted transport confiscated and are now trapped in their homes, many also have lost their jobs as they are unable to access public transport. The Citizens’ Advice Bureaux (CAB) network has calculated that some half a million disabled will lose out under the UK government’s cuts to benefit payments.

[*TRIGGER WARNING* Please do not continue reading if discussion of death/suicide may upset the reader!]

One of the most under-recorded and under-shared issues occurring in the UK is the sheer huge numbers of disabled people who are being “nudged” to commit suicide or are dying due to lack of food, appropriate medicines, accommodation that means they can lead independent lives, etc. The UK has gone from being one of the better countries supporting disability rights globally, to a pariah state quietly killing off its disabled & chronically sick populace. The mass media all but refuses to report on these issues, due to being in the main controlled by supporters of the ruling party. Only a few weeks ago one of these right-wingers suggested that it was appropriate that disabled folk and poor folk committed suicide in order to reduce the burden on the country’s economy - sounds similar to the polemic of 1930’s Europe and the USA, when it was euphemistically called eugenics and which led ultimately to the deaths of millions, a genocide. Currently the numbers dying due to the failures of the UK state are in the tens of thousands. This is termed ‘democide’. But when does democide become genocide?

The United Nations (UN) has already published three reports heavily critical of the UK’s approach towards the vulnerable in British society. A fourth report is due after the snap election, so too late to have any real effect on the electorate - assuming, of course, the media actually reports on the findings.

Europe has been asked by several disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) to investigate the deaths of we disablies. Up to now they have refused to do so. The UN can only write report after report. Meanwhile more disabled folk die needlessly each and every day. The relevant European Commissioner appears to have made no public statement about what is occurring in Britain. The European Union (EU) also appears completely unprepared for the tsunami of disabled/chronically sick people who will flood into Europe once BREXIT is complete, if not beforehand.

My academic background means I should have preferred to publish this blog completely annotated with supporting links to documentation, reports, statistical analyses, etc. Alas, I am not well enough to do so. However, my long-term readers know I do not exaggerate. Please do your own searches to check the facts.

The United Kingdom IS KILLING disabled &/or chronically sick individuals: family members, friends, neighbours, community members…… NO-ONE is lifting a finger to support us. I can only hope that this blog will survive to record what is happening here and that historians will once again record that the world stood by why innocents were killed by an uncaring state.

Please stand witness with me & my ilk!

*

This blog-post is published as part of Blogging Against Disablism Day 2017 (#BADD2017). For this year's articles and previous years' archives, please see here.

 

No Food, no Meds, no Care in Trafford

[Image description: assortment of medications in their packaging]

Some of you may have read my blog-post "Disability Discrimination in Trafford" from just over a fortnight ago.

Last week, in a surge of anger I went on to twitter and vented my spleen at anyone I thought might listen at how dilatory Trafford Council have been. Then I slept through the following two days totally exhausted from a combination of the DWP's PIP claim-process and expressing my frustration. I have been physically and emotionally drained ever since, until I woke up this morning with a supply of energy.

Today, I have written to my social worker who had decided to go with two thirty minute slots, one at lunch-time and one at tea-time, but missing out bed-time. [A breakfast call is not suitable for me and is thus not included.] I responded:

Dear [name of social worker],

Thanks for the update.

However, you are wasting your time. Please refer back to the correspondence with yourself, with [name of social care assessor], and my suggested care plan. Your suggestion will mean some 20 mins wasted of a morning session and no assistance for bed-time, with the result I would continue to miss my night-time meds.

The lack of meds over the past few months has meant some of my symptoms have deteriorated sharply.

The fact that neither you, Re-ablement nor the social care assessment team have ensured that you have put in place carers even for the previously assessed needs (Sept 2016), mean Trafford Council has seriously let me down over the past four months. I continue to miss two out of three sets of meds most days and some days all meds. I continue to miss one of the two meals a day I need each and every working day and any day that [name], my housemate, is away at the weekend. During most weeks I am lucky to get one shower/bath now. The situation is outrageous.

Please immediately devise a plan to ensure I am supported appropriately to my needs.

Please immediately sort out some care.

Please immediately forward details of the complaints procedure - although the situation is so egregious, I am considering whether I ought to pursue legal action.

Yours,

Colin

I sent some fifty tweets to media outlets, politicos, disability organisations, etc. I received back just two responses: one from the council asking me to ring them - which I cannot as I do not use telephones due to disability - and the other a link from the CAB abut moving into a new area - yes!?!

So here I am still not being fed (except by housemate of an evening), still missing out on most of my medications and still not receiving the personal care the local authority has already stated and assessed - per their own document - that I need.

Throwing my hands up in the air in total exasperation! Any suggestions?

I am not supposed to get myself stressed: but my heart is pounding, my blood-pressure is up, my temples are throbbing and I think I may need to have a nap.

 

Disability Discrimination in Trafford

[Image description: the writer in his wheelchair]

Since October 2016 I have been waiting for Trafford Council (Greater Manchester, England) to offer me a care-support package. They already know I need the assistance from a review done earlier in 2016. Since then I have been eating just once per day (at most) and missing most of the two out of my three lots of medications per day. From unused meds, I calculate I have missed a minimum of 77 (seventy-seven) daytime sets of meds. I have missed innumerable meals (I have memory issues so cannot say exactly how many; but if we say one meal X five days X thirteen weeks, that comes to a minimum of sixty-five (65)). During the week, I have had no-one to help me change my clothing nor help me clean myself. So, I am left abed without help and unattended till my housemate comes home each evening around six to seven. I have limited energy, which means it usually has to be used for eating my one meal.

If I am not considered a priority, goodness knows who is. A social worker did finally visit on 19th January, but I am still awaiting the assessment & recommendations. The situation has not been this dire for disabled folk since the creation of the Welfare State.
 
Thankfully, I have a housemate (who has no legal nor contractural obligation) who checks on me and feeds me of an evening and at weekends when at home. What happens for those totally on their own?

Apparently, the article in the Guardian (link below) apprises that this situation is now widespread throughout at least England (who knows about the rest of the United Kingdom).

We disablies are often forgotten - including by ministers of the government who only speak of "the elderly" when mentioning social care. This is overt disability discrimination and quite possibly disability hate.

The Social Care Crisis Hits Disabled People Hard.

So Why Are They Forgotten?

International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2015

Today is the United Nation's International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD2015).


United Nation's Perspective 

According to the UN's webpage:

Theme for 2015: Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities

The estimated one billion people living with disabilities worldwide face many barriers to inclusion in many key aspects of society. As a result, people with disabilities do not enjoy access to society on an equal basis with others, which includes areas of transportation, employment, and education as well as social and political participation.

The right to participate in public life is essential to create stable democracies, active citizenship and reduce inequalities in society.

By promoting empowerment, real opportunities for people are created. This enhances their own capacities and supports them in setting their own priorities. Empowerment involves investing in people - in jobs, health, nutrition, education, and social protection. When people are empowered they are better prepared to take advantage of opportunities, they become agents of change and can more readily embrace their civic responsibilities.

The sub-themes for the 2015 observance of the International Day are:

• Making cities inclusive and accessible for all
• Improving disability data and statistics
• Including persons with invisible disabilities in society and development

More information about the International Day and the UN Enable programme is available at UN Enable.

Retrogression of Rights

Wonderful aspirations to be sure. After the United Kingdom signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and in the preceding few years, matters were ameliorating little by little. Unfortunately since the ConDem co-alition from 2010-2015 and the Conservative government elected this year until 2020, our gains have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Search my blog or the internet for fuller details. However, I list a few examples below:

* The restriction in the number of benefit awards via tightening of eligibility criteria as people are re-assessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which is replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for adults, and Employment & Support Allowance (ESA), which replaces Incapacity Benefit (IB).

* The introduction of a "Bedroom Tax", the Under-Occupancy Penalty, which massively & disproportionately effects families with a disabled member - two-thirds of those effected!

* The reduction in local councils' budgets has had a concomitant knock-on effect in the amount spent on social care, with many more folk unable to access help with toileting, bathing, cooking, etc. The English Law has even ruled that care can be removed from individuals as long as they are placed into adult nappies, whether or not the individual concerned is in/continent!

* The reduction in access to Motability vehicles, due to the reduction in the amount of disability benefits paid out, the benefits that were handed over to the charity in exchange for the lease of a car or motorised wheelchair. This effects tens of thousand of disabled people, some of whom have thus had to give up working!

* The reduction in access to justice in the jurisprudence system via Legal Aid, due to drastic cuts to its budget and eligibility criteria.

* The closure of the vast majority of Remploy factories, places where disabled workers could work in a supported environment. At last count most of the employees had not found alternative employment despite government's promises of every assistance being made available.

* The removal of part of ESA benefit to those classified as NOT being fit for work, but able to work in the future, so that they are paid the same as job-seekers - this group includes groups with cancer, degenerative diseases, fluctuating conditions and even folk with issues such as cystic fibrosis - which will NEVER go away nor ameliorate, save for a miracle or wonder-drug!

* The reduction of Access to Work grants, despite government insisting that they want and that disabled folk ought to work.

* The abolition of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) which supported the most severely disabled to live &/or work as independently as possible.

* The removal of the obligation to conduct impact assessments, which determine whether a proposed or planned action will be advantageous/neutral/detrimental to various groupings, one of which is people with disabilities.

* The removal of assistance to support prospective, disabled MPs, in order to increase the woefully tiny number of MPs with disabilities.

Cumulative Impact Assessment

There have been so many changes that disabled people and their carers & supporters gained over one-hundred-thousand signatures for the WoWPetition to request a cumulative impact assessment (cia) of all the cuts and changes. The government refuses to do so, despite other organisations having done the best they could without access to governmental data. One of those is the Centre for Welfare Reform. In the following four-minute video, "Counting the Cuts", Dr. Simon Duffy gives a brief overview.

Localism

In a single example of how the changes in the UK have effected me this year, my local town ran a survey to determine residents, workers & visitors' attitudes and desires for the run-down town-centre, nationally embarrassed in the media for same. I replied as a disabled person, expressing concerns for others like myself and also for the elderly with whom there is a commonality of needs, such as seating and toilets. I also contacted my local council and requested under FOI for details of what account, if any, had been taken of the disabled/elderly needs & requirements. Despite two requests they refused to respond. Alterations have gone ahead, including the removal of parking, and replacing conventional paving with cobbles. I now can no longer visit parts of the town centre due to my inability to walk very far. I, and presumably those in a similar position to myself, have lost amenities. Only yesterday I read that Southampton is planning on removing ALL its disabled-parking spaces. Ay - overt disability discrimination!

Legal Perspective

The UK Parliament's Human Rights Joint Committee, in their report "Implementation of the Right of Disabled People to Independent Living", stated:

The impact of current reforms

While we recognise the exceptional economic circumstances facing the UK, we conclude that there is a risk of retrogression of the UK's obligations under Article 19 as a result of the cumulative impact of spending cuts and reforms. There has been particular concern about the effects of reductions in funding for local authorities, changes to Disability Living Allowance under the Welfare Reform Bill, caps on housing benefit and the closure of the Independent Living Fund, and the way in which these might interact to restrict enjoyment of the right to independent living.

Many local authorities are restricting eligibility criteria for social care support. We argue that this risks breach of Article 19. We recommend that the Government's forthcoming Disability Strategy includes measures to monitor the impact of restrictions on eligibility for adult social care on disabled people's access to independent living.

Since the aforementioned report, matters have pejorated for those of us with disabilities.

Governmental Attitude to IDPD2015

The government seems not to care, but obdurately continues steadfastly with its dogma of permanent austerity. It is therefore unsurprising to view the government's disdain for even acknowledging IDPD2015. Today is the United Nation's International Day of Persons with Disabilities Day. I shall iterate, as they cannot be bothered. The UK government, as per previous years (see relevant blog-posts), appears to be ignoring it as per usual. Below is today's page from the Office for Disability Issues (ODI):

Apparently broad issues for folk with disabilities on access & empowerment across all levels and areas of society are of no concern to the agency supposedly looking out for disabled people interests.

Is it any wonder that the UN is investigating the UK for serious breaches of UNCRPD?

A Disillusioned Activist: Falling Down the Rabbit-Hole

Anxiety

Since the increase in anti-disabled polemic in the UK, some five years or so ago, I have had to go back on to anti-anxiety medication.

This past week I sold my mobility-scooter, as for the past few years I have been unwilling to use it. This was due to ongoing verbal abuse every time I have used it on my own since the ConDem co-alition came to power. Obviously such attacks shake one's confidence and adversely affect one's independence. The official statistics suggest that there has not actually been an increase in disability discrimination year on year since 2010 - although very slowly the number of crimes reported to the police services has been increasing. So it must just be me & my friends who are experiencing the increase!

On top of these personal and main-stream media (MSM) attacks, my anxiety has been exacerbated by the topsy-turvy nature of politics both here in the UK, in Europe, in the USA, and in Oceania. Logic, rationality, reasonableness, evidence and proof have all been thrown out, to be replaced by extremist ideologies, dogma, propaganda, spin, outright lies and MSM manipulation (including by the once fairly unbiased BBC - see my blog-posts January 2013, February 2013, August 2013, October 2013, June 2014, August 2015), let alone the usual political rhetoric and polemic. How can one respect authority, when the powers-that-be cannot respect the electorate: one simply cannot.

Activism

For the past few years I have turned to activism - attending my first ever political demo only a few years ago. Since then, whilst I have attended a handful of protests or demonstrations, due to my chronic ill-health and ongoing disabilities I have mainly acted in the rôle of bedtivist (I am bed-bound for the majority of the year).

I have learned to use my blog, twitter, G+ and of course facebook, and latterly linkedIn, to attempt to apprise, share and promulgate alternative perspectives, evidence, reports and harrowing tales of discrimination and in some cases death at the hands of the state apparatus, mostly via the dreaded and notorious Department for Work & Pensions (or DWP).

In some senses, I am one of the fortunate disabled in the UK: I can afford to engage legal assistance. Most folk who need such, no longer have access to Legal Aid to claim what is rightly theirs. I know myself that I was too ill to pursue appeals with the DWP, so had to let benefits to which I was entitled go by the by in the 1990s. Even now though, I live in dread, as most other chronically sick &/or disabled folk, of the brown envelopes from the DWP or even worse the white ones from ATOS/CAPITA/MAXIMUS - the private companies paid to assess one's fitness-to-work.

Illness & Disability

I have a neurological illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 G93.3).

I have a nervous system illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 G72.3).

I have musculoskeletal illnesses (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 M15, M16, M17, M18 & M19).

I have a connective tissue illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 M79.7).

I have a circulatory system illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 I73.0).

I have a digestive system illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 K58).

I have a respiratory symptom illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 R07.1).

I have a mental disorder illness (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 F06.7).

I have mental & behavioural disorder illnesses (categorised by W.H.O. at ICD-10 F40, F41 & F42).

The chances of me ameliorating permanently are slight at this juncture - obviously precluding any medical advances or divine intervention. My health is so complex and its management so complicated, I have two lead heath-care professionals (HCPs) rather than the usual one. I keep a spreadsheet of all the illnesses, major symptoms and co-morbidities totalling eighty-five in all. The document includes: supporting evidence; frequency; treatment (if any); and, notes. It is thus, no doubt, quite clear the reason for keeping a record for ease of reference.

State Harassment & Warning from History

Despite all this, and the fact I am unlikely to ever be able to hold down a job ever again, the DWP still believes that I need to be constantly re-assessed. Each time this costs the UK tax-payer (I am one myself) hundreds of pounds, even though the outcome is known - not fit to work. This of course is financial madness, as well as being medical lunacy. But the extremist politicos continue their harangue against we spongers and idlers (recalling the NAZI polemic against Germany's disabled in the run-up to WWII).

Some four years ago I posted the following on my facebook page:

[Image description:  barbed wire graphic; the text reads -

First they came for the disabled,

and I didn’t speak out -

because I wasn’t disabled.

Then they made millions unemployed,

and I didn’t speak out -

because I had a job.

Then they came for the NHS,

and I didn’t speak out -

because I wasn’t ill.

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

to speak out for me.

]

WoWPetition

Many of my chums eventually signed the WoWPetition, which called for Parliament to debate the war on welfare (previously named social security and paid for via a specific tax called National Insurance contributions or NIC) and specifically calling for a cumulative impact assessment (cia) of all the government's changes and cuts to recipients. The petition gained way more than the necessary 100,000 confirmed signatures. The debate happened in February 2014. The ConDem government refused however to carry out the cia despite the debate having been won. Now under a Tory (Conservative) government WoWCampaign have started another petition to get the cia debated in this new session.

Political Disengagement

Poll after poll of the public finds majorities against the vast majority of cuts being implemented by the politicians. Up to and including the 2010 elections I had always read the parties manifestos prior to voting to ensure I was aware of their policies and aspirations. The ConDem government blithely ignored their 2010 documents and forged ahead with a co-alition document, which itself was never fulfilled. Prior to the election this year, the Tories promised this and that and already, after a mere six months, they have breached at least twenty of those promises. This makes the political manifesto moot and not worth the paper it is printed upon. If the political parties cannot be trusted to do what they say they will do, then how is the electorate supposed to decide for whom to vote?

Week in, week out, at Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), in debates and in committees, we see politicians lying unashamedly in Parliament. They also lie to the MSM, some ministers of government even stoop so low as to feed mistruths and spun statistics to media outlets that will blindly regurgitate them. And there is no redress. There is absolutely nothing the voters can do about it. Parliament either cannot or refuses to hold the miscreants to account.

Now we have the Prime Minister threatening to shut down the second chamber if they do not do what he wants. The result would be no secondary oversight of potential legislation.

The Home Secretary, responsible for internal security, has now defined extremism so broadly that anyone who speaks out against the government, or even a department, can be labelled as an extremist, watched by the security services and subject to detention without trial.

The latest ministerial code advises ministers of the government that they may ignore issues of justice and international law - quite probably illegal, but the UK courts appear to be impotent.

This is NOT democracy: at best it is an oligarchy; at worst, we now have a totalitarian state.

Apathy

A couple of weeks ago, the Conservative Party conference was held in Manchester - a city in which they have not a single MP nor a single local councillor. A huge demonstration was organised with between 60,000 and 85,000 folk in attendance (depending whose estimate one accepts) in the city centre. This was the largest ever demonstration here. I invited 120 facebook friends, most of whom have complained of some aspect of the austerity agenda or other government polices. Only three attended.

This week the Chinese Premier visited Manchester with the UK's Prime Minister. I was too ill to personally attend the organised demo, so I offered to tweet (@criquaer) in support. Over two hours I typed one key at a time, 123 messages. I managed ten retweets (RTs). This really was not worth the exhaustion and pain that it entailed.

The Mercury is Dropping

The image above has been updated, as more and more of the UK population is effected by the austerity dogma:

[Image description: text as follows -

I NEVER SPOKE UP

First they came for the disabled & sick

and I didn’t speak out - because I was neither.

Then they cut legal aid and I didn’t speak out because

I don’t need any legal advice.

Then they came for the NHS and I didn’t speak out -

because I wasn’t sick

Then they came for the jobless [with sanctions, etc]

And I didn’t speak out because I had a job.

Then they came for the renters [with benefit caps &

bedroom tax] And I didn’t speak out because I don’t

rent a home.

They cut the Independent Living Fund and I didn’t

speak out because I’m not disabled

Then they took child benefit & tax credits

And I didn’t speak out because I have no children.

Then they came for the trade unions [ to stop strikes]

And I didn’t speak out because I’m not in a union.

Now they’ve come for me -

And tehre’s no one left to speak to me

{all sic}]

What Future?

My only slight hope for the UK is that Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of the Labour Party, espouses policies that the vast majority of Brits also back - the electorate is to the left of all the neo-liberal parties. He is backed by the party's electorate but not by the party's parliamentarians. After May's local elections, we may be in a better position to feel more hopeful or equally despondent. However, I thoroughly expect him to be assassinated - I am turning into a cynic!

It looks as if my move to Scotland will remain on the cards, although a tad delayed. Although, that should not be taken to imply that I fully support all that the SNP are doing; they do at least actually still believe in and are attempting to support social justice.

Time to Say Farewell…

In the meantime, I do not feel or believe I can waste any of my very limited time & energy on activism, or at least not in its current form. Unless, I can be convinced otherwise, I shall shortly disassociate myself from all political &/or campaigning groups and turn off the notifications of activist chums, as well as refusing to read anything else on politics. There just seems no real point in continuing to hit one's head against the proverbial brick-wall...

[Image description: a red brick-wall]