15 Dec

What happened to the DDA?

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized.

I can remember campaigning with other disabled people to encourage the then Labour government to bring in anti-discrimination legislation that would not only protect us from discrimination but would also provide a big step towards obtaining our full Civil Rights. In effect we wanted it made unlawful to discriminate against us in respect of our impairments in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education, transport and accommodation. Something that most non-disabled people took for granted.

As the late Mike Oliver, a leading academic and disability rights campaigner said of the protests: “We had no resources, but we created a movement, which mobilised at its height hundreds of thousands of people.”

We also demanded that the government adopt the social model understanding of disability when constructing the Act, recognising that it was the barriers in society that disabled us and not our impairments.

Prior to the DDA, the first attempt to deal with the issue of disability was the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944. This made it a legal requirement for companies with over 250 employees to employ a quota of disabled persons. This was now a toothless piece of legislation as there was not now anyone appointed to monitor those rights.

When the DDA was finally passed, we all felt that we had achieved something momentous. Most importantly, The DDA also now required schools and other providers to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for disabled children. The duties were ‘anticipatory’, that is schools and other providers needed to think ahead and consider what they may need to do for disabled children before any problems arose. This was something completely new.

One of the core concepts of the DDA was the reasonable adjustments duty. Under this part of the Act it was incumbent for service providers to “avoid as far as possible by reasonable means the disadvantage which a disabled person experiences, because of their disability.” It made the DDA very different from older legislation in that the public sector had to think more carefully about making positive steps to end discrimination. However, the disabled people’s movement criticised the concept of businesses having to make reasonable adjustment because there were no clear guidelines regarding what was and what wasn’t ‘reasonable’. Activists called this part of the Act piecemeal’, ‘toothless’ and ‘tokenistic’.

So, apart from the un-reasonable adjustment clause, we now had our rights enshrined in law and nothing could take that away. How naive we were!

Things seemed to get better as in 1999 we also got our very own Disability Rights Commission (DRC); at the time, the DRC was the UK’s third equality commission alongside the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission.

I also remember the final act of the DDA that came in, in the early 2000s declaring that all public transport had to be accessible by 2025. This seems to have been conveniently forgotten.

However, in 2006 the recently elected Tory government dropped its bombshell and introduced the Equality Act which brought together over 116 separate pieces of legislation into one single Act. They claimed that it “provided Britain with a discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society”. The nine main pieces of legislation that merged included the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976 and of course the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

What they hadn’t told us was that in replacing the DDA with the Equality Act, we lost all of the case law that had been accumulated through the courts. These were important cases which bolstered our rights to full and unrestricted access to society. These had now effectively been thrown away with the DDA and the other equality legislation.

Another nail in the coffin was the creation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which merged the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and our own Disability Rights Commission.

The real rot started when the new coalition government introduced the upgraded Equality Act in 2010. They also started to downgrade protection on equality in general and specifically in areas of employment and public policy where disabled people had begun to make progress.

A fact sheet published by UNISON at the time sums up what happened next:

“The coalition government began to introduce austerity-wide measures in the UK – cuts to public spending, cuts to public sector jobs, reduction in funding to Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and in particular, funding for disabled peoples’ organisations (DPOs). Devastating cuts were implemented through a draconian regime of reform of welfare benefits, scrapping Disability Living Allowance, introducing Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) and decimating the Access to Work Scheme. Disabled people where now being demonised and degraded for being disabled.”

And so, it goes on. The Coalition government cut £14 million of funding for 285 frontline organisations when it removed the EHRC’s grants budget. They also repealed the powers enabling employment tribunals to make recommendations that an employer change their policies or practice following a finding of discrimination.

On 29 July 2013, fees for lodging claims to the employment tribunal were introduced, which for discrimination cases are set at the higher of two levels. This has resulted in a significant fall in all areas of equality cases and specifically a 46 per cent fall in disability cases. This combined with the Government’s closure of the EHRC’s Helpline and casework service has left many disabled people in a position where they have no recourse to law when discriminated against.

And so it goes on. Disabled people have been forced back to the time when we had no effective legislation to protect us and we are once again denied our rightful place in society.

Come the revolution …

Originally published in Disability Arts Online

Description of cartoon: Two large, vicious looking dogs are sitting next to a playful puppy. The big dogs are identified as employers and service providers and the puppy is identified as disabled people. A large bone is on the ground between them labelled DDA. One of the big dogs is saying: “Nothing like a fair fight eh Slasher?!”

24 Nov

Crippen Cartoon Archive

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized.

Having retired in April 2025 due to impairment and age related issues I have been continuing with my plan to bring all of my earlier cartoons into a modern, accessible format. Called ‘The Crippen Cartoon Resurrection Project’ this has often involved completely redrawing the original greyscale cartoons, introducing colour and accessible text, and introducing non-gender specific characters from a background of differing impairments and cultures.

Many of these earlier cartoons back in the 1980’s were produced at a time when I was new to the disabled people’s movement, my only real experience of disability and discrimination being as a white, male wheelchair user. My cartoons were all hand drawn and produced as greyscale images. This was mainly due to the fact that most of the magazines and newsletters that I produced work for at this time were printed in black and white. The age of online publications was still waiting around the corner. Also, I didn’t discover the Social Model understanding of disability until the late 1990’s which once found, began to redefine my work from this perspective.

Before retiring I was working with disabled people from all around the world, creating cartoons that reflected their own particular experiences of disability. It became clear to me that many were at the start of discovering their identities as disabled people and had only recently started to challenge the discriminatory practices of their own societies. Many had never heard of the Social Model understanding of disability and found my ‘social model’ cartoons quite an eye opener. This led on to my producing strip cartoons explaining the model in more detail, sometimes including aspects of the different cultures around the world and their particular understanding of disability. 

This led to the idea that a collection of my work, containing ‘social model’ based cartoons in particular, could be accessible to all disabled people and their allies and would provide a resource long into the future. By changing my copyright to that of a Creative Commons Licence (BY NC ND) this also insured that my work could not be altered in any way nor used commercially for profit or gain.

I had already produced several collections of cartoons for the UK National Disability Archive (NDACA and NDMAC) and also for Disability Arts Online (DAO). However, what was really needed was an online platform that would allow me to not only display all of my work, but at the same time allow people to download it for educational and campaigning purposes. 

There then followed a conversation with Miro Griffiths and Hannah Morgan from the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds. Together we formulated a plan, and I’m pleased to say that we have started to build an online resource that would provide a platform of my work from the 1980’s to the present time. The fact that I lived in Leeds for most of my childhood and have many friends and contacts at the University, including one of the architects of the disabled people’s movement Professor Colin Barnes, gives an added bonus to this venture.

The Archive is still in its early stages and I’m slowly converting and adding cartoons to the different categories on a daily basis. Once we have a working platform ready, I’ll publish the details here for you to access.

Have a great holiday and a peaceful and happy New Year.

Dave Lupton

24th Nov 2025

16 May

Resisting the government’s benefit cut plans

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized.

Disabled activists gate-crashed one of the government’s “sham” consultation events on its disability benefits green paper and persuaded civil servants to let them put questions that ministers had not wanted to be asked.

In a report from Disability News Service John Pring, Editor, writes:

The direct action, led by Manchester Disabled People Against Cuts, saw activists gather outside and occupy the foyer of the four-star Crowne Plaza hotel in Manchester city centre. They refused to leave the hotel until they were allowed to address the handful of disabled people who were taking part in the consultation event. Despite a police presence, there appear to have been no arrests.

Activists were angry that the consultation event, and others taking place around the country, are only seeking views on 10 of the 22 controversial proposals in the Pathways to Work green paper, including ducking questions on Labour’s plans to cut billions of pounds from spending on personal independence payment (PIP).

After an hour-long stand-off (pictured), the activists eventually persuaded Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants to allow one of them, Rick Burgess, to address the disabled people taking part in the consultation.

He asked those present to vote on whether they wanted to give their views on the whole of the green paper, and not just the questions selected by ministers.

When they voted strongly in favour of giving their views on all the questions in the green paper, about a dozen disabled activists filled up the rest of the tables and Manchester DPAC took over the event from DWP and posed all the questions the government had not wanted to be asked, with DWP staff taking notes of the contributions made in response.

This meant that those attending the consultation were asked what they thought of government plans to scrap the work capability assessment and create a single assessment to decide on eligibility for both personal independence payment (PIP) and the universal credit health element.

They were also asked about the government’s plans to freeze the value of the health element of universal credit until 2029-30, with new claimants seeing their weekly premium almost halved to £50 in 2026-27.

And they were asked about the green paper’s most controversial proposal: to cut spending on PIP by more than £4.5 billion by requiring all claimants to be awarded at least four points on at least one “activity” to qualify for the PIP daily living component.

To end the event, they asked those attending whether they approved of the green paper as a whole. All of them rejected it.

Rick Burgess said: “Our position was this was a sham of a consultation, so all the disabled people here want to come in and we want to tell you what we think of the green paper, and not the questions you prepared”.

He added:

“We didn’t budge, and we said we weren’t leaving. We told the senior civil servant that our message to the minister was to abandon the green paper.

“Our message to the public is to find out where the consultation events are, go along, and if they won’t let you in to talk about all the issues then try and shut it down, because they are an absolute sham. Unless they are letting all the disabled people in to talk about all of the problems the green paper is going to make worse, then it’s just like asking us to co-operate in our own abuse.

“What they are attempting to do is bypass genuine democracy. They don’t want the voices of disabled people who disagree with them, which as far as we can tell is all disabled people.”

Read the full article in Disability News Service.

Things you can do
Sign a petition. The petition calls on the government to “Abandon DWP Pathways to Work Green Paper & create National Disability Strategy”Almost 5,000 people have signed the petition so far. At 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to the petition. If it reached 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
Sign the petition
Join the mass lobby of parliament on 21st May. Coalition Against Benefit Cuts, Disability Rights UK and others are coordinating a mass lobby of parliament on Wednesday 21st May.A Mass Lobby is where a group arranges a large number of meetings between constituents and MPs for the same time. This is an opportunity to push MPs to vote against these cuts, to show the strength of support and to take up visible space in Westminster.  
Find out how to join in

13 May

A letter to Ministers

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized.

Dear Minister,

Writing in my capacity as the research lead for the Preventable Harm Project – ongoing since 2009 – it’s difficult to find the words to describe the relentless political threat to those in greatest need, with the latest government Green Paper being a recipe for a lot more human suffering, seemingly justified by Stephen Timms, who constantly demonstrates that he disregards the identified public health crisis generated by dangerous social policy reforms, ongoing since the last Labour administrations adopted the WCA against medical advice in 2008.

Here is a link to my published response to the DWP consultation on the dangerous ‘Pathways to Work’ Green Paper – Pathways to Work: A response to the DWP Green Paper

Like yourself, many MPs elected in 2024 – who provide a significant Labour majority in the Chamber – are unaware of the influence of corporate America with UK social policy reforms going back to 1992.

Access to the ‘Pathways’ link offers detailed evidence of the ongoing government-induced public health crisis, which is destined to continue if the administration adopt new primary legislation to justify the latest political attack against anyone unable to work. 

The only way to stop this latest threat to the chronically ill and disabled community, and their carers, is to make sure that the government do not pass the primary legislation needed to change the benefit system, and for that to happen many Labour MPs need to vote against the front bench or to abstain when the time comes.

Please feel free to share the above link with colleagues who may benefit from the published evidence of the ongoing political threat to their disabled and chronically ill constituents.

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards

Mo Stewart

Fellow, Centre for Welfare Reform

Research Lead, Preventable Harm Project

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

The PM, Kier Starmer is standing alongside of a sign that has been amended from ‘We want to target help to the most vulnerable in society’ to ‘We want to target the most vulnerable in society!’ He is saying: “We must ensure that our message is clear!”

1 Feb

Mo Stewart asks: “Safeguarding vulnerable claimants – how?” 

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

A guest blog by Mo Stewart, Research Lead of the Preventable Harm Project.

“As the House of Commons returns to Parliament following the Christmas break, the select committees are back in action. The new Work and Pensions Committee (the Committee), chaired by the Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, was taking evidence on 8th January for their ongoing ‘safeguarding vulnerable claimants’ inquiry.

“Significant evidence was provided by the first panel representing Women’s Aid, the mental health charity Mind, the National Autistic Society and the Child Poverty Action Group. These professionals testified to the suffering created by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for benefit claimants with various needs and stressed the negative impact of the DWP on benefit claimants.

“The next person to give evidence to the Committee was Dr Gail Allsopp, the DWP Chief Medical Advisor (CMA) appointed sixteen months ago, following the failure of the DWP to appoint a CMA for over five years.

“The evidence provided by Dr Allsopp left a lot to be desired after the Chair invited her view on ‘the actual scale of the deaths of claimants’. Dr Allsopp claimed her main concern regarding deaths of DWP disability benefit claimants was in the very rare Prevention of Future Deaths reports provided by coroners, identifying that something at the DWP ‘had gone wrong.’

“However, the hundreds of confidential internal process reviews (IPR) investigating DWP related deaths was downplayed. The Chair did advise Dr Allsopp that the Committee believed that the IPRs were ‘probably the tip of the iceberg’ regarding the deaths and serious harm linked to DWP actions, but they both failed to acknowledge the thousands of deaths of chronically ill and disabled benefit claimants following a disability benefit assessment.

“Whilst the DWP created the Serious Case Panel (the Panel), which Dr Allsopp attends, following concerns regarding the numbers of deaths linked to disability benefit assessments, the Panel is not independent and the minutes are limited and totally inadequate. This researcher believes it is past time to adopt an Independent Advisory Panel for DWP Related Deaths, similar to the Independent Advisory Panel for Deaths in Custody, which is linked to the Ministry of Justice, is totally independent and offers very detailed reports of their findings, which is a suggestion brought to the attention of the Attorney General, Lord Kermer KC.

“A letter to Dr Allsopp attracted a reply claiming she could not add ‘any further advice’ as I was in contact with the Minister for Disability, Sir Stephen Timms MP.  However, this researcher’s letter to the CMA didn’t invite any advice, but simply provided evidence that, as the CMA, she should be made aware of. It remains unclear to this researcher why the CMA claims to be responsible for clinical governance across the DWP given that the WCA continues to disregard all clinical need. Any disability assessment that disregards diagnosis, prognosis, past medical history and prescribed medicines is dangerous and guarantees preventable harm to many, regardless of any possible improved clinical governance of the staff who conduct the assessment.” 

Mo Stewart

Research Lead

Preventable Harm Project

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

Seated at a desk under a sign that reads ‘New Work and Pensions Committee’ are Dr Gail Allsopp and Debbie Abrahams MP. The front of their desk has a sign that reads ‘Safeguarding vulnerable clients enquiry’. Two sets of documents lay discarded on the floor. One is ‘Coroners report – the prevention of future deaths’ and the other (which is in a bin marked rubbish) is ‘internal process reviews’. Standing opposite them are three people, representatives of the national autistic society, MIND and woman’s aid. In front of them is a large placard that reads ‘our collective evidence points to unnecessary suffering created by the DWP for disabled benefit claimants’. Another piece of paper is on the floor reads ‘thousands of deaths of chronically ill after assessment’. Dr Allsopp is saying to the group: “I’m afraid that we don’t have time for that – we can only concentrate on any future deaths!” Each of the charity reps looks suitably stunned.

16 Jan

Crippen discovers that DWP paid half a BILLION pounds to deceased pensioners

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Ah, now it’s starting to make more sense …

Blundering civil servants in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) mistakenly sent more than half a BILLION pounds to deceased people in just five years, official figures reveal. And apparently there’s no legal obligation for families to return the money.

So, these exagerated claims by the DWP that disabled people are ripping off the benefits system is nothing more than a fabrication, designed to cover up their own costly incompetence. Who best to blame when the books don’t balance? Why, disabled people of course!

As usual the DWP declined to comment! 

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

A group of people are standing around an open grave as a vicar reads the sermon. An open newspaper on the ground reads ‘DWP pay out 1/2 billion to pensioners who have recently died!’. Also standing alongside the grave is a man in a suit identified as being a ‘bailiff’ and another man as being with the DWP. The bailiff is saying to the vicar: “If the DWP don’t get their money back, we’re going to have to repossess the coffin!”

8 Jan

Crippen looks at the latest figures regarding the stoppage of PIP to disabled claimants

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

An article in the Lancs Live online newsletter states that an estimated 628,000 people receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for disabilities and long-term physical and mental health conditions have had their claims stopped. Over the same period, a further 300,000 have seen their benefits reduced.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) apparently reviews all PIP claims after a predetermined period set at the time of each application being approved. Additional unscheduled reviews can be conducted if there is a reported change in circumstances, typically when an individual’s health deteriorates due to an existing impairment or a new medical issue arises.

Currently, around 3.6 million people in the UK receive PIP from the DWP, with awards approved for a specific period – ranging from nine months to 10 years – before a review is carried out to determine whether it will stop, reduce, increase or continue at the same level.

DWP data reveals that during the eight years from 2016, 628,000 claims were stopped following an end-of-award review or change-of-circumstances review. For those whose claims were up for review after a fixed term, 277,000 claimants lost their PIP after a new assessment, and a further 35,000 were informed their PIP was being cancelled because they failed to attend the appointment.

A further 250,000 people had their PIP stopped based on the forms they completed, without being asked to attend a new health assessment, reports Birmingham Live. Furthermore, 264,000 claimants experienced a reduction in their PIP payments following a review, while just over 500,000 were granted a higher amount and nearly 1.4 million maintained the same level of PIP.

In October 2024 alone – the most recent month for which data is available – more than 5,250 individuals had their PIP discontinued after a review of their claim, and 1,796 saw their payments reduced, while almost 5,600 were informed they would receive a higher amount and 34,000 people experienced no change in their award.

With complaints raised about these reassessments being “dehumanising” and “distressing”, the DWP is facing calls to make improvements. Campaigners are asking for an end to “repeat assessments” and say continued entitlement to PIP “should be a medical decision, not a cost-saving exercise.”

Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disabilities, advised that the application and assessment processes were being reconsidered with a view to improvements as part of the “fundamental reforms” to health and disability benefits to be set out by the Labour Government in spring 2025. However, this could include restrictions on eligibility for PIP.

You’ll remember from an earlier blog that I quoted a statement from Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K who said: “We need to see a health and disability benefits system that provides security and support, not one that pushes disabled people into deep poverty and leaves them at risk of sanctions.”

You can read the full story here.

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

A wheelchair user is sat alongside a giant spinning wheel with rows of flashing lights around it. The face of the wheel has been split into segments which are marked as ‘impose sanctions’, ‘stop all benefits’, ‘go back to start’, ‘accused of fraud’, ‘Raid bank account’ and ‘deleted claim’. The wheel has the name ‘wheel of misfortune – department of work and pensions PIP assessment’ printed upon it. The disabled person is holding a lever which, when pulled, will spin the wheel until it stops with a large pointer aimed at one of the segments. Standing alongside is a man in a grey suit wearing a name tag with DWP printed upon it. He is saying: “You’ve got to admit that this is much more fun than the usual boring assessment!”

4 Jan

Crippen discovers AI is showing a negative bias towards disabled claimants

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

An artificial intelligence system used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to detect welfare fraud is showing bias according to people’s age and disability, it has been revealed by the Guardian newspaper.

An internal assessment of a machine-learning programme used to vet thousands of claims across England found it incorrectly selected people from some groups more than others when recommending whom to investigate for possible fraud.

The admission was made in documents released under the Freedom of Information Act by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The “statistically significant outcome disparity” emerged in a “fairness analysis” of the automated system for universal credit advances carried out this year.

The emergence of the bias comes after the DWP this summer claimed the AI system “does not present any immediate concerns of discrimination, unfair treatment or detrimental impact on customers”.

Campaigners responded by accusing the government of a “hurt first, fix later” policy and called on ministers to be more open about which groups were likely to be wrongly suspected by the algorithm of trying to cheat the system.

“It is clear that in a vast majority of cases the DWP did not assess whether their automated processes risked unfairly targeting marginalised groups,” said Caroline Selman, senior research fellow at the Public Law Project, which first obtained the analysis.

“DWP must put an end to this ‘hurt first, fix later’ approach and stop rolling out tools when it is not able to properly understand the risk of harm they represent.”

By one independent count, there are at least 55 automated tools being used by public authorities in the UK potentially affecting decisions about millions of people, although the government’s own register includes only nine.

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

Alongside of a sign that reads ‘Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – Disabled Claimants AI Scrutiny’, a large robot is sat at a table working through a pile of PIP claim forms from disabled people. It has marked every form with a large red ‘Rejected’ stamp. The robot has a face mask bearing the likeness of Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory minister for the DWP. A voice from the side is saying: “It’s been a lot happier since we gave it the personality of Duncan Smith!”

19 Dec

More unsubstantiated claims that “millions” of disabled people are falsely claiming benefits

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Not content with pillorying disabled people in the House of Commons, it is claimed that the Labour government along with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are continuing to encourage the press and television to portray us all as work shy scroungers.

John McArdle, co-founder of Black Triangle Campaign, claims that the DWP was “emphatically” behind the “false narrative” displayed in a string of recent newspaper articles and television programmes. He pointed out that the last 14 years had shown that this hostile rhetoric always increased before major disability benefit reforms were announced. And it’s no coincidence that this comes as the new Labour government prepares its own reforms of the disability benefits system, which are set to be published in a green paper in the spring. John added: “They are trying to say the benefits bill is bankrupting the country and it’s simply not the case.”

Damaging Articles

So, what are these damaging articles and programmes that disabled people are up in arms about? Well, if we take a look at the more recent examples, there’s an article in the Mirror newspaper this month by journalist Paul Routledge who describes that “millions” of disabled people are dishonestly claiming out-of-work benefits.

He writes that “millions of people who could, and should be in work, sign on for long-term sickness benefits”. He also claimed that mental health was “the ‘bad back’ of the 21st century” because it was “easy to self-diagnose, virtually impossible to disprove”. He provided no evidence for either of his claims.

Disabled journalist and author Rachel Charlton-Dailey said she was “sickened” by Routledge’s column. She said: “The media hostility towards disabled people has been an infuriating thing to try and combat … [but] I’m especially sickened by seasoned columnists using us as a punching bag when they should know better than to publish unsubstantiated lies about benefits claimants that can cause a lot of harm and add to the public’s distrust of us.”

Dr Natasha Hirst, the disabled president of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), who has frequently spoken out about discriminatory reporting in the media, said: “There are a multitude of barriers that prevent disabled people from accessing the labour market. The impact of long Covid, and lack of timely health services, plays a significant role, as well as negative attitudes from employers and lack of accessible transport and housing”.

Damaging Programmes

Three days later a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary on disability benefits was aired. It claimed to expose the “scandal” of the disability benefits system that can “drive people towards benefits rather than work”, and that the costs of supporting disabled people who cannot work “threaten to derail the government’s hopes of economic growth”, and it asked the question: “Are we getting sicker? Or lazier?”

There were multiple concerns about accuracy and unevidenced claims in the Dispatches programme, while the radical working-class media organisation The Canary pointed out that the presenter Frazer Nelson – former editor of the right-wing magazine The Spectator –  had failed to state he was on the advisory board of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the right-wing thinktank that devised Universal Credit.

The film for Channel 4’s Dispatches caused outrage among many disabled people who watched it. One user-led mental health group Recovery in the Bin (RiTB) described the new documentary, Britain’s Benefits Scandal, as an “atrocity”.

Rick Burgess, an RiTB spokesperson, said: “We see what this is, it is a cycle repeated endlessly of government working with media to ready the way for another round of DWP abuse. Shame on everyone involved.”

Read the full story about both the Mirror article and the CH4 documentary in Disability News Service (DNS). Both articles are written by disabled journalist John Pring who’s recently published book The Department is described as a thoroughly researched exposé of the bureaucratic violence and hostility of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the last 30 years.

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

A bald DWP manager in a grey suit is standing alongside a female journalist who is typing on a computer keyboard. Above the monitor a sign declares that this is the ‘News Desk’. The DWP manager is holding a piece of paper with ‘disabled scroungers’ printed upon it. Around the feet of the journalist are other pieces of paper with ‘disabled benefits bill is bankrupting the country’ and ‘millions of disabled are dishonestly claiming benefit’ printed upon them. The DWP manager is saying: “You can run with the story as long as you don’t need any evidence!”. The journalist replies: “Don’t worry about that – we’ve never needed it before and we’re certainly not going to look for any now!”

16 Dec

Bah Humbug!

Posted by crippencartoons in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Well, that’s another year almost over with Deaf and disabled people reeling from repeated assaults on our basic human rights. Although this time we’re being shafted by the political party that was supposed to oppose the Tory party and its anti-disabled people retoric.

But come to think of it, when they were the opposition party, Labour didn’t actually do much in the way of challenging the Tories. So, why are we surprised that once in power, Labour just picked up the Tories inhuman policies regarding benefits, education, health care, euthanasia, etc., and just claimed it as their own. It’s as though the Labour party has given itself a quick coat of blue paint and its now difficult to tell these two political parties apart!

Various Crips have spoken out about how punch drunk they are feeling, what with having to challenge the government in so many different areas, areas that we thought we’d been making some progress in, but here we are, back at the beginning again. And this time without any real political allies!

I don’t know about you but I’m getting really pissed off with being governed by rich pricks who are doing everything they can to remove us from society, or at the very least making the general public believe that we’re all a bunch of useless eaters who are responsible for the £127.5 billion deficit, the low wages and high prices, the breaking down of the NHS and just about everything else that’s going down the pan due to their asset stripping.

Bah humbug doesn’t really cover it … I can see that I’m going to have to take my gloves off next year and really start challenging this corrupt status quo!

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

 A threadbare, drooping christmas tree stands in a red pot which has ‘Merry Christmas’ written on it. It has a few hanging baubles and some broken lights along with three signs which read ‘Broken Labour Promises’, ‘Recycled Tory Policies’ and ‘Benefit Cuts’. A large red label hangs from the tree which is being looked at by a black disabled wheelchair user. The label reads ‘From your caring Labour Party’. The disabled person is wearing a purple t-shirt that has ‘Not Dead Yet’ printed upon the front.

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