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Local Residents meet MPs

Following on from the Hardest Hit March and the lobby of Parliament in May, local MPs Emily Thornberry and Jeremy Corbyn agreed to meet local disabled residents again to hear more about their issues and to respond to concerns. This second meeting took place at the Town Hall on Friday 8 July 11 and was attended by more than 30 people from across impairment groups.

The issues raised were many and varied, and included concerns about the impact of proposals in the Social Care and the Welfare Reform Bills; the need to get more MPs to sign the Early Day Motion calling for more support to address the barriers disabled people face to employment and a call for the MPs to request an Adjournment Debate.

An Adjournment Debate allows for a half hour debate to be introduced by a backbencher at the end of each day's business in the House of Commons, and gives backbench members the opportunity to discuss issues of concern to them and have a Minister respond to the points they raise. The suggested topic is issues facing disabled people following the government changes to policy that disproportionately affect disabled people. Jeremy agreed they could request this but pointed out that requests did not have to be met.

Those present also supported a call to hear more from the Labour Party nationally about their defence of disabled peoples rights and their opposition to welfare proposals which will have a severe impact on the livelihoods of disabled people, as well as potentially leading to more abuse and scapegoating. Emily replied that one of the problems was that it was difficult for Labour MPs to get the Media to listen and to get air space to raise these issues; however, others made the point that Ed Milliband does at least get some coverage and we expect to hear him raising concerns about the impact of cuts on disabled people. Jeremy agreed that it was important to unify people in their opposition to the cuts and that included highlighting the impact on disabled people including older people as all of our concern.

All agreed with Emily Thornberry that the many clauses in the Social Care Bill around promoting competition in the NHS presented a serious threat to the future of the NHSs financial base as money is transferred to private suppliers. Concern was also raised about the prospect of GPs awarding themselves large bonuses under the new system. Emily will continue to oppose these clauses but explained how hard it would be, given the governments approach to driving this forward.

Both MPs agreed that the scale of the cuts were too deep and too fast and that there was a serious risk that they would make another recession more likely. The Labour Party is arguing that there is absolutely no need to make these cuts over 4 years. Jeremy also made the point that there are currently 39 people for each vacancy in Islington, so it was not as simple as just getting people back into work if jobs are not there! Those present pointed out that, in any event, not all disabled people could return to work. Jeremy agreed that the answer was not to cut benefits and that we should unite behind this position.

A parent of a disabled child voiced concerns about the introduction of Universal Credit and the loss of income for families with disabled children the disability element of the child tax credit will be halved under Universal Credit which could mean more than £20,000 loss of income across the childhood of a disabled child. Emily Thornberry has written to the Minister responsible and is pursuing the impact on families with disabled children.

Some readers may already know that Jeremy Corbyn has recently submitted an Early Day Motion calling on the House to acknowledge the unfair treatment of disabled people in the workplace as the primary reason why they are not employed, rather than the central flawed assumption contained in the Welfare Reform Bill that disabled people need to change their attitude and to be incentivised to work through having their benefits reduced. Those present at the meeting welcomed this but were very disappointed to learn only 28 Labour MPs had signed it; we all felt this a poor show and Jeremy agreed to email MP colleagues again urging them to sign the Motion.

The meeting ended with a commitment from the MPs to meet with disabled residents again, perhaps on a 6-monthly basis, although Jeremy also suggested we could look to setting up a separate meeting with the JCP (Job Centre Plus). DAII will pursue this. And of course you can always visit your MPs in their surgeries or write to them so get active, we can make a difference!!!