Reflecting on the May 7th Elections
So, the nation voted and showed their feelings about the performance, or lack of it, of the current Labour government. Keir Starmer's leadership has failed, yes, but the whole Cabinet and perhaps backbenchers too have let the nation down, disabled people very much more so than the rest of society. Unfortunately, they have voted for a party which would happily see disabled people languishing back in workhouses. To the Labour government though, I say this - the claims about taking people out of poverty and making work pay most definitely don't apply to my pocket, or those of any disabled person who was working as much as they can on ESA with Permitted Work but has now been forced onto Universal Credit. UC is a Tory inequality shambles that Labour have chosen to not only continue, but make even more punitive. With the loss of associated benefits as a disabled person I am now PAYING to work - I lose roughly £1.50 for every £1 I earn. But I fought so hard, with the support of others (and the opposite of support from many services) to get to this point of working as much as I am able and in fields where I make a valuable and valued contribution that I WILL NOT give up. So, Keir and co, my challenge to you is put your money where your mouth is and scrap Universal Credit, which works for no-one except the DWP, bring back ESA with Permitted Work, reverse the devious cuts to Access to Work so that disabled people actually CAN work, be better off for it and not worse off, and share all their skills, talents, knowledge and creative thinking in its widest sense for the benefit of the economy and society as a whole.
