Disability Rights UK is a campaigning body that is particularly good at highlighting government failings. Here’s a great example from their latest newsletter:
Fazilet Hadi, DR UK’s Head of Policy responded to Sunak’s declaration that we have a ‘sicknote culture’ by saying ‘It is Government policies that have fuelled increases in disability and sickness.
Under resourcing of health services, social care, education, housing and transport, are excluding Disabled people from opportunity and driving us into poverty. Deepening poverty is driving increases in disability and sickness.
The Prime Minister’s approach to systemic inequalities caused by Government policies and underfunding of public services, is to further penalise, punish and threaten Disabled people living on inadequate benefits.”
Read more of this news story on the Disability Rights website.
Meanwhile, Disability Rights UK has also been looking at a story concerning carers:
The Government is facing calls to abandon cruel and nonsensical fines levied on tens of thousands of unpaid carers for unwittingly breaching earnings rules by just a few pounds a week. These fines come about following the DWP’s own administrative errors, and are landing carers on the breadline with fines running up to more than £20,000, or a risk of imprisonment. Last week, news emerged of the shocking case of Vivienne Groom who was prosecuted for failing to declare her minimum wage Co-op job while caring for her mother.
DR UK’s Ken Butler details the scandal and our response in more detail in this website piece.
