Update 28 June 2015:
Join Disabled People Against Cuts on Tuesday 30 June at 11.30am at Downing Street as they deliver a petition calling for government to protect disabled people’s right to independent living.
From Disabled People Against Cuts:
“ILF recipients, campaigners and Allies will meet outside Downing Street to hand over petitions calling on the Prime Minister to protect disabled people’s right to independent living. Over 25,000 signatures have been collected online (supported by the brilliant video made by the stars of Coronation Street) and also during the Graeae Theatre Company’s 2014 UK Tour of The Threepenny Opera.”
Follow @Dis_PPL_Protest on twitter for updates.
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Updates from Disabled People Against Cuts:
Why the ILF closure is threatening disabled people’s social care packages and how the DWP has lied about local council capacity for funding care for disabled people with the highest support needs.
Read the letter to MPs that disabled people stormed parliament to deliver on Wednesday.
Original post:
To parliament then today! – where disabled campaigners took the police by surprise in a very big way. Disabled campaigners occupied parliament’s central lobby in protest at government plans to close the Independent Living Fund in just a week’s time. The ILF is a fund that profoundly disabled people rely on to pay for personal assistants and the extra carer hours they need. Needless to say, this government thinks the ILF should be closed and disabled people cast adrift.
More pictures and videos at Disabled People Against Cuts here.
The police panicked when this occupation started and they got heavy. There must have been about 50 coppers? – Perhaps more. They did hurt a couple of people – I heard one copper say very clearly that the police were trained to use pressure points.
They also grabbed my arms and yelled “She’s filming!” when they saw the camera. The arm-grabbing is the reason why some of the video is shaky. I had to take the SD card out and shove it into my sweaty old bra. Still – on we go. The police threatened pretty quickly to confiscate my phone and camera, so I beat it out of there to get the pics out. Not really feeling the love today, as in #lovethepolice. Etc.
Some pics uploaded now below.
Video: disabled people occupy parliament’s central lobby (includes shot at the start of a copper lifting one guy’s wheelchair to swing it around):
Police start to get shirty:
Disabled people start to occupy the hall and police work out what is going on. Then they get heavy (they were grabbing my arms at this point, so the video is shaky towards the end:
Campaigners in the central hall:
Police start getting heavy as disabled campaigners occupy the central lobby in protest at ILF closure:
Occupation of central lobby continues:
Another video, showing police presence… had to use the phone for this as the camera was about to be confiscated.
this is my point the police are ay too heavey handed and its the police who try to start the trouble just because they wear a uniform they think it gives them the right to be havey handed and do as they pls and use unnessacery violence and force
Police media relations also have a hand in ‘stage managing’ ‘stimulus and response’, so I have read by email from someone who used to work in media.
Dude Swheatie
Wow! I have to tip my hat. DPAC showing the way! I can’t help but feel that the organisers of the anti austerity march should be a little ashamed that they did not do something similar when they had 250k on the ground. Regardless, that the disabled have done this should make many sit up and take note. Thank you!
True, innit. While Russell Brand is fannying about on a stage or in front of a mirror or whatever the hell it is he does, other people are actually out taking real risks to get a vital point across.
Don’t start me.
Maybe ask him for some of that attention he gets when he goes places. Then again, if he does turn up the story would be “Brand storms Parliament” and the haters would just say it’s “Brand using disabled people to sell his book”. Hard to know how he could win in some people’s eyes.
No offence, but that guy tries his best and you’re giving him a hard time about it. He would most likely “help” DPAC if he was asked. Something something something…. DIVIDE AND CONQUER. Remember that, they want you to hate Brand so you ignore or dismiss the valid points he does raise. “Fighting amongst yourselves” is what they want, far easier to pick off isolated groups that hate each other. IMHO it’s better to look for union, for everyone to have a chance of being heard.
Still, DPAC have always had impressive and creative protests, way more creative than most.
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so proud to see so many people taking a stand I hope the police are ashamed of themselves now they have time to think about what they are doing, Don’t just follow orders like sheep after all were all in this together …..did David Cameron not say that at one point?
Yes but David Cameron isn’t taking any cuts so he is not in it wity us.
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