The WOW petition debate which has been supported by John McDonnell MP will take place on Thursday 27 February 2014 around 11.30 am at the House of Commons chamber. The WOW petition calls for a cumulative impact assessment of the impact of the government’s welfare reform changes on sick and disabled people.
Please contact your MP to ask them to attend this important debate. You can find your MP’s email details at www.parliament.uk. You can also write to your local MP (find the details by using the Write to your MP tool), tell them what the petition is about and ask them to attend the debate. Or you can email your MP using this automated tool to help you compile and send the email.
You may want to remind your MP that as we are approaching an election in the not too distant future, you will be monitoring to see whether they attend or not on your behalf.
Template letter to send (mainly taken from WOW):Dear …..
I am writing as your constituent to ask you to represent my views in Parliament.
I support a government e-petition, the WOW petition, which passed the 100,000 signature mark, and on the 10th December 2013 and was granted a full chamber debate by the Back Bench Business Committee in the New Year. This in itself is a historic event as it is the first time in the history of this country that disabled people have secured a Main Chamber debate.
The petition calls for a cumulative impact assessment of welfare reform as it affects disabled people and those with a long term health condition as well as family carers, and an end to the Work Capability Assessment, as demanded by the British Medical Association.
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Please add a personal message here to illustrate how this Government’s Policies are either directly affecting you, your family, people you know or society and why you believe the Government should properly debate their policies, the effect they are having and the hardship they are causing to specifically targeted groups with UK society.
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I know you are very busy, but please allow me to present some evidence to support the need for these measures.
The Welfare Reform Act was promoted as the biggest shake up in welfare for 60 years, so it was extraordinary that no assessment was carried out on how it would affect disabled people. I believe the government now needs to take stock, and face the fact that disabled people have been caused great distress and hardship by measure such as the Work Capability Assessment, bedroom tax, the twenty per cent cut in the budget for Disability Living Allowance, the closure of the Independent Living Fund to new applicants, and many more measures. The think tank Demos has calculated that disabled people, already more likely to be living in poverty, will lose around £28 billion over five years. This hardly seems to be sharing the burden of austerity fairly.
As for the Work Capability Assessments, these have been a disaster. The British Medical Association last year called for them to be scrapped with immediate effect. Parkinson’s UK’s research found that almost half of people with a progressive illness, when assessed, are told they will get better and placed in the Work Related Activity Group. This means they are required to prepare for work, and if they are unable to do what is required of them can be sanctioned leaving them with no income. Please remember these are people with Parkinsons Disease and other progressive illnesses.
As my representative in Parliament I am requesting that you attend and speak at this debate so that your constituents and I can understand your views on government policy towards disabled people.
I would also like to add that we are quickly approaching national elections and I and your other disabled constituents will be watching how you are willing to support us very closely.
Yours sincerely,