Press Release: A celebration of disabled people’s creativity and our demands for the new Government

The following is a press release from my comrades at DPAC and I have linked the story to the original website from which it came.

On Thursday 18 July at Parliament Square, a host of disability rights campaigns and allies will welcome the new Labour government into office by presenting a set of solutions to the multiple crises faced by disabled people across the UK; followed by a celebration of our culture through music, art and poetry.

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) ^[1],Recovery In The Bin ^[2], Bromley & Croydon Unite Community ^[3], Disability and Migrant

Network (DAMN) ^[4] and the Trans Safety Network ^[5]are just some of the organisations taking part in an event titled Disabled People Demand; a day that promises to be both a creative spectacle and a statement of intent towards the newly elected Prime Minister and his party.

The narrative used by successive Labour, Coalition and Tory governments to cut resources and services have seen disabled people unjustifiably being blamed for government spending.

These cuts to public services were not forced upon the government by disabled people or migrants; they were a political choice.

Now is the time for a new chapter to be written.

But disabled people aren’t expecting the new government to come to our rescue.

We will present our solutions to these crises, solutions borne out of our shared experiences of years and of decades fighting back and challenge the new government to deliver them.

#DisabledPeopleDemand our voices are heard and we demand our rightful full participation in the rebuilding our society.

The event will start at 12 noon, with a series of speeches including from:

John McDonnell MP,
Ben Sellers of Peoples Assembly and
DPAC’s Paula Peters.

This will be followed by a showcase of disabled people’s creativity, including exhibitions, music, entertainment and poetry by

Artist Clare Patey’s “A Mile In My Shoes” project ^[6];
Billinghurst Collective’s giant playable board game based on the Game of Life ^[7];
Poets and disability rights activists Penny Pepper & Rob Punton ^[8&9];
Musician Ellese Elliott/Mada London – a rising star on the UKs music scene and lead singer of Bang Bang Bunny ^[10];
The disability movements own in-house music writer & performer over decades, Dennis Queen ^[11];
DPACs own “Rockin’ Paddy” – John Kelly ^[12];
Disability Action Research Kollective (DARK) Zine exhibition ^[13];
Zita Holbourne’s “Deaths by Welfare” exhibition ^[14]

And much much more.

There will also be events in Liverpool ^[15]and Leeds ^[16] on the same day, organised by local DPAC groups in those cities. For full details of these events please see our website and social media.

This is more than a protest.

Closing the door on the past doesn’t just mean closing it on the policies of the past – but also on the negative and exclusionary practices of the past too.

This day will celebrate our communities survival through austerity, benefit cuts, assessment torture, covid and cost of living crisis – and a reminder that too many of us didn’t survive them.

We have a long history of devising our own solutions to whatever crisis we find ourselves in.

That’s why we are taking this opportunity to present our solutions to political decision makers and to the rest of the people in the UK.

We are putting what we believe are both possible and achievable out there.

So, there’s no hiding place from them.

Nobody can say they didn’t know.

We will use them as a marker to measure the success or failure of the next government

A DPAC spokesperson said:

“We have a list of demands that we will campaign for and hold the new government’s feet to the fire on – for the UNCRPD to be enshrined in UK Law, for social care charges to be scrapped, for social security to be re-designed and co-produced by us and many more. ”

A Recovery In The Bin spokesperson said:

“The UK has a political and media system system that has enacted a systematic removal of our rights, increased our poverty, and overseen democide. We Demand Better.”

Disability And Migrant Network said:

“We demand the dismantling of the hostile and disabling restrictions imposed on people seeking services and support whether in the welfare system or the immigration system.”

Trans Safety Network statement said:

“Previous governments neglected the needs of trans and disabled people. They have ignored the disproportionate number of deaths within our communities. Together we can hold the new government to account and demand better for all of us.

Join us in the streets.

18^th July

12 noon

Parliament Square

Ends:-

Contact: Dermot Devlin (DPAC) 07899962209 or mail@dpac.uk.net