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    Disabled Protesters Block Regent Street

    Disability rights campaigners blocked Regent Street in central London on Saturday in a protest over welfare reform.

    Protesters chained their wheelchairs together across the road, bringing traffic to a standstill on one of the capital's busiest shopping streets.

    They told Sky News they felt they were being ignored by the Government over changes to disability allowance, which they claim will directly disadvantage vulnerable people.

    One wheelchair user, Andy, 37, from Islington, said: "The whole raft of cuts that are being carried through will affect all of the services that support disabled people - public services, social care, the voluntary sector.

     "To reform one would have a big impact, but reforming them all is going to be devastating for those who depend on them."

    He added: "The Welfare Reform Bill does nothing to address the real issues facing disabled people. There is high unemployment already, problems with lack of access, workplace discrimination and a lack of pre and in-work support. Disabled people are already at the end of their tether."

    Disabled activists had travelled from across the UK to take part in the protest and members of direct action group UK Uncut campaigned alongside them in solidarity.

    Josie McDermot, from the group, said: "The Welfare Reform Bill is cruel and unnecessary, and this protest is an essential way to persuade the Government to scrap their plans.

    "It is great to be part of such a broad and powerful campaign against the Welfare Reform Bill and to keep building the pressure that has already been piled on with the Spartacus report.

    "It is typical bully tactics by the Government to force marginalised people in society to pay for the economic downturn, while letting bonuses run wild and rich companies continue tax-dodging to the tune of £25bn."

    The Welfare Reform Bill , which is currently going through Parliament, would see the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) replaced next year with a new entitlement called Personal Independence Payments (PIP).

    The changes would involve upfront medical tests and regular assessments for working people aged 16 to 24.

    The Government says it will reform an outdated benefit and make the system simpler and fairer, but campaigners claim it could mean 500,000 people losing their allowance and some single disabled people in cities like London being left with as little as £25 a week after paying their rent.

    Multiple gold medal-winning paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said the protest highlighted the "real fear" among disabled people about their future.

    "The changes to disability allowance has left an awful lot of people feeling very frightened. It would be great if we didn't need that benefit but it is there because of the cost of being disabled," she said.

     "People need a little bit more help in terms of getting to work and around the house and I think we've got a long way to go before we have a system that works for everybody."

    "The Government's own figures have said that half a million people could lose out when they are being transferred from DLA to PIP. We just need greater clarity about who those people are and how they are going to be affected."

    The Government said the coalition is "absolutely committed" to supporting the disabled and pointed out that any households where someone received DLA would be exempt from the benefit cap.

    A spokesman insisted the reforms would mean that "disabled adults in greatest need and severely disabled children will receive more support than now".

    The protesters moved off of their own accord after a couple of hours but warned they would be back and would do whatever it takes to stop the reforms being implemented.

     
    • abiam1  •  Canterbury, England  •  25 days ago
      Everybody knows something should be done to make the economy grow again and to curb public borrowing. However, before the benefits of the genuinely disabled are touched, we should first fish out those who avoid paying tax, those who claim million-pound bonuses, those on high income who do not need child and winter benefits, benefit cheaters, etc. If all the loopholes are plugged, there may be enough money left for the genuinely disabled.
    • Deathwarmedup  •  25 days ago
      Daft Cameron will say there is no money in the pot for the disabled then will announce another 10billion is going to Pakistani schools, Vile hypocrite.
    • C  •  Birmingham, England  •  25 days ago
      The Sun are at least those not arrested today started its dirty tricks campaign this week. They publish missleading information to give the impression that disabled people are scroungers.What they dont tell you is that the new tests are designed to remove the genuine from any help in order to fund tax cuts fand bonus payments for the rich. If you want to find out the truth visit www.benefitsandwork. Hitler used propaganda to whip up hatred against the Jews and Cameron and his mate phonetapper Murdoch is using the same tricks to discredit the disabled. What you wont read in The Sun is that cancer patients amongst many others are being routinely refused help and told that they are fit to work. Genuine disabled people do not fear proper medical assessments carried out by qualified Doctors but Cameron does not want that instead they are subjected to dodgy tests that pay those carrying them out a bonus if they remove those with the greatest need.
    • rhuhama  •  London, England  •  25 days ago
      We are all in it together but some are more in it than others - those at the bottom get their money taken off them in order that those at the top get their bonuses. The sparatacus report laid bare Lord Freuds lies over the DWP's consultation over PIP. If you can't join the march at least make your voice heard and call for a pause and a rethink by voting for Pats epetition which has now over 25,000 votes on the gov website.
    • VELVET  •  25 days ago
      Please everyone, help these people that have suffered in silence on their own for so long. The disabled haven't known who to turn to for help. Camerons reform is going to hit them so hard that many wont have the strenght to fight anymore. These people are being pulled from pillar to post every few months. The governments giving them no peace. Some have already killed themselves as they cant face what they're being dragged through. They are frightened, even the media's kept quiet about whats been going on with them. Please sign Pat’s petition asking for a pause to welfare reform. The petition had a huge surge, with over 2,000 signatures being added in less than a day after the newsletter went out. But 75,000 more signatures are still needed, so if you haven’t signed yet please do. it only takes a minute. its on page 1 one, an e-petition, called Pats petition. That one minute it takes you will help thousands of sick, vulnerable frightened people who no one has bothered nor bothered about . They have become the 'outcasts' of our society.
    • mole  •  London, England  •  25 days ago
      In response to Les Paul, I agree wholeheartedly. And when the government have finished with the disabled it will target another group. That is just one reason why everyone should sign Pat's Petition on page 1 of the government's epetition website. If you are not currently disabled or a carer, please do sign. We do not know what tomorrow may bring and if we do not act now, there will be no safety net for future generations.
    • Christian  •  25 days ago
      It is not just the threatened cuts etc.It is also not knowing exactly what form they will take, how it will affect us, whether we will be able to afford to live, or how.Some times the worst bit is not knowing and constantly worrying. It is bad enough now.No politician even wants to change the system to a fairer one, that is #$%$ Every politician want to cut what we survive on, those are the facts and every tory government has been the same.They want to hurt, hurt, hurt. It seems they get their kicks from bullying and humiliating the vulnerable.
    • stephen  •  London, England  •  25 days ago
      Mr.Scam-eron - Give our Sick the Money - Not every Third World Country - Charity Begins at Home - Not looking after Asylum Seekers and Immigrants.!
    • kevin  •  25 days ago
      Good for them. Millions in bonuses for the banking spivs whose greed dumped us in this mess but the old etonians go straight for the disabled and the old ( less winter fuel allowance) to pay for it.
    • Andrea  •  Edinburgh, Scotland  •  25 days ago
      Disabled people have enough problems just getting from one day to the next without worrying, with this looming very tme a letter drops through the door from a government agency is this going to be the one with the news in it that will blow what is left of your life apart. No one on DLA lives high off the hog and anyone that thinks that is living in cloud coo coo land. The added stress that is being caused is without a shadow of a doubt making at least some disabled people worried enough to be in itself detremental to their condition
    • ANON  •  Cardiff, Wales  •  25 days ago
      Do any of these people who are saying that the disabled are fit to work have any disabled relatives? Do they actually know any disabled people?
      I am all for re-organising the system so that the people who need help the most get it, but if they are going to be tested every year, how much extra is it going to cost for these 'doctors'
      to go around and do their half hour assesments.
      I have just lost my carers allowance for the second time in ten years, and now am in limbo untill my wife's case is re-assesed. She is not any less disabled, and does not need any less care, but now I might have to look for a non existant job, and spend all my time worrying about how she is getting on at home.
    • Les Paul  •  25 days ago
      The way that this Goverment is trying to get rid of the old and sick is becoming similar to what Hitler did in the 2nd world war !
      ......... The clearance has begun. People CANT YOU SEE HOW ITS GOING ?
    • sandra  •  25 days ago
      lt does`nt matter which party gets in,they look after themselves first and to hell with the rest of us.
    • desertson  •  Ilford, England  •  25 days ago
      The disabled are not only the unseen victims of the cuts to benefit the rich, they are also the hardest hit. Reductions in Housing Benefit and the laughable "ability tests" to reduce the basic allowance, is a double-blow. It will lead to homeless disabled people on the streets, like Old Calcutta. Most disabled people have paid in to the system for many years, and are entitled to support in their difficulties.
    • Peter R  •  25 days ago
      I love the way some idiots on here fall for Camerons spin. ' You low payed people are having to pay for the scroungers in society, the unemployed, the disabled etc , it all comes out of your taxes'. Of course paying bankers £1 million bonuses after bailing their banks out with tax payers money doesn't count. Neither does financing a multi billion pound war in Libya count. No our mess is all down to those disable scroungers in society. And for those of you who disagree just remember ' there but for the grace of god '.
    • jane  •  Sheffield, England  •  25 days ago
      No-one has mentioned anything about the over 65's - are they going to be assessed for PIP also, even if they have been granted DLA indefinitely?
    • A Yahoo! User  •  25 days ago
      I suffer from severe osteo-arthritis. I have been through the form-filling, interview and anxious wait to see whether I qualify for the newly-named benefit. Now, three months later, I am being required to go through the whole thing again. I feel that the disabled - already disadvantaged - are being scape-goated, and I am at the end of my tether. I cannot remember being so depressed about my situation. This government seems not to care about people, just statistics and money. Perhaps they hope that we will just give up and go away.
    • Loose Moose  •  Edinburgh, Scotland  •  25 days ago
      I have M.E. and severe frequent migraines (and daily versions of migraines). I have been "surviving" on Incapacity Benefit for between £58 and £108 a week for 13.5 years. If it wasn't for my elderly mum paying for vital things for me, I really wouldn't have survived. Getting this illness has been life a life sentence for me....I would get better treatment if I was in prison! It is discusting how the government treat people like me. My dream is to one day get better and get off benefits! I HATE this life!!
    • Jake24  •  Yeovil, England  •  25 days ago
      The only thing this coalition is committed to is depriving disabled people of the ability to get out and about. Many will be confined to their homes and will constantly worry about paying extortionate energy and household bills. This Conservative dominated coalition are going down in history as the most ruthless government we have had to endure. Made up mainly of multi-millionaires who constantly add to their wealth through the taxpayer, and who have brainwashed Tory voters as they did the last they held power. They haven't the guts to seek out the real benefit fraudsters, so they lump everyone together. The real insult to taxpayers is that they employ a foreign company to do their dirty work. We have a gutless crew of thieves running this country.
    • Johnathonmedium  •  25 days ago
      You know I keep trying not to comment on these storys because it makes me so angry , angry because no matter what the ordinary man or woman in the street may say and do and no matter how many people vent their spleen on matters such as this and everything else that has their deepest concern this government is not listerning to us, and is most certainly not interested in what we have to say and that as become self evident as we don't need the news papers the TV and the internet to tell us whats happening we can see it with our own eyes and experiences so ladies and gentlemen where dose this bring us and to what end do we keep allowing political dogma that only favours the rich and government policys that will eventaully distroy everything that every decent man a woman in this country has ever worked for over the years, just so that they can keep their expensive toys I could go further and say more but I won' t but finsh by saying we all have a choice and its time we made it!