Declan Gaffney with the latest from the “Spartacus Report” into Responsible Reform of social security.
Responsible Reform (pdf), better known as #SpartacusReport, has attracted more attention than any report on social security that I can remember. Servers crashed as social media were brilliantly used to spread the message the government’s case for cutting disability benefits had been comprehensively rebutted.
One thing that distinguishes Responsible Reform from the dozens of other policy reports that come out every week is that it was produced by disabled people themselves. That alone is a powerful counter to the image of ‘feckless scroungers’ the government has used so successfully in framing the welfare reform debate.
But producing and publicising this report has come with a cost, which Kaliya Franklin of the blog Benefit Scrounging Scum explains and demonstrates in the video below:
Activism takes its toll on people who are already struggling. Both Kaliya and Sue Marsh of Diary of a Benefit Scrounger, the prime movers behind #SpartacusReport, have to take a step back from the intense activity of the last few days for medical reasons.
All those concerned with the issues around welfare reform now need to step up to the mark, bringing whatever they can contribute to the campaign for a decent benefits system for disabled people.
And the costs that Sue and Kaliya have been willing to accept in undertaking this work should be a lesson in humility for the government, which as the report demonstrates, rushed into reform of this key part of the welfare state without taking the time to understand it or listen to those affected.
Today, disabilities campaigners are asking people to call an MP or Peer to raise awareness of the Spartacus report. They’ve also launched a twibbon to show your support. The welfare bill begins its journey through the lords tomorrow, and the next few weeks of the fight will be crucial for tens of thousands of disabled people in Britain. They need your help.
See also:
• Disability minister ignorant on how legal aid cuts affecting disabled people – Alex Hern, January 10th 2012
• Time to step forward on the Spartacus report – Alex Hern, January 9th 2012
• Boris has slammed Coalition welfare reforms – from the left – Daniel Elton, January 6th 2012
• Five reasons to oppose the welfare bill – Daniel Elton, December 12th 2011
• Government plans to cut DLA could cause extreme hardship – Sue Marsh, January 24th 2011
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26 Responses to “Everyone concerned about welfare reform needs to step up to the mark”
Nick Leaton
Labour was paying out 170K a year to benefit claimaints in Knightsbridge.
Is that fair?
Family of 5 kids,
Housing benefit – 104,000
Child Tax Credit – 13,337.04
Income Support – 5,539.67
Council tax – 2,157.83
Child Benefit – 3,863.91
Free Schooling – 6000 * 5 = 30000
Free Health Care – 1800 * 7
Total 172,000
Free policing – Free Defense – Free Roads – Free …
Anonymous
sadly which party will you be talking to, we all know labour sees all the disabled or sick as work shy scroungers, Miliband keeps talking about hard working people, or work shy. The Tories might listen sadly labour are now needing benefit them selves they are blind deaf and bloody useless .
Sorry but Labour is not worthy voting for or talking to if your disabled
Yunis Malik
It is shocking that there are politicians in the UK who want to reduce unemployment benefits -even though they are already the lowest in the Western world. Shame on Britons for calling unemployed people ‘scroungers’ and ‘parasites’ when not enough money went to them in the first place.
http://issuu.com/janus777/docs/uk_unemployment_benefits_compared
Arecbalrin
Yeah, noticed you had to throw in a few tropes that are not social security-related. What is social security related and is a large sum is the Housing Benefit which the family don’t actually receive at all. Housing Benefit rarely pays for full rent so to claim higher HB actually lowers disposable income.
You can sway the public with distortions and ignorance, you can’t win a real argument with them.
Mr. Sensible
The government seriously need to change course, or the Lords need to make them do it.