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Laurie Penny

Pop culture and radical politics with a feminist twist

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How the disabled were dehumanised

The press coverage of Jody McIntyre suggests that “real” disabled people are not whole human beings.

It's official: disabled people aren't allowed to be independent. This week, amid rows about how this country treats people with disabilities, it was announced that the government will be phasing out the Independent Living Fund (ILF), a vital stipend that allows more than 21,000 "severely disabled people to pay for help so they can live independently". Such provisions, unlike bank bailouts and subsidies to arms dealers and millionaire tax-dodgers, are no longer a priority for this administration.

When I heard the news, I couldn't help but think of Jody McIntyre, a 20-year-old activist and journalist with cerebral palsy, who I saw batoned and dragged from his wheelchair at the demonstrations last Thursday, and who later delivered a series of epic discursive smackdowns to a senior BBC correspondent on prime-time television.

The press has been trying to imply that, because Jody is a revolutionary activist and ideologue who has travelled to Palestine and South America, he cannot be a "real" disabled person – he must, as Ben Brown suggested on the BBC, have somehow been "provoked". He must have deserved the beating and the humiliation of being pulled out of his chair and across the road; he must have asked for it.

Richard Littlejohn went so far as to compare McIntyre to Andy, a hilariously fraudulent and fatuous wheelchair-using character in the most disgusting pageant of blackface and grotesquerie ever to defile British television screens, Little Britain. Like Brown and others, Littlejohn seemed to imply that because he fought back and spoke up, because he attended a protest and because he is not afraid to make his voice heard, Jody McIntyre is not a real disabled person.

Others, including McIntyre himself, have written eloquently about how surprised we really shouldn't be that the police attacked a disabled protester, nearly killed another protester, and injured and traumatised hundreds more. That we live in a state where police officers attack women, minorities and the visibly vulnerable in what has been suggested are deliberate tactics to provoke protest crowds to riot is not something I see much need to debate. The truly fascinating aspect of McIntyre's story is what it reveals about how the British understand disability: namely, that real disabled people are not whole human beings.

The attitude is that there are two types of disabled person: there are real disabled people, who are quiet and grateful and utterly incapable of any sort of personal agency whatsoever, and fake disabled people – people like Jody McIntyre, who are disqualified from being truly disabled by virtue of having personality, ambition, outside interests and, in this case, the cojones to stand up to a corrupt and duplicitous government.

This remarkable Catch-22 clause, whereby the authorities can claim that any disabled person who criticises them on disability or any other issues must, ipso facto, not actually be disabled, does not only affect how individuals like McIntyre are treated. It directly influences policymaking in the most clinical and ruthless of ways. Bear in mind that, besides its highly publicised cuts to secondary and higher education funding, this government is also taking away benefits from disabled people: housing benefit, income support, the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance and other vital sources of funding are being cut back to the bone or removed entirely.

The withdrawal of the mobility component for people in residential care is a particularly nasty slash, as this benefit allows people with mobility difficulties a modicum of independence, something that, in the eyes of this government, real disabled people should neither want nor need. It pays for taxis, motorised scooters and wheelchairs – wheelchairs like the one the police damaged when they tipped Jody McIntyre right out of it.

On top of this, those claiming sickness benefits or Employment and Support Allowance will be obliged to take another round of punishing tests that are acknowledged to be designed specifically to prevent hundreds of thousands of benefit recipients from receiving any more money.

"Currently, nearly a third of all disabled people live below the official poverty line, with a quarter of families with disabled children unable to afford heating," said Eleanor, a spokesperson for Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) who protested in central London today about what the group sees as a direct assault on disability rights in the UK. "A tenth of all disabled women have incomes under £31 per week," she said. "And yet, the government intends to slash the number of claimants on Disability Living Allowance by 20 per cent, although the fraud rate is estimated to be a mere 0.5 per cent."

Six months ago, when I was helping my disabled partner, who has severe mobility issues and chronic pain, prepare to claim DLA, we realised that he would not be considered sufficiently disabled unless he was prepared actually to demonstrate to a partial outside observer that he could not walk 30 steps without falling on his face. It was humiliating and it was inhumane, and eventually, like many others, we gave up. The subsequent poverty and the stress of watching my partner struggle to cope with his disability with no support eventually ended the relationship and left me with a profound understanding of how successive administrations have used welfare reform to humiliate and terrorise the most vulnerable into abject complaisance.

All of this is justified by the assumption that most people claiming disability benefits are, to put it bluntly, faking it. That's right, hundreds of thousands of people with mental or physical health problems that prevent them from working have the audacity to want a scrap of agency, a life that is in any way full or useful, so they must be faking it all.

This government would prefer it if people with disabilities were not also people with opinions, desires and personalities. This government would prefer it if there were a clear demarcation line between people with the ability to stand up for themselves in any way whatsoever and people who are entirely reliant on the state, who ought to know their place: head bowed, hands outstretched, mouth shut, uncomplaining, accustomed to poverty and public derision. This government, with its utter contempt for the entire concept of social security, would prefer to be obliged to support only those who are prepared to sacrifice absolutely every bit of personal agency, to put up and shut up.

This is, of course, utter rubbish. This is not a Victorian melodrama, with the world neatly divided into people who are whole and hale and mawkish, abject cripples who are terminally grateful for any charity thrown to them and permanently followed around by a chorus of tiny violins. In the real world, the only difference between people with disabilities and everyone else is that people with disabilities sometimes need a little extra support to live the best lives that they can. They should get that support – and they should not have to ask nicely.

75 comments

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Spondulicks's picture

The former. Pretty obviously, I would have thought.

mount1's picture

Brilliant.

The measure of us is the way we treat those who have been dealt a leaner hand. It's all luck after all, nobody deserves nothing.

Sam's picture

Littlejohn is a troll.

big bear.'s picture

hi. i agree completely with the thrust of this article, disabled people are seen as people who cannot have opinions, if they do have them, why, they are suddenly not disabled! makes me frightened and sick to think what this country will become if these cuts carry on the way they are going.

John P Reid's picture

McIntyre himself, have written eloquently about how surprised we really shouldn't be that the police attacked a disabled protester

it hasn;t been proved the police did atack him, but its been oproved he attacked them, honestly laurie

brightlight's picture

Hi Laurie, great article and well said.

Coincidently my son who is in film business last night was discussing planning a documentary on independent living as he is part-time decided to assist a young man with severe Cerebral palsy who only 6 weeks ago finally managed to live independently in a county council funded flat project that has taken years to happen. I meanwhile while showing him the many articles about Jody. I will send on your article as he will not yet heard of these cuts. I sure hope he makes the documentary now!

Sciamachy's picture

Harry - did he smack a copper? And if he did, did he hit first or was he heroically attempting to defend himself against multiple, armed, armoured & able-bodied attackers whose colleagues left a kid fighting for his life with a brain haemmorrhage?

Pip's picture

"This government, with its utter contempt for the entire concept of social security, would prefer to only be obliged to support those who are prepared to sacrifice absolutely every bit of personal agency, to put up and shut up."

Unfortunately for all of us, that statement is utterly true. I really could not agree more.
And the worst thing is... we are heading into a society more and more polarized and govs that will protect less and less those who truly need to be protected.

We really have to do something about it.

brightlight's picture

Hi Laurie, great article and well said.

Coincidently my son who is in film business last night was discussing planning a documentary on independent living as he is part-time decided to assist a young man with severe Cerebral palsy who only 6 weeks ago finally managed to live independently in a county council funded flat project that has taken years to happen. I meanwhile was showing him the many articles about Jody. I will send on your article as he will not yet heard of these cuts. I sure hope he makes the documentary now!

AthenaM's picture

"I bet if Chris Morris wrote Little Britain you would LAP it up."

What a ridiculous thing to say - if Chris Morris wrote the type of right-wing Daily Mail-esque 'comedy' sketches that feature in Little Britain, don't you think he would have a somewhat different fanbase altogether? Those that 'lap up' his comedy at present, would obviously not lap it up if he suddenly switched his brain off and began mocking the poor, the disabled, LGBT people etc.

Needless to say I agree totally about Little Britain - a total and utter pile of reactionary vomit. Perfect for the BBC in fact.

Edward ("Paddy") Apling's picture

Congratulations (deom an 85-yr-old) on your blog and your interventions on this weeks BBC Any Questions. Your sensible and incontrovertible statements came over loud and clear over the others on the panel, and it was so glorious to hear the sense of youth to be heard on that programme !! More strength to your elbow !!

ivan thomas's picture

here is an example of DWP cynicism;
the disability employment advisor's office in my local jobcentre in Wolverhampton is on the first floor, and there isn't a lift!

Lex's picture

This is your best article yet Laurie, absolutely brilliant! *applause*

johnny's picture

I feel that you are doing a brilliant job in reminding those on the left as to why they feel such outrage but given your abilities you could also be converting those in the centre and even some on the right to your point of view.

This is an excellent article undermined only by this one sentence:

"That we live in a state where police attack women, minorities and the visibly vulnerable in what has been suggested are deliberate tactics to provoke protest crowds to riot is not something I see much need to debate. "

It's an ambivalent statement: is there no need to debate it because you think it is self-evidently true (in which case you risk alienating those who disagree with it and reducing the impact of the rest of your message) or is there no need to debate it because it is not relevant (in which case, why include it?)

Laurie, you are an extraordinarily good writer and a passionate individual who is much loved on the left but I think you could have a far wider impact if you avoided sentences like this which do not advance your main argument.

I hope this is not seen as a negative comment. It is not meant as one.

Ben Gwalchmai's picture

@Harry Cole - indeed, in the eyes of the law, we are all equal: equally under their feet. 'The Law' itself, if such an abstract were ever able to be carried out or anthropomorphous, struggles to always be compassionate and humane - the police, however, do not.

***

I think that this article is excellent and, like Laurie, I have first hand experience of what has been and what's to come of the governmental cuts to disabled peoples' lives.

She has offered something more than simply 'Disabled people are people too' here - she's given us a précis of what is happening to all disabled people.

I am fortunate enough to be one of 2 fully able people in my immediate family and I have to financially support those not fully-able every month because, as the article says, disabled people on benefits do not live in any kind of luxury.

How do I tell my mother that she will have to regularly take a test to prove that she's disabled when she has trouble remembering my name some days?

If she remembers the test dates, how does she then get to the venue when she needs a taxi or a driver to take her to most places?

If she remembers, gets to the venue and somehow - somehow - manages to remember the name of and find the right person, how can she prove that she cannot remember new things for longer a day? Will a doctor's note be enough for someone's compassion once it's been exhausted after seeing 24 disabled people in one day?

It is compassion that is lacking in all the processes of the current government and they intend to wring the compassion out of us too, as Notreallybilody pointed out.

Phil Ruse's picture

"That we live in a state where police attack women, minorities and the visibly vulnerable in what has been suggested are deliberate tactics to provoke protest crowds to riot is not something I see much need to debate."

You must be mellowing - it took you until the third paragraph to go completely over the top.

Pucci's picture

Well said Laurie.

The conlib government is pushing through outrageous cuts, picking up where Maggie's cronies (themselves) left off 14 years ago.

14 years of rebuilding from way below scratch down the plughole.

And now they are turning whoever is not rich, therefore self-sufficient in a financial 'independent' way, into a social cripple; if disabled people bear the brunt well who cares, at worst (or best?) they won't be able to come and vote against us once all's happening hahaha (queue fat thigh slapping motion).

Oh, and I am OH-SO-RELIEVED I'm not the only person who finds LB abhorrent, repulsive, not funny and fucking sad.

AthenaM's picture

"Laurie does, which is possibly why she's paid for her opinion and you have trouble giving yours away."

Richard Littlejohn, Melanie Phillips, Nick Cohen, and Douglas Murray are also paid for their opinion. I'm not including Laurie in the same category as any of these hideous people of course, and obviously she does have extremely worthwhile things to say.

But the argument that your opinion is not worthwhile or of any value if you are not being paid for it is obviously quite a silly and misguided one. As someone that started out as an unpaid writer, I'm sure Laurie would be the first to agree.

Elly's picture

Laurie, you are wonderful. I think this may be the best thing you've written. I was nodding my way all through reading it. Everything that I've experienced as a disabled person, everything that S has experienced as a disabled person (and the sick joke that is the ESA tests)... yes. This is completely what it is.

Also - I'm not sure about the worst thing ever, but I totally agree that LB is gratuitously unpleasant and marginalising.

Julian Morrison's picture

Blackface! Yes, absolutely, you've put a name to why I've always viscerally despised that program. Those are middle class actors playing out crude middle class stereotypes, for the amusement and self-justification of the middle class. The people parodied - working class, disabled, trans people, etc - are not invited to participate in this conversation about themselves. And yet these Little Britain stereotypes are hurled against them, and as we see here, used to damage them.

Isabel's picture

Laurie, I agree wholeheartedly with the 'real'/'not real' disabled argument, people seem quite shocked my 4 year old (who has cerebral palsy and autism) can be a)very naughty and b)told off. My main issue with the Jody McIntyre coverage is that people seem to be focusing on his visible disability as a reason to pity/feel extra sorry for him, when no person should be brutalised regardless of their conditions, and I expect several people with invisible impairments on the protest were equally badly treated but without the coverage. We work very hard to teach our son that his impairments don't and shouldn't define him or be used to excuse any wrongdoing (not to imply Jody was necessarily in the wrong), and coverage expressing one rule for x and another for y make this harder.

Rorschach's picture

@Alfie If Chris Morris wrote Little Britain it might actually be funny rather than making fun of stereotypes which, by their very nature as stereotypes, are wholly inaccurate. Shows like Little Britain serve as a platform for conservative ideals and values based on prejudices which are then passed down from generation to generation. The show is just an excuse to satirise and make fun of different groups within Britain. How are we supposed to function as a nation if we can't put aside our differences rather than holding them up for all and sundry to satirise and make fun of?

Helena's picture

The thought of applying for benefits again fills me with horror.

Luddite's picture

Maria Miller, the Minister for Disabled People, said in a written statement this week that the Government will, "fully protect the programme budget for existing recipients of the ILF within DWP", and "support the ILF to continue to administer existing awards" throughout this Parliament.

Ecclia's picture

This is a really good, much needed article! Thank you for writing it. I would like to add that the 'scapegoatism' and bad press/propaganda that disabled people receive has SUCH a bad knock on effect to the general public. I've been assaulted for having a disability and deeply traumatised for it. I daren't tell anyone now about my disability or that I was lucky enough to be granted work-related ESA (which, if you look at it in it's true light, it's not even that lucky given the pressure and lack of acknowledgment that goes with it). It's disgusting to think of the amount of genuinely disabled people being denied basic state support and the fact that many people are quite happy about this/would like to see them wiped out of society all together. I almost whole-heartedly blame the bad press for generating this type of thinking.

It's also disgusting to think that private companies/charities are profiteering of this scam to force truly disabled people into work and receiving commissions for it too.

Corcaighrebel's picture

@ Iden "I was left astonished by McIntyre's interview on the BBC. I couldn't believe the attempts to besmirch his character and justify the police attack on him."

I thought for a long time that the Andrew Marr V Chomsky was the worst I'd seen (see Youtube) but that 'interview' surpasses it by a mile and a half.

safina's picture

I have a hidden disability, which I hardly bother mentioning to people as it tends to give me more grief than help. As a consequence my powerful desire to protest against upcoming cuts on behalf of ALL the vulnerable people in this country, is thwarted by the fact that I know I would not be able to physically endure being kettled. So I sit impotently at home knowing my right to protest has been effectively curtailed, alongsie my able-bodied friends many of whom are also too terrified to protest now.

Lisa J. Ellwood's picture

"That we live in a state where police attack women, minorities and the visibly vulnerable in what has been suggested are deliberate tactics to provoke protest crowds to riot is not something I see much need to debate. "

As someone who ticks ALL of those boxes inclusive of having physical & mental disabilities... we most certainly DO need to discuss it!! This idea that we don't because of you happen to be enlightened does the de-facto vulnerable a great disservice. I applaud you for your stance and, for the most part, informed perspective. But in making the statement quoted above you are denying those who don't have the opportunity to be heard, a voice.

Mrs Nobody's picture

I am still stunned at the way the media have largely ignored this horrific treatment of someone in a wheelchair. Can you imagine the furore there would have been if an episode like this had happened in China? Because it is our civilised free country the papers ignore it.

The royals in their car got more coverage than Mr McIntyre in his wheelchair.

Wobblie's picture

Lets leave LB out of this, it’s a distraction from the real issues!

The only part I didn’t like (nit picking) is ‘The disabled’ as a noun. Try ‘people who are disabled’.

Thank goodness a ‘mainstream’ journalist is taking up this issue and its not just left to ‘Disability Bitch’.

The mark of a civilised society is how well it looks after its weak, young, old, sick, disabled and vulnerable. Under the ConDemNation all of these groups will be ignored. In short, we will not be, or maybe already aren’t, a civilised society.

Lets not lose track of the fact that New Labour who were no more left wing than Cameron who started the ball rolling with a lot of the disability benefit cuts, and the ConDemNation have taken up the ball and run.

No longer will it be enough to be, eg, ‘legally blind’, you’ll have to be hopeless and helpless too. Having spent my life being told to get out there and grab the world by the balls. I have battled against prejudice and discrimination all my life. Such discrimination has been targeted toward me by black and white, male and female, straight and gay, rich and poor, all of these other minority groups. But I’ve worked hard to be twice as good to be equal. But such hard work is now likely to thrust me into poverty.

By making myself more independent, I am likely to lose benefits. If you have a wheelchair that increases your independence then your DLA might be cut; ditto if you have a guide dog or even a hearing aid.

We are painted by Cameron as people who lie in bed whilst their neighbours go out to work. The confirmation from my consultant with whom I have had a relationship since 1976 will no longer be sufficient to say I am disabled. Instead I will have to have a so called ‘objective’ assessment by the Jobcentre whose main aim is to save the ConDemNation £500m on DLA (for example).

There are pretend disabled people (and I don’t mean invisible disabilities) and fraud is being committed. But stop fraud by locking up the fraudsters, but not by attacking all people with disabilities. Demonise all people with disabilities because just a few are pretending or committing fraud.

Don’t forget, first the Nazis demonised the Jews and gypsy’s and portrayed them as less than human. And don’t forget, the Nazis put people with disabilities in the gas chambers too. You don’t think it could ever happen here …. Think again!

Wiccad's picture

It reminds me of when the paid carer of a woman who she was facilitating coming to a meeting facilitated that by laughing and replying "It doesn't matter" when I asked whether the woman wanted a normal or diet coke when she'd indicated she wanted coke. I just waited until the woman did indicate it was diet. She wasn't supposed to have an opinion even on what she consumed. Appalling.
Right on Assange and right on this. Some people have flung all reason to the winds on Assange and seem only to be consumed with disappointment that he hasn't sexed them by surprise. Pathetic. The new messiah eh? Aye right.

MattDub's picture

The Ben Brown interrogation of Jody McIntyre made me feel physically sick. The line of questioning was a disgrace; to suggest that Jody was acting as a violent protester was absurd.
Ben Brown should be ashamed of himself. If this was a BBC directive then I want my licence fee back. Disgusting

George's picture

@gwenhwyfaer: You have spectacularly missed the point. First of all, you make a huge assumption, based on no evidence, that davidk is hung up on hero worshipping Julian Assange. I didn't see him write a single word of praise for him. What he is pointing out is that this is a good article, however she has severely compromised her integrity with that previous article. having read, i agree with davidk entirely. We are not infants, we are well aware that people who do good things can also do bad things. however, as we are not infants, we are also capable of summing up evidence for ourselves and making our own judgements. she has completely disregarded and failed to mention so many essential factual aspects of the case, because they would contradict her point. so, what are we left with? a bollocksy opinion piece, which has a half-baked idea and no evidence. Now, gwenhwyfaer, please don't take this as another example of "hero worship".. my only aim is to clarify why that Assange article was one of the most ludicrous, least constructive articles i've seen since that Jan Moir one on Stephen Gately.

Wobblie's picture

Lets leave LB out of this, it’s a distraction from the real issues!
The only part I didn’t like (nit picking) is ‘The disabled’ as a noun. Try ‘people who are disabled’.
Thank goodness a ‘mainstream’ journalist is taking up this issue and its not just left to ‘Disability Bitch’.
The mark of a civilised society is how well it looks after its weak, young, old, sick, disabled and vulnerable. Under the ConDemNation all of these groups will be ignored. In short, we will not be, or maybe already aren’t, a civilised society.
Lets not lose track of the fact that New Labour who were no more left wing than Cameron who started the ball rolling with a lot of the disability benefit cuts, and the ConDemNation have taken up the ball and run.
No longer will it be enough to be, eg, ‘legally blind’, you’ll have to be hopeless and helpless too. Having spent my life being told to get out there and grab the world by the balls. I have battled against prejudice and discrimination all my life. Such discrimination has been targeted toward me by black and white, male and female, straight and gay, rich and poor, all of these other minority groups. But I’ve worked hard to be twice as good to be equal. But such hard work is now likely to thrust me into poverty.
By making myself more independent, I am likely to lose benefits. If you have a wheelchair that increases your independence then your DLA might be cut; ditto if you have a guide dog or even a hearing aid.
We are painted by Cameron as people who lie in bed whilst their neighbours go out to work. The confirmation from my consultant with whom I have had a relationship since 1976 will no longer be sufficient to say I am disabled. Instead I will have to have a so called ‘objective’ assessment by the Jobcentre whose main aim is to save the ConDemNation £500m on DLA (for example).
There are pretend disabled people (and I don’t mean invisible disabilities) and fraud is being committed. But stop fraud by locking up the fraudsters, but not by attacking all people with disabilities. Demonise all people with disabilities because just a few are pretending or committing fraud.
Don’t forget, first the Nazis demonised the Jews and gypsy’s and portrayed them as less than human. And don’t forget, the Nazis put people with disabilities in the gas chambers too. You don’t think it could ever happen here …. Think again!

Wobblie's picture

NS seems to be blocking me again, either that or the NS server is steam driven! If so, throw a few more Tories on the fire and give it a stoke so I can post here please.

Ian Shuttleworth's picture

We do, pretty much all of us, resent people who don't let us patronise them. Disabled folk are one locus of this; sassy kids are another, hence the hostility to students - how dare they want to know more than us? And of course, it's also true of virtually everyone I have anything to do with...

Oneleggedyouthworker's picture

I am disgusted by the discrimination which I face on a daily basis. I am a wheelchair user, a single parent (shock horror) and the first disabled youth worker in Yorkshire (got my degree 3 days after having my leg amputated - was not given ANY painkillers and, upon receiving my results (2:1 honours degree) was told by a senior nurse that she "didn't realise they gave out degrees in day centres", commenting "no wonder they are not worth the paper they are printed on!"
Back at home, I live in a council house which hardly has any adaptations that work (including a lift that has been replaced 3 times since 2007) and a cooker that cannot be used unless you are willing to burn yourself. Despite Leeds City Council's legal obligations to maintain the property, ALL disabled people have been exempt from the "decent homes" repairs and updates to which ALL other tenants were automatically entitled. Not only that, but my children and I are constantly abused, receiving verbal attacks and physical threats - which the police refuse to investigate. I am put up in a 2 storey home instead of a bungalow because there is only ONE 3 bedroomed bungalow which is wheelchair accessible in the whole of the South Leeds area, where there are not any shops within walking distance, no accessible transport facilities and where I have been refused service in all pubs on the grounds of my disability.

According to the information in the article, I am now going to be facing a cut in the benefits to which I am currently entitled, including the mobility allowance which pays for the car upon which I rely to get anywhere. Without this vehicle I will literally be housebound, unable to obtain any food independently or see friends or family. I will be completely unable to live. If this happens I would end up totally reliant on others and my kids would - probably - be taken into care ALL BECAUSE I USE A WHEELCHAIR TO MOVE AROUND!!!!

As for work, despite the fact that I am so highly qualified, I am unable to obtain any work - feedback received have constantly concentrated on my "disability". In any case, I am not permitted to obtain work if I wish to receive any benefit for "severely disabled people" - because according to the rules you can only work £90 per week for up to 16 hours of "permitted work", work which must "improve your health or disability". What the stupid people do not realise is that I am LEGALLY entitled to the minimum wage which would take me far beyond the said amount! Apart from this it is SOCIETY which makes me "SEVERELY DISABLED" and NOT the "condition" with which I was born!

To be extremely controversial - if I was on "2 pins" and the colour of my skin was not white I would AUTOMATICALLY receive benefits, government assistance to obtain a job, and a DECENT home - it is about time society took notice of ALL members and gave us back the RIGHTS which we would otherwise receive! I hope that the journalist thrown out of his wheelchair SUES the police for a replacement wheelchair and for any injuries received. The rest of this part of society should support and ensure it continues to be headline news!

Daniele1's picture

OK, all the disabled people who are commenting here agree with Laurie and hate the way they are being treated by this government.
Why aren't they on the street demonstrating like the Greeks do??
Surely the cops can't throw everybody out of their wheelchairs, they would have to be seen behaving. In fact we should all be on the street and demand the right to demonstrate without being kettled or brutalised. If there were enough people of all ages, background and physical fitness, the cops would not dare be seen mistreating the crowd, and they couldn't blame "young thugs" for starting a fight.

Cas's picture

Awesome article, love everything about it except that you use the terms "people with disabilities" once and "the disabled" once when you should use "disabled people" throughout.

You may already know this but I'll write in case you don't and also so other commenters who don't can read it: "people with disabilities" attaches the "disability" to the person rather than using "disabled" as a verb to describe the way in which the structure of society turns an impairment into a lack of ability to do certain things because society is built for currently able-bodied people.

SR819's picture

Oneleggedyouthworker, do you have any proof that city councils, local authorities etc actually actively discriminate against white people? I sympathise with your problems, and agree that the provisions made for disabled people are not good enough, but this argument about how ethnic minorities receive preferential treatment is regularly made, but never elaborated upon.

Mike Cox's picture

I don't necessarilly agree with the policy but don't you see the fundamental irony in this ?

ILF is paid to allow disabled people to to be independant, without ILF they are not independant even though they are 'allowed' to be QED

InNegative's picture

I'm not convinced he was accused of faking by the BBC - only that he was goading the police and somehow deserved the treatment he received.

Richard Littlejohn is mere Murdochean theatre and to take him seriously is always to participate in the system at its most tedious.

'Disabled' in and of itself is arguably a 'dehumanizing' term. It at least makes a special case of what is an amorphous organism with a multifarious capacity for pain and disorderly development. A complete human being should produce itself with regard to its disorderly and troubled appearnace. 'Disabled' as a term to an extent allows it to escape this destiiny in his own eyes and the eyes of others.

Some terminology of course is useful politically for a society that claims to care for its members.

http://innegative.wordpress.com/

Mr. Divine's picture

I haven't been censored. That's because my views are totally agreeable with the NS powers. They know a man with uncensorable views when they read one.

You stuart are an anti-communist so you definitely need to be censored as this web site is run by communists like the NS staff.

Buckskins need to be censored because he comes from Texas, and Nick definitely needs to censored because he's attracting too much attention from psycho nurses who are flocking from their jobs and searching high and low to rip his trousers off. Even though he's gay.

maybe one comment an article works

In_Neg's picture

I'm not convinced he was accused of faking by the BBC - only that he was goading the police and somehow deserved the treatment he received.

Richard Littlejohn is mere Murdochean theatre and to take him seriously is always to participate in the system at its most tedious.

'Disabled' in and of itself is arguably a 'dehumanizing' term. It at least makes a special case of what is an amorphous organism with a multifarious capacity for pain and disorderly development. A complete human being should produce itself with regard to its disorderly and troubled appearnace. 'Disabled' as a term to an extent allows it to escape this destiiny in his own eyes and the eyes of others.

Some terminology of course is useful politically for a society that claims to care for its members.

http://innegative.wordpress.com/

In_Negative's picture

I'm not convinced he was accused of faking by the BBC - only that he was goading the police and somehow deserved the treatment he received.

Richard Littlejohn is mere Murdochean theatre and to take him seriously is always to participate in the system at its most tedious.

'Disabled' in and of itself is arguably a 'dehumanizing' term. It at least makes a special case of what is an amorphous organism with a multifarious capacity for pain and disorderly development. A complete human being should produce itself with regard to its disorderly and troubled appearnace. 'Disabled' as a term to an extent allows it to escape this destiiny in his own eyes and the eyes of others.

Some terminology of course is useful politically for a society that claims to care for its members.

http://innegative.wordpress.com/

Wobblie's picture

This is yet another NS which is refusing to take my comments, what's going on? Sensorship?

Alfsplace's picture

Why is that disabled people who take part in the Olympics are regarded as disabled, some even given peerages and contribute to Government Quangos that decide the fate of benefits for disabled people.

Yet those who are more severly disabled or have chronic illnesses are regarded as liars and scroungers and don't deserve support.

ang's picture

Checking for gremlins

swatantra nandanwar's picture

... because they are the public face and voice of the disabled community who get a pretty rough deal anyway. Most of the paraolympians have struggled hard and long through adversity to get to where they are and they are excellent role models for many young disabled peoples.
No matter what your disability you can still succeed, if you have the will.

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