UKDPC: Deprivation beckons for many disabled people

Wednesday, 11 May 2011 12:00 AM

Jaspal Dhani, chief executive of UK Disabled People's Council, comments on a protest outside Westminster against the disabled living allowance cut:

"Disabled people are gathering here today to express their anger at government cuts and the reforms they plan to do to benefits. Disabled people feel they are the hardest hit by these reforms and really it's got to set back these people's rights by 20 to 30 years.

"It's going to result in the institutionalisation of many people, it's going to push thousands into greater levels of poverty and it is a fundamental breach of disabled people's rights.

It's not just about the money, it's about the impact the money is going to have on the delivery of services.

"With the cuts happening to the local authorities, the local authorities are passing those cuts down to disabled people by reducing, or in some cases just removing the services they receive on a day to day basis in order to allow them to live in the community.

"When those kinds of services are being cut or being reduced it puts disabled people at risk as well. We don't trust those tests because there's already evidence that suggests many disabled people are being wrongly assessed, people who are critically ill or terminally ill are being assessed as fit for work.

"So those tests are based on very much medical perceptions, the staff are not trained adequately. And it's pushing people again into deprivation."

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