New poetry book slams the ‘horror story’ of Labour’s assault on disabled people

Keir Starmer’s Labour government has been an utter “horror story” for disabled people. And a new poetry book – The White Envelope Book – has called out Labour’s cruel and heartless positions, which have seen it cynically rerouting money from welfare to warfare.

“Labour will set you free… Then you can die, assistedly”

The White Envelope Book is available here via Culture Matters. Speaking about Labour’s attack on disabled people, Peter Devonald insists:

We pay into the system to create a safety net
for everyone, so that no matter what happens,
what life throws at us, we are all protected.
Any of us can get sick, any of us can get ill,
any of us can have an accident or lose our jobs…
It is there for every single person in the country…
The true measure of any society is assessed
by how it treats its most vulnerable members;
so tell me, what does this law really say about us?

Stressing that “my life isn’t one big policy”, Ruby Bartlett cuts right to the point:

A budget cut you say, why don’t you say you want to kill disabled people and call it a day?”

Despite countless experts acknowledging that neoliberalism fuels inequality, worsens ordinary people’s living standards, undermines democracy, and benefits only the rich, Starmer’s Labour has opted to continue the reign of neoliberal terror. And it almost looks like a variation of the Nazi campaign against disabled people.

Alan Morrison points this out, saying:

What is patently clear is that neoliberalism, whether under the Tories or under ‘Labour’, is neoableism: it denies disability, in fact, it can’t seem to tolerate it, it ‘downgrades’ mental health diagnoses, solely for ‘economic’ reasons

He adds, with a slight edit of the Nazi phrase that appeared at concentration camps:

Labour will set you free, deny your disability…
Still too sick to work? Then you can die, assistedly.

British ‘freedom’ today in The White Envelope Book

Sally Richards also looks at what freedom is today under Labour in The White Envelope Book, saying:

So, we think we are free?
It’s news to me.
Free to be poor
intimidated
inspected
…hungry, cold,
crushed, trampled .
infected …

Taking aim at the type of conditions Labour requires in exchange for state support, she asserts:

Remember to ensure
that you can only crawl
on your belly would be preferred
or carried by some willing carer
in fact it may be best to not move at all –
no malingerers here! …

To satisfy regulations:
ideally live
in a mould-infested hovel
grovel…

you simply cannot enjoy life
or even have a life!
… basically … don’t … even … breathe.

Other poems highlight the fear, loneliness, alienation, and desperation that result from the many years of government attacks and scapegoating – under both Blue and Red Tories.

“Will you stand with us, fight alongside us”?

Meanwhile, in The White Envelope Book, Robert Punton considers the assault on disabled people as a continuation of aristocratic bloodsports, insisting:

They may have banned fox hunting, yet they still do it
They may have banned badger baiting, yet they still do it
They may have banned dog fighting, yet they still do it
After all the rich aristocracy must have their blood sports
They must have their fun

But that is not enough they crave for more
So, the poor, poverty ridden disabled people
Have joined the ranks of those they are allowed to hunt
To harry from their homes, chase down the streets
Run to ground, seen as open prey

And the call to the rest of society is powerful:

Our government has opened the door
By dehumanising, demonising disabled people
In the eyes of the general public

Will you allow this to happen, will you allow this to
continue
Or can we rely on you to be saboteurs, to disrupt their evil
plans
We have always stood with you, fought alongside you
Will you stand with us, fight alongside us
In our hour of need, for should you fail us in our hour of
need
We will surely fall, we shall surely disappear

The White Envelope Book is cutting. It’s heartbreaking. And it’s a rallying call.

Political elites have long sought to divide the rest of us, pitting us against each other so we don’t come for them. We must fight back against their divide and rule tactics. Today, the whole country must amplify the voices of disabled people and stand alongside them in solidarity. And we must, once and for all, agree to confine neoliberal austerity politics to the dustbin of history, along with the heartless dehumanisation that accompanies it.

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