John McDonnell set to join disabled people at protest outside parliament

Labour Party MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell is set to join chronically ill and disabled people at a protest on the first full day of the new parliament. It comes amid concerns over the Labour government’s position on disability rights – and campaigners want to send a clear message to MPs that they best listen to ‘disabled people’s demands’.

Disabled People Demand…

On Thursday 18 July at Parliament Square, a host of disability rights campaigns and allies will welcome the new Labour government into office by presenting a set of solutions to the multiple crises faced by disabled people across the UK; followed by a celebration of their culture through music, art, and poetry.

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Recovery In The Bin, Bromley and Croydon Unite Community, Disability and Migrant Network (DAMN), and the Trans Safety Network are just some of the organisations taking part in an event titled “Disabled People Demand” – a day that promises to be both a creative spectacle and a statement of intent towards the newly elected prime minister and his party.

The narrative used by successive Labour, coalition and Tory governments to cut resources and services have seen disabled people unjustifiably being blamed for government spending. These cuts to public services were not forced upon the government by disabled people or migrants; they were a political choice.

So, now is the time for a new chapter to be written.

Labour won’t be coming to people’s rescue

But DPAC and others aren’t expecting the new government to come to our rescue. They will present their solutions to these crises – solutions borne out of their shared experiences of years and of decades fighting back and challenge the new government to deliver them.

DPAC said that:

#DisabledPeopleDemand our voices are heard and we demand our rightful full participation in the rebuilding our society.

The event will start at 12 noon at Parliament Square, with a series of speeches, including from:

• John McDonnell MP.
• Ben Sellers of People’s Assembly.
• DPAC’s Paula Peters.

This will be followed by a showcase of creativity, including exhibitions, music, entertainment, and poetry.

There will also be events in Liverpool and Leeds on the same day, organised by local DPAC groups in those cities.

More than protesting

DPAC said in a statement:

This is more than a protest.

Closing the door on the past doesn’t just mean closing it on the policies of the past – but also on the negative and exclusionary practices of the past too. This day will celebrate our communities survival through austerity, benefit cuts, assessment torture, covid and cost of living crisis – and a reminder that too many of us didn’t survive them.

We have a long history of devising our own solutions to whatever crisis we find ourselves in. That’s why we are taking this opportunity to present our solutions to political decision makers and to the rest of the people in the UK. We are putting what we believe are both possible and achievable out there.

So, there’s no hiding place from them. Nobody can say they didn’t know.

We will use them as a marker to measure the success or failure of the next government

We have a list of demands that we will campaign for and hold the new government’s feet to the fire on – for the UNCRPD to be enshrined in UK Law, for social care charges to be scrapped, for social security to be re-designed and co-produced by us and many more.

Featured image via the Canary