- Conference
- 2022 National Disabled Members' Conference
- Date
- 21 October 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Conference they say a week in politics is a long time but over the last week, not mention month, the government has been in total chaos and made the UK a laughing stock.
But for disabled people and our Disabled Members none of this is funny. It seemed that every time the now former Prime Minister or one of her changing carousel of Ministers spoke it was more bad news for disabled people.
In his so called mini budget in September, the then Chancellor Kwarsi Kwarteng didn’t just announce tax cuts for the rich he raised the number of hours people need to work before their Universal Credit is cut from 9 to 15 a week.
We know disabled people are more likely to work less hours, in low paid jobs, than non-disabled people and often rely on the benefit top-up just to survive. This cut will be devastating.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and they’ve reversed many of the tax cuts but the benefit cut that targets disabled people including our Disabled Members stayed in place.
On 14 October 2022 Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt. Hailed by Conservatives as a saviour who would steady the ship but in reality another Tory who doesn’t care about disabled people or other’s struggling financially.
One of his first actions was to change the one thing his predecessor had done that might have helped Disabled Members. The two year cap on energy prices introduced by Kwarteng will now end in April 2023.
Disabled people use more energy than non-disabled people for a range of reason. Putting on an extra jumper isn’t going to help when you your bedding needs washing two, three or more times a week for disability related reasons. Turning devices off instead of to standby isn’t going to help you charge your wheelchair. And switching the lights off isn’t going to help if you need a dehumidifier on overnight to help you breathe.
Days later the Home Secretary resigned, no great loss, but it ramped up the chaos in the government. The Chief Whip resigned following disturbing scenes in the voting lobby before being persuaded to stay on. Reports suggest that Tory MPs went to bed in tears that night, something Disabled Members have been doing throughout 12 years of Tory rule.
On 20 October Truss finally realised no one wanted her. But instead of doing the decent thing and calling a General Election she put herself and her Party first and resigned.
At the time of writing the front runners to be the new PM are Sunak, Mordaunt and the disgraced and disgraceful Boris Johnson. The Tories are actually seriously considering bringing back a man who broke the laws he implemented, lied to Parliament and the Queen and who members of his own Cabinet said was ‘unfit to hold office.’
And to top it all off they’re still planning a financial statement on 31 October which will no doubt be just as bad for our Disabled Members as everything else the Tories have done in over a decade of government. This simply can’t continue.
Conference calls on the National Disabled Members Committee to work with the NEC and Labour Link to:
1. Support the calls for an immediate General Election
2. Lobby the Labour Party to reverse every cut the Tories have made to the support disabled people rely on when they get into power