Posted: Wednesday 11 May 2011
This was a brief live blog during the Hardest Hit march on parliament. We were also tweeting from the march.
Loved these RNIB signs: "we're being ******* by the govt" (shafted!) >> http://ow.ly/i/bqTL
Proof that disabled ppl really are the #HardestHit - 51% of ppl with mh probs claiming #esa or #ib had suicidal thoughts http://ow.ly/4Sc0V
We're right at the front of #HardestHit march -with local mind workers,our ceo,&most impotantly a huge group of ppl due to lose their #dla
Bit of a singalong... "Are you listening in the house?"#HardestHit - sing up, folks!
2:30pm
Well, the march is over and some of the Mind group have gathered at the Methodist Central Hall to take a break and wait to speak to their MPs. The mood is positive - it's been great to march together, says Dale, with friendly faces. Becky told me how glad she is to have come today - she turned around three times before she got onto the train. She marched because she finds it really hard to access support and for people who wanted to come today who couldn't make it. Melissa agrees, she says that each person who marched probably represents ninety or so others; Melissa left home at 6:40am to get here today. Ellie goes to a few different support groups who couldn't make it today and she is here for them as well.
I heard someone say that this might be the largest disability march ever - that would be an amazing achievement and something very special to be part of.
Thank you everyone who marched today, especially those who walked with Mind - let's hope that our efforts today make the government really listen.
11:45am
We're about to head off to join the march. I've just been speaking with Ellie who has travelled all the way down from Edinburgh. Ellie has BPD and is worried that she'll lose her benefits under the new system.
11am
We've set up our meeting point in the centre of Embankment Gardens. We'll be here until 11.45am when we'll join the main march.
Ellen, 52, is marching for the first time. She says that she can't find any support in her area. Abby's family had a long experience of mental health problems and is here to support them and others like them.
We'll be blogging from the Hardest Hit march today; do let us know what you want to hear about during the day. The live blogging will start around 10:45am. You can also follow us on Twitter.
At the march we'll be calling on the government to:
Taryn Ozorio, Digital Manager
I totally support the March andIi feel very strongly that the most vunerable peole are being hit .I watched the lunchtime news and was so cross the governement spokes woman only said people on drugs and drink are getting more dla than someone blind ,How dare they keep using people with drug and drink problems a scape goat plus what has it do with cutting services for disabled and other vunerable groups .The bankers ruined the economy in 2008 and the rest of us are paying the price .Well done to everyone who went and I am sorry I did not make it yet i am here in total support everyday the services i access are going .The government are a discrace .
I'm disgusted that the Minister for Disabled People did not make an effort to attend the march or speak to protestors.
It was much less stressful for her to sit in her office and give television interviews in which she says the protestors just "feel a little out of control". This woman is so far out of touch with the vulnerable people she is duty bound to represent that she really should be made to consider her position. If she cannot be bothered to find out what people are worried about, how can she do her job properly?
Clegg, interviewed by Channel 4 news, deliberately sidestepped a question about the protest and how the cuts are going to affect people.
They couldn't care less. They have all been told what to say and how to say it. No-one deviates from the script for fear of losing their job in the next reshuffle. Power is all.
So they still don't get it - and don't even acknowledge what the protest means. An appalling dismissal of the genuine concerns of the most vulnerable in society. Shame on them all.
You can't demonize people whilst at the same time claim to be trying to help them.
I have been having nightmares. I am too scared to put my own money in my own bank account in case I have to justify it. I am too scared to buy things because I now feel like benefit scrounging scum. I am afraid to order things online because they store my details and we all know benefit claimants shouldn’t have things that could possibly be regarded as “luxury items”. Not to mention struggling to make progress because hell mend me if I try and go for a walk and have some stranger question if I am an undeserving fraud or not.
Their rhetoric and manipulation of statistics is affecting my life, my relationships and sense of security. Day after day I have to listen to how these are “difficult decisions” by a legacy from the last government, but they will make sure they will continue to help “those who most need it”. What does that even mean in the real world? I am sure that when the lines are drawn, it will be just like ESA where those who fail the [new] test are labelled as people who were undeserving all along.
Out of touch ministers have no understanding of how difficult our lives our and the impact of their campaign against disabled people claiming benefits. There is enough proof out there to show their methods and approach to this issue is harmful to those who are genuinely struggling, but they are carrying on with their merry ways. Their agenda is at our expense, and the minister for disabled people does not in any way representing us, or is acting in our interests.
I have a disability that has no cure. I struggled to go on the march but made it anyway. There are no drugs or crutches that can help give me a 'normal' life. And yet, I get squat from the government.
They refuse to help me in any way. My son was getting disabled benefits for the same condition but his have been cut. The NAS have been as helpful as they can but they are a charity and have so many to help.
How can most of these MP's live with themsevles knowing they are condemning people like me to an inhumane lifestyle that would be human rights nightmare for them. But still they continue on their path to destroy people like me.
They should be ashamed.
Whilst i found the Hardist Hit March a little overwhelming - i too am glad i managed to take part. It was good to meet up with Mind's campaign team and other protesters.
I thought the speeches were excellent and particularly moved by the number of blind people who joined the march.
I was disappointed it did not feature on the BBC Ten O'clock News, but understand there was some coverage earlier in the day. The Guardian website does however contain quite a lot of reports and video footage of the day, along with the protests that have been taking place outside Atos Healthcare headquarters.
Many people were carrying placards expressing anger at Atos Healthcare profiteering out of people's misery.
Many people were also angry that Maria Miller the disabilities minister was not there to champion our cause.
What next?
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