Disabled activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and Not Dead Yet UK have spoken of their horror at the government releasing new plans to cut disability benefits on the same day MPs were debating the idea of legalising assisted suicide.
Protesting outside of parliament, just yards from a larger rival action by those pushing for legalisation, they expressed fears that yet more cuts to the support disabled people rely on to live independently will only exert more pressure on them to take their own lives if assisted suicide is legalised.
Disabled activist and actor Liz Carr was one of the disabled activists raising concerns about the apparent political momentum enjoyed by those seeking new laws. She told Disability News Service (DNS) that she was terrified by the government’s latest personal independence payment (PIP) proposals:
She said:
“We know disabled people have killed themselves because of DWP reforms in the past. That’s what terrifies me: the kind of thing happening in Canada where people for socio-economic reasons are choosing to end their lives through euthanasia.”
She added:
“On the same day that we are listening about PIP reform and about disabled people being labelled as scroungers, it’s more important than ever to say let’s give disabled people support in life and choice over their life.”
Andy Greene, a member of DPAC’s national steering group, said the decision to publish the PIP proposals on the same day as the assisted suicide debate was “not so subtle”.
He told DNS:
“We are an easy target in terms of political targeting. We are the go-to group for cuts to services, for cuts to income, for building a narrative around, because we are seen as an easy target. It’s a message and not so subtle a message to the public and to disabled people about where the direction of travel is.”
He believed the momentum towards legislation appeared to be “unstoppable, inevitable” which had left him “genuinely horrified”. He had seen the “slippery slope” in other countries where assisted suicide has been legalised and has gradually been extended to more and more groups of disabled people.
He added:
“We are the people who have the most at stake here and, as history has shown us, we have the most to lose”.
Nick Saunders, a member of the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network (DAN), said:
“We want help to live, not to die. It’s a matter of life and death, nothing more, nothing less. We fought for public transport, for independent living; now we are fighting for our own lives.”
Paula Peters, another member of DPAC’s national steering group, said the government’s move to publish its plans for further cuts to support on the day of the assisted suicide debate made her want to “throw rocks” at parliament, and had caused her “anger and huge anxiety”.
She added:
“To launch a consultation on PIP the day of the assisted dying debate is rubbing salt in the wounds. Disabled people will feel they are better off dead because they can’t afford to live … we need assistance to live, not to die”.
Read the full story in Disability News Service.
Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software
Liz Carr and a disabled colleague are facing prime minister Rishi Sunak and Mel Stride of the department of work and pensions. Liz has ‘not dead yet’ printed upon her t-shirt. Sunak is holding a card with ‘legalising assisted suicide’ printed on it whilst Stride is holding a card with ‘cuts to disability benefits’. Stride is saying to Liz: “What ever gave you the idea that there’s a link between these two issues?!”
Crippen Cartoons 