UK Disability News Service: "Call for help to design a social security system of dignity, respect and trust"

[Andy]

Disabled people and others with personal experience of claiming benefits are leading a ground-breaking project to devise a new social security system, in which claimants would be treated with dignity, trust and respect.

The Commission on Social Security, led by Experts by Experience, will seek ideas from other claimants, organisations and academics, before drawing up their own white paper and putting it out for consultation.

They will then launch a campaign to seek public and political approval for their final ideas.

Every one of the commissioners who will produce the white paper has been or is on benefits, and all of them represent grassroots, user-led organisations that fight for the rights of benefit claimants and disabled people.

In a disturbing sign of the current system’s flaws, some of the commissioners have asked not to be publicly named through fear of Department for Work and Pensions reprisals.

They hope that other benefit claimants, thinktanks, academics and civil society organisations will now share their own ideas for how to reform the system after the commission launched a call for evidence, with a deadline of 31 July.

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/call-for-help-to-design-a-social-security-system-of-dignity-respect-and-trust/

 

[alktipping]

since the changes in the uk benefits system are politically motivated it will need considerable campaigning to inform said politicians that we are an important part of the voting electorate with enough awareness we could put the worst politicians out of office .

 

[Wonko]

Most of us don't even have access to milkshake, let alone have a political voice.

 

[alktipping]

Most of us don't even have access to milkshake, let alone have a political voice.

fortunately for me I don't like milkshakes . love your sense of humour wonko

 

[Simbindi]

For those on the forum who don't follow UK news (so you can share the brillance of Wonko's comment):

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/18/uk/nigel-farage-milkshake-sentence-gbr-intl/index.html

 

[rvallee]

since the changes in the uk benefits system are politically motivated it will need considerable campaigning to inform said politicians that we are an important part of the voting electorate with enough awareness we could put the worst politicians out of office .

Unfortunately the reality of geography and random distribution of disability make it a low threat. This threat only works in electoral systems that adopt something like mixed-member proportional, where enough geographically distributed people can promote candidates that represent special interests. Otherwise we are simply too diluted to make an impact.

It would certainly be great if disability issues could be politically relevant. They never are even though everyone is potentially impacted by it, even when they don't know.