On Tuesday 1st July, the Grace Eyre Ambassadors joined Brighton & Hove Speak Out and other disability campaigners to show their opposition to the government’s recent proposals on welfare reform.
Standing outside Brighton railway station in the sunshine, they shared their concerns with some of the proposals with passersby and chanted ‘Stop the Cuts!’.
Local TV and radio crews were there and recorded interviews with people from both Speak Out and Grace Eyre.
The protest featured on ITV and BBC local news, with BBC South East featuring an interview with Pagane Gacheva, Our Voices Coordinator.
Pagane said:
“The government is trying to tell us that Personal Independence Payment is a means-tested benefit, when really it’s not. It’s a benefit that helps people to get into work and stay in work.”
The next day, Nathaniel Lawford, our Inclusion and Projects Director, was also interviewed live on BBC Radio Sussex.
Nathaniel said:
“The protest yesterday was very much a protest about the cuts that the government have been planning, targeted at what has been – what’s been stated repeatedly – is a marginalised group who have faced repeated cuts and repeated reduction in services. And to target those groups, to target those lives is, is an act of such cruelty.”
What’s next?
The protest was timed to coincide with the government’s debate and vote on the changes on 1st July.
While we are disappointed that the government won its vote on benefits changes, we are heartened that pressure from campaigners like us and our partners at Speak Out, contributed to positive changes being made to the welfare reform green paper before the vote.
We are particularly pleased that the government has said it will work with disabled people on more of the detail. We are keen to make sure this is properly co-produced.
One of our biggest concerns is that autism and learning disabilities are both lifelong conditions, but the government’s proposals don’t consider them as such unless they are of the ‘most severe’.
Through our campaigning, Grace Eyre will continue to stand up for the rights of the people we support and those who have long been marginalised.
One in four people will become disabled across their lifetime. You are more likely to acquire a disability than to be born with one. Anyone and everyone can become affected, so standing up for disability rights also means standing up for everyone.
Watch this space for how the Ambassadors and Grace Eyre will continue to make their voices heard on welfare reform.
Read about how else the Ambassadors have been campaigning against some of the welfare reform proposals.