The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) met with UK government officials last week in Geneva over a two day period, with the chair of the committee slamming welfare cuts to disabled people as a “human catastrophe”.
The austerity measures that have been implemented by the UK government since 2010 have had an impact on welfare benefits and since then, many people in receipt of disability benefits such as PIP, ESA and DLA have seen their standard of living fall drastically. The committee has previously criticised the UK government for targeting disabled people with schemes such as the bedroom tax, the work programme and the benefit cap.
Ministers are also accused of misleading the public about the impact of Government policies by refusing to answer questions and using statistics in an unclear way.
Theresia Degener, who leads the UN’s Committee on CRPD said: “Evidence before us now and in our inquiry procedure as published in our 2016 report reveals that social cut policies have led to a human catastrophe in your country, totally neglecting the vulnerable situation people with disabilities find themselves in.”
SNP MP Mhairi Black for Paisley and Renfrewshire South has praised the committee and their comments.
She said: “This is yet another example that the austerity agenda the Tories are inflicting on disabled people does not work.
“They target society’s most vulnerable with cut after cut while spending ridiculous amounts of money on things such as trident and repairing palaces, common sense would tell you that reducing disabled people’s standard of living is the wrong way for the UK treasury to balance the books.
“Disabled people need support and the UK conservative government have proved they are incapable of providing it.”
Main Photo Credit: Ulrike Mai