--- layout: post status: publish published: true title: Our Duty to Minorities wordpress_id: 475 wordpress_url: http://www.martineve.com/?p=475 date: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0xNCAxNTowMDoyMyArMDEwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0xNCAxNTowMDoyMyArMDEwMA== categories: - Personal - Politics tags: - cuts - government - politics - disability comments: - id: 5144 author: lizit author_email: e.thackray@sussex.ac.uk author_url: '' date: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0xNCAxNjoxMjo1NCArMDEwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0xNCAxNjoxMjo1NCArMDEwMA== content: ! "Thanks Martin for reminding us of the nature of the type of cuts which are currently taking place. I do have to declare an interest in the changes to DLA, as my son has been a recipient of this benefit for several years and I have encouraged many other parents of children on the autistic spectrum to make a claim. I know how difficult it has often been to acknowledge the child's difficulties might make such a claim legitimate, and I know too what a difference it has made to families who have been able to give their children access to activities which would otherwise have been inaccessible or unaffordable. However, most families will somehow ensure their children get what they need. Far more worrying is the position of adults with disabilities who have been allowed the dignity of normal adult life and who will now be faced with a loss of independence and dignity as the funding is withdrawn and they are no longer allowed to live independent lives. All this too at a time when local authority budgets are under pressure and we shall no doubt see yet another round of cuts to home care support of all types.\r\nIt is not cynical to say that the cuts that are being enacted are hitting at those least able to protest and least able to afford them. Far from the Big Society, we are being led into an inhumane society where the rich get richer and nobody gives a d*** for those in need." - id: 5157 author: Tweets that mention Our Duty to Minorities | Martin Paul Eve -- Topsy.com author_email: '' author_url: http://topsy.com/www.martineve.com/2010/12/14/our-duty-to-minorities/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 date: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0xNCAxNzoyNTo0NiArMDEwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0xNCAxNzoyNTo0NiArMDEwMA== content: ! '[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by simonjball and Liz Thackray, Martin Eve. Martin Eve said: My blog post on cuts for disabled people: http://bit.ly/dOh1ft #solidarity #dla [...]' - id: 6033 author: Naomi Jacobs author_email: naomijacobs10@gmail.com author_url: '' date: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0zMCAxNzo0MjoxOCArMDEwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMC0xMi0zMCAxNzo0MjoxOCArMDEwMA== content: Always great to see people standing in solidarity with this cause. It's not one that enough people can identify with (ironically), hence the difference in coverage between the fees issue and this one. I write for Where's the Benefit - http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/ - where we've been dissecting the government reforms and media responses to them. You might find it interesting. ---

This is a quick, personal post to express my disgust at the government's recent proposals to "reform" the Disabled Living Allowance and scrap the Independent Living Fund. While I have been extremely unhappy about the cuts, particularly to higher education, this latest batch hits a group of people who really need this support. And what does it save? The ILF costs a relatively small £359m.

To put this in perspective: the current UK defecit is £106510m. If I'm reading that data correctly, it would take 296 years of cutting this (and no further borrowing) before the defecit was cleared.

Now, I'm also not an advocate of debt, but I believe that a collective debt of a nation is better than individuals being personally harmed; that's when we're "all in it together". The impact of this cut, though, will be to people who are not a majority. The impact of this cut will be to people who are less able to get out on the streets and make their point. I want to say here that I feel we have a duty towards these less able minorities. We have a duty to make their voice heard in the same way that it was heard -- even if ignored -- for tuition fees. If we bemoan the fact that those outside of Higher Education only care for it when their children are about to enroll, we are hypocritical to stand by while other groups need our attention. We must not let our democracy become an excuse for the tyranny of the majority, nor a system where only those able to shout can make themselves heard. This is not an argument against shouting, but an argument to give our megaphones to others who might need them.

Neutrality Disclaimer: I have Rheumatoid Arthritis but receive none of the welfare measures detailed here.