Talk given at the House of Lords to help launch the Campaign for a Fair society's Manifesto - setting out how cuts target disabled people and what a fair welfare system would look like.

3. • English local government -
cut by £11.3 billion
• Benefits (excluding pensions)
- cut by £18 billion

5. • 58% of all cuts target disabled people
and people in poverty
• 36% of all cuts target disabled people
• 24% of all cuts target the 1.9% of the
population who need social care -
those with the most severe
impairments

7. • Unfair - target those who are most
disadvantaged
• Unfair - make an unequal society
even more unequal
• Unfair - target the groups that didn’t
benefit from the economic bubble

8. • Prejudice against and fear of disabled
people
• Political weakness of disabled
people
• Particularity of social care and
benefit systems
• Confusion about the welfare system

11. • Open - we need to welcome the
general public, diverse groups
• Universal - we need to reframe our
solutions so they are relevant to all
• Independent - we need to speak
freely

12. lure the tiger from
the mountains

14. 1.Human rights - not services
2.Clear entitlements - not confusion
3.Early support - not crisis
4.Equal access - not institutional care
5.Choice and control - not dependence
6.Fair incomes - not insecurity
7.Fair taxes - not targeted
8.Financial reform - sustainable

15. Everyone is equal, no matter their age,
differences or disabilities.
A fair society sees each of its members as a full
citizen - a unique person with a life of their own.
A fair society is organised to support everyone
to live a full life, with meaning and respect.

16. …a [Nazi] Ministry of Justice Commission on the Reform of the Criminal Code
drafted a similar law sanctioning "mercy killing" of people suffering from
incurable diseases. The law read, in part:
“Clause 1 Whoever is suffering from an incurable or terminal illness which is a
major burden to him or others, can request mercy killing by a doctor, provided it
is his express wish and has the approval of a specially empowered doctor.
“Clause 2 The life of a person who because of incurable mental illness requires
permanent institutionalisation and is not able to sustain an independent
existence, may be prematurely terminated by medical procedures in a painless
and covert manner.”
92% of unborn
children with
Down’s Syndrome
are aborted in the
UK