Hi, my name is Mandi. However you came to hear about my blog thank you so much for taking the time to learn about the distressing situation I now find myself in. Like thousands of other people registered as disabled in the UK, I am another victim of the government's cruel and extreme cuts to disability benefits. Benefits desperately needed to make ends meet. I suffer from Multiple sclerosis (MS) which affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of symptoms including problems with muscle movement, balance and vision. There is no cure for this condition, it will only get worse over time. I have worked hard all my life but when the MS struck the symptoms were so debilitating everything became much harder, including my job. I continued working for as long as I could, then my health deteriorated so drastically that working became impossible. Like most people on benefits, I am not a "scrounger" as the government and mainstream media like to label people. Like most people I had lived a regular life and paid my taxes for many decades, but as my MS got worse I needed the welfare system as my safety net, the system I had contributed to for many decades through my working years. While I was working I was able to buy my own one-bedroomed flat, but I am now in the desperate position of having to seriously consider selling my home, a small flat that is adapted to meet my needs as an MS sufferer, and to then rent that same flat back off a company for three times what my mortgage payments have been. I have no other means of supporting myself and I live with the constant fear that my ESA and DLA will be cut back to nothing at all before too long now, for this seems to be the government's agenda. If I lose my home I will be completely at the mercy of the government and could well end up as another homeless disabled person. The dread of that terrifies me and is affecting my mental wellbeing now , so my health problems are compounding as the months go on. I am asking everyone to has kindly read this page if they would consider donating a small amount to help me keep my flat, so that I don't have to sell it, and lose the last bit of security I have. Any amount you can afford to give would be so gratefully appreciated, even £1 would be really helpful. If you aren't in a position to donate any money, you could still help so much by sharing this blog.
If I can secure my living accommodation I know my mental wellbeing will improve no end and that will help me manage my MS symptoms much better once again. My ultimate goal is to come off benefits and work from home, proofreading, this will give me a small income to at least meet the bills and eat, without the distress of claiming disability benefits, but my health condition needs to be more under control than it currently is, for me to be able to do that. Thank you so much for reading about my desperate situation. I know many others are suffering and I send my best wishes to all of them and I urge them to try to stay strong, as I am trying to do. I send my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who is able to help me find a way out of the dreadful situation I have found myself in through no fault of my own, I was just unlucky enough to develop MS. Thank you for your time, Mandi
https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/Mandi-Riseman
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
The UNCRPD is legally unenforceable; Iain Duncan Smith will be let off the hook by the UN
The United Nation's Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has launched an inquiry into Iain Duncan Smith's welfare reforms to determine if they constitute 'grave and systematic' violations of the human rights of disabled people. Catalina Aguilar, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, will pay a visit to Britain in the next few months as part of the probe.
As most of my readers know, I have been reporting frequently and voluntarily, since January of 2012, to the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on the welfare crisis for Britain's sick and disabled. While I most certainly welcome this inquiry and acknowledge its very critical importance, I regret to inform you that the UNCRPD is unenforceable.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a side-agreement to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was adopted on 13 December 2006, and entered into force at the same time as its parent Convention on 3 May 2008. As of July 2015, it has 92 signatories and 87 state parties.
The
Optional Protocol (OP-CRPD) to the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) allows for individual complaints to
be submitted to the CRPD Committee by individuals and groups of
individuals, or by a third party1
on behalf of individuals and groups of individuals, alleging that
their rights have been violated under the CRPD. Complaints may only
be communicated against a State party that has ratified or acceded to
the OP and only upon the exhaustion of all available and effective
domestic remedies. If the CRPD Committee makes a finding that the
State has failed in its obligations under the CRPD, it will issue a
decision requiring that the violation be remedied and for the State
party to provide follow up information.
As
of 8 May 2013, 76 States have ratified or acceded to the OP-CRPD, and
91 States are signatories. To date, the CRPD Committee has adopted
views on three individual communications, finding violations in two
of them and declaring one inadmissible.2
The
OP-CRPD is one of the communications mechanisms of the UN treaty
bodies.3
Other treaty bodies which have similar complaints mechanisms include:
the Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture, the
Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the
Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The
OP to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
Convention on the Protection of all Migrant Workers also have
complaints mechanisms which are not yet in force, while the
individual complaint procedure of the Convention the Protection of
all Persons from Enforced Disappearances came into force in December
2010. In June 2011, the final draft Optional Protocol establishing a
communications procedure for violations of rights under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the Human Rights
Council, and is now awaiting discussion and adoption by the General
Assembly’s Third Committee.
2
Violations were found by the Committee in: HM
v Sweden,
Communication no 3/2011, CRPD/C/7/D/3/2011,
19 April 2012, and Szilvia
Nyusti & Péter Takács v Hungary,
Communication no 1/2010, CRPD/C/9/D/1/2010,
16 April 2013. The Committee declared Kenneth
McAlpine v The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
Communication no 6/2011, CRPD/C/8/D/6/2011,
28 September 2012, inadmissible ratione
temporis
under article 2(f) of the Optional Protocol, on account that the
alleged violations took place before the entry into force for the
State Party of the Convention and the Optional Protocol which do not
have retroactive effect. See the CRPD
Committee’s website dedicated to its jurisprudence.
IDA case summaries of the Committee’s views are available at
www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/en/crpd-committee-views-communications.
3
The term “treaty bodies” in this text will exclusively refer to
the UN treaty monitoring bodies.
Like other treaty bodies equipped with
complaints mechanisms, the CRPD Committee is NOT (emphasis mine) a court with
judicial powers; the OP-CRPD provides a quasi-judicial procedure in
which the resultant decisions of the CRPD Committee are not legally
enforceable such as domestic court judgments, or some other
regional judicial mechanisms (e.g. European Court of Human Rights).
If a violation is found, the views of the Committee are transmitted
to the State party and constitute recommendations that need to be
implemented by the State party and reported on back to the Committee
within six months. While technically they may not be legally
binding, the decisions of the CRPD Committee will be authoritative
interpretations of the CRPD, and beyond the realm of application
within the State party involved in a complaint, decisions will be of
great value in the exercise of implementing provisions on the ground
in all States parties to the CRPD.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of the
communications mechanism depends on the political will of the State
party to recognise the competence of the Committee and to abide by
their decisions. Yet initially, the use of communications procedure
will depend on sufficient awareness of the instrument and the
capacity of individuals, organisations of persons with disabilities
(DPOs) and NGOs to identify victims, recognise violations and to
lodge complaints to the CRPD Committee in accordance with the
provisions of the OP-CRPD.
Eight months ago, I wrote that I expected the UN to "eventually determine the UK government guilty of “grave or systemic
violations” of the rights of disabled people, and possibly other
thematic categories of human rights violations. The most serious penalty
levied would be a downgrade to "B" of Britain's "A-list" human rights
status. Institutions accredited by the UN with "A-list" status enjoy
much greater access to UN human rights treaty bodies and other organs.
They can participate fully in the international and regional work and
meetings of national institutions, as voting members. They are also able
to participate in sessions of the Human Rights Council and take the
floor under any agenda item, submit documentation and take up separate
seating.If reduced to "B" status, they participate as observers. They
may not take the floor under agenda items or submit documentation to the
Human Rights Council. Countries with human rights organisations on the
A-list include nearly all western European nations as well as Azerbaijan
and Indonesia. Those with "B-list" status include Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka
and Congo-Brazzaville."
A verdict of guilty would embarrass the British government on the world stage, but the UN treaty repercussions would be relatively minor. I am therefore recommending that a human rights lawsuit be filed against the DWP in conjunction with a UN CRPD "grave and systematic" violations finding.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
The Only Solution To The Welfare Crisis Facing Britain's Sick and Disabled Might Be Prison
If a prison decided to implement a policy of punishing its inmates by
cutting their food supply, it would be universally condemned as a human
rights abuse. But this government is doing essentially the same thing to
its own citizens. It is the sole source of money to people on benefits
just as the prison is the sole source of food to its inmates. Cutting
their access to this essential supply is cruel and inhumane. And, worst
of all, this government is being allowed to get away with it.
Excerpted From: The sickening truth about food banks that the Tories don't want you to know - Comment - Voices - The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-sickening-truth-about-food-banks-that-the-tories-dont-want-you-to-know-10195840.html
I've often stated on Twitter that Britain's benefit claimants are treated worse than criminals—and sanctioned benefit claimants are treated much worse than those fined in court.
Excerpted From: The sickening truth about food banks that the Tories don't want you to know - Comment - Voices - The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-sickening-truth-about-food-banks-that-the-tories-dont-want-you-to-know-10195840.html
I've often stated on Twitter that Britain's benefit claimants are treated worse than criminals—and sanctioned benefit claimants are treated much worse than those fined in court.
Disastrous Labour election leaves poor, disabled and low-paid vulnerable to vicious Tory austerity measures
Sanctioned
benefit claimants are treated much worse than those fined in the
courts. - See more at:
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/benefit-sanctions-britains-secret-penal-system#sthash.0nqMSwdZ.dpuf
Sanctioned
benefit claimants are treated much worse than those fined in the
courts. - See more at:
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/benefit-sanctions-britains-secret-penal-system#sthash.0nqMSwdZ.dpuf
Sanctioned
benefit claimants are treated much worse than those fined in the
courts. - See more at:
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/benefit-sanctions-britains-secret-penal-system#sthash.0nqMSwdZ.dpuf
Thursday, April 9, 2015
A message from candidate Michael Green, who is standing against Grant Shapps, supported by Political Scrapbook
I'll get straight to the point:
Tory chairman Grant Shapps has been pretending to be 'Michael Green'. Well my name really is Michael Green. And I'm pretty pissed off.
So I've decided to embarrass him by standing against him in his own constituency. That's right: his secret pseudonym will be joining him on the ballot paper.
But to take on Shapps my campaign needs to raise an election deposit of £500 – that's over 700 dollars in internet marketing money.
The deadline for us to register is 4pm today. We will use donations after this to cover other campaign costs e.g. posters. Can you chip in?
"BUT WHAT DO I GET OUT OF THIS, MICHAEL?"
All supporters will get campaign updates and exclusive first access to our funny campaign video. Those giving £10 or more will be sent an official 'VOTE FOR MICHAEL GREEN' campaign rosette, while those giving £30 or more get a rosette AND a T-shirt (designs to be finalised).
But that's not all!
Every single pound you give will be matched by a MYSTERY DONOR!
"SO I'M EFFECTIVELY DOUBLING MY MONEY?"
Yes. It's a bit like having a magic money tree.Donate now to double your money.
"ARE YOU REALLY CALLED MICHAEL GREEN?"
Yes. Michael Green is my legal name and will appear on ballot papers.
"ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO STAND?"
This is not a joke. Okay. It is a joke, but I am still taking on Shapps in his own back yard,Welwyn Hatfield constituency in Hertfordshire.
Click here to donate.
Monday, March 30, 2015
EDF Will Present The Priorities Of The Disability Movement To The UN Committee
Brussels, 30 March 2015 |
This Thursday 2 April,
the disability movement will be at Geneva to meet the UN Committee and
discuss its concerns on how the EU implements the UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).
The EU has ratified the UN Convention in 2010 making it the
1st international human rights treaty that has ever been ratified by a regional organisation. By ratifying the UN Convention, the EU has agreed to take important
steps for equal rights and full inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of life.
Find more about what the UN Convention foresees at the UN website
Last year, the
EU had to submit a
report to the UN Committee to explain what actions it has taken in favor of its
80 million citizens with disabilities. On 2 April 2015, the UN Committee in Geneva will examine for the first time the report by the EU.
Find more about the EU review process on our website
To give the view of citizens with disabilities and cover gaps that the EU report has,
EDF prepared the EDF Alternative Report
on the implementation of the UN Convention by the EU, based on the
expertise of its members all around Europe, civil society organisations
and other stakeholders.
Throughout the EU review process,
EDF will be in Geneva and follow the dialogue between the EU and the UN Committee closely.
On 2 April, EDF will also meet the UN Committee. In this meeting, EDF will
defend its Alternative Report and express to the UN Committee its main concerns on the implementation of the Convention by the EU.
EDF will report regularly on what is happening in Geneva! Follow all the latest updates on
EDF website,
facebook and
twitter (hashtag: #EDFreportCRPD).
Find out more!
Contact EDF!
·
Catherine Naughton | EDF director |
catherine.naughton@edf-feph.
·
An-Sofie Leenknecht | EDF human rights officer |
ansofie.leenknecht@edf-feph.
Lila Sylviti
Communication
European Disability Forum | nothing about us without us
tel +32 2 282 46 04 | fax +32 2 282 46 09
lila.sylviti@edf-feph.org - www.edf-feph.org
Thursday, March 26, 2015
MediaWatch: Watching the right-wing media (E-Mail to me from Left Foot Forward)
|
|||
|
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Benefit sanctions are a 'hard read' for Britain's learning disabled
you have the right not to be treated badly or
punished in a cruel way
—An Easy Read Summary of "Human Rights and Adults with Learning Disabilities" a Report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights
Why isn't Prime Minister David Cameron prosecuting jobcentre staff for undermining safety and welfare? Surely he is appalled that a jobcentre in the constituency of Wigan (a town in Greater Manchester, England) sanctioned a vulnerable and reclusive man with learning disabilities, who is unable to tell the time, because he arrived four minutes late for a jobcentre appointment. The man was therefore unable to afford food or electricity, and starved for five days.
Labour MP Lisa Nandy, shadow civil society minister, told fellow parliamentarians about how a vulnerable person in her constituency of Wigan suffered after having his benefits taken away under the controversial sanctions regime.
“Several times this year I have had to refer a gentleman with learning difficulties to Denise (the local Reverend) for food due to him having sanctions on him for turning up late," a local councillor had told her. "The gentleman can’t tell the time and is a recluse. He has been found sitting in his flat in the dark with no electric or gas. He won’t ask for help."
"Only for the old neighbours watch out for him and contact myself heaven knows what would of happened to him. I was informed he has to get a letter off the doctor for an electric card…The lad turned up at my door the other night. He hadn’t eaten for 5 days. He looked like he was dying.”
MP Lisa Nandy: "The man I am talking about is the fourth case of someone with learning disabilities being sanctioned that I have come across in my constituency office this month."
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Musings on the Plight of Britain's Disabled
Thinking about writing an essay on Albert Camus in relation to the plight of Britain's disabled. The "plague" is austerity and the disabled are the innocent who are made to suffer. But like Dr. Rieux, the disabled show fortitude, courage and persistence in the face of adversity. That is truly grace under pressure.
Interesting, too, that Camus not only grew up in poverty but suffered from tuberculosis throughout his life.
"The Plague" was published in 1947 and is obviously an allegory of the German occupation of France. While not outright accuse the Tory government of being Nazis, they do seem intent on sentencing Britain's disabled to a life of entrenched poverty and despair.
My vantage point is, admittedly, less than ideal, for I'm writing this from Canada—but even across the pond, distance can bring some perspective to an issue. supporting Britain disabled face onerous cuts to, and even loss of, disability benefits if the amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill are overturned
Interesting, too, that Camus not only grew up in poverty but suffered from tuberculosis throughout his life.
"The Plague" was published in 1947 and is obviously an allegory of the German occupation of France. While not outright accuse the Tory government of being Nazis, they do seem intent on sentencing Britain's disabled to a life of entrenched poverty and despair.
My vantage point is, admittedly, less than ideal, for I'm writing this from Canada—but even across the pond, distance can bring some perspective to an issue. supporting Britain disabled face onerous cuts to, and even loss of, disability benefits if the amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill are overturned
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Influential Disability Studies Professor Tobin Siebers Has Passed Away
Dear UMInDS community, colleagues, and friends,
I am writing with great sadness to let you know our dear Tobin Siebers died
today, long-standing Chair of our Initiative on Disability Studies, V. L.
Parrington Collegiate Professor, and Professor of English Language and
Literature and Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
We have lost a great champion for disability studies at our university, in
the wider US academic ecology, and in the development of our discipline
worldwide. Tobin has been a field-builder, a mover and shaker, and a
tireless advocate for a discipline that developed under his and his peers’
guidance.
Two of his recent books, Disability Aesthetics and Disability Theory, have
become field-defining, and can be found on reading lists around the world.
They present perspectives on disability’s cultural labor: how disability
appears in art, architecture, literature; how its presence and relational
web compels new insights into cultures, writing, and experience; and how
criticism can offer readers tools for thinking anew about bodies in public
space. One of Tobin’s first entries into the new canon of disability
studies was his non-fiction book Among Men: a beautifully elegant
essayistic book about what it meant to grow up into a disabled man, lover,
and father.
I have learned so much from my generous colleague and friend. I had the
great fortune to work with him as co-chair of our initiative, and as
co-teacher in our graduate classroom. His influence is everywhere:
countless scholars in our field have been mentored by him, and he has
validated so many of us in our shared quest to focus on disability as a
rich and exciting field of inquiry. His legacy lives on in his nourishing
critical perspective, his passion and presence, and it will continue to
thrive and grow in the thoughts his writings allow us to spin out.
Disability Studies lives both inside and outside the university, and Tobin
was always aware of multiple audiences, and of the need to think
capaciously about sources of knowledge and wisdom. Whatever your personal
relation to academic writing, I encourage you to re-read or read some of
Tobin’s moving and powerful work, and to take a moment to remember him and
his spirit through his lines. Below are a few links. In these essays, you
can trace the imagination, heart, and intellect of a man who has given so
much to all of us.
My thoughts are with Tobin’s wife and children, and with the wider circle
of the many students who have made him part of their chosen family.
There will be a memorial service for Tobin followed by a reception on
Friday, February 6th at 2:00 pm in the Michigan League Ballroom. The
public is welcome.
Before the memorial service, you are also very welcome to join the UMInDS
Symposium on Disability Studies, and the final sharing of the
international, national and local disability culture artists who are coming
together in the Duderstadt Video Studio on North Campus, honoring the
legacy of Tobin Siebers, from 10-1.
Some of Tobin Siebers’ writings:
My Withered Limb (Michigan Quarterly Review):
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/
Disability Aesthetics (Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory)
http://www.jcrt.org/archives/
Disability Theory (University of Michigan Press)
http://www.press.umich.edu/
The Art of Disability: An Interview with Tobin Siebers by Mike Levin
(Disability Studies Quarterly)
http://dsq-sds.org/article/
Petra Kuppers
Professor
English, Art and Design, Theatre, Women's Studies
University of Michigan
Artistic Director of The Olimpias: www.olimpias.org
New Book October 2014: Studying Disability Arts and Culture: An
Introduction (Palgrave).
http://www.palgrave.com/page/
I am writing with great sadness to let you know our dear Tobin Siebers died
today, long-standing Chair of our Initiative on Disability Studies, V. L.
Parrington Collegiate Professor, and Professor of English Language and
Literature and Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
We have lost a great champion for disability studies at our university, in
the wider US academic ecology, and in the development of our discipline
worldwide. Tobin has been a field-builder, a mover and shaker, and a
tireless advocate for a discipline that developed under his and his peers’
guidance.
Two of his recent books, Disability Aesthetics and Disability Theory, have
become field-defining, and can be found on reading lists around the world.
They present perspectives on disability’s cultural labor: how disability
appears in art, architecture, literature; how its presence and relational
web compels new insights into cultures, writing, and experience; and how
criticism can offer readers tools for thinking anew about bodies in public
space. One of Tobin’s first entries into the new canon of disability
studies was his non-fiction book Among Men: a beautifully elegant
essayistic book about what it meant to grow up into a disabled man, lover,
and father.
I have learned so much from my generous colleague and friend. I had the
great fortune to work with him as co-chair of our initiative, and as
co-teacher in our graduate classroom. His influence is everywhere:
countless scholars in our field have been mentored by him, and he has
validated so many of us in our shared quest to focus on disability as a
rich and exciting field of inquiry. His legacy lives on in his nourishing
critical perspective, his passion and presence, and it will continue to
thrive and grow in the thoughts his writings allow us to spin out.
Disability Studies lives both inside and outside the university, and Tobin
was always aware of multiple audiences, and of the need to think
capaciously about sources of knowledge and wisdom. Whatever your personal
relation to academic writing, I encourage you to re-read or read some of
Tobin’s moving and powerful work, and to take a moment to remember him and
his spirit through his lines. Below are a few links. In these essays, you
can trace the imagination, heart, and intellect of a man who has given so
much to all of us.
My thoughts are with Tobin’s wife and children, and with the wider circle
of the many students who have made him part of their chosen family.
There will be a memorial service for Tobin followed by a reception on
Friday, February 6th at 2:00 pm in the Michigan League Ballroom. The
public is welcome.
Before the memorial service, you are also very welcome to join the UMInDS
Symposium on Disability Studies, and the final sharing of the
international, national and local disability culture artists who are coming
together in the Duderstadt Video Studio on North Campus, honoring the
legacy of Tobin Siebers, from 10-1.
Some of Tobin Siebers’ writings:
My Withered Limb (Michigan Quarterly Review):
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/
Disability Aesthetics (Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory)
http://www.jcrt.org/archives/
Disability Theory (University of Michigan Press)
http://www.press.umich.edu/
The Art of Disability: An Interview with Tobin Siebers by Mike Levin
(Disability Studies Quarterly)
http://dsq-sds.org/article/
Petra Kuppers
Professor
English, Art and Design, Theatre, Women's Studies
University of Michigan
Artistic Director of The Olimpias: www.olimpias.org
New Book October 2014: Studying Disability Arts and Culture: An
Introduction (Palgrave).
http://www.palgrave.com/page/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)