On Tuesday the 18th December 2012 UK disabled and sick people, people with learning and mental
health difficulties, their families and carers launched a petition
calling for an end to the "war on welfare" being waged by their own
government.
The welfare budget, and particularly benefits going to sick and disabled
people, has been heavily and unfairly targeted for cuts. It is said we
can no longer afford the current welfare state. In reality however, as a
percentage of GDP, the welfare budget is now lower than it was at any
time during the eighties. While at the same time the combined wealth of
Britain's 1,000 richest people increased by almost 5% to over £414bn.
In order to resist the government's cruel and failing welfare policies,
sick and disabled people, together with their carers, families and
friends, have combined using social media to produce the
#WOWpetition.
This calls for an end to the War on Welfare. Spearheaded by actress and
comedian
Francesca Martinez the WOW petition aims to get 100,000
signatures to end this War On Welfare by the government. We will be
calling for a Cumulative Impact Assessment, an independent inquiry and
if necessary, the repeal of the Welfare Reform Act of 2012.
We believe that every single person in the country has a reason to
resist the War on Welfare. Some of us may be fortunate enough not to
need the safety net our Welfare State provides, but this could all
change for any one of us, tomorrow. It only takes an accident or a shock
diagnosis to render us ill or disabled, and dependent on a system of
benefits and services which is currently being dismantled.
The ‘Greatest Generation’ fought WWII believing they had secured this
safety net for themselves, their children and generations to come. Don't
let it go without a fight! We owe it to them. We owe it to ourselves
to ensure a decent and dignified life for all who are sick and disabled,
and to provide security for all our futures. The deaths of disabled
people linked to the Welfare Reform Act and the Work Capability
Assessment administered on behalf of the Government by the private
corporation Atos are reported in the press with alarming regularity. We
believe that in any humane society the Government would want to know if
one of their flagship policies was in any way responsible for a ‘slow
genocide’ of the sick and disabled. Please join Francesca and the WOW
campaign in resisting the deaths and unnecessary suffering being caused.
SIGN THE WOW PETITION
