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Friday 4 September 2009

From My friends at DAN


I don't usually post other peoples writing but Dan are trying to spread the word about this action, so please read on:

The Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN) is once again taking
action against Birmingham City Council (BCC) on Monday 14th September for
the rights of disabled people in Birmingham and everywhere to life,
liberty and the choice and control over our own lives that most
non-disabled people take for granted, but which we can be denied at the
whim of a local authority.

BCC promised to work with DAN towards establishing genuine independent
living for disabled people in Birmingham after our last action in March
(see report at http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/425854.html) won us
a meeting with Peter Hay (Director of Health and Social Care) and other
Council officials, but has not delivered on that promise, and 6 months
later there has been no apparent change in BCC's treatment of disabled
people.

Yesterday (30th August 2009), a disabled service user and DAN supporter,
for whom members of Birmingham DAN had been advocating in the "social
care" system, died in hospital in Birmingham following BCC's refusal, only
a few weeks before, to provide him with any care or support to live
independently.

Disabled people in Birmingham are still being refused assessments for
direct payments to employ Personal Assistants (which is breaking the legal
obligation of all Local Authorities under the 1990 Community Care Act),
being told by social workers that they do not have any needs or being
bullied by council officials into signing agreements they do not want to
sign, simply to save the council money.
Other disabled people are still homeless, living in totally inaccessible
housing, trapped against their will in nursing homes where they have no
choice and control over their own lives, or living in total social
isolation and disgustingly filthy conditions, not because of a lack of
funding for accessible housing and social support services, but because of
the absence of the political will to use council funding for those
purposes.

How many more disabled people will have to die and how many more lives
will be put at risk before BCC gives us our human rights?

The action on September 14th will start at 1pm and will be in Birmingham
city centre. For further information contact Steve on 07931 421947 or
soulrebel@riseup.net or Tom on 07816 275985 or tomcomdan@hotmail.co.uk.

Please forward this message to as many disabled people (or anyone else who
you think may be interested in taking part in the action) as possible.

FREE OUR PEOPLE!

Steve Graby, Birmingham DAN