Disabled People’s Organisations Criticise “Institutionalised Ignorance” From “Ableist State” in Pandemic and Say Nothing Has Changed

In a reflection of the current Labour Government’s proposal to cut Personal Independent Payments and Universal Credit health-related support to Disabled people in full knowledge of the disastrous consequences, the DPO’s barrister criticised the previous government’s “institutionalised ignorance” of key issues affecting Disabled people and that the evidence “revealed a system where the recipients of care, the way they live and the way that many of them died, was ignored by design”.  

Mr Friedman KC noted that the previous Government knew at the time of the human toll that reduced care services took but chose to “misrepresent the human cost” of the reduction in services, something DPOs have consistently criticised the current Government of also doing in arguing for its proposed swingeing benefits cuts upon which MPs will vote today. 

Friedman KC also said that when the “ableist state” considered social care, it far too often failed to consider Disabled people who live in their own homes or in supported care settings.  

Friedman KC noted that “Disabled People’s Organisations agree with the various descriptions of the Care Sector being complex, fragmented and fragile. However, what that language bears the risk of obscuring is that the system has been constructed that way”. Also, that the long-term flaws of the system were starkly revealed in the pandemic as “care settings became life threatening” and “care services to sustain everyday basic quality of life were withdrawn”.  

The Disabled People’s Organisations called on all four UK nations’ governments to learn from the pandemic and examine how the State can take command of and better integrate the different parts of the care system. Friedman KC stated that any failure to do so “would amount to eyes-wide-open acceptance that Covid-19’s extreme outcomes will be repeated.”  

Georgia Bondy - Covid Inquiry Manager working with Disability Rights UK said: 

"The government needs to take responsibility for the fact that its lack of planning, consultation and care is part of the reason so many Disabled people receiving care died and suffered during the pandemic. Today, MPs will vote on legislation to cut the ability of thousands of Disabled people to receive care. In light of our learnings from the pandemic, I can't see this as anything but a complete disregard for the continued survival of Disabled people." 

Rhian Davies, Chief Executive of Disability Wales said:

“Curtailing Disabled people’s rights under the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act (2014) was one of the earliest decisions taken by Welsh Government at the outset of the pandemic and paved the way for Wales experiencing the highest death rate from Covid-19 amongst Disabled people in the UK. Since then, social care services have never fully recovered with thousands of people in Wales reliant on benefits such as PIP to support their right to Independent Living. In this context, the UK Government’s proposed cuts to this lifeline benefit will lead to serious and far-reaching consequences for current and future recipients. Once again, the rights and very survival of Disabled people are totally disregarded by those in power.” 

Nuala Toman Head of Accessibility at Disability Action Northern Ireland said:

“The pandemic exposed a brutal truth: Disabled people were not only forgotten, they were disregarded through planning and service design failures. The UK and Northern Ireland’s fragmented and underfunded care system and combined with institutional ableism led to preventable deaths and trauma. Unless our governments act now, we are knowingly walking into the next crisis with the same failures.” 

A video of the opening speech can be viewed at the start of the video here.