The United Kingdom government has created a ‘human catastrophe’ for disabled people according to the United Nations.
This followed an enquiry by the UN’s Committee on the Rights of Disabled People, which ended last year and made 11 recommendations, which found ‘grave and systematic violations of disabled people’s human rights’ and included a call for a complete impact assessment into benefit reforms introduced since 2010 and for action to fight ‘negative and discriminatory stereotypes.’
However, the government has since failed to recognise and implement the recommendations, according to the Concluding Observations of the committee, nor to assure disabled people’s rights will be secured after the UK leaves the European Union. The UK has been a signatory to the UN convention on disabled people’s rights since 2007 but this latest report contains a further 60 recommendations.
This has led to criticism from Disabled People’s Organisations, which were hailed by the committee as ‘world leaders’ in their attempts to publicise and combat the violations.
The UK Delegation of Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations has issued a statement saying: “The UN(CRPD) Committee has, once again, condemned the UK government’s record on deaf and disabled people’s human rights. They have validated the desperation, frustration and outrage experienced by deaf and disabled people since austerity and welfare cuts began. It is not acceptable for the UK Government to ignore the strong and united message of the disability community.”
A government spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed that this report does not accurately reflect the evidence we gave to the UN, and fails to recognise all the progress we’ve made to empower disabled people in all aspects of their lives. “We spend over £50bn a year to support disabled people and those with health conditions – more than ever before, and the second highest in the G7.”
Tracey Lazard, the CEO of Inclusion London, said on Newsnight that “This was a damning report” adding “How can we work with a government whose policies are catastrophic and who deny there is anything wrong?”
The UN committee on the rights of persons with disabilities has now made clear that it is not satisfied with the way the UK has responded to the inquiry launched last November that the government had violated the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) under the articles on independent living, work and employment, and social protection.
