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Disability tsar faces resign call for backing Tory cuts

This news post is over 8 years old
 

Activists round on disability commissioner, demanding resignation after he voted to implement Tory cuts

A prominent Scots disability campaigner is calling for the resignation of the equality watchdog’s disability commissioner for voting in favour of benefit cuts.

Susan Archibald, a former Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations board member, is being backed by a raft of individuals and groups in her call for Tory peer Lord Chris Holmes to stand down as disability commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) after he voted in favour of disability benefit cuts when they had been condemned by his own organisation.

Archibald has both written a letter and created an online petition calling for his resignation.

It is part of a new campaign from an alliance of anti-austerity, grassroots groups from Scotland and the north of England that are committed to fighting for equality – the Cross Border Alliance –will “name and shame” public figures “colluding in the cuts to disabled people and not addressing disabled people’s rights”.

The coalition includes Disabled People Against Cuts, Black Triangle, The Centre for Welfare Reform, Carer Watch, and the Spartacus online campaigning network.

Lord Holmes voted in favour of measures to cut payments by £30 a week for new employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants placed in the work-related activity group.

Archibald in her letter points out the commission expressed concern that this measure “will cause unnecessary hardship and anxiety to people who have been independently assessed and found unfit for work”.

I am calling for your immediate resignation of the position you hold as disability commissioner - Susan Archibald

In a briefing document published earlier this year, EHRC also said the measure would be “likely to have a disproportionately adverse impact on disabled people”.

“As a disability rights campaigner I am calling for your immediate resignation of the position you hold as disability commissioner and chair of the disability committee for EHRC as alongside my peers and other user led organisations we think you are no longer worthy of this position,” Archibald states.

Lord Holmes said in a statement: “It is public knowledge that I am a Conservative peer in the House of Lords.

“In that context, I will sometimes vote or take a position that is either personal or different from that of the EHRC.

“I completely respect people’s right to disagree with how I have voted in the past and I know these are deeply held views on these issues.

“But these are complex and sensitive issues. Public bodies would be immeasurably weakened if they were only drawn from people with only one viewpoint or one sort of background.”

An EHRC spokesman said: “The strength of our board comes from the breadth and diversity of skills, experience and viewpoints our commissioners bring to bear on the important issues we tackle.

“It is not uncommon for commissioners to have different views on an issue, and we welcome the constructive and challenging debate through which the board reaches its collective decisions.”

 

Comments

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SHEILA HAWKEN
over 8 years ago
Disabled people should be able to rest assured that the person in charge of the EHRC disability matters will fight their corner and be proactive in challenging any proposals which are likely to cause harm to them. With a hypocrite like this man in charge, it is no wonder that the quality of life for disabled people and attitudes towards them have been allowed to deteriorate. We need a committed champion, not someone occupying a position which could have been used far more constructively,instead of it being occupied by someone who is blocking the chance to challenged harmful and discriminatory practices.
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ROBERT MCINTOSH
over 8 years ago
...and it is right for the EHRC to expect that the Commissioner ALWAYS acts in the best interest of the disabled. If as a sleazeball Lord he feels bound to vote with his Tory pals then he should accept that he has a massive conflict of interest and step-down or preferably be 'fired' and left to claim his £300+ per day as a Lord to help him genuinely understand how to live on minimal benefits. Usual Tory Lord scumbag with absolutely no sense of morality - what a surprise!
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Patricia Frearson
over 8 years ago
how is it possible that a man with the beliefs that the people he represents should have less money to take care of their needs should stay in the position he is now in. get him out now
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Barry Longden
over 8 years ago
"Compassionate Conservative's" again. Staggering hypocrisy.
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Barry Longden
over 8 years ago
"Compassionate Conservative's" again. Unbelievable hypocrisy. They seem to be utterly callous in their regard for the sick and disabled.
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