Disability activists and UK Uncut protest against welfare changes in Oxford Circus

The Guardian reports:

London's busiest shopping area was brought to a standstill as people in wheelchairs chained themselves together to protest against the government's welfare reforms on Saturday.

Members of the direct action group UK Uncut and disability campaign groups chanted, waved banners and banged drums in the middle of Oxford Circus, blocking off its link with Regent Street and causing traffic jams.

Fifteen people in wheelchairs chained themselves to railings, and were soon joined by hundreds of others.

The groups are protesting against the welfare reform bill, which they say means hundreds of thousands of families will lose their homes or become "imprisoned" inside them.

Josie McDermot, a 32-year-old UK Uncut supporter, said: "The welfare reform bill is cruel and unnecessary, and this protest is an essential way to persuade the government to scrap its plans.

"It is typical bully tactics by the government to force marginalised people in society to pay for the economic downturn while letting bonuses run wild and rich companies continue tax dodging to the tune of £25bn."...

Some tweets from supporters:

If you are on Twitter, search for the #invisibleinvincible and #UKUncut hashtags to find out more.

Teenager attacks disabled man, saying 'He's disabled, he deserves everything he gets"

The Derby Telegraph reports:

A TEENAGER launched an unprovoked attack on a man in the street, saying: "He's disabled, he deserves everything he gets."

Gary Thurman was walking along Oxford Street, Ripley, with friends when three youths approached and one began pushing him.

Mr Thurman, 20, who has two hearing aids, tried to get away from drunken Ross Graham but was punched three times, Chesterfield magistrates heard.

"I was holding on to a fence and he hit me from behind and I was knocked to the ground. I kept trying to get up but he kept punching me in the face," Mr Thurman told police.

Peter Bettney, prosecuting, said a female witness told Graham to stop hitting him because he was disabled.

"The defendant said, 'He's disabled, he deserves everything he gets,' and continued hitting him," said Mr Bettney.

Jamie Rackham stood between them, only to be punched by Graham, causing a lump on his forehead.

Police were called and both victims were taken around Ripley by officers until they spotted Graham, 18.

Graham, of King William Street, Ironville, admitted the January 7 assault and was ordered to do 100 hours' unpaid work.

He must also pay £200 compensation to Mr Thurman and £100 to Mr Rackham, with £85 costs...

No custodial sentence, not even a suspended one. Pathetic.

I wonder if Liddle and Delingpole realise how their bile-fueled bullshit-containing articles contribute to the views of scum like Ross Graham.

Most likely, they don't care.

Springfield Care Home in Walthamstow heavily criticised by CQC

The Waltham Forest Guardian reports:

A CARE home has been threatened with legal action after a routine inspection revealed it was failing to meet required standards.

Springfield Care Home in Grove Road, Walthamstow, which caters for 18 to 65-year-olds with learning disabilities, has been told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that it must act immediately to improve the care it provides or risk legal action, which could ultimately mean the care home would shut down.

After the CQC visited the home in November last year inspectors found that the home was failing to meet five essential standards which were lowering the quality of life of the people living there.

The CQC report said: “Inspectors found that privacy, dignity and independence were not being respected at the home and that the home did not meet emotional and social needs which could lead to risk of neglect and psychological harm.”

The report showed that the home failed to provide safe surroundings that “promoted wellbeing” and that a bedroom that was in use had no furniture other than a bed screwed to the floor and a TV and radio stored in a locked box high on the wall.

The inspectors also noted that they witnessed two episodes of poor care and that there were insufficient staffing levels at the home...

Autumn Care Home in Dorest closes after abuse investigation

The Bournemouth Echo reports:

ALLEGATIONS of abuse triggered the investigation into a Dorset care home which has closed its doors amid concerns over the welfare of its elderly residents.

Dorset County Council has been carrying out an investigation into levels of care at the Autumn Care Home at West Parley in conjunction with Dorset Police and the Care Quality Commission, but has refused to divulge any details...

Dorset Police declined to add to an earlier statement, which said no-one had been arrested...

Halifax and Bank of Scotland charity credit cards withdrawn from end of February

BBC News reports:

Lloyds Banking Group which manages the card schemes says they are no longer a cost-effective way of donating to charity.

In 2009 the cards raised around £1.1m for Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC and the Scottish SPCA.

The charities say they are disappointed with the decision, but hope to explore other opportunities with the bank.

The Cancer Research UK donation credit card was launched 23 years in 1988 and the NSPCC card was first issued 17 years ago.

The Scottish SPCA card has been available for 15 years.

The cards have raised £14.5m ($22.8m) for Cancer Research UK and £500,000 ($786,000) for Scottish SPCA.

Baroness Finlay, vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cancer, urged Lloyds Banking Group to think of other ways to help the charities which will lose out...

Alabama schools told to let LGBT students attend proms

Pink News reports:

Demands have been made to the County Board of Education in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to respect LGBT rights after alleged cases of negligence by staff members towards a gay student.

A civil rights law firm, Southern Poverty Law Center, has written to The Tuscaloosa County Board of Education to demand that the constitutional rights of gay and trans students be upheld, according to Tuscaloosa News.

The letter specifies that the schools and school board must allow gay students to attend their proms with someone of the same sex, and that they should not “censor” the support of LGBT rights.

It states that in December 2011, a student of Brookwood High School, Elizabeth Garrett, was told by Assistant Principal, Thad Fitzpatrick, that she would not be allowed to attend her prom with another student of the same sex.

Garrett was also allegedly told by Fitzpatrick on 5 January to remove a hoody emblazoned with the words “Warning, This Individual Infected With ‘The Gay,’ Proceed With Caution,” according to the letter.

The letter said that the hoody Garret was wearing was intended as a lighthearted way of making a statement that gay people should be accepted.

The County School Board made a statement saying there was no written record of the incidents described in the letter, and no disciplinary action was taken against Garrett...

Woman indecently assaulted in Greater Manchester

About 6.50pm on Tuesday 24 January 2012 a 20-year-old woman was walking home along Milkstone Road, Rochdale near to Essex Street when she was approached by a person who indecently assaulted her.

The person ran off along Essex Street.

The offender is described as a person wearing a thick black hooded top with a white emblem on the back, dark cuffed track suit bottoms, dark trainers and was carrying a plastic carrier bag.

Police are now appealing for witnesses.

Detective Constable Andy Robinson, from Rochdale CID said, “...This assault took place in the early evening, there must have been people in the area that witnessed the assault or recognise the person in the description.

“If you have any information which may help us with our inquiries, please contact me on the number below.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the CID on 0161 856 4557, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Mark Steel on the benefits cap

From today's Independent:

We've come to that point in the lifetime of every Tory government when we're invited to scream about people on benefits.

Some people enjoy this activity all the time, but at the moment it's like New Year's Eve for drinking, a time when if you're not doing it to excess, you get sneered at for not taking part in the fun.

So everyone has to tell a story they've heard, such as, "One lot, they haven't worked for 25 years, went down the benefit office, said they needed an aircraft carrier. They filled in a form and the next day it was delivered. Then they sent it back as they didn't like the colour."

Almost every newspaper and minister's interview is packed with stories like this, to justify capping benefits so they can "encourage" claimants back to work.

This assumes that the reason unemployment goes up is there's a surge in people deciding not to work. It's true that this seems to have happened at exactly the same time as a global recession but this is probably a coincidence.

So the Government has chosen the amount at which a family's benefits must be capped as £26,000, because no one should be allowed to claim more than the average wage.

This would be fair if the way benefit payments were calculated is that you went for an interview, in which you said how much you fancied spending this year and they gave it to you.

But the 67,000 households who receive this sum do so because it matches their circumstances. That's why a family of five can claim more than a single person who lives with their parents...

Well said Mark.