‘This is a fight to the death’: Rethinking Disability in a Hostile Climate Conference 27/9/12 ~ Key actions, messages and decisions

Need a UK and regional co-ordinated approach that brings DDPOs and activists together.  

The movement is currently fragmented 

Need to create space to think, debate and discuss our views and positions and we need to do this carefully and sensitively so as not to create further divisions / fragmentation.  

Need to reach more disabled people and politicise them 

Need to be making better use of artists – they are good at communicating, at raising difficult questions, and at exploring creative alternatives. 

Need to be working with academics: using their knowledge and research. 

Need to pro actively work to be more inclusive and reflect the experiences and priorities of disabled people who experience double discrimination 

Need to share our skills, knowledge, intelligence and tools 

Need to use social media to do this 

Need to make use of the latest IT so we can meaningfully include active participation of people who cannot be physically present at an event, demo, meeting 

DDPOs and activists need to ‘own’ the need the need to work together, reach out and politicise and everyone do what they can to contribute    

Need to set out what we want to see – what does our welfare system, what does our ‘better world’ look like? We need to be not only fending off threats, but working towards something. 

Need to refine / reinvigorate the social model i.e. should it / can it include ill health? How can it address pan impairment issues? 

Need to respond to the bio psychosocial model threat 

Need to address Jenny Morris 5 challenges: making a moral rather than business case for disability equality; including ill health in the social model, need for co-production in welfare and employment; need to argue for the principle of reasonable adjustment for welfare provision rather than safety net; need to campaign for organisations not dependent on the profit motive 

Need to understand economics in order to better challenge ‘there is no alternative to austerity’ argument and to challenge capitalism 

Need to ensure the involvement, coordination and relevance of the different single issue campaigns i.e. Not Dead Yet and inclusive education 

Need to think beyond the cuts. We need to address the big picture issues including: right to life (bioethics), values, rights, role of state.  

Need to address and respond to the dangers of the neo liberal , corporate / capitalist view of society  

Need to space to debate ‘what is our different vision of society’? 

Need to be more pro active in setting our own agenda   

This is a fight to the death 

Need to build on the successes of DPAC and direct action over the last year 

Need to use all campaigning tools available including: legal action, direct action, lobbying, next General Election  

Need a disabled peoples manifesto to lobby and campaign on over next 2 years 

Set up a disabled people’s party? 

Need a DPAC group in every area 

Need to engage and get DDPOs involved in campaigns  

Need a media strategy to change public opinion and tell our stories 

Need to build on ATOS work and make companies / govt ‘toxic’. 

Need militancy and direct action  

Need to ensure our campaigning is inclusive and enables everyone to take part and contribute. 

Essential to build alliances with other resistance movements outside the movement including:  Trade unions, UK Uncut etc   

Lobby TUC to get a speaker at the march/rally 

Lobby TUC so disabled people our at the front of the march 

Need to ensure as many disabled people / DDPOs as possible join the march 

Get as many people as possible to fill out govt ‘on-line’ consultation which ends on 10 Oct. Go to www.inclusionlondon.co.uk for information and advice 

Get as many people as possible to feed into DPAC ILF position paper 

Get as many people as possible to lobby their Cllrs and MPs on the issue over Oct and Nov.  

Develop and agree a terms of reference including: membership, how the network will communicate, consult and take decisions  

Develop a disabled peoples manifesto that set’s out the network’s position on key issues to use to campaign and lobby on over 2013 

Develop a campaign strategy for 2013 inc: setting up a DPAC in every area; agreeing general election approach i.e. setting up a disabled peoples party, getting disabled people to stand for office, lobbying Labour party etc 

Develop a media strategy