One of the two prospective candidates to challenge UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has been accused over his record on people with disabilities.

Owen Smith, who is the UK Member of Parliament for Pontypridd, was the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn leadership.

One person with a disability from Owen Smith’s Pontypridd constituency challenged his record in this area. “I asked Mr Smith why, given that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) has been responsible for a great many more deaths than the Bedroom Tax, Labour had pledged to scrap the Bedroom Tax but had said nothing about pledging to scrap the WCA,” said resident and campaigner, Liza Van Zyl. “Mr Smith replied that Labour could not pledge to scrap the WCA because this would make Labour appear weak on benefits in the eyes of the media and compromise Labour’s general-election chances.
“I am very concerned about Mr Smith’s attitude toward disabled people and particularly to his views that the deaths of disabled people are less important than Labour’s ‘tough on benefits’ standing in the right wing press.“

http://news.crocels.com/news/9115/owen-smith-mp-work-capacity-test-remarks/