PIP, NHS, Trident & Wooden St Cleaners – On Wednesday thirteenth July 2016 I photographed two protests in regards to the insufficient and badly run Private Independence Funds for disabled individuals, a protest supporting a cross-party invoice to save lots of the NHS from privatisation, a celebration towards changing Trident and the longest working strike within the historical past of the Metropolis of London.
PIP Fightback at Vauxhall – Vauxhall
The toughest a part of photographing the protest on the Vauxhall PIP Session Centre was really discovering the place, hidden away in a again avenue. This was one in all round 20 protests across the nation on the centres the place ATOS perform sham Private Independence Funds ‘assessments’ on behalf of the DWP.
The assessments are virtually solely designed to save cash for the DWP, enabling them to disregard medical proof of want and are carried out by people who find themselves given a monetary incentive to fail claimants. They usually imply that real claimants lose important advantages for months earlier than they’re restored on enchantment. They’ve led to many turning into determined, with some needing hospital therapy and some have dedicated suicide after being failed.
NHS Invoice protest at Parliament – Previous Palace Yard, Westminster
Labour MP for Wirral West Margaret Greenwood was later within the day presenting a ‘Ten Minute Rule Invoice’ with cross-party help to cease the privatisation of the NHS and return it to its founding rules.
Folks from varied campaigns had come out to help the invoice, which though it had no likelihood of progressing into regulation did result in a larger consciousness of the privatisation which is slowly however apparently inevitably placing our NHS into the arms of personal, primarily American, well being firms, and eroding its primary rules.
Amongst those that got here out to talk was Shadow Well being Minister Diane Abbott.
NHS Invoice protest at Parliament
Disabled PIP Fightback blocks Westminster
Campaigners from Psychological Well being Resistance Community (MHRN), Disabled Folks In opposition to Cuts (DPAC) and Winvisible (Girls with Invisible and Seen Disabilities) and different supporters met outdoors the Victoria St places of work of Capita PLC, one of many firms together with ATOS answerable for finishing up the shoddy cash-saving PIP assessments.
Particularly these assessments are unfair on many claimants whose circumstances fluctuate day after day together with many with psychological well being points. The assessments make no allowances for this and fail to take any account of the medical proof in coming to their conclusions.
After protesting for a while on the very busy pavement the place there have been quite a lot of audio system, Paula Peters of DPAC led the group out into the the center of Victoria Road the place they stood with banners and in wheelchairs blocking site visitors.
They then marched the quick distance to the DWP headquarters in Caxton St, holding an additional protest with audio system within the highway outdoors.
Lastly they marched previous the Homes of Parliament to School Inexperienced the place the media had arrange their ‘Westminster village’ crowded with cameras for Theresa Might turning into Prime Minister. Police stopped them as they tried to go onto the grass in entrance of the TV cameras, and for a while they stood alongside the facet earlier than lastly ignoring the police and occurring to the inexperienced. The place the TV crews ignored the protest.
Disabled PIP Fightback blocks Westminster
Trident Mad Hatters Tea Celebration – Parliament Sq.
CND members and supporters have been immediately lobbying MPs towards plans to switch Trident at a price of not less than £205 billion.
In Parliament Sq. that they had organised a ‘Trident Mad Hatters Tea Celebration’ and there have been varied Christian teams with placards placards stating the opposition by church buildings of the completely different denominations to the substitute, with Buddhists from the Battersea Peace Pagoda including their help.
Trident Mad Hatters Tea Celebration
Solidarity for Wooden St Cleaners – Metropolis of London
Lastly I went to the center of the CIty of London the place a rally was going down in help of cleaners belonging to the United Voices of the World union employed by anti-union cleansing contractor Thames Cleansing on the 100 Wooden St places of work managed by CBRE.
By thirteenth July this had already grow to be the longest-running strike ever within the Metropolis of London and it continued into August. The UVW say:
As days turned weeks, the inconvenience for white-collar staff at 100 Wooden Road rightly become a serious embarrassment for his or her employers, and particularly for CBRE, the managers of the constructing. Metropolis of London police have been referred to as many instances, safety workers have been intimidating, and the tenants have been barely dealing with a trickle of the previous cleansing operation. Ultimately, after a shock flashmob within the CBRE’s foyer, after which a giant march to mark the fiftieth consecutive day, the choice was taken after 61 days to lift all their pay to the London Dwelling Wage!
Many extra photos at Solidarity for Wooden St cleaners.
Tags: appeals, ATOS, Buddhists, Capita PLC, Caxton Home, Christians, Class Struggle, cleaners, Diane Abbott, misery, DPAC, DWP, defective assessments, London, Mad Hatters, march, mdeical proof, MHRN, NHS, NHS Invoice, Paula Peters, peter Marshall, PIP, PIP assessments, poverty wages, protest, highway block, cease privatisation, suicides, tea celebration, Thames Cleansing, Trident, United Voices of the World, UVW, Westminster Village, Winvisible, Wooden St Cleaners
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