Government cuts: the call to action

Spending cuts of the 1980s had the result of mobilising activists, says Mike Oliver. And now, with cuts once more on the agenda, it's time again to act

The recent Government announcements about cutting public expenditure have a familiar ring to them. In 1979 when Margaret Thatcher came to power she said the same thing. In fact she went even further and made it clear that disabled people would have to take their share of the pain that this would cause. The current Government have been more coded in their message to disabled people but it is clear from their plans for incapacity benefit and disability living allowance that we can expect the same.

Thatcher’s message all those years ago may have been unequivocal but its effect was to give added stimulus to the emerging disabled people’s movement because now we had a cause to defend as well as an agenda to promote. The big disability charities at this time were still locked into the “disability as tragedy” mindset and were anxious not to upset an aggressive government or put their partnership with it at risk.

Despite this, by the end of the 1980s the disabled people’s movement had managed to develop and promote the social model of disability as well as putting independent living and disability rights firmly on the political agenda. By the time the Conservative Government left office in 1997 the legislative framework to support all this was securely in place.

In reality those 17 years had seen increasing improvements in the standard of living for disabled people and expanding lifestyle choices.

While the Government agenda now may be the same as then, not all else is. The disabled people’s movement is not the energetic and powerful force it once was. Some of its leaders are, sadly, no longer with us. Others have decided to do their “fighting” from the inside of Government. And still others no longer have the energy and commitment to put into the movement.

On the other hand, the big disability charities have managed to re-invent themselves as representative organisations and re-position themselves as government allies as they go about promoting disability rights and independent living agendas. Now these agendas are going to run into funding difficulties, partnership may not be the best way of defending them.

If the current Government succeeds in cutting public expenditure, conflict rather than co-operation is likely to be at the heart of relations between the Government and disabled people over the next decade. Will the newer generations of disabled people continue just to enjoy the fruits of the previous generation’s labour or will they breathe new heart and life into the ailing disabled people’s movement? Will the disability charities be prepared to take to the streets to defend the agendas they are currently promoting, even if it costs their trustees a gong or two and their senior managers career enhancement?

Forgive the ambulist metaphor but we may all soon need to stand up and be counted.