To wonder why people care so much about refugees but not disabled people?

[elementofsurprise]

... I don't know where disabled refugees fit in...

... and why we can influence policy about refugees but not the cuts to disability benefits?

It just doesn't seem to add up. And, as a disabled person, it's frightening.

I suspect the government are happy to allow refugees in without bothering about providing for them, eg. house building, infrastructure, NHS and so on. From their POV it's just more competition for jobs, enabling further driving down of wages making their business chums happy, and increased demands on the NHS so they can say "it's not working" and have an excuse to privatise everything! Oh, and us disabled people are just lazy, look the refugees are (being exploited and) doing a 60hr week and happy to live ten to a room! Type thing.

In addition so many apparently left-wing people (usually men) seem to sacrifice one cause for another, eg. it's ok to laugh at/demonise/criticise uneducated or unintelligent people, or the unemployed, if it's in favour of immigrants/refugees. Or it suddenly doesn't matter about sexism if the sexist people are immigrants, in case it comes across as 'racist', whilst those people hold discrimatory views about half the population . Meanwhile every other 'ism' seems to trump the demonisation of the mentally ill, which is barely a cause, let alone with enough support to influnce policy so drastically!

The government are bastards imho, but it's the selective compassion of fellow left-wingers that is frightening and upsetting...

[To be clear on my position: I think we should help refugees but there needs to be some joined up-thinking past "let them in".]

A failed ESA does not trigger the end of a pip claim. Whoever told you that is either a liar or very misinformed.

*assesment

I dont think the erasure of disabled ppl from history helps matters. At school we were never taught about Hitlers propaganda against and murder of disabled people.

And on this very thread there is the insistence that disabled people wont starve. I can think of at least two by name who already have.

Now that is an even more recent erasure of history.

I'm not a regular Guardian reader but it has had some harrowing stories about the plight of the disabled in the UK and there is a lot of opposition to the government's current treatment of the disabled on facebook. Maybe what the disabled should do is to start organising, each according to their ability, because the government is counting on you being a minority without any sway or influence.

yeah come on,the disabled should do more.
will tell my adult child who can't walk talk or feed themselves......get off your arse and do more

"start organising"? OFFS.

Disabled people have been organising for years. Fortunately, there are also lots of people who aren't disabled, who also organise and don't see cuts as an issue to be solved purely by disabled people. Otherwise we really would be a minority, and a minority of the least capable at that.

Did you miss a quarter of a million people in London alone, and many more across the country, just this June? There were enough threads on MN about it.

I think someone clearly has little idea of the realities of being disabled.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to "organise" when you cant leave the house alone, atenco, and when you dont know one day to the next when you will be about to even get out of bed? And thats just me, sat here typing on my sofa, not someone who is less able than me.

I'm sorry, I did not mean to offend. I don't even live in the UK, so there is nothing I can do to help.

Sorry, Atenco, it's just a sore point.

I think the OP was way off-beam in her analysis, but I know where she's coming from in her frustration (and fear) at what's been going on in the UK the last few years.

Ophelia Deeply unpleasant, wrong, and also a bit sexist ('usually men'? Really?) Well yes in my experience it is usually men who are quick to forget about sexism or loudly proclaim their cause and shout down all who have a different experience, or who agree but want to ask questions or discuss the finer points.

IME women of the same political/ethical persuation are far more willing to listen to others views, and explain their own, sort of trying to understand where the other person is coming from rather rather than just literally or metaphorically wave their placards or try to 'win' the debate by mocking the other side.

The whole point of being a 'lefty' for me is to want to to better the lot of EVERYONE who's vulnerable, be they disabled, homeless, male, female, refugee, British or anything else.

Exactly. So why do so many seem to selective care? Even to the point where they will appear to drop one cause/actively join the other side, in order to sort of 'point score' when it comes to another issue? An example on this thread is Charis, with a subtle dig about disabled people being given "free money", neatly playing into the anti-benefit claimant narrative even as she is standing up for refugees (who she presumably wants to help with "free money"...

Yep, that all makes sense and i agree.

I do use "free money" though. I own my free money status

I wonder what Ian Duncan Smiths real thoughts are.on the refugees? He is swiftly hidden away when it comes to things like this as he was for the election campaign in may. Will he go on about a 'refugee cap' on any help they will get? I agree with the poster who pointed out how things change when reality hits, where will 20, 000 more people live and work? The strain on the infrastructure when we cant even help our own disabled people a d homeless. I am not saying dont help, but all politicians do not appear to have any clear vision of these basic problems such as affordable housing. Has anyone heard any expert say what is going to happen once they do arrive? More foodbanks? Where is all this money suddenly going appear from? People on this thread are struggling yet we are going to add more folk to the mix who will need even more help and support. There are no easy answers and i fear a lot of them will just go under. I wonder how the shy tories who voted in May really feel about this situation?

The strain on the infrastructure when we cant even help our own disabled people a d homeless.
It's not a case of cannot, it's will not.
Oh, and 20,000 people over five years is not many, 4,000 a year, works out as about ten people a day. There are european countries taking refugees in their hundreds of thousands.