Government

Wheelchair Demo in London

Today protesters have gathered in the West End to campaign against the government’s welfare reform bill. Oxford Street, Regent Street and Oxford Circus have been brought to a standstill as people in wheelchairs chained themselves together.

Campaigners from disability groups and direct action group UK Uncut chanted and waved banners and banged drums blocking off Regent Street and the demonstration is believed to have caused traffic jams in London’s West End as fifteen people in wheelchairs chained themselves to railings and eventually were joined by hundreds of others to campaign against the Government’s Welfare Reform.

Campaigners believe that hundreds of thousands of families will lose their homes or become “imprisoned” inside them. Josie McDermott, a 32-year-old UK Uncut supporter, said: “The welfare reform bill is cruel and unnecessary”  and added “..this protest is an essential way to persuade the government to scrap its plans.”

Campaigners believe that the Government is choosing to pick on marginalised groups of people in the UK, in trying to pay back the economic UK deficit rather than focussing on the large bonuses and companies that they believe continue to avoid tax to the estimated amount of £25bn.

“It is typical bully tactics by the government to force marginalised people in society to pay for the economic downturn” one campaigner said.

A spokesperson for the Government said that they will continue to spend more than £40bn a year on disabled people, and that they are committed to supporting disabled people in the UK.

The bill will not affect households  where someone receives disability living allowance, as they will be exempt from the benefit cap the Government has pledged, and they have also said that an extra £190 million will be given to local authorities over a four year period to ensure vulnerable people are supported through the housing benefit reform to ensure that disabled people will not lose their homes.

Related articles

• National News: Welfare protesters plan occupation (coventrytelegraph.net)
• Protesters plan welfare reform demo (independent.co.uk)
• VIDEO: Protest over disability cuts (bbc.co.uk)
• PRESS RELEASE: Disabled activists and UK Uncut join to oppose ‘cruel and unnecessary ‘ welfare bill (victimsofatoscorruption.wordpress.com)

Public Consultation on Mitochondrial disease

The public will be asked if they think the law should be changed to allow science to move a step forward so a cure could be found for potentially fatal inherited diseases, the Government has announced today.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has been asked to lead a public discussion to ask if a new scientific procedure, which could prevent women with mitochondrial disease from passing the illness to their children, should be introduced. This will be launched later this year.

Mitochondrial disease is a genetic condition that affects an individual’s mitochondria – the part of the body’s cells that produces the energy they need to function. The disease affects everyone differently, but symptoms include poor growth, loss of muscle coordination, visual and hearing problems, mental disorders, heart disease and liver disease.

The condition affects approximately one in 5,000 adults. One in 6,500 babies are born with a severe form of the disease that can lead to death in early infancy. There is no cure.

It is estimated that around 12,000 people live with a mitochondrial disease in the UK and scientists estimate that the treatment could save the lives of around ten children affected by severe forms of the disease a year.

A proposed procedure would use IVF to fertilise the egg of a woman affected by mitochondrial disease with her partner’s sperm. The genetic material of the fertilised egg that determines the characteristics of the potential child would then be transferred to the shell of an egg donated by a woman who has healthy mitochondria. This procedure would not be allowed under the current law

Source: NDS (C.O.I.)

Related articles

• Public Consultation on Mitochondrial disease (cicerolounge.wordpress.com)
• DNA Sequencing Moving Into The Clinic; Used to Diagnose Mitochondrial Disease in 42 Children (medgadget.com)
• Breakthrough in diagnosing genetic mitochondrial disease and others (InnovationToronto.com)
• UK sets sights on gene therapy in embryos (nextbigfuture.com)
• DNA sequencing quickly identifies metabolic diseases (newscientist.com)

HM Treasury announce Banking Reforms

The Government is today publishing its response to the report by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), which sets out plans to fundamentally reform the structure of banking in the UK. This response agrees with the ICB’s recommendations and outlines how the Government will legislate to create a stable banking sector that supports lending to businesses and families, and removes the implicit taxpayer guarantee in the event of a bank failure.

The Government will implement the ICB’s advice in stages with the full package of reforms completed by 2019. All necessary legislation will therefore be put in place by the end of this Parliament. The Government will publish a White Paper in spring 2012 setting out further detail on how the recommendations will be implemented; in advance of that, the Government is open to views on how to implement these plans.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne, said:

“The Independent Commission on Banking was set up last year to look at what I have called the ‘British Dilemma’: how Britain can be home to one of the world’s leading financial centres without exposing British taxpayers to the massive costs of those banks failing.

The Government is preparing the most far reaching reforms of British banking in our modern history – our objective is to make sure what happened in Britain never happens again.”

BBC FOUR “BULGARIA’S ABANDONED CHILDREN”