Alison Playford and Ian Chamberlain at the 10,000 Cuts and Counting protest

At the end of the "10,000 Cuts and Counting" protest in Parliament Square on September 28, 2013, I photographed Alison Playford and Ian Chamberlain of Occupy London, who organised the event, along with disability activists, the Very Rev. David Ison, the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral and the MP Michael Meacher. The event was described as "a ceremony of remembrance and solidarity for those who have had their lives devastated by the austerity programme, including more than 10,000 people who died shortly after undergoing the Atos Work Capability Assessment, the degrading test used by the government to assess the needs of people receiving benefits related to disability and ill health."

This was a powerful protest, and as part of the day's events the Dean of St. Paul's led a contingent of campaigners to 10 Downing Street to hand in "The Downing Street Demand," calling for the Work Capability Assessment to be scrapped, and for assessments to be "brought back within the NHS so that disabled people and those responsible for managing their impairments, for instance their GPs, can make fair and compassionate decisions."

For my archive of articles about the Tory-led government's assault on the disabled, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk/tag/disability/

For The Downing Street Demand, see: www.10kcuts.org/demand.html

For the WOW Petition, see: epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154

For Occupy London, see: occupylondon.org.uk/

For my most interesting photos, see: www.flickriver.com/photos/andyworthington/popular-interes...

Done