Catherine Hale

Being a civil society hero and a benefit scrounger at the same time is a hard act to balance. To say that David Cameron's Big Society ideals are unraveling under the Coalition's austerity measures is not exactly news.  At the same time evidence is emerging that disabled people are the hardest hit by public spending cuts. A comprehensive study by the Centre for Welfare Reform found that disabled people will pay nine times more towards reducing the budget deficit than the average citizen; and the severely disabled nineteen times more. What follows is a personal account of how these two factors are combining on the ground. My local civil society organisation of disabled people is under threat from brutal and misguided welfare policies. A harsh new regime has been imposed on the long-term sick and disabled in the name of "back-to-work support". The combination of cuts and organised harassment it entails is causing a deterioration in health, wellbeing and