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Protestors against the Welfare Reform Bill brought Oxford Circus to a standstill last Saturday. A group of wheelchair-users handcuffed themselves together across the middle of Regent Street, and were joined by demonstrators who had marched from Holborn station to join them.

Disabled people came from all over the country to demonstrate against the Welfare Reform Bill and to call for it to be scrapped. Cheryl Thompson of UK Uncut referred to the Bill as “​both cruel and unnecessary”​ and as “​another example of the government choosing to pick on marginalised and socially disadvantaged people...”​

Groups such as UK Uncut, Disabled People Against Cuts, and Disabled People’​s Direct Action Network were present at the protest and uniformly opposed the Welfare Reform Bill and cuts to services for disabled people. They exposed the discrepancies in the government’​s approach to cutting the budget deficit, highlighting how bankers are still receiving massive bonuses and how big companies such as Vodafone are still evading their tax liability. Josie McDermot, UK Uncut supporter, summed up the government’​s behaviour as “​typical bully tactics ... to force marginalised people in society to pay for the economic downturn, while letting bonuses run wild and rich companies continue tax dodging...”​

Further information about the protest can be found on the Uncut website

A BBC report on the protest can be found here