I (like many) Am Spartacus.

Today is a pretty important day. It may well prove to be a teeny bit historic for many people in the UK.

What's been christened the Spartacus Report (actually the Responsible Reform report) has been published today. This report has been pulled together largely by Sue Marsh, a Guardian contributer who's DLA was recently stopped, despite her debilitating illness.

Disability benefits have been (very quitely) under threat from the current Tory government for some time. The emergency budget of 2010 outlined plans to cut spending on Disability Living Allowance by 20%. What happens to the 20% of people who lose the help they need was never made clear to my knowledge. Changes to carer's allowances were made to ensure that those looking after disabled people would not get the help they need. Particularly alarming was a change that would mean that someone in a wheelchair who could propel themselves would be considered fully mobile.

The Tories are quite skilled at being insensitive to issues of disability. Earlier this year I challenged MP Philip Davies on his comments that disabled people should be willing to accept wages below minimum. He politely reassured me that I "didn't understand" the issue. Only this week our PM has used Tourette's as the butt of an unfunny joke, oblivious to the offense it would cause. By way of apology he said it was a lesson learned in "drowning out the noise of The Commons", rather than learning the lesson that it's important not to be a cunt. I'm digressing wildly.

One of the most incredible things about things about this report is the way it has come about. Sue Marsh (and others) pulled this together themselves, appealing for funding on twitter. The £3000+ needed to get this information into the hands of people who could change the situations was raised in around 24 hours. The issue has exploded on twitter. #SpartacusReport has been the number 2 trending topic in the UK today. There's a petition with over 12,000 signatures already. It's really moving. There's still a long way to go; but if Cameron & His Cronies can ignore the issue after all this, then we're all a bit fucked, aren't we?

Here's the links for quickness:

The report: http://www.scope.org.uk/sites/default/files/Responsible%20Reform.pdf
Today's Guardian piece from Sue Marsh: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/08/disabled-people-welfare-reform-sham
Here's the petition: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20968