THE coalition and Tory governments since 2010 have wrought immense pain and suffering on the disabled community, forcing so many of us into abject poverty with the deeply cruel benefits cuts.

More than 130,000 deaths have been directly caused by austerity, a large proportion of them of disabled people suffering the consequences of the deeply cruel government we find ourselves under.

A study published in December showed that homelessness among disabled people had increased by over 50 per cent in the span of a year.

This shows not just that we as a community are being forced into poverty but also that local councils are increasingly stripped of the resources needed to be of any help.

To be homeless is an unimaginably hard living situation even for physically healthy people, but for those of us with chronic medical conditions, survival of homelessness can only be hoped for. Such conditions can be attributed to Social Murder – the idea that conditions are such that people cannot reasonably be expected to live.

In the last few weeks, we have seen a shift to people working from home. It was always clearly possible, having been implemented throughout society within a couple of weeks.

Disabled people could almost all have been working from home, yet companies decided against it, rendering it almost impossible for many of us and for others too who need to work from home, such as single parents, carers and those with mental-health issues.

Something lots of disabled people intrinsically realise is that life is too fragile for the needs of capitalism.

Despite this, it’s the working people who suffer due to the nature of ourselves as organic beings: instead of being supported when we are at our most vulnerable, we are further exploited, pushed into poverty at the cost of the lives of our friends and family.

We can see that the combination of benefits cuts and discrimination in the workplace is actively preventing disabled people from working in the jobs they would flourish in, and is wreaking havoc throughout the lives of so many of us.
These policies are clearly not accidental.

We are suffering directly because of these policies, as this is how they were intended to be implemented. However, it seems we are almost invisible to much of the population — possibly because to draw attention to our suffering would highlight the cold and callous policies of the current government.

Out of sight, we are so often inhumanely treated by corporations, with many of us having experienced our employment being terminated because of unavoidable aspects of life, such as hospital appointments.

Now that much of the country is working from home, we can see that it would have been possible for disabled people to be given the access to work-from-home facilities that would have greatly improved our lives and those of our families and communities.

So we must ask why this has not been the case, with the default situation for us to be seemingly forced into poverty and suffering, our disabilities played down and diminished by “work coaches” and then forced to endure further suffering from benefit sanctions when we cannot physically attend assessments or job interviews — as they are so often severely lacking in any accessibility.

To allow us to work from home is not an unreasonable demand, as we can now so clearly see. There is no reason whatsoever to disallow working from home for anyone who feels they need it.

Particularly with modern technology, which can allow anyone to access software or documents that they may need to from home, however those who are granted the ability to work from home often find themselves scrupulously monitored and every click on their computer watched.

This is totally unnecessary and an absolute intrusion on people’s privacy.

Comrades, we cannot allow things to return to the way they were before this pandemic. Companies must realise they need to offer the ability to work from home to everyone where possible, without the need for constant monitoring.

The discrimination against disabled people and the way we are perceived in the workplace is unacceptable. History will not look kindly upon those who discriminate against the most vulnerable in society.

Now that the whole world sees this has been possible for huge swathes of industry, there is no reason it should go back to how it was.