Protests at care cuts proposals

HUNDREDS of protesters gathered in Edinburgh yesterday to demonstrate against proposed welfare cuts for disabled people.

Around 800 people were at a rally at the Ross Bandstand on Princes Street.

Similar events were held across the United Kingdom as part of the Hardest Hit campaign, organised by the Disability Benefits Consortium and the UK Disabled People’s Council.

Speakers included crossbench peer Lord Colin Low, Jay Wakefield, the NUS Scotland disabled students campaign officer, MSP Margaret Burgess and Iain Gray, the leader of the Scottish Labour party.

Gray said: “At the very time we see growing irresponsibility at the top of society, with massive cuts to corporation tax and banks being allowed to get away with it again, disabled people are facing the biggest attack on their rights in my lifetime.”

Ian Brown, from RNIB Scotland, said the rally sent a clear message to the politicians. “We all recognise the crisis that public finances are in, but the most vulnerable people in society shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of it,” he added.