Dandy Party, a brand new political party, will be putting up independent disability-rights campaigner, Mick Hardy, to stand as MP for Norwich North at the May General Election in the seat currently held by Conservative MP Chloe Smith.
Dandy Party was founded by Mick Hardy (secretary of Norwich Disabled People Against the Cuts, and Mental Health Action Group representative of Equal Lives), Vince Laws (poet and activist), and Eloise O’Hare, (artist and activist).
They formed the Party because they feel that following the cuts to disabled benefits by the present Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, there is a pressing need for poor and disabled people to be elected to Parliament to fight for the rights of those who are weak and most needy. They believe the healthy, wealthy millionaires there at present are not representing them fairly.
A fundraising page has been created to raise £5,000 to help fund the campaign. As soon as they get the first £1,000 they are rolling and will register the Party’s name, start printing posters and letters, etc.
If they don’t raise enough, or have some left over, it will go towards Dandifest 2015, details of which are below.
The Party is having a launch and fundraising event at the Playhouse Bar in Norwich on Sunday, February 15, from 6 p.m., when singer songwriters Mick Hardy and Emma Jarvis and poet Vince Laws will be providing the entertainment.
To view the Dandy Party’s party political broadcast, click here:
STRIP! a Poem by Vince Laws
Give me an S!
S is your Spare Bedroom Tax.
10 million disabled people
in the UK, under attack.
S is the Shirt that they stole off my back!
Give me a T!
T is your Torture, your Tick-box Test.
70 ‘Fit For Work’ people die each week
because your Work Capability Assessment’s
up Cull Creek. Stop putting humans
through an inhumane test.
The disabled only protest
when they’ve nothing left to lose.
Iain Duncan Smith is the shit on my shoes!
Give me an R!
R is for Remploy, Redundancies, Recession,
I paid into your system
But you mis-sold me oppression.
You wish more employers would take us on
so take the lead Dave, and show what can be done.
Better still, Government, give the lead to us,
if the Disabled have to be on board
we’ll drive the fracking bus!
I need another moat and a house for my ducks!
Mixed metaphors and the system socks!
Give me an I!
I is the Independent Living Fund,
It lets people live the lives that they own.
New claims were stopped in 2010
and it’s death by Coalition in 2015.
Not-yet-disabled millionaires
are stocking up on shares
while stripping us of benefits.
First they take the services
that allow us independence,
then they’ll stick us all in Care Homes
and trouser all the profits!
Give me a P!
P is for PIP, A Personal Independence Plan
It replaces Disability Living Allowance
but it’s a scam.
500,000 people tricked
out of the help they currently get.
This Coalition are the goalpost shifters.
They’ve changed the definition of disability,
and that’s a job for doctors not politicians.
Disabled people have had enough –
when the only option’s destitution –
the gloves are firmly off!
Vince Laws 2014
To find out more about the Dandy Party, click here:
To make a donation, click here:
The Norwich Dandies are an arts collective who aim to create a space where difference is accepted, encouraged and valued.
To view a video of their work at Dandifest 2014, click here:
This short film shows the work of art collective The Norwich Dandies at Dandifest 2014. We specifically aim to create a space where difference is accepted, encouraged and valued.
Dandifest 2015 (April 27-May 9) takes place in Norwich during the General Election (May 7).
Vince Laws will be working with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and Equal Lives, highlighting the inhumane way disabled people are being treated under the Con Dems.
They are planning 10,000+ paper chain links to remember those who have died due to the cuts, due to the deeply flawed Work Capability Assessment, and suicides linked to sanctions.
The Dandies will also dress up, spout poetry, give hope and encourage disabled people to vote.
The Dandies will be highlighting the different parties’ policies regarding disability rights, and including quotes from ‘From Cuts to Resistance’: http://www.inclusionlondon.co.uk/From-Cuts-To-Resistance
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