Disability rights

By Chris Leary The case of the severely disabled girl, known only as Ashley, who has undergone surgery to remove her womb and breasts, and will receive other treatments to keep her anatomically at a stage before puberty raised profound questions, not just for socialists, but for all people who care about human society. Those question — about consent, personal autonomy and medical interventions with profoundly disabled people — cannot be done justice within a single article. But some immediately stand out. Medical technology has made massive advances in the past fifty years, improving the...

By Ruben Lomas Foundation Hospitals, handing over schools to businesses, giving employers control of curricula in Further Education — no corner of the public sector or welfare state is safe from the Blairite project of subordinating every aspect of public life to the needs and drives of the market. Now the government plans a fresh assault against incapacity benefits, something they have gone after twice before — in 1999 and in early 2005. Then, the government proposed the reduction of incapacity benefit to just £56 a week. This time, they plan to scrap it altogether. Even those who are among...

What rights for vulnerable adults? The issue of Ashley X and of disability rights is an emotive and complicated issue (see Solidarity 3/104 and 3/105). I agree with Chris Leary when he that the issues are too big to be dealt with in one article and indeed in relation to one issue. When I first read about Ashley I couldn't help wondering as Chris does - would that happen here? I came to the conclusion that it probably wouldn't and I admit this sat comfortably with me. Our health system is far from perfect, and while we know cost considerations are increasingly important it is very different...

In brief * Unison plans a strike ballot over pay for thousands of nursery nurses in Scotland's local authority-controlled nurseries. * In an outrageous attack on human rights Tony Blair has intervened to alter draft European anti-discrimination legislation to allow religious employers to discriminate against lesbians and gay men. * Remploy, which employs 5,700 disabled workers, could face strike action after workers rejected a pay rise worth £5 per week. They want £20.