Step into the irreverent world of disabled cartoonist Crippen aka Dave Lupton, who has been in the vanguard of disability arts movement for more years than he cares to mention. His work has appeared in mainstream press, on TV and film and is now probably the best Disabled cartoonist in the world!

Crippen is confused about the sudden appearance of 7 billion pounds

22 November 2010

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Excuse me for seeming a little confused here, but hasn't the Prime Minister just been telling us how little money we have and that we're all going to have to tighten our belts and that Disabled people have to accept benefit cuts to the tune of 12 billion pounds ...?! So, what's with this sudden appearance of seven billion that is going to be paid into the Irish banks as a token of the "particular economic relationship" that exists? I suppose the key word here is...

Comments: 8

Crippen looks at compensation being paid to ALL detainees

16 November 2010

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UK citizens who were detained illegally at the US run Guantanamo prison in Cuba are to be paid millions of pounds compensation by the British Government. And quite right to. Innocent people being locked away in an inhospitable place, away from their families and friends and all because they appear different to the rest of society should be compensated. For someone to be denied their place in society and to be incarcerated in a place not of their own choosing must be a terrible experience to...

Comments: 20

Crippen looks at the new definition of the word ‘Fairness’

6 November 2010

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People who live in Residential Care Homes are clearly disabled by any definition and even the Sun, despite their current smear campaign aimed at disabled people (see last week’s blog) can’t claim that they are not! However, the ConDem’s have included those of us who live in care homes as part of their attack on the Welfare State. They are going to withdraw the DLA Mobility Component from our benefits. This means that those of us who reside in Care Homes and are buying...

Comments: 10

Crippen is told that most Crips are not really disabled at all!

5 November 2010

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The Daily Mail, the Express and the Sun seem to have been competing in order to see which of them can persuade the most readers that the majority of Disabled people in the UK are not really disabled at all. In their collective opinion most people claiming disability related benefits are not disabled, they are in fact scroungers and work shy benefit cheats and should be made to work for their money, the same as every other member of society. Somehow, the suggestion that a few non-disabled people...

Comments: 4

Crippen reports on the slash and burn tactics of the ConDem’s

21 October 2010

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Opposition MP’s are using the term ‘slash and burn’ to describe the knee jerk reaction of the Coalition to the financial deficit that they claim to have inherited from Labour. Rampaging through the country in a similar way to the Viking’s when they were first attracted to our shores; the ConDem’s have spared no one in their attack upon our society. Seemingly with no real plan or any indication that rational thought has gone into this process, they appear to have...

Comments: 8

We're MAD and we're angry!

15 October 2010

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On Tuesday 26th October 2010 at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park at 1300 hours, the campaigning group MAD PRIDE have organised a day of action to oppose welfare benefits cuts for people labelled Mentally Ill. UK mental health service users and survivors will publicly assemble to re-enact the opening chapter of Michel Foucault´s seminal book ‘Discipline and Punishment’. A life-size effigy of a prominent Conservative/ Liberal Democrat merger politician will be publicly executed...

Comments: 2

Crippen looks at the possible new symbol for the Disabled People's Movement

4 October 2010

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Leading the recent protest rally against the proposed Government welfare cuts were a large group of Disabled people. Wearing and carrying large black triangles, they were symbolizing the murder of thousands of Disabled people during the Holocaust; their aim being to embarrass Cameron and his government, who have repeatedly insisted that the most vulnerable will be protected from the impact of the cuts. The use of this black triangle seems to have had an impact upon the general public,...

Comments: 30

Crippen and the Disabled people's protest march on 3rd October

30 September 2010

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On Sunday 3rd October a huge protest march is taking place outside of the Conservative Party Annual Conference, which is being held this year in Birmingham. The protest is about the cuts being imposed upon people who rely upon benefit payments and the draconian measures being taken by the current Coalition Government against Disabled people in particular. The marchers will consist of representatives from Trades Unions, many groups and organisations involved in Welfare Rights, individuals and...

Comments: 6

Crippen is hacked off with Face Book

26 September 2010

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Many of you will know that I run a Face Book account as Crippen - Disabled cartoonist and post links to various disability related events that are going on as well as links to this blog and other disabled artists. When the ConDem Coalition came into being I began to create cartoons that supported the stand being taken by groups and organisations who were protesting about the benefit cuts being planned. My posts carried cartoons created for the 3rd October Disabled People's Protest group and the...

Comments: 9

Crippen accuses the CONDEMs of having blood on their hands

9 September 2010

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I recently created some cartoons for the Disabled people's anti-benefit cuts campaign group 'Black Triangle'. The plan is to load a different cartoon every few days onto their web site on the build up to the big protest planned for the 3rd October (Tory party annual convention). One of the 'toons (this one) got posted straight away and resulted in someone putting a block on the web site link in Face Book. Apparently the cartoon crossed the line for some people! What do you think? I'd be...

Comments: 17

Crippen looks at marginalised and invisible Disabled people

3 September 2010

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In a recent survey commissioned by Scope, almost half of those approached claimed that they didn't know any Disabled people! Now either they only count wheelchair users as being Disabled people and are using this as their yard stick, or they move in circles that exclude all but the non-disabled members of our society. A worrying thought when over 90% of these same people felt that Disabled people should have the same opportunities as everyone else. This response shows that we crips are still...

Comments: 3

Crippen takes a cynical look at the use of bounty hunters to round up benefit cheats

21 August 2010

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A recent survey shows that society has completely fallen for the latest piece of CONDEM misinformation that millions of pounds are being claimed fraudulently, especially those benefits that are designed to assist Disabled people to compete more equally in the work place. They also endorse the use of paid Bounty Hunters to track these alleged cheats down. The fact that the government’s own figures show that this fraud claim is a complete nonsense and that millions of pounds lay unclaimed...

Comments: 5

Crippen muses on the attacks on Disabled people by the CONDEMs

9 July 2010

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I have been musing on the attacks on Disabled people's day to day lives that this CONDEM coalition have already started making and watching with interest ways in which crips are grouping to try to resist.  High on the worry-list is the apparent complete lack of understanding by the government of the nature of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).  As we Disabled people and our allies all know only too well, the basis of this financial support is actually to go some small way towards...

Comments: 3

Crippen posts a copy of an email received from Bob Williams-Findlay regarding the attack on the DLA

24 June 2010

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I'm using this week's blog to reproduce an email circulated by Bob Williams-Findlay regarding the attack by this government on Disabled people who are claiming Disabled Living Allowance (DLA).   "Since the Budget there has been a major uproar over the ConDems plan to 're-assess' people on DLA. What is clear is that there is now a new smear campaign, not unlike the ones against IB, to discredit DLA claims. For those with access to the BBC iplayer I've included a link to Jeremy Paxman...

Comments: 9

Crippen looks at the recent comment made by Jane Campbell about the assisted suicide debate

12 June 2010

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The following is an extract from Baroness Jane Campbell's recent comment in the Guardian. "Disabled and terminally ill people have had to deal with fear, prejudice and discrimination since the beginning of time. Our lives have been devalued by statements such as "he/she'd be better off dead". In recent years, calls for a change to the law prohibiting assisted suicide have grown louder and more frequent. "They capitalise on fear. Fear of pain, fear of loss of dignity, fear of...

Comments: 6

Crippen gives a heads up about the up-coming D.A.N demonstration

5 June 2010

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On Wednesday the 16th June the Disabled people's Direct Action Network (D.A.N) will take to the streets in solidarity with the National Day of Action against the dismantling of the Welfare State. D.A.N demonstrations will be taking place in Manchester and London and will welcome all people who identify, or who are regarded as disabled, whatever their background or impairments. For those of you who have never been on a D.A.N demo it's important that you know that D.A.N. uses the strategy of...

Comments: 2

Crippen looks at the offer for schools to change their status to that of an Academy

26 May 2010

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Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is writing to all primary and secondary schools in England inviting them to become Academies and therefore independent of local authority control. This could mean thousands of schools leaving local authority control. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT (Teachers Union), argued that it was wrong to stop local authorities from having a say in proposals for new schools,  and that [the proposal] represents a costly and unnecessary solution to a...

Comments: 4

Crippen looks at the latest round of government cuts in relation to Disabled people

24 May 2010

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Oh dear it's started. The slow but sure slide into a reduction in pretty well... well, everything! Starting with the reduction in posts within the Civil Service, which means that whenever a Civil Servant leaves, they won't be replaced.  Now, as I understand it, the posts that have a higher rate of burn-out and staff turnaround are those in the front line of employment, welfare, benefits services, etc. This means that the staff processing our applications for funding for support services,...

Comments: 9

Crippen takes a look at the forthcoming general election

27 March 2010

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It's that time again and Disabled people are being asked to consider who we think will actually commit to an effective strategy regarding access and the removal of those barriers within society that still disable us. It's a bit of a no-brainer when considering the track record of the conservative party (Tories) and I can't imagine anyone would fall for their current rhetoric and the dubious charms of Mr 'just call me Dave' Cameron! OK, the Labour Party haven't actually covered themselves in...

Comments: 4

Crippen looks at the access being created for the Olympic games

21 March 2010

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I've created so many cartoons over the years regarding the bottomless pit called the 2012 Olympics. Bottomless insofar as any and all available funding is being systematically sucked into its gaping maw, with nothing of any long-term substance being generated for Disabled people within the UK. OK, it's great if you're one of those who enjoy participating within the spectacle know as the Para-Olympics with all of its associated terminology about achievement and overcoming adversity etc. But if,...

Comments: 3

Crippen asks what's behind the apology given to survivors of thalidomide

14 March 2010

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Fifty years after the one of the worst disasters in medical history, hundreds of survivors of the thalidomide scandal have finally got an apology from the government and a new £20 million compensation package. Mike O'Brien, minister of health, recently announced a new funding scheme that will help survivors cope with the changing needs of age. He also offered what campaigners said they wanted even more – an apology. "The Government wishes to express its sincere regret and deep...

Comments: 2

Crippen looks at the changes of attitude being made towards User led Organisations

7 March 2010

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Sometimes when an old cynic like me thinks we are not making any progress and there’s too much of the same-old, same-old, I get a dig in the ribs and a reminder that us crips do occasionally have some influence. This nudge was another example of how we have penetrated the portals of policy and power.  Thanks to years of background work, solid research, lobbying, persuasion, arm-twisting and hard, under-funded graft by crips, disabled people’s (and carers´) organisations...

Comments: 9

Crippen continues the debate around assisted killing (Mercy Killing)

20 February 2010

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"I just received a furious message from actor Nabil Shaban, best known to the public for playing Sil in Dr Who. Nabil is better known amongst activists as a ferocious advocate against war and for disability equality, in particular the right to live in equal status to others". This is how Clair Lewis started her journal last week, and follows on ... "Nabil Shaban ACCUSES the British media, and that includes the BBC, of pursuing an identical propaganda exercise as Doctor Josef...

Comments: 10

Crippen looks at the continued horror of life for disabled people in Afghanistan

15 February 2010

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My on-line work takes me to areas all around the world where I'm asked to create images of disabled people facing oppression in all of its many forms and manifestations. Most of us in the West may be faced with limited access and be struggling to live on a reduced income. However this is a walk in the park compared to some situations I hear about concerning our disabled brothers and sisters in the third world. Take Afghanistan for example. The rights of disabled people in that country are not...

Comments: 4

Crippen looks at patronisation of Disabled people

7 January 2010

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Hi folks. I'm starting 2010 as I mean to go on; gloves off and more in your face then ever before! And my first question for this decade is: 'How much longer do we have to beat our heads against the wall of discrimination that exists in the UK?' I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty pissed off about the lack of any real progress regarding public perception of us crips and our role in society. It's still mainly those over paid non-disabled parasites who run those big organisations that...

Comments: 7