The Hardest Hit

I went along to the "Hardest Hit" rally (covered in the scotland on sunday ) at the Ross Bandstand in Prince's Street Gardens. I've never seen so many guide dogs and wheelchairs in one place before. It just shows how strongly people with disabilities feel about the impending changes to be imposed by the Welfare Reform Bill and that they are prepared to mobilise and make their voices heard. There were some very moving testimonies from the rostrum about the challenges faced by people with physical and mental health problems and the fairly self obvious fact that a little bit of support from us all, via the state, can make a huge difference. The speeches were rounded off with a excellent contribution from Iain Gray. It does seem an injustice that the Condem coalition's efforts to revitalise the economy requires an attack on the weakest and most vulnerable in our society.