Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.46.4
Object Name
badge
Title
'Sack Esther McVile'
Place
UK
People
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Esther McVey (MP), Conservative Party
Events
Austerity (2010s)
Description
A white badge with a picture of Esther McVey, a blonde white woman who has her mouth open as if she is shouting. Her hand is also visible and pointing at the viewer. The badge has black text 'Sack Esther McVile'.
It is unclear whether this badge was made while Esther McVey was Minister for Employment in the Cameron government (2013-2015), or while she was the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Theresa May's government in 2018. In both roles she was viewed as hostile to disabled people who couldn't work. Her work with Ian Duncan Smith on the Universal Credit system was part of an overhaul leaked documents made clear was intentionally attempting to "make it harder for sick and disabled people to claim benefits". Universal Credit also resulted in real terms cuts in benefit rates, plunging more disabled benefit claimants into poverty. During the austerity era there were many high profile cases of disabled people being stripped of their benefits and dying either through suicide or in some cases starvation.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities found austerity measures to cause gross and systemic violations of Disabled peopleâs human rights. A study published by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that during the austerity era there had been 334,327 excess deaths from 2012-2019 (more deaths than were predictable based on previous years data).
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