Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.4.8
Object Name
badge
Title
'Tory Cuts Kill'
Place
UK
People
Conservative Party, Department of Work and Pensions, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC)
Events
Austerity (2010s)
Description
A badge with the slogan 'Tory Cuts Kill' in blood-like text. It also has the image of a bloody meat cleaver.
This badge was part of a disabled people's protest against austerity. Austerity was a government economic policy of the Conservative party, also known as the Tories, as referenced on the badge. Austerity reduced the amount of government funding available for services which disabled people rely upon to live independently. This made disabled people one of several groups disproportionately impacted by the policies, along with women, and people of colour. The reduction in services which impacted disabled people included the closure of day centres, and the shuttering of the Independent Living Fund, as well as reductions to NHS and local council budgets impacting disabled people's ability to access services. During the austerity era there were also 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).
DPAC was formed after the 3 October 2010 protest against austerity in Birmingham, England. This was the first mass protest against austerity cuts and the impact they had on disabled people. DPAC is led by disabled people. Their mission statement is: 'Disabled people should not be the scapegoats for the financial mistakes of governments, should not be constantly told that there is no money to support them by millionaire politicians. We will not tolerate further erosion of our living conditions or our human rights, nor will we sit quietly while they try to take our rights away.' Austerity is a policy of reducing spending on public services, including those relied upon by disabled people to live full and independent lives. It was a major feature of the Conservative government's agenda led by David Cameron, beginning in 2010.
