by Steve Sweeney
in Manchester

CAMPAIGNERS fighting for disabled people’s rights were faced with a heavy police presence yesterday as they protested at the Tory Party conference.

Tory delegates were shielded by lines of police who tried to block activists from view as they chanted: “Murderers” and “Shame on you” in a lively demonstration which drew in large numbers of supporters from across the country.

One protester described being threatened by police after he tried to speak to Tory conference delegates saying that he was part of “conscience security.”

As he approached passing delegates he asked to “check their bags to see if they had a conscience.”

He claimed that police grabbed his arm and threatened him with a section 34 dispersal order’ if he continued.

Activists with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) said that police threatened to confiscate balls they had been carrying.

One protester said that others had thrown them and London Mayor Boris Johnson was hit on the head.

She said that activists were angry as the Tories had “caused the deaths of disabled people who have had their benefits cut and support networks destroyed.”

DPAC London activist Micheline said she was at the protest because “I think we have to redefine what it means to be human.
“That’s what we are doing, reclaiming our humanity.”

On the Tories, she said: “Words fail me. They are dehumanising us and creating a world we don’t want and a world that is dangerous.”

Another activist said: “It is frightening to be a disabled person in Tory Britain. They are literally killing us with their policies.

“In over 40 years in the movement I have never known it to be this bad.”

He went on to stress the importance of uniting with the entire labour movement which is under attack.