A man with cerebral palsy has been filmed slamming Jacob Rees-Mogg over the Conservative’s austerity and benefits record.
Dominic Hutchins stopped the Tory MP outside the Conservative Party conference in Manchester to explain how he had lost his job and blamed the Tory government for enacting cuts to services.
He said: “You punish us. I’ve got a degree. I’m a youth worker.
“The Tories took my job off me. At the age of 42 I had to prove that I’ve got cerebral palsy and you are saying ‘people get jobs’. Your party shut my job down.”
In response, Rees-Mogg claimed the Tory government had done a lot to support disabled people “to find suitable employment” and suggested that Hutchins contact his local MP.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
But Hutchins said that due to cuts to local authorities’ budgets, the youth centre he had worked in closed down meaning he had to then claim benefits. Rees-Mogg claimed that local authorities manage their own budgets and that his previous employer had full responsibility for Hutchin’s previous job.
Hutchins disputed this given central government funds local government. “You’re just another Eton millionaire Tory who looks down on disabled people,” Hutchins said. “Shameful”.
Reacting to the clip after it circulated on social media, people praised Hutchins, including former Labour MP Anna Turley:
Speaking to The Mirror after the event, Hutchins explained his motivations for stopping the minister. He said: “A lot of people with disabilities can’t do this, their voices aren’t heard so I tried to go out to make the point.
“If I don’t do it, the people like me who have cerebral palsy will never be heard.”