A really important book that shines a light on the deadly decisions taken by the British government in the decades since austerity began. 

However, the second part of the title 'demonization' receives far less focus. Ryan makes continuous references to newspaper writing calling disabled people 'cheats' and 'scroungers' I had expected an analysis of the press's culpability in the current ableism in society but it never features. 

Crippled is a necessary and well-researched book exploring the impact of austerity in the UK on disabled people. The book's chapters look at disability with respect to poverty, housing, work, independence, women, and children. It is a difficult read due to some of the personal testimonies of diasabled people are distressing, but ultimately the injustices described should fuel your fire to demand change from the government. The author concludes saying that we are at a tipping point, and I agree. The ways disabled people are described, perceived, and treated uses language similar to facist regimes and is bordering on eugenics/genocide. The book focuses on austerity introduced by coalition government in 2010, but covers important legislation and cultural changes all the way through the 20th century and up to the end of 2018. When you reflect how disabled people have been affected by the pandemic post-2018 the points raised are vindicated.

The reason I docked 0.25 off the rating is because there is surprisingly little time dedicated explaining the nuance and inconsistency in defining disability and the differences of disabled peoples' experiences e.g, mental vs physical, invisible vs visible etc. Even the definition and use of the word 'vulnerable' has much debate within the disability community depending if people subscribe to the medical model or social model of disability. As such the reader hears some of these inconsistencies throughtout the book, which aren't wrong, but could have benefitted from being clarified. 

I found this book shocking at times and was impressed with amount of research and statistics included as it really helped illustrate some pressing issues. However I did find it hard to stick with, as it seemed repetitive at times and I felt like the case studies weren't discussed with that much empathy. Still, I would shove this book in the faces of the kind of people who question the fairness of me skipping queues lol

This is a really important, well researchd book, which slams the callous government rhetoric surrounding the welfare state. The author challenges a lot of abelist assumptions and highlights the true cost of benefit cuts to disabled people and their families. I found this a really hard read, in part because of the subject matter, but also because it was so densely packed with facts.