I'm going to wrap this blog up now. My colleague Amelia Gentleman has filed a full news story. Many thanks for all your comments.

Interesting comment from sinnical below the line:

I am 22, and have worked since I was 14. I support all those who are disabled out fighting to retain what quality of life they have been given/allowed. Those more fortunate should be thankful they are, as a disability could affect you or your loved ones at any point. Personally I have grown up with both parents on IB [incapacity benefit]; those claiming it's an affluent lifestyle please come and visit my childhood. It'll have some lessons to teach you. Those bemoaning disabled people the "riches" they receive on IB, please try and live on what these people do AND suffer their conditions and realise why they need help, support and care unconditionally. The 0.5% of fraudsters is not a reason to throw the other 99.5% onto the crapheap to fend for themselves.

Fazilet Hadi of the RNIB has sent me a response to Maria Miller's comment from 2.28pm. Hadi says:

The disability benefits system should support disabled people irrespective of their disability and based on their individual needs. Maria Miller has shown that she is out of touch with the needs of the people she is supposed to representing in government.

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My colleague Ian Katz, the deputy editor of the Guardian, tells me that at the Tory party conference in Birmingham last year he had a drink with a cabinet minister who said the government was braced for angry demonstrations by victims of its public spending cuts "in May of next year".

He said he thought any one of several groups - students, public sector workers, the disabled - could capture the nation's sympathy and cause real problems for the government. "Who did he fear most?" I asked. After a pause he answered: "The disabled."

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A couple of quotes about today's protest from representatives of Rethink, the mental illness charity:

Rethink activist Nora Roustamov, 58, from Chiswick, is a carer for a family member with a severe mental illness. She said:

I'm here today because I'm passionate about the issues and I want the government to know that people with disabilities and their carers can and will stand up for themselves. The disability living allowance has completely changed the life of the person I care for; I'm terrified he's going to lose it.

Jane Harris, Rethink's associate director of campaigns, said this was an extremely anxious time for her members, "who feel they are being unfairly targeted by cuts and changes to the benefits system".

In recent months, the government has repeatedly tried to represent the majority of people receiving benefits as work-shy scroungers who are unworthy of help. This scapegoating is causing fear and anxiety among thousands of people with a severe mental illness. Disabled people, especially those with a mental illness, can find it harder than other groups to have their voices heard. We hope this march will show the government that disabled people are not an easy target, and will not be treated as second class citizens.

My colleague John Domokos on the video desk has been interviewing people on the march.

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Karen McVeigh is now at the Methodist Central Hall with some of the protesters who are waiting to meet their MPs (others are meeting theirs in Westminster Hall).

The organisers of the march are putting the number of protesters at 5,000, while the police are estimating 2,000-3,000. The organisers say some 2,000 people signed up to meet their MPs today, but not all of these have been able to make it.

The Press Association news agency has just filed a report on the march. PA says there were "thousands" of demonstrators, some in wheelchairs and some with guide dogs. The news agency notes:

A series of protests are being held this week against the new work capability assessments which campaigners say have seen thousands of people, some with serious health conditions, denied benefits.

PA says some of the marchers chanted: "We need support, we need care, don't take away our welfare", and carried placards saying: "Leave DLA [disability living allowance] alone; it's already hard to be ill."

Liam Byrne, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told the marchers:

Tell people what it means to cut 20% off the benefits for disabled people and find out how to do it later, and to make disabled people prisoners in their own homes. These changes are cruel and they must change. We have been tabling amendment after amendment that shows this government how they can do things differently, and day after day they have joined forces to defeat us. With passion, conviction and determination we can change this bill for the better, and give people in this country their rights to a full and independent life.

Jane Asher, the actress and activist, told the rally:

This is the largest rally of disabled people in living memory, and that's something to be proud of; at the same time, it is very sad that it has come to this. The prime minister said that the savings would protect the vulnerable. Far from protecting the vulnerable, these cuts are bearing down disproportionately on those with disability. People with disability are being hit from all sides. I am calling on the government, with all of you, to put a stop to these cuts; they are cruel, they are misguided, and they are badly drafted.

The BBC News channel is covering the march now. "Already we are seeing many disabled people who are ending up back in institutional care," one marcher, in a wheelchair, told the channel. Maria Miller (left), the minister for the disabled, was interviewed, and said it was not right that the UK had a benefits system where there are more alcoholics and drug addicts in receipt of disability living allowance than the blind.

Karen McVeigh has been speaking to actor Julie Fernandez (left), best-known for playing Brenda in The Office. She said it was difficult for disabled people to find work as they were discriminated against. She said:

The government want to get people into employment in principle but we are living in a recession and the business community don't see disabled people as viable employees. They see us as people who are going to be taking time off sick or who aren't intelligent enough. The government are bashing disabled people over the head with these changes to benefits but they should be making the business community employ disabled people. They should stop penalising disable people and start making the business community and public transport more accessible.

Fernandez, 37, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, said the film and TV industry was "incredibly discriminatory" as it was still seen as acceptable to have able-bodied actors playing disabled characters.

She is setting up her own business, a craft shop, to bring in a second income, and said that she was able to claim access to work benefit, which enables her to employ a PA and driver, Lynsey Walton. Fernandez said:

Lynsey is my body. If I didn't have Lynsey I wouldn't be able to work. By getting the benefit, I'm a taxpayer and Lynsey is a tax payer. There are millions of people across the UK with permanent disabilities. They need to be supported they don't need to be living in fear of having their benefits taken away.

Here's a picture of Sally Bercow, the wife of the Speaker of the Commons, and Jane Asher, the actress and activist, on the march today:

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The Public and Commercial Services union has sent me an email about the march. Members of the PCS joined the protesters, and the union focused on planned cuts to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which covers discrimination based on disability. Employees walked out for one hour today in protest. A PCS spokesman said:

This financial mess was created by bankers and to make the vulnerable pay for a crisis they did not cause the government is cutting lifelines like the Equality and Human Rights Commission's helpline and slashing the independent living allowance, disability living allowance and employment support allowance ... [This] will mean disabled people will be forced to retreat back into their homes, and become entrenched in poverty ... The government has received a powerful message from today's marchers that people are prepared to stand up in defence of benefits and services for the most vulnerable people.

Labour activist Stewart Owadally paints a vivid picture of the march:

There are banners made in Braille and people chanting in sign language. Powerful stuff. http://yfrog.com/h7x8jicj Stewart Owadally

sowadally

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Karen McVeigh has been talking to more marchers.

Mary Carr, 46, a public sector worker from Nottingham who has mental health issues, was carrying a black coffin with the words "disability equality" written on the side. Despite having a fear of crowds she was keen to protest against the government, which she said was "demonising disabled people". Carr said: "I'm fortunate in that I can hold down a job. I have access to work support and the government pays for taxis to take me to work. They haven't cut that but the warning signs are there. A lot of my disabled colleagues have lost their jobs because in public services they are targeting local offices and disabled people can't travel to get to other places. We signed up to the European convention for people with disabilities but if you go through the effects of the cuts - transport, education, housing, all the rights I have to take part in society are being eroded. It's the poor and disabled who are more reliant on the public sector."

On Twitter, hotcrossbunny sums up how many demonstrators and commenters below the line here seem to be feeling about the lack of media coverage of the march.

@shamballista soooo frustrating!!!!!! Why is #hardesthit march so invisible to the media? Hot Cross Bunny

hotcrossbunny

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Karen McVeigh sends more from the march:

Aileen Feasey, 52, from near Bodmin, Cornwall, came to London with her sons Andrew, 24, and Alastair, 19, on the overnight sleeper last night. Feasey said that she is marching for the rights of people like Andrew, who has down's syndrome, to lead an independent life. Since 2009 he has one day a week in a work placement scheme as a general assistant in a leisure centre 15 miles away. But last month, she was told that his transport costs would no longer be paid by the council. He is now unable to go. Feasey said: "All we've fought for all Andrew's life is going backwards. Without transport he is a prisoner in his own home. He doesn't understand why he can't go. He gets his leisure centre T-shirt on on Mondays and it's very difficult to explain to him. We live in Cornwall; it's a 40 mile round trip anywhere." Andrew used to get £55 mobility allowance, which is being cut. "He used to go to the theatre group, college a couple of days a week. But he's unable to contribute to his transport costs. It's unfair and it feels unlawful to charge his benefits against transport." Feasey, who is self-employed, was planning to go to university, but does not know if she now can. "I've cared for him for 24 years, to be an independent young man. But our lives have been turned upside down by this cut."

Karen McVeigh has just called with news of the speakers at the march. Liam Byrne, the shadow work and pensions secretary, who handed the government its "no money left" line when he left office, said he thought it was more important to be out with the marchers than listening to David Cameron at prime minister's questions.

Mark Harrison, the chief executive of the Coalition of Disabled People, commenting on the absence of Maria Miller, the minister for disabled people, called for a vote of no confidence in her and said she was now "the minister against disabled people".

"All those in favour ... " he said, prompting a big cheer from the demonstrators. "All those against ... " Silence. "That's unanimous," Harrison concluded.

The march is on, Lucy Glennon reports: "A bus full of tourists on a tour are cheering us on as we move along. Hopefully they understand the purpose of the march. Hope people in parliament can hear us and will make an effort to see us; many are struggling to walk."

Margaret Curran, the shadow disabled minister, has tweeted that she is on the march and calls it a "unanimous vote of no confidence" for her opposite number in the government:

Attending #hardesthit rally in Ldn. Fantastic turnout + passionate speeches.Disabled Minister has recieved unanimous vote of no confidence. Margaret Curran

Margaret_Curran

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Lucy Glennon, one of the marchers (see 9.37am), sends this update:

Thousands here already. So many different people with many different conditions. A lot more assistance dogs than I anticipated. Users of motorised wheelchairs and scooters are politely letting one another through like organised traffic. People feel quite passionate already. The marchers from Mind have clappers. Great atmosphere already. Would recommend people come down now if they still want to.

My colleagues on the video desk have produced this film of disabled people campaigning at the headquarters of Atos Origin, the company employed by the government to assess whether or not they are fit to work.

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Over on the NHS live blog, my colleagues Randeep Ramesh and Rowenna Davis are hosting a web chat from 1pm-2pm with the CEO of the MS Society, Simon Gillespie, and members of Acevo and the Stroke Association answering your questions live. At 4-5pm, a panel of patients and carers for people with long-term and chronic conditions will be discussing how the health reforms might affect them.

My colleague Karen McVeigh has just phoned from the march, where she has been speaking to demonstrators.

At Victoria Embankment Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope, said that he hoped the march would give disabled people a sense that they are not alone. "Above all it's really important for the people here today to have a sense of coming together, that there are a lot of people who are interested in the rights of disabled people," he said. "That is one of the most powerful things for them. There is an unfortunate narrative, a myth that has been perpetuated by certain tabloid newspapers, that there are a lot of benefit scroungers. The government's own statistics show that less than 2% of people who claim incapacity benefit do so fraudulently. Our experience is that most disabled people want to work. But they need support to do so, to overcome transport issues and other issues related to disability. "There is a combined impact of the reform of the disability living allowance, DLA, the test for incapacity benefit, the removal of the mobility component of DLA for those in residential care, and cuts to local authority support services that have had a huge impact on disabled people. That has led to a lot of disabled people being hugely concerned and hugely worried. We know there's a deficit but the government has said we're in it together. Taking away the DLA mobility allowance for people in residential care, which means that they can't go out, is not a sign that we are in it together." Sheila Gardiner, 62, from Derbyshire, worked as a bookkeeper until she had a stroke five years ago. She is now unable to walk or transfer from her wheelchair unaided, and lives in a Leonard Cheshire Disability care home. She currently gets £49.85 DLA support each week, which is under threat. "They want to take away my DLA mobility. If they do, I won't be able to see my daughter Serene graduate from acting school in London. I go to college - I already have an A-level in computing - but I won't be able to do that either. I have to travel by train or taxi as I can't transfer from my wheelchair. This is going backwards towards Victorian times when people were either very rich or very poor." Tony Vanterpool, 53, from Brampton in Cambridgeshire, has been deaf since birth, but had a stroke 11 years ago which left him in a wheelchair and unable to properly use sign language. On his lap was a "lightwriter", a small typewriter which prints what he is saying. He is helped 10 hours a week by a communication support worker, Jan Smith, who was with him today. Vanterpool said: "I came to campaign with all the disabled people because the government are cutting my mobility allowance. I nee this to go to the deaf club." Smith explained that where Vanterpool lives in a care home there are no other deaf people, the staff do not sign, and he is unable to speak in sign language. Vanterpool said: "I like going to deaf club. I meet friends there." Going to the deaf club once a month, which is his only link to similar people, costs £17 round trip, which is paid for by the mobility allowance of the DLA.

The Broken of Britain has also posted this video to mark the march, entitled We have a Dream.

Despite the crippling debt of the post war years, our grandfathers and grandmothers made sure their dream of a society caring for all was a priority ... We refuse to accept a system bailed out by the taxpayer is so bankrupt it can no longer meet it's obligations to the basic welfare of all people. We refuse to believe in a world which bankers choose to increase bonuses whilst disabled people choose between food and heat. We refuse to believe local authorities deem it right and proper to save money by leaving old ladies overnight in their own urine, we refuse to believe that removing respite care can be right. We refuse to believe that we should be blamed, targeted, made less human by those who sip from the cup of success.

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Yesterday the blog The Broken of Britain addressed the argument that "there is no money left" and so benefits must be cut:

There is a lot of money left. The UK is one of the richest nations in the OECD, and the financial crisis has not changed that – it is only that the super-rich ... have moved this money where it does not benefit the nation at large. Fourthly, even if there were no money left, we should borrow sensibly – cutting public expenditure dramatically at this time will serve only to reverse economic growth, widening the fiscal deficit.

Asked about the march, a spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said the government's "commitment to support disabled people to live independent lives will not change".

Every disabled person will still get support, but the benefits system is not working. It's trapped people on benefits. We want to give people the support to get into the workplace, and that's what our reforms are all about. We have a raft of support available to do this. We want to reassure people that that won't change.

In a statement, the DWP added:

We are reforming welfare to make sure that the billions we spend on benefits goes to those who need it and that for the first time disabled people get proper help and support to live independent lives and work in the mainstream jobs that they want.

Amelia Gentleman has been speaking to marchers:

Pepe Martinez, 58, arrived by train from Huntingdon, where he's a resident at a Leonard Cheshire home, hoping that the protest might help persuade the government to rethink its plan to cut disability allowance payments. He's a Tory voter and hadn't expected disability benefits to be affected when he voted for the party last year. A former nurse, who spent 35 years caring for others in the NHS, he has been surprised by attitudes towards disabled people since developing a degenerative condition 10 years ago. "I thought we were lucky in Britain; I thought this was a caring nation. Now I don't think that," he says. Without the mobility component of DLA, which the government plans to cut, he "won't be able to be a part of life generally". He worries he'll be stuck inside the care home unable to visit friends and family outside. "We'll be like zombies," he says. I met Billie Smith, a carer with Leonard Cheshire disability, at King's Cross station coming in with a small group of demonstrators just after 9am. She has spent the past month making arrangements to help five of the 20 residents at the Manor home in Cambridgeshire get to London for the march. The process has illustrated the enormous difficulties facing disabled people when they use public transport. Since only two wheelchairs are allowed on each First Direct train she had to book residents and carers on three separate trains. She had to give the rail company 24 hours notice of their intention to travel. Arrangements have sucked up most of her time for the past week. But she's been happy to do it because she also wants to register her protest at today's march. After 20 years working for the charity, trying to improve conditions, she's worried that things are taking a step backwards. "If they cut DLA there's a chance people will become institutionalised again," she says, shouting over the noise of commuters arriving for work.

Good morning. Between 5,000 and 10,000 disabled people are expected to march in London today in a rally against cuts to benefits and services.

The Hardest Hit march, organised jointly by the UK Disabled People's Council and the Disability Benefits Consortium, is expected to be the largest event of its kind for decades. The protesters are voicing their anger at the combined effects of changes to welfare eligibility, cuts to disability living allowance and reductions in council funding for carers and services.

In a comment piece in today's Guardian, Sue Marsh, who blogs at Diary of a Benefit Scrounger, explains more:



Sick and disabled people will lose £9bn in vital support over the lifetime of this parliament. That's a colossal 10% of George Osborne's entire £89bn deficit reduction plan. Some studies have found that it will cost the disabled a full third of our incomes. Incapacity benefit is being phased out and the much tougher employment support allowance (ESA) is disqualifying 93% of claimants from long-term support. Disability living allowance is being scrapped and replaced with "personal independent payments", which will disqualify a further 20% of the most severely disabled.

In another comment piece, Alice Maynard, the chair of disability charity Scope, adds:

The simple fact is that daily life costs more if you are disabled, which means disabled people and their families are more vulnerable to the impact of losing a local service, a wage freeze or seeing their benefits adjusted.



Marchers will be addressed by Liam Byrne, the shadow work and pensions secretary. Maria Miller, minister for disabled people, declined an invitation to attend, on the grounds that she needed to be at prime minister's questions, according to Jaspal Dhani, chief executive of the United Kingdom Disabled People's Council.

My colleagues Amelia Gentleman and Karen McVeigh are with the march and we'll be hearing from them shortly, and my colleagues from the video desk will be sending footage as soon as possible. Amelia wrote a story about the march in today's Guardian, which you can read here.

Lucy Glennon, who has the rare skin condition epidermolysis bullosa, explained why she was marching today, and we'll be hearing more from her throughout the day:

I'm joining the march today in the hope that it will raise awareness on the cuts and changes to welfare and benefits and how they will significantly impact disabled people. While I understand everyone has to accept some change to their life in order for the country to save money, it is not really appreciated how much more disabled people are going to feel the bite of the cuts, and many are already adapting to changes with difficulty. I have a painful condition, epidermolysis bullosa, and today I am taking part in the march being pushed in my wheelchair by Cynthia Richards, one of the social care managers for DEBRA, the charity that helps people with my condition and works to find a cure. With regard to people with EB, we believe it is wrong that those who are completely unable to walk, including children, could be ticked as being fine to 'mobilise' under the proposed changes to Disability Living Allowance, which is being replaced with a much more unfair system of assessment for Personal Independent Payment. It is also wrong that the new assessment for Employment Support Allowance does not give much consideration to pain experienced when doing tasks or walking, when some people with EB are unable to walk without strong opiates, as walking often creates sores and wounds on their feet. It is also unfair that some people with EB have already been told by their local councils not to request more care, no matter how much they need it, as it would put their existing care package under assessment and could result in it stopping completely.

Here's a rough schedule for today:

11.30am onwards: Campaigners gather on Victoria Embankment by Horseguards Avenue.

12-12.30pm: Rally on Victoria Embankment. Speakers include disabled people, MPs and Jane Asher.

12.30pm-1.30pm: March – from Victoria Embankment, along Parliament Square and Millbank, finishing at Dean Stanley Street.

1.30pm-5.30pm: Campaigners meeting their MPs in Westminster Hall.

The actress Jane Asher is president of three disability organisations involved in the march: Arthritis Care, National Autistic Society and Parkinson's UK.

You can find the website for the march here.