Sir Philip Alston’s United Nations visit to investigate poverty and disability abuses in the UK has come to an end.

In conclusion to an article for Disability News Service “UN expert tells of disabled people’s ‘horrendous’ evidence on poverty” he said

““What has to be recognised is that being in poverty is a grave threat to your civil and political rights.

“Most of the people [in the world]who are tortured, most of the people who are killed, most of the people who are abused in prisons or elsewhere are poor. They are abused in part because they are poor.

“They are easy victims, they don’t have recourse, they don’t have people to defend them, they can’t afford lawyers.

“Attacking the poor is easy, and they as a result suffer highly disproportionately in terms of their civil and political rights.”

Alston and his team carried out months of detailed research in advance of their 12-day visit, which saw them visit Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Essex, Glasgow, Jaywick, London, and Newcastle.

He is set to issue a preliminary 10-page statement tomorrow (Friday) before publishing his final report in June.”

I think we all wait with interest to see whether his report in June has any teeth.