"Burke revealed she received the letter about her proposed honour on 26 November, the day Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the UK Budget. The charity boss told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast that it came at a "very grim" time for disabled people in Glasgow, who she said were "frightened to put their heating on, to pay their bills, basically feeling that they are under attack from the UK government'."
"'I just felt I could not accept a personal honour because disabled people were being so dishonoured in society at this time with the political choices that are being made,' she said. Burke told the BBC that successive governments had wronged disabled people, who she said had been 'blamed, scapegoated and relegated to the bottom of society'. She described the Budget as a 'missed opportunity' to invest in disabled services, resulting in a 'deepening inequality and injustice'."
Tressa Burke, chief executive of the Glasgow Disability Alliance, declined an MBE offered for services to disabled people, citing the "simply intolerable" situation facing disabled people in the UK. She received notice of the proposed honour on 26 November, the same day the Chancellor announced the Budget, and said the timing coincided with a "very grim" period when many were fearful about heating and paying bills. Burke condemned Budget policy changes including cuts to the Motability scheme, described benefits as inadequate and warned of "backdoor taxation" for social care. She acknowledged some positives but said draconian actions deepen inequality.
Read at www.bbc.com
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