The Guardian has just published an interview with Ed Davey and his wife Emily in which they talk to political editor Pippa Crerar about Emily’s Multiple Sclerosis. They have decided to do so now so that they can use their platforms as an MP and Councillor to advocate further for disabled people and their carers.

I was very struck by Emily's courage, energy and determination to use her own situation to highlight the plight thousands of others are also experiencing.

“I’m not the only one. People want to get back to where they were, but they need the tools.”

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) November 1, 2022

Emily was diagnosed with the condition in 2012, but she has noticed a deterioration since lockdown, when she was  not able to be as active. She and Ed have decided to talk about this now to highlight how this is affecting other people:

 (Emily) Davey, who ran Kingston council’s public health portfolio during the pandemic, said: “We’ve got a problem here, we have people with mobility problems, including the elderly, who aren’t suddenly going to recover and get better. How do you manage to get people active again on that scale?”

Her husband added: “Here is just another example of the impact Covid had on the nation’s health which is probably not well recognised. We know both from our own personal experience, but also from our constituents and from talking to doctors, there’s a massive issue out there across the country.”

Emily talked about how she her condition is changing:

Davey, 52, was also conscious that her MS was becoming more noticeable with her pronounced limp, and it had been weighing on her mind. “Since lockdown it’s with me more,” she said. “The reduction in my ability to walk and do as I would like. I’m quite an active person and there’s a degree of frustration there.”

And she’s highlighted what she is putting in place as a councillor for disabled people and their carers:

“We’re pushing for anybody who is physically disabled and chooses to live on a ground floor to be able to,” she said. “I had a constituent who told me when the lift was broken she had to carry her younger brother down the stairs to get to school. I’ve got people with mobility scooters whose neighbours are carrying them down tower blocks.”

She also wants councils to do more to help carers navigate the support that is available. “That carer is spending their time and energy on caring. We cannot expect them to surf the net, do all this research. Let them focus on the caring and you check in.”

You can read the whole interview here.