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Tag Archives: disability

Disabled people are under attack

By Katharine Macy | Thu 4th December 2025 - 9:52 am

We’re often a forgotten community, yet I’d almost rather we would be forgotten again at the moment.

It’s clear to me that there’s been almost no communication or engagement with disabled people from the current government – and certainly none from the budget.

We’ve been hit hugely hard by first the cost of living and now the most recent budget, and too many conversations are framing us as layabouts, despite how challenging simply existing often is with a disability.

With a broken Access to Work system, a rejected Lib Dem motion (despite the amazing work by Tom Gordon!) on allowing disabled people to travel on their bus passes in commuting hours, and frozen tax brackets eating into an already more expensive life – the energy to find work is dwindling, when it disproportionately involves self-advocacy and challenges.

The Liberal Democrats have done great work, but could and must do more to lead the conversation around disability. We are being scapegoated as fraudulent claimants, when closing tax loopholes on large businesses would be both easier and cheaper and bring in far more income for the government. The £2 billion of fraud claims may sound a lot to an individual, but when it comes to the funding of a government is a drop in the ocean, and barely worth the admin time to deal with.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged disabled people | 6 Comments

The verbal abuse I get has sky rocketed – and we probably know why

By Katharine Macy | Sun 31st August 2025 - 4:36 pm

As a fat, visually disabled queer femme person, there’s lots of reasons for people to yell/spit at me. None legitimate, of course, but plenty of reasons.

I usually get someone maybe monthly, but in the last week I have:

had someone deliberately run into me then spit at me while calling me a “bent cripple”
Had multiple honks, most telling me to smile, and when I flipped one off he decided to yell “fat bastard” until the traffic began moving
Had several leering men on buses, including one who sat close and kept moving his hand to my thigh

Granted, I’ve had a lot on this week, daring to leave the house every day, if not multiple times, but I’m always pretty busy, yet this week has just felt like abuse after abuse.

People feel empowered to exhibit these behaviours lately.

But I’m still so grateful because most of this has come due to the increased anti immigrant and increased racism. I’m white, I’m only getting the increased hate that comes alongside normalising racism. (Liberation for one group cannot come without liberation for all – just look at the rabbit hole transphobes go down!)

We need allyship more than ever. We need to call out all micro aggressions and offhand comments. We need to hold ourselves to a higher account and recognise we are all racist, misogynistic etc., and it’s only a moral failing if we ignore this.

As liberals, we need to recognise it has to start with us. We need to call friends and family out, we need to call ourselves out.

It starts with us, because we need to stop going down this dangerous road.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged featured and racism | 6 Comments

We can both sympathise with Reeves and not excuse the cuts

By Jack Meredith | Fri 4th July 2025 - 12:41 pm

On Wednesday, 2nd July, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was seen crying during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Reeves has stated that the reason for her tears was a personal issue, which she would rather not discuss in public. A perfectly reasonable request that I’m sure everyone can relate to.

I’ve had people close to me mock the Chancellor for displaying her emotions, calling it “unprofessional” and, in some cases, question whether Reeves is up for the job. These same people, to my knowledge, did not say anything when DUP politician Jim Shannon cried when questioning then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street parties during lockdown.

These situations are markedly different, presumably, but the fact remains that there is a disparity in the treatment of politicians here, despite both displaying emotion.

I’m prefacing my article with this statement as I want to stress a rather important point that I’m seeing being written off on social media: you can feel empathy for someone, even a public figure, and still hold them accountable.

The government’s welfare reforms, as I previously covered, are set to plunge 430,000 people into poverty by removing their access to Personal Independence Payments (PIP). It is a cruel policy that was meant to save £5.5 billion, which has now been shown not to be the case.

And Rachel Reeves, along with many other Labour MPs, has supported this policy, with Reeves arguably being a driving force behind it due to her strict self-imposed financial rules, which require government departments to make savings wherever possible.

But that leaves us with the question: SHOULD we feel bad for Rachel Reeves? Some have argued that this is not the case, as she is in a position of power and has used those powers to approve cuts to welfare for those who need it most. I struggle to abide by this view.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged emotion, empathy, pip and rachel reeves | 1 Comment

Disability inclusion can’t wait – Why won’t Sadiq Khan act?

By Hina Bokhari | Fri 6th June 2025 - 12:59 pm

As the Labour Party prepares to make devastating cuts to disability support, the Mayor of London has remained conspicuously silent. While Labour leaders in other parts of the country have spoken out, Sadiq Khan has so far proved content to more or less toe the party line.

Yet with hundreds of thousands of disabled Londoners set to be hit by sweeping cuts to Personal Independence Payment, whatever his political calculations may be, there is still no excuse for Sadiq Khan failing to step up now as Mayor and use every lever at his disposal to engage and support disabled Londoners in response.

Disabled people are already feeling abandoned and scapegoated by Westminster. Now, more than ever, London’s Mayor should be charting a different course — not with vague pledges or sympathetic soundbites, but with meaningful, decisive action and engagement.

One demand has come up again and again from disability rights groups: appoint a dedicated Disability Champion in City Hall. Someone with lived experience, real authority, and the mandate to ensure disabled voices are not just heard occasionally but embedded in every stage of policymaking.

Over 1.2 million disabled Londoners face daily, systemic barriers in accessing their own city. They deserve leadership with focus and accountability. This isn’t a matter of symbolism. London has a Commissioner for Walking and Cycling. Why not one for disability equality?

That’s why, working with Inclusion London, I introduced a motion last September calling for exactly that. It passed unanimously – backed by every party in the London Assembly. Yet nine months later, the Mayor has done nothing whatsoever to implement it. He insists his Deputy Mayor for Social Justice is “good enough,” despite repeated feedback from campaigners that it isn’t.

Because all too often we still see a total failure across GLA bodies to include Disabled Londoners. Take the “Towards a New London Plan” consultation, a flagship planning strategy launched without accessible formats like Easy Read or British Sign Language versions, excluding both people with learning disabilities and deaf Londoners.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged london | 1 Comment

Disabled people don’t want to cost the earth

By Charley Hasted | Sun 4th December 2022 - 4:13 pm

This year saw an interesting coincidence of events – the Earthshot prize on the 2nd December and the UN Day for disabled people on the 3rd. As a disabled person who cares deeply about climate change these two events happening the day after each other caught my attention.

It has been my experience that often disabled people are left out of discussions around climate change. When discussion around banning plastic straws was happening I saw a lot of disabled people trying to explain that they needed plastic straws to reliably access liquids and explaining why for many of them non-plastic alternatives simply weren’t viable in all circumstances. Rather than listening to us and trying to work with us to find compromises that maintained disabled people’s dignity and independence with minimising plastic waste there were many non-disabled people who at best accused us of lying and at worst seemed to suggest that our lives were worth less than reducing plastic waste.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged climate change and environment | 13 Comments

Disabled living in Canada

By Mary Reid | Wed 17th August 2022 - 4:51 pm

I have just returned from a very happy two week visit to Ontario with my husband Ian, staying with my brother and attending our niece’s wedding. I have loved Canada ever since my first visit nearly 50 years ago, and have been back many times. Indeed, it is the one country outside the UK where I would be happy to live. The Americans joke about the Canadians – always calm, punctual and highly efficient (and with strong gun laws) – not realising that it is indeed good to live in a liberal democracy ruled by common sense. The country is also stunningly beautiful and we have explored it from Newfoundland to Vancouver, and from Niagara to Hudson Bay.

Canada has a proud record of providing a safe haven for those who have been forced from their homes, from the former slaves who took the Underground Railroad to freedom, to the current policy of welcoming refugees, most recently from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

But Canada has its dark side, highlighted by the recent visit by the Pope. And we also discovered that disabled people have limited rights in law, and their needs are often overlooked institutionally.

This was the first time we had flown anywhere since the pandemic. Ian has a complex neurological condition and we have been using Special Assistance in airports for some years. He has some, but limited, mobility and since our last flight he has started using a mobility scooter and a folding wheelchair which we take with us when we go out together, so we took it with us to Canada this time.

The first thing we noticed in Canada is that there is no requirement for buildings that are open to the public to be accessible. When we ate out in a restaurant we had to phone in advance to check whether we could actually get in with the wheelchair. Once in, few had disabled loos.

But the real struggle emerged when we got to Montreal Airport for our flight home. We had booked Special Assistance through the airline (Air Transat) but we discovered on the airport’s website that they also offered a service from the drop-off point to check-in. To add to the complications my mobility is also limited, but not to the same extent as Ian’s, and I find it impossible to push a wheelchair and all our luggage at the same time. So we filled in the online form to request this support and received a confirmation telling us to report to Door 4 of the terminal at 7pm.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged canada and disability discrimination act 1995 | 9 Comments

The Paralympics and attitudes to disability

By Mary Reid | Thu 2nd September 2021 - 5:07 pm

The Paralympics have been a delight, and we still have another week to enjoy. We have seen athletes carrying out seemingly impossible feats – playing table tennis while holding the bat in the mouth, swimming without arms, cycling with one leg – and we have heard from commentators who share the disabilities of the competitors.

And what about the joys of Wheelchair rugby? Apparently it was called Murder Ball until the sport decided to become legitimate and started applying for grant support. Looking very much like dodgems on speed, it is probably the most physical and chaotic of all Paralympic sports, but it has mixed teams and is terrific fun. I would happily watch it between one Paralympics and the next.

Each day is topped by the silliness of The Last Leg on C4 wrapped around some serious campaigning for people with disabilities. That programme, which started during the 2012 Paralympics, has been a shining light for disability awareness, using humour and compassion to overcome any residual discomfiture. It has also provide a platform for disabled comics, including the fabulous Rosie Jones.

In fact, we can be proud of the fact that the Paralympic movement began in the UK with the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948 alongside the London Olympics. So it is fitting that when the Olympics returned here in 2012 it was the first time that the management of the Olympics and Paralympics had been fully integrated, giving them equal esteem and equal publicity. As a result Sarah Storey, Ellie Simmons, David Weir and others became household names, and they were awarded honours on a par with their Olympic colleagues. Since 2012 Paralympians have mainstreamed in many Celebrity shows, from Strictly to Masterchef.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged paralympics | 7 Comments

Politicians need to do bit more to change the attitude of society towards disability

By Anita Prabhakar | Thu 19th August 2021 - 2:06 pm

Embed from Getty Images

Disability is something which is not by choice but by accident or misfortune, as all of us want to be healthy and lead a perfect life. But sometimes we are the victim of time and circumstances, and we must lead the kind of life due to our disability that we never imagined.

We all should be sensitive about this subject and eager to collaborate and do something in this field, as we all experience this issue in our lifetime either ourselves after certain age, or through our loved ones. But unfortunately, when we are young and healthy, we are so engrossed in our day-to-day routine that we hardly pay enough attention about the attitude of society towards disability or the government’s disability inclusion policy, whether effective or not. We only awake when we suffer ourselves, or our loved one in our family gets affected by disability.

There are so many unconscious barriers of our society which deny people with disabilities the opportunities to achieve their dreams – dream to go beneath the ocean, or to fly. And with our little effort we can help them to achieve those dreams though it might take bit longer, but I am sure it is not something which is impossible. And there are many people in our society who have proved that their disability does not hold them back to achieve their dreams, whether it is to contribute to society or to enrich this planet, or in other ways.

Most of us are aware of the barriers which limit the inclusion of people with disabilities in the mainstream. But somehow we don’t’ pay enough attention to remove or improve them. For example, attitudinal barriers, the society’s attitude towards disabled people, this one is the biggest obstacle to providing equal opportunities to disabled people and to remove this barrier we need to change our outlook as we, and we only, can help to eliminate this barrier. Environmental barriers, such as inaccessible buildings, also restrict people with disabilities to participate in mainstream society. Further, institutional barriers, like many policies, strategies and laws, are also a hindrance for which we all must work together to raise awareness and force the government to do something.

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Posted in Op-eds | 7 Comments

Support requirements for disabled candidates with complex needs

By Richard Whelan | Sat 29th February 2020 - 12:41 pm

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While much has been made about the success the Liberal Democrats have had in getting more women and BAME activists approved and selected as Parliamentary Candidates in winnable seats, little, if any, progress has been made in the approval and selection of winnable Parliamentary Candidates with Disabilities who, because of the complex needs that many of them have, require a significant amount of support just to reach the same levels of attainment as their able-bodied counterparts.

From my own experience, as an approved candidate with a physical disability, part of the problem, I suspect, concerns the lingering worries that persist among many local party members over whether a person with a physical disability, like myself, could carry out the duties that would be expected of them as a Parliamentary Candidate, and later MP, should they get elected at the subsequent General Election.

These worries are only natural, especially if a local party has never had such a candidate stand for them before. What though has to be realised is that any support will depend on the duties that a particular local party will expect that candidate to perform, which will only become apparent once they have been selected, and an agreed campaign plan has been formulated, that sets out their role and their relationship to the other roles on their campaign team.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged disabled candidates | 5 Comments

LibLink: Christine Jardine: All consuming Brexit is making this country a less caring place

By NewsHound | Tue 2nd April 2019 - 10:25 am

Sarah Newton resigned as Disabilities Minister 3 weeks ago but she still hasn’t been replaced.

In her Scotsman column this week, Christine Jardine outlined why a new minister was needed and soon.

The Personal Independence Payments system is broken, she said, highlighting a local example:

Alexandra Mitchell from Cramond, has already highlighted the shortcomings. Born with a disability and entitled to a Motability car for years, she was mysteriously told she no longer qualified for the support, with no adequate reasoning behind the decision. Although we managed to have the decision overturned on appeal that, in itself, is not good enough. Nor is it an isolated, or even unusual, incident.

That wasn’t the end of the story, though, for Alexandra:

I again raised the case of Alexandra Mitchell who has now been told that there is an ‘end date’ of her lifelong disability. Wow, who knew the department had such powers? That they could end disability at the stroke of a pen. They can’t. And to get to the bottom of why the department thought it could, I was due to have a meeting with the Minister for Disabilities in the very week she decided that she could no longer stomach her own Government’s approach to Brexit. Since then, there has been nobody in Government tasked with addressing those issues, of which there are so many, that myself and other MPs have been keen to raise. Fortunately I had also arranged a meeting with Amber Rudd, the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to ask if she would consider changes to a Universal Credit system that has proven not fit for purpose. Again Brexit, as ever, intervened and foreshortened our meeting, but not before I had grasped the opportunity to confront the Secretary of State with the problem. To be fair, she asked me to send details of Alexandra’s case directly to her and I have.

Christine highlighted the ridiculous amount of money that the Government spends on holding appeals, most of which are upheld:

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Posted in News | Also tagged dwp and social security | Leave a comment

Living costs more when you have a disability

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 28th February 2019 - 8:30 am

Scope, the disability equality charity in England and Wales, has released a new report showing how life is more expensive for those living with disability. Their study shows that those with disability spend more on heating, insurance, equipment and other essential goods and services. Scope says

These extra costs mean disabled people have less money in their pocket than non-disabled people, or simply go without. Therefore, disabled people are likely to have a lower standard of living, even when they earn the same.

There are two parts to the report: The Disability Price Tag 2019 Policy Report discusses the key findings and recommendations; The Disability Price Tag 2019 Technical Report drills into the data, showing the detail of the extra costs those with disability incur in daily life. Both reports can be downloaded here.

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Posted in News | Also tagged cost of living and scope | 1 Comment

Global Disability Summit

By Shas Sheehan | Wed 11th July 2018 - 2:40 pm

People with disabilities account for 1 billion of the world’s population. Too often they are among the most marginalised and discriminated against groups – and too often international development efforts have continued to leave them behind.

The upcoming Global Disability Summit, held in London on 24th July, is a chance to change this by building on the work of Liberal Democrats in government to promote disability-inclusive development. The Summit, hosted by DFID, the government of Kenya, and the International Disability Alliance will be the first of its kind with attendees from governments and NGOs from across the world.

A liberal worldview recognises the inherent value of every individual, and as Liberal Democrats, we must challenge the inequalities faced by people with disabilities in developing countries.

In government, the Liberal Democrats helped lead the change on disability-inclusive development. Lynne Featherstone championed the rights of people with disabilities during her time at DFID. Her work led to the ground-breaking Disability Framework – putting disability at the heart of what DFID does and ensuring it moved from a ‘tick box exercise’ to being mainstreamed across all of DFID’s work.

It’s common sense that all programmes should reach people with disabilities – schools should be accessible, healthcare inclusive, stigma challenged – the individual recognised and given the opportunity to flourish.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | 2 Comments

Temporary reprieve for funds for disabled election candidates

By The Voice | Sun 20th May 2018 - 3:25 pm

Last month, David Buxton wrote about how the Government’s freezing of the Access to Elected Office Fund meant that he simply couldn’t stand in the 2017 General Election:

For the 2015 General Election, I obtained a grant of £40,000 from the Access to Elected Office Fund, which I used to participate in the Liberal Democrat candidate-selection process. But I could not have participated without the Fund’s support.

And, last year, I was effectively barred from standing in the 2017 General Election because of the absence of the Fund.Many other deaf and disabled candidates from the Lib Dems and from other parties are affected too, including Emily Brothers from Labour who is blind, and Simeon Hart for the Greens who is deaf, both of whom feature in the More United campaign.

The Access to Elected Office Fund used to help deaf and disabled people from all political parties, to stand for election, at any level. It ran from 2012-2015, and was intended to create a level playing field, given the additional costs that disabled people can incur when standing for election.

British Sign Language Interpreters, assistive technology for blind people and mobility transport all cost money. But the Fund was frozen, put “under review”, in 2015.

That review has not been conducted or completed, and the Fund has not been re-opened. The Fund has now been closed for longer than it was open so we are calling on the Government to restore it with immediate effect.

More United ran a campaign to restore the fund and Lib Dem MPs, including Christine Jardine and Stephen Lloyd, wrote to the Government to tell them of the importance of supporting disabled candidates.

This week, they won a legal challenge and secured the fund for the 2019 elections.

WE'VE WON OUR LEGAL CHALLENGE: thanks to us the government are providing a fund to help deaf & disabled candidates stand for election this year. Next we secure longterm support. For now thank you for helping us make this possible! #RestoreTheFund pic.twitter.com/fvZYWx89Ct

— More United (@MoreUnitedUK) May 17, 2018

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Posted in News | Also tagged access to elected office fund, david buxton and more united | Leave a comment

A new campaign to restore the political disability fund

By David Buxton | Wed 11th April 2018 - 5:08 pm

I’m taking part in a campaign launched by the cross-party group More United today, to restore the fund that supports deaf and disabled people into political office and I’m asking you to join me by sharing this video and signing the petition here

This campaign matters a lot to me. And this is why.

I was the first deaf British Sign Language-user elected to public office, when I was elected as a London Borough councillor in 1990 and again as a District Borough Councillor in 2007. From 1992, I lobbied Parliament and ministers to provide greater funding for candidates with disabilities. In 1997 and 2001, I stood for Parliament on a self-funded basis, raising money to pay for BSL interpreters and support in written English.

For the 2015 General Election, I obtained a grant of £40,000 from the Access to Elected Office Fund, which I used to participate in the Liberal Democrat candidate-selection process. But I could not have participated without the Fund’s support.

And, last year, I was effectively barred from standing in the 2017 General Election because of the absence of the Fund.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged access to elected office fund | 3 Comments

Sal Brinton talks of being stuck in House of Lords as peer refused to move to let her past

By The Voice | Thu 8th February 2018 - 10:21 am

The House of Lords debated the proposed works to the Palace of Westminster this week.

Sal Brinton took advantage of the opportunity to make a plea for the refurbished Parliament to be properly accessible. She highlighted some of the ways in which the current set-up fails disabled people. She also spoke of an experience where one peer wouldn’t actually let her past to leave a Lords debate, making her late for a meeting.

My Lords, in the wonderful elegance of parliamentary language, we have talked much already about “patch and mend”. The restoration and renewal of the buildings and the facilities in the Palace of Westminster are vital and urgent and I believe that we need to use much franker language given the neglect of the past. I support the Motion and oppose the amendment. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, that 20 years ago I was bursar of Selwyn College, Cambridge, when we needed to renew and restore our main court that had seen little—frankly, virtually no—maintenance and progress since it was built a century before. Student rooms still had gas and electric fires and the electric cabling was on its last legs, with much of the urgent work not visible or easily accessible. Does this sound familiar?

Since Selwyn was the poorest college and had very little resource to invest over the years in the buildings, the “patch and mend” approach was clearly failing us. We knew we had to do the work in one go, no matter how disruptive it was. We were also clear that we had to ensure it did not happen again, and that maintenance must be built into the future life of the buildings. This is also true for the Palace of Westminster after this major work. What steps are being taken to ensure that detailed maintenance costs of the building, and not just the ordinary life of the building, are being built into the baseline budget and then ring-fenced? The future of this historic and important building is just too important to get wrong.

When my noble friend Lady Thomas of Winchester, who cannot be in her place today but I hope will soon be able to rejoin us, gave evidence to the Joint Committee on the Palace of Westminster, she spoke for many of us who face accessibility issues in the Palace. I am grateful that the Joint Committee has taken the evidence on accessibility from a number of people, but I seek reassurance that there really will be a step change under the full decant option. It is not a “nice to have” option, and now is the best time to do the core work. So I am pleased to see in paragraph 7 of the Motion that there will be,

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Posted in News | Also tagged accessibility, house of lords and sal brinton | 4 Comments

Lack of Services for Disabled Children – Parliamentary Campaign Launch

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 30th November 2017 - 12:45 pm

Yesterday, the Disabled Children’s Partnership campaign was launched in parliament. Lib Dem Leader Vince Cable came along to show his support, as well as many other MPs, peers, charities and family representatives. I was also pleased that former Care Minister Norman Lamb MP, was also able to come meet families.

The Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) is an exciting new coalition of over 50 disability and children’s charities. I sit on their Public Policy Group as a member of the Fragile X …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged children and children's rights | 3 Comments

Baroness Celia Thomas writes…Disability rights and Labour wrongs

By Celia Thomas | Fri 9th December 2016 - 1:45 pm

Who would have thought that a valuable addition to the Licensing Act which would have made life better for disabled people had been scuppered by Labour Peers? And yet that is what happened on Wednesday evening.

The amendment, which sought to improve the accessibility of licensed entertainment premises (pubs, clubs, restaurants etc.) for disabled people, was tabled by the Chair of the Lords Equality and Disability Committee, Baroness Deech, a crossbencher, and signed by me, as Liberal Democrat Disability Spokesperson, a Labour Peer and another crossbencher.

The Committee, which was set up last year at my suggestion, to look at how the Equality Act was working for disabled people, took evidence from, amongst many others, local authorities and from the National Association of Licence and Enforcement Officers. They were keen to help make premises more accessible but said they needed a small addition to the licensing objectives in the Licensing Act to be able to take action. Without the amendment, a licensing authority can only ‘suggest’ the provision of a ramp, for example, or that a restaurant should not store toilet rolls in the disabled toilet thus making it unusable. With the amendment, the licensee would be told that if no reasonable adjustments were made, the licence would be in danger of being lost.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged equality, featured and house of lords | 2 Comments

Supporting vision rehabilitation

By Mike Bell | Wed 2nd November 2016 - 11:57 am

All councils in England provide a service called vision rehabilitation which offers crucial training and advice to people living with sight loss. Evidence shows that many blind and partially sighted people are failing to receive vital vision rehabilitation support. RNIB’s current campaign, See, Plan and Provide, is calling for improved access to vision rehabilitation assessments and support.

Vision rehabilitation provides crucial training and advice to people experiencing sight loss. This includes support to help them live in their home safely and negotiate the many obstacles and risks in the external environment. It gives people the skills and confidence to maximise …

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Posted in Local government, News and Op-eds | Also tagged Local government, RNIB and sight | 4 Comments

Compelling portrait of a disabled person who was one of the USA’s greatest Presidents

By Paul Walter | Sat 4th June 2016 - 12:36 pm

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BBC 4 have surpassed themselves with “World War Two: 1945 & The Wheelchair President”. Professor David Reynolds presents a remarkably gripping and informed biography of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, focussing mainly on the final year of his life. It’s a must-see for any politics anorak and is available for the next 20 days here.

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Posted in LDVUSA | Also tagged franklin roosevelt | 3 Comments

Sal Brinton on the change of attitude needed so that disabled people can start to live their lives

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 24th March 2016 - 12:26 pm

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Sal Brinton was part of the House of Lords Committee which produced today’s report which reviewed the impact of the Equality Act 2010 on disabled people. Its conclusions were pretty damning. It’s worth setting out in full the five major themes that they identified:

First, in planning services and buildings, despite the fact that for twenty years the law has required anticipatory reasonable adjustment, the needs of disabled people still tend to be an afterthought. It is time to reverse this. We are all living longer, and medical advances are keeping us alive where in earlier years it would have failed to do so, but not necessarily in good health. We should from the outset plan for the inevitability of disability in everyone as they get older, as well as for those who suffer accidents and for all those other disabled people who are the subject of our inquiry.

Our second theme, closely related to the first, is the need to be proactive, rather than reactive or process driven. Many of those involved—Government departments, local authorities, the NHS, schools, courts, businesses, all of us—wait for problems to arise before, at best, attempting to remedy them. We should be planning so that disabled people can as far as possible avoid facing the problems in the first place.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged equality, house of lords and sal brinton | 3 Comments

Disability is nothing to hide, so let’s not act like it is

By Henry Foulds | Wed 23rd March 2016 - 8:46 am

As a candidate for my home town in May’s local elections, I’ve helped residents fight for repairs to roads, I’ve lobbied for more action on dog mess and I’ve campaigned to prevent closures to residential homes.

As a blind candidate for my home town in May’s local elections, I’ve done all this while helping changing a few attitudes along the way. I spoke here about a mother who was delighted to see someone like her visually impaired daughter standing for election but a lot more has happened too – I’ve even received messages from young disabled people saying that me standing is a confidence boost for them.

I’m sure many readers will agree with me that standing for election is a mix of emotions – there are ups and there are downs.

But after the diversity debate, there’s a particular part of being a blind candidate that needs to be tackled head on – and so I turn to Lib Dem Voice.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged behaviour which needs to be challenged, diversity and ignorance | 24 Comments

Baroness Liz Barker writes: The Tory threat to UK foreign policy

By Baroness Liz Barker | Sun 20th March 2016 - 8:55 am

Lynne Featherstone and Lindsay Northover were outstanding DfID Ministers. During their tenure, with the support of Liberal Democrats in both houses, and throughout the party, for the first time, radical commitments such as an to end Female Genital Mutilation by 30% by 2018 were included in UK Government policy. Furthermore, those Liberal Democrat ministers, insisted that commitments to the rights of LGBT people and people with disabilities be central to FCO and DfID policy and programmes.

They did so, not just because of our unshakeable commitment to human rights, but because the UK’s unique history with the Commonwealth nations and relationships with European partners, give an unparalleled position from which to be an influence for good in the world.

This summer, the UK government has an opportunity to attend the 2016 Global LGBTI Human Rights Conference, which will be co-hosted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of Uruguay. It will involve the main international donors who support and fund LGBTI programmes. It is a rare opportunity for the UK government to leverage the political commitment of the coalition government by involving other governments, and the private sector, in developing good practice guidance on funding, supporting NGOs to bring about change on difficult subjects.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged foreign policy, house of lords, human rights and lgbti | Leave a comment

Opinion: Enablement For All

By Kirsten Johnson | Mon 26th January 2015 - 10:57 am

View image | gettyimages.com

I had the opportunity to tour a small business this week which makes cutting-edge prosthetic devices. It was fascinating – technology nowadays has moved on so much that electronic sensors in an artificial foot can detect when you stub your toe on a curb and compensate for your loss of balance so that the foot/prosthetic device stays stable and you don’t fall.

We are all familiar with international athletes, ‘bladerunners’, who are able to achieve so much in their sport because of the specialist blade limbs that enable them to compete at the highest level. What I wasn’t aware of was swimming ‘flipper’ limbs are also available, and a range of other devices. This company makes all of them, enabling those who have been in road accidents or lost limbs through illness or in war, to live their lives to the full. I came away in wonder, having seen how the devices are made out of sheets of plastic draped over moulds, simple materials changing peoples’ lives.

Enablement. It is, in my opinion, what the Liberal Democrats are all about. We exist to create a “fair, free and open society” and we value “liberty and equality.” We enable.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged enablement | 2 Comments

In full: Baroness Northover’s speech to launch the DFID disability framework

By The Voice | Wed 3rd December 2014 - 6:55 pm

Baroness Northover is parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for International Development. Here is the speech she made today, in the Houses of Parliament, to launch the DFID disabilty framework:

I’m delighted to be here with you today, to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Although the UK Department for International Development and many of you in this room have been increasingly focused on disability inclusion in recent years, it is now that we are really beginning to see this issue get the attention it deserves.

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Posted in News | Also tagged dfid | Leave a comment

Martin Horwood writes … an important day for disability and international development

By Martin Horwood | Fri 11th April 2014 - 8:40 am

Select committee reports are often considered to be rather dry, even to the most politically active among us, which is why I feel particularly compelled to highlight the 11th report of the International Development Committee – Disability and development.

The select committee decided to hold this inquiry because they had been told repeatedly by organisations like Sightsavers that our country’s aid system was not delivering for disabled people overseas. Lynne Featherstone also paid attention to these organisations and started championing the rights of disabled people in her first year as a minister, describing disability as the great neglected subject in international development.

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Posted in News | Also tagged disability rights, international development and International Development Committee | Leave a comment

Baroness Sal Brinton writes…Disabled rail travel: We’re not just treated like second class citizens, we’re treated like packages

By Sal Brinton | Mon 7th April 2014 - 11:57 am

When people in wheelchairs meet one another, disabled travel experiences are a frequent topic of conversation. Rail, buses or taxi we have often encountered brilliant helpful staff, but frankly, sometimes appalling service.

My train commuter run to Parliament from Watford Junction to Euston is usually very smooth, with unfailingly helpful London Midland and National Rail assistance staff, but both stations are staffed for as long as trains are running. Unstaffed stations can be really patchy.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged disability discrimination act 1995, featured, rail travel and transport | 16 Comments

The Independent View: Improving the lives of disabled people is essential for a stronger economy and fairer society

By Ben Parker | Tue 1st April 2014 - 2:31 pm

The role that Liberal Democrats play in drafting their party’s manifesto is unique in British politics. So is the party’s approach to disability.

At the 2010 General Election the Liberal Democrats were the only party to produce a manifesto for disabled people. This pledged better employment support and improved recording of disability hate crime.

And in Government, the two Coalition Ministers responsible for social care reform are from Lib Dem benches – Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb. Their commitment to improving social care support for disabled people has been clear.

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged scope | 3 Comments

LibLink: Lynne Featherstone in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women

By NewsHound | Thu 13th March 2014 - 9:07 am

Development Minister Lynne Featherstone spent two days in New York earlier this week at the United Nation’s annual Commission on the Status of Women. She posted a series of blogs from the Big Apple. Here are some highlights.

I’ll be attending a whole load of events as well as talking to my counterparts from around the world to ensure the CSW negotiations lead to a

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged fgm, international development, lynne featherstone, united nations and violence against women and girls | Leave a comment

Martin Horwood MP writes…Putting people with disabilities into the international development picture

By Martin Horwood | Tue 3rd December 2013 - 11:59 am

One year after her appointment as the first ever Liberal Democrat minister at the Department for International Development (DfID), Lynne Featherstone has already earned a reputation for picking up difficult subjects and setting ambitious goals. In her first year, she put the issue of female genital mutilation on the national and international agenda and famously declared that she wanted to see it gone within a generation and then started to take the practical steps to make that happen.

Now Lynne has taken up another challenge for some of the world’s most vulnerable people: to champion the inclusion of people with disabilities. …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged dfid, international development, lynne featherstone and Sightsavers | 1 Comment

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