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| Try life in a wheelchair and then tell me disabled people have equal rights | Try life in a wheelchair and then tell me disabled people have equal rights |
| (5 months later) | |
| The dramatic, chaotic and enforced U-turn on disability cuts might suggest to the idle reader that things are getting better for people with disabilities: one small cheer, perhaps? Sadly, not true: Iain Duncan Smith might have forced his successor, Stephen Crabb, to do the right thing for once, on the narrow issue of personal independence payments (PIP), but that is only a small part of the story. This government, for all its boasts about compassion, is doing less for disabled people than any government in recent history. | The dramatic, chaotic and enforced U-turn on disability cuts might suggest to the idle reader that things are getting better for people with disabilities: one small cheer, perhaps? Sadly, not true: Iain Duncan Smith might have forced his successor, Stephen Crabb, to do the right thing for once, on the narrow issue of personal independence payments (PIP), but that is only a small part of the story. This government, for all its boasts about compassion, is doing less for disabled people than any government in recent history. |
| That’s the inescapable conclusion of a new parliamentary select committee review into how the Equality Act is being enforced when it comes to helping those with disabilities. It makes bleak reading and led one of the committee, Baroness Jane Campbell, who is herself disabled, to ask: “Do we have such low value that it is easy to ignore our legislative right to be part of society?” | That’s the inescapable conclusion of a new parliamentary select committee review into how the Equality Act is being enforced when it comes to helping those with disabilities. It makes bleak reading and led one of the committee, Baroness Jane Campbell, who is herself disabled, to ask: “Do we have such low value that it is easy to ignore our legislative right to be part of society?” |
| Let’s be clear, we are talking here about more than 11 million people who have some form of disability and, as we all live longer, that number is increasing. Already, disabled people make up just under 20% of our population: a sizeable mass of potential voters, you might think. But depressingly, recent changes to equality laws have seen disabled people lose out. | Let’s be clear, we are talking here about more than 11 million people who have some form of disability and, as we all live longer, that number is increasing. Already, disabled people make up just under 20% of our population: a sizeable mass of potential voters, you might think. But depressingly, recent changes to equality laws have seen disabled people lose out. |
| To understand the context of all this, we need to look at the history. During the 1970s, the Race Relations Act and the Sex Discrimination Act set a legal framework to promote equal treatment on the grounds of race and gender. | To understand the context of all this, we need to look at the history. During the 1970s, the Race Relations Act and the Sex Discrimination Act set a legal framework to promote equal treatment on the grounds of race and gender. |
| It took another 20 years for similar laws to be introduced to help disabled people, and only after a huge battle. I know, because my late father, Jack Ashley, first a Labour MP then a peer, along with his good friend Alf Morris, were at the forefront of this campaign. More than 100,000 people were involved in demonstrating in support of this act, and many people in wheelchairs memorably chained themselves to the gates of Downing Street before the government of the day would listen. | It took another 20 years for similar laws to be introduced to help disabled people, and only after a huge battle. I know, because my late father, Jack Ashley, first a Labour MP then a peer, along with his good friend Alf Morris, were at the forefront of this campaign. More than 100,000 people were involved in demonstrating in support of this act, and many people in wheelchairs memorably chained themselves to the gates of Downing Street before the government of the day would listen. |
| The pleasures most of us take for granted are still denied to disabled people | The pleasures most of us take for granted are still denied to disabled people |
| The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act made it unlawful for employers and suppliers of goods and services to discriminate on the grounds of disability, and stipulated that “reasonable adjustments” should be made in businesses of more than 20 people. That meant, in essence, that ramps should be made available for wheelchair users, that disabled toilets should be installed in large buildings, and that rails should be put up where necessary to help those with mobility problems. They were not huge, nor costly changes, but began to transform lives. | The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act made it unlawful for employers and suppliers of goods and services to discriminate on the grounds of disability, and stipulated that “reasonable adjustments” should be made in businesses of more than 20 people. That meant, in essence, that ramps should be made available for wheelchair users, that disabled toilets should be installed in large buildings, and that rails should be put up where necessary to help those with mobility problems. They were not huge, nor costly changes, but began to transform lives. |
| Ten years later, another act established a positive duty to have regard to the needs of people with disabilities, in other words to be more proactive. So far so good; the laws passed have all been excellent. The problem lies in the enforcement of the law, and here it’s clear that the government couldn’t really give a damn. | Ten years later, another act established a positive duty to have regard to the needs of people with disabilities, in other words to be more proactive. So far so good; the laws passed have all been excellent. The problem lies in the enforcement of the law, and here it’s clear that the government couldn’t really give a damn. |
| Try standing next to someone in a wheelchair trying to flag down a taxi, and watch one cab after another drive past, only to stop 50 yards on to pick up someone else. Surely this is discrimination and there must be a law against this? Well, there is, but the government is unwilling to enforce the law on the carriage of wheelchairs in taxis. | Try standing next to someone in a wheelchair trying to flag down a taxi, and watch one cab after another drive past, only to stop 50 yards on to pick up someone else. Surely this is discrimination and there must be a law against this? Well, there is, but the government is unwilling to enforce the law on the carriage of wheelchairs in taxis. |
| Similarly, a tenant who needs adjustments made to the common parts of a building – say a stair lift, for example, for which he is prepared to pay – cannot compel the landlord to do this, even though the law is there. It is simply not enforced. | Similarly, a tenant who needs adjustments made to the common parts of a building – say a stair lift, for example, for which he is prepared to pay – cannot compel the landlord to do this, even though the law is there. It is simply not enforced. |
| More alarmingly, the select committee concludes that the government’s red tape challenge is being used as a pretext for removing protections for disabled people. Under the guise of lifting burdens on business, it imposed burdens on those with disabilities by postponing “reasonable adjustments” that make life possible. | More alarmingly, the select committee concludes that the government’s red tape challenge is being used as a pretext for removing protections for disabled people. Under the guise of lifting burdens on business, it imposed burdens on those with disabilities by postponing “reasonable adjustments” that make life possible. |
| The pleasures most of us take for granted are still denied to disabled people. Restaurants, pubs and clubs often fail to adapt their entrances to allow wheelchair access, or refuse to install disabled toilets. If they don’t comply, nothing much happens, but it would be very easy to add a line to the Licensing Act, which would make refusing to comply with equality legislation a ground for refusing a licence. | The pleasures most of us take for granted are still denied to disabled people. Restaurants, pubs and clubs often fail to adapt their entrances to allow wheelchair access, or refuse to install disabled toilets. If they don’t comply, nothing much happens, but it would be very easy to add a line to the Licensing Act, which would make refusing to comply with equality legislation a ground for refusing a licence. |
| Sports grounds, too, should be more accessible to disabled people. The House of Lords passed a bill recently to make Premier League football clubs devote a small proportion of their vast resources to making the necessary changes to their grounds. When, two weeks ago, the bill reached the Commons, the government blocked it. | Sports grounds, too, should be more accessible to disabled people. The House of Lords passed a bill recently to make Premier League football clubs devote a small proportion of their vast resources to making the necessary changes to their grounds. When, two weeks ago, the bill reached the Commons, the government blocked it. |
| Laws against discrimination are of no use at all if they are not enforced, but that requires political will. Not only is the government refusing to enforce the law, but it is making it more difficult for individuals to take action. Fees for employment tribunals and legal aid cuts have meant a sharp reduction in the number of cases being pursued. | Laws against discrimination are of no use at all if they are not enforced, but that requires political will. Not only is the government refusing to enforce the law, but it is making it more difficult for individuals to take action. Fees for employment tribunals and legal aid cuts have meant a sharp reduction in the number of cases being pursued. |
| For the majority of those who gave evidence to the select committee, the joining together of sex, race, age, sexuality, religious and disability discrimination issues into one single law – the Equality Act, and one commission – has been a disaster for disabled people. They found life was much easier when there was a dedicated Disability Discrimination Act and a single body to deal with – the Disability Rights Commission. In part this is because there is a crucial distinction with disabled people: often they need not just equality but different treatment to be able to play a full part in society. | For the majority of those who gave evidence to the select committee, the joining together of sex, race, age, sexuality, religious and disability discrimination issues into one single law – the Equality Act, and one commission – has been a disaster for disabled people. They found life was much easier when there was a dedicated Disability Discrimination Act and a single body to deal with – the Disability Rights Commission. In part this is because there is a crucial distinction with disabled people: often they need not just equality but different treatment to be able to play a full part in society. |
| In recent years the increasing number of “scroungers” stories in the press has led to a reduction in sympathy for people with disabilities. The impression is given of malingerers in wheelchairs, secretly running marathons at the weekend while pocketing a fortune in benefits. | In recent years the increasing number of “scroungers” stories in the press has led to a reduction in sympathy for people with disabilities. The impression is given of malingerers in wheelchairs, secretly running marathons at the weekend while pocketing a fortune in benefits. |
| Luckily, the furore over PIP payments has made us realise that most people don’t think like that. They are aware that as we age, mobility problems, hearing problems, sight problems and indeed mental health problems can hit any one of us, or our relatives. | Luckily, the furore over PIP payments has made us realise that most people don’t think like that. They are aware that as we age, mobility problems, hearing problems, sight problems and indeed mental health problems can hit any one of us, or our relatives. |
| It’s a rare stroke of luck for the disability world that this particular government crisis landed where it did. But strokes of luck aren’t enough. We need to refire the anger and energy of previous decades to put right what now seem gross injustices. Have you noticed, Stephen Crabb? | It’s a rare stroke of luck for the disability world that this particular government crisis landed where it did. But strokes of luck aren’t enough. We need to refire the anger and energy of previous decades to put right what now seem gross injustices. Have you noticed, Stephen Crabb? |
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