Assisted Suicide - New Guidelines

I have written a number of times over the past year regarding the issue of assisted suicide. This emotive topic always raises a number of opinions and whether you agree or disagree, I feel that having a clear understanding of the implications, particularly for the loved ones left behind, is long overdue. Therefore, like many others, I was pleased to see that clearer guidelines have now been set out and loved ones will know those implications which may impact on them.

For those who choose assisted suicide it has been a difficult decision as to whether they involve loved ones or not out of fear of prosecution. This fear has now been somewhat removed by the guidelines – helping a loved one to commit suicide out of compassion will no longer result in prosecution.

The Law Lords requested that guidelines be drawn up following their ruling last summer in the case of Debbie Purdy, who campaigned for dignity-in-dying (she had asked the courts for guidance on whether her husband would be prosecuted if he travelled to the Dignitas Clinic in Zurich with her). The guidelines set out by Keir Starmer effectively means the law will turn a blind eye to assisted suicide.

Mr Starmer said yesterday that mercy killing remains murder and that all cases where someone is suspected of assisting a suicide will be fully investigated.

‘The policy is now more focused on the motivation of the suspect rather than the characteristics of the victim,’ he added. The policy does not change the law on assisted suicide. It does not open the door for euthanasia. It does not override the will of Parliament. What it does do is to provide a clear framework for prosecutors to decide which cases should proceed to court and which should not.’

However, the guidelines are not supported by many and some Disability charities are concerned that the guidelines could be used to pressure the vulnerable into death.

Richard Hawkes, of Scope, said: ‘We understand that assisted suicide is a complex and emotional issue. However, we do not support any weakening of the protection offered under the law on assisted suicide, which is exactly what these new guidelines do. Many disabled people are frightened by the consequences of these new guidelines and with good reason. There is a real danger these changes will result in disabled people being pressured to end their lives.’

I do agree with Richard Hawkes and I certainly feel that the guidelines should not be used as a tick box. Each case still needs to be handled with sensitivity but investigated to the fullest.

Disabled Parking at Supermarkets

A long time ago, I decided that I really could not be bothered with going to the Supermarket. I was fed up with the rude people who rush around as if the place is their own, the staff who cannot answer the most simple of questions and I absolutely hated the queues! I now choose to do all my shopping online - be it my groceries or my luxury items!

So you can imagine my pleasure when listening to a BBC news report recently on Supermarket parking, that I discovered that I was one of the lucky ones that did not have to worry about parking but once my initial self-satisfaction subsided I took a longer look at the issue and discovered that I was actually quite irate at the current practices operating within our major Supermarkets.

The BBC identified that the four major chains all impose parking limits on their customers in most of their Supermarket car parks. A survey by the BBC revealed that 124 large Supermarkets from the big four do not allow extra parking time for their disabled customers. It also revealed that the big four are opting more to use private firms to enforce their parking rules meaning that disabled customers are becoming increasingly easy targets for these overly-keen patrols. By not allowing extra time for their disabled customers, all of the big four supermarkets are breaking the current disability discrimination laws.

Neil Coyle, from the charity Disability Alliance, told the BBC “Supermarkets need to acknowledge there is a problem, and secondly, very quickly they need to ensure their car parking procedures conform with the law”. He also added that the supermarkets need to end the “unfair charges” or “they can wait until someone takes a legal case and potentially face a considerable compensation case”.

I know many drivers already feel that they are an easy cash-cow for raising revenue but for the Supermarkets to sit back and allow this outrageous practice to continue is unacceptable. They must ensure their parking controls conform with the law and make reasonable adjustment for their disabled customers.

After all, these disabled customers are only there to buy the products they sell!

Baroness Grey-Thompson

My hearty congratulations and a big round of applause must go to Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson on the announcement of her peerage to the House of Lords.

Baroness Grey-Thompson will put her considerable skills and intellect to the areas of sport, disability and youth.

On her appointment Baroness Grey-Thompson said “I feel incredibly honoured to have been considered for this, and to have been accepted into the House of Lords. I went through great nerves as an athlete, but I’ve had sleepless nights about my first speech there,”

By her last Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004, Baroness Grey-Thompson had amassed 16medals (11 gold, four silver and a bronze) and 13 World Championship medals (six gold, five silver and two bronze) - certainly an inspiration to us all!

Baroness Grey-Thompson is a non-executive director for UK Athletics, sits on the board of the London Marathon and the Board of Transport for London (2008). She is also Chair of the Womens Sports and Fitness Foundation Commission on the Future of Womens Sport. She is also patron of a number of charities and is vice-chairman of the Laureus World Sport Academy, a trustee of the Sport for Good Foundation, a Council Member for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and a UNICEF International Inspiration Ambassador.

Out of recession - I don't think so.............

January saw us mark the end of the recession – the longest economic downturn on record.

Whilst our Government will surely be patting itself on the back and thanking their lucky stars that we stayed out of depression, I and many others will have little faith in this news. We would be wise to remember that during this recession we have seen the economy reduced by over 6 percent and unemployment rise to 7.8 percent.

I do believe that this may be a temporary step forward. We have to remember that the figures used are for the last financial quarter which includes increased employment of temporary Christmas staff, increased purchases of luxury goods before the VAT rise took effect, the car scrapage scheme coming to an end and people spending slightly more in order to enjoy the festive season.

In April we may well see a step backwards as we see taxes rise as income tax and national insurance rise. As inflation rears its ugly head we may also see an increase in interest rates.

As I write I can see little is being done to stimulate the economy for growth and I do not see a sustainable economic strategy. We are unprepared to take full advantage of the small GDP figures and should not confuse the end of a recession with a start of growth.

We are a long way from seeing real evidence of our recovery and ordinary folk will see little evidence of the end of the recession in their everyday lives.

Christmas Greetings

It’s been a great year here at PureshPower and I wanted to thank all of you for your continued support and readership. I have enjoyed sharing my views on all things disability – both the good and the not so good!

Real inclusive change will happen but the road is still long and we all have much to do throughout the journey. I hope you will continue to join me in supporting the efforts of all those pushing for positive change.

I hope you all have a wonderful festive season and that Santa brings all your Christmas wishes. May the New and Coming Year bring you every happiness and success in all your endeavours.

See you in 2010..............

Disabled Students

Back in August, I wrote about the issues that need to be addressed by disabled students who wish to attend University i.e. accessibility, access to appropriate care options etc.

On top of all these issues, it would appear that their worries are now being further complicated by the Student Loan Company (SLC).

Figures show that in addition to giving out £43m less in funds this year, they have also failed to provide the vital funding to disabled students with only one in every five receiving the appropriate funds needed for specialist equipment and assistants. Many disabled students are now struggling to cope and many see “dropping out” as a real threat. Yet it would appear that there is still tens of millions of pounds sitting unallocated some two months into term-time.

In real terms, this allocated funding means that approximately 12,000 disabled students are waiting for funds to support their learning needs as only 3,294 applications have been processed out of the 15,371 submitted. Campaigners believe it will take some 75 weeks to clear the backlog of claims.

The president of the National Union of Students, Wes Streeting, has said "This is a staggering amount of money and reveals how big the problem is. Students can't get by without that money. It's disgraceful that so many disabled students are waiting for their allowances."

Unlike previous years, the processing of applications, which are complex and need medical evidence, has been taken over by SLC and they are failing to deliver this vital funding. SLC have apologised to those students caught up in these delays and have said "We recognise that the work is more complex than general loan application processing, and so over the last two months we have doubled the size of the team working on the cases."

Unfortunately apologies will not help those disabled students struggling to cope without the specialist equipment and support they need – only real action can do that and therefore SLC need to sort this issue now and learn from their mistakes in preparation for the next academic intake.

International Day of Disabled People

Today is the United Nations International Day of Disabled People which aims to promote an understanding disability issues, the rights of disabled people and the benefits that inclusion of disabled people in all aspects of life may have on our society.

Important facts to remember are:-

1. Almost one in ten people are disabled
2. 20 per cent of the world population living in poverty are disabled
3. Exclusion of disabled people is still prevalent in the world denying many
the basic rights of food, education, employment and access to health
services.

The United Nations International Day of Disabled People was originally instigated to commemorate the anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the World Programme of Action in 1982 regarding disabled people.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Disabled People is “Making the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) inclusive”

Social change can be achieved through various means but adopting the Social Model of Disability is paramount as this is a more modern approach to viewing disability than the Medical Model.

I ask three things of you today:-

1. You help celebrate the achievements of disabled people across the globe.
Disabled people make a rich and diverse contribution to the communities in
which they live and work;

2. You consider whether you are doing enough to support an inclusive society;
and

3. You reflect on how far the disability movement has come and yet how far we
still have to go in making long lasting changes.

Happy United Nations International Day of Disabled People to you all!