Disabled People in Politics

I was not surprised recently to read that the number of disabled people in politics is extremely low and this does need to be addressed if we are to have a clear and true voice within our political system. I am sure that if you were to ask the everyday man in the street to name a disabled politician their answer would be either David Blunkett or Gordon Brown.

Why are so few disabled people actively involved in politics?

On current figures, the House of Commons would need to have at least 65 disabled elected representatives to truly reflect our society. However, those standing for election in local or national elections do not have an obligation to disclose a disability.

In research conducted by University of Plymouth and its elections centre, surveys in 2008 and 2009 showed very low numbers of disabled people – it even dropped in 2009! Their research showed that in 2008 out of 1,000 local election candidates only 2.8% described themselves as “permanently sick or disabled. This figure reduced in 2009 to just 1.3%.

Is it possible for disabled people to be included more within our political system? And if so, how?

Well at last the Government are looking to change this and have implemented The Access to Elected Office for Disabled People project which includes plans for a £1m fund to help disabled politicians meet costs. All political parties will be encouraged to improve their disability policies and to work closely with the Local Government Association, and disabled organisations to develop a cross-party network of disabled councillors and MPs. It is hoped that these will become role models for aspiring candidates.

David Blunkett has said "Obstacles arise out of fear or ignorance of disability, people not knowing what is possible or how best to help," he says, "with occasional paternalistic blips where individuals have been disquieted by the thought that someone with a major challenge could work not just on equal terms, but succeed in the same professional sphere that they are in. Much of this is covert rather than overt."

Lady Jane Campbell, a wheelchair user, says we need more imaginative ideas for overcoming problems. "Many disabled people would want to get out on the street and knock on doors and canvass but, for some, like me, it would be impossible. It might be that we find other ways of engaging the public." She further states “If you can change hundreds of years of tradition you can do anything, and we do need to change to include disabled people because it's not a democracy if we don't."

There is no doubt that disabled people need to be more engaged in our political system but the reality is that there is no short-term solution. Prejudices still exist largely within our society and until these fundamental attitudes are changed than the voters will just not be there in large enough numbers to make real differences.

So let’s get our message across – we want involvement, we can have involvement, we just need to make it happen!

Call that a Budget?

As you are aware yesterday was Budget Day for the UK and probably one of the most important days of the last thirteen years for the Labour Government. Yes – it truly was a make or break day and I am sorry to say everything broke for them.

In light of the current economic situation, the vast debts Britain currently has and the prediction that by 2015 the country will be in the red to the tune of £1.4trillion, I for one, was hoping for a show of strength, for Alistair Darling to finally show us the plans the Labour Government have for steering us out of the recession and into more stability. Unfortunately what they gave us was a Budget with more potholes than our roads!

No surprise that Alistair Darling hit the usual money-grabbers such fuel, alcohol and cigarettes (luckily I don’t drive, smoke or drink Cider) as you can always depend on them to be at the forefront of any Government’s stealth tax plans but the real shocker was how badly the figures seemed to add up.

One example of this is the plans to abolish Stamp Duty for first-time buyers up to purchases of £250,000 and the respective introduction of a new 5% tax for homes sold for £1million. On the face of it this can only be good news can’t it? – surely it’s going to kick-start the property market? No – when you look a little deeper the expected figures are miles apart with the expected Stamp Duty break costing £550million by 2012 and the expected income from the “Mansion Tax” only generating some £390million – leaving us with a colossal shortfall.

For the small business owner like myself the figures are still as frightening and I can still see no long term strategy in place to assist me in keeping my business up and running. Yes, the Chancellor did announce a £2.5billion package and around 500,000 companies may benefit from a one year reduction in business rates but the increase in Employers’ National Insurance rates in 2011 will costs companies around £10billion.

Tax for the hardworking ordinary people also took an indirect hit. Whilst there was no tax increase, and for small things we have to be grateful, Darling did freeze the threshold levels. In real terms when this is related to the current rate of inflation of 3.7%, the Government will still manage to raise some £2.2 billion from us.

As I sit here pondering over the finer details of yesterday’s Budget, I shake my head in dismay. There are no positives here, there are no long term solutions here and there is no light shining at the end of the tunnel here. Darling and Brown have tried to temporarily fix the pot-holes and tried to keep the staunch Labour voters on board for the election but this budget had more water leaks than many of the London roads. Labour may well have hammered the final nail into the coffin – we will have to wait until May to see the real reaction from the voters.

Gordon Brown, His Recession Plans and Access

Previous recessions have been dealt with by different governments in different ways. I am not alone in saying that the depth and predicted duration of the current recession is extremely severe. In the past, as they were minor in comparison they were dealt with by changes in fiscal policy i.e. changes in interest rates, VAT, income tax rate, personal allowances and so on. It has been clear that changes to fiscal policy alone would not work to get us out of this hole we are in. Therefore, further stronger and what can be seen as more radical tools need to be used.

In Gordon Brown’s latest effort to boost the economy he has decided to spend billions of pounds of the tax payers monies on not only “bailing out” the banks but also trying to bring forward public expenditure on capital projects but in the spirit of my blog, I need to bring this into the access arena.

I am concerned that when these projects are being forward, often and more so recently, the access considerations are being scrutinised even more closely and then cut back or not done at all. Therefore, it is all well and good saying build these millions of buildings but then the developers look at where they can trim their costs. Once again access issues get overlooked and disabled people are again pushed to the sidelines. This is a clear issue which needs to be addressed and the Government must spell this out and if necessary the force of the DDA needs to be felt by the violators. Maybe this is a topic that the Equality & Human Rights Commission needs to look into.