Last month’s elections in England, Scotland and Wales confirmed that many voters are unconvinced by the Labour government’s record and uninspired by its promises. Disabled voters, who have suffered a decade of austerity and been ravaged by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, have been dismayed by Kier Starmer’s failure to tackle the enormous inequalities we face.
His government’s actions have fallen far short of what we hoped for in terms of delivering a fairer society for Disabled people. Its framing has diminished our lives and contribution, and characterised us as a drain on income and services.
We continue to disproportionately live in poverty, regardless of whether we are in work or in receipt of social security, as energy and food bills and rental costs soar. Health care, social care, educational support and employment support fail to meet our needs or create a level playing field. We encounter barriers to our inclusion at every turn, including housing, transport, street and built environments and digital information.
But with a bit of soul-searching in the Labour Party and, as now seems likely, a change in prime minister, the government has a chance to create a more just and equitable society for all citizens, including Disabled citizens. Regardless of who takes over from Starmer, or even if he remains in the job, the next PM must use their massive majority in the House of Commons to pass policies to transform the lives of millions of Disabled people.
Disabled people’s organisations, that is organisations led and staffed by Disabled people, are very clear about the transformation we need from the UK government.
Top of the list is a vision of society where Disabled people are valued and embraced as equal citizens, where the social security safety net enables us to lead dignified lives, where we invest in services such as social care and educational and employment support to enable equality, where barriers to our everyday inclusion are removed and where we have equal access to power.
Successive governments have demonised us as fakers and scroungers, taken away our agency by labelling us as “vulnerable” and talked about us being a “burden” on public budgets. We make up almost a quarter of the UK’s population; we are part of the “us”, the UK government must stop treating us as “them”.
We need to be in the room when decisions about our lives are made, and we need all political parties to increase representation from our ranks. The under-representation of Disabled voices in Westminster is an absolute disgrace.
We need the UK government to provide a social security system, support and services, and rights that enable opportunity, invest in our future and give us the support to lead equal and dignified lives. We need society to be designed in ways that include us, removing barriers that shut us out. Part of this is a stronger implementation of current equality laws, but we also need new legislation that drives accessibility across society.
A new direction for the Labour government, which respects and empowers its citizens, including Disabled citizens, is urgently needed. The direction for change set out above should be the baseline for all political parties across the UK.
Fazilet Hadi is head of policy at Disability Rights UK. She has been awarded an MBE for her services to promoting the interests of Disabled people.
