Bristol election hopefuls are feeling the heat on disabled people

The Bristol Beacon Deaf and Disabled quest has been hit by the reformist candidate’s controversial remarks, and other MP contenders are sometimes unsure of their parties’ policy positions.

Parliamentary candidates in Bristol this week wrestled with tough questions about how their parties would improve policies, benefits and access for disabled people in the city.

Independent living, affordable housing and human rights were some of the issues raised at a deaf and disabled search event at Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Hall on Tuesday 25 June, held ahead of the general election. It was organized by campaign groups Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living (BRIL) and the West of England Center for Independent Living (WECIL).

The event featured divisive comments from Reform candidate for Bristol Central, Robert Clarke, who used the platform to make unsubstantiated claims about the dangers of vaccinations rather than answering questions directly.

The other entrants, some of whom arrived late, were a host of contenders for the Bristol wards – and in one case were not a candidate at all. As has been the case for a number of city wastes, Labor MP for Bristol Central Thangam Debbonaire sent an apology, Hillfields councilor Kelvin Blake, himself a former chairman of WECIL, covering it up.

Meanwhile, Rose Hulse, the Conservative candidate for Bristol North East, and Jai Breitnauer, the Green hopeful for Bristol South, appeared in place of their parties’ Bristol Central candidates, Samuel Williams and Carla Denyer. Also on the panel was Liberal Democrat Tony Sutcliffe, who is standing for Bristol East in the upcoming election.

Clarke’s apparent appetite for attention was immediately apparent as he claimed an altercation involving “security and two police officers” took place when he entered the event. “If you’re going to be inclusive, don’t shut out parliamentary candidates from this constituency at the door,” he said.

Later, there was further turmoil at the event between two women, one claiming that reform supporters were there to spread “fascist propaganda”. On stage, Clarke claimed there were “1.5 million people injured” and appeared to link vaccinations to autism.

His remarks diverted attention from the focus of the exploits, which included questions from disabled people and their carers wanting to know what the next government will do to improve their lives.

Ahead of the event, BRIL founder and hustings organizer Mark Williams laid out why they need answers. “The disability movement feels like it’s gone backwards in recent years,” he told Cable.

Uncertainty about independent living

In response to questions about independent living, Jai Breitnauer claimed the Greens were “the only party with a fully calculated plan to improve social care for adults”.

The party has proposed a “wealth tax” on households with assets of more than £10m, which would fund this. It wants to spend an extra £50bn a year on health and social care by 2030, including a £20bn annual investment in social care – including free personal care to support independent living.

Labor MP Kelvin Blake responded to the same question by saying that a Labor government would change the law to focus on independent living, ensuring that when a disabled person’s independence is considered, the default will always be for them to remain ” the home”.

As Disability News Service pointed out, this was one of the few times the panelists’ statements went beyond what’s in their manifestos. Labour’s only says the party will “support people to live independently for as long as possible”.

Housing came up several times, with questions focused on how the next government will ensure disabled people can retain their independence, with all candidates agreeing that more accessible homes are needed.

Tony Sutcliffe said a Lib Dem government would “focus on devolving power to local government”, which he argued would ensure the homes disabled people and local people need are built in areas where they are needed.

Among the audience were Ifrah and Suyhaib. Ifrah is a full-time carer for her brother Suyhaib and attended the hunt hoping to hear promises of better housing and NHS waiting times. Ifrah told TV that she and Suyhaib, along with her two children, have been in temporary accommodation in Lockleaze for over a year and that the council wants her to accept a property in a different area which she knows is not will meet Suyhaib’s needs. .

“Suyhaib needs his room, but no one wants to help us without suggesting we move out of the neighborhood,” Ifrah said. Ifrah, who is Somali-born, said British-born Suyhaib had also been waiting more than 12 months for an NHS appointment. “I want to know who to vote for so I can make changes.”

The UN recommendations are causing a stir

There was applause when an audience member asked how a new government would deal with recent United Nations (UN) findings that the UK had made “no significant progress” on breaches of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD ). The UN report urges action around a number of issues, including welfare reforms, hate crime laws and workforce shortages in disability and mental health services.

Reform’s Robert Clarke avoided answering the question by saying “the UN does bad things” – forcing the meeting’s chair, WECIL’s Alex Johnston, to steer the conversation back to disability. Both Kelvin Blake and Tony Sutcliffe had to look up the UN recommendations on their phones after admitting they didn’t know the suggestions off the top of their heads.

Conservative Rose Hulse – contrary to her party’s position – said she passionately agreed with the UN recommendations, going so far as to say we should enshrine the recommendations in law.

As the event drew to a close, another pertinent question was raised regarding disability benefits. The current system includes benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – designed to help with the extra living costs incurred by disabled people, which is notoriously difficult to access, with complaints of an unfair assessment process from disabled people.

“People are waiting far too long for far too little money,” said Tony Sutcliffe, noting that more than half of benefit claimants are refused at the first assessment and have to endure a difficult appeals process. He referred to the current system and how “quite repulsive” the “work” disabled people have to do to receive their rights.

Jai Breitnauer also acknowledged the importance of the question, as did Kelvin Blake, who said: “The Labor Party plans to overhaul the benefits system to ensure disabled people get a better deal.” He admitted he wasn’t sure what that would look like – with the party’s manifesto vague on the subject – but said he would continue to lobby for disabled people locally.