Words by Smiley Team
The disability equality charity Scope has today led a coalition of campaigners in an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for urgent action to prioritise the needs of the UK’s 14 million disabled people, who have been amongst the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic but largely forgotten.
Shockingly, almost two thirds of people who have died from coronavirus were disabled. The open letter highlights the neglect disabled people and their families have faced during the crisis and the fear that a looming recession will exacerbate existing inequalities.
Campaigners want the vital National Disability Strategy - which the government has delayed - to be put prioritised to show how disabled people won’t be forgotten in the government’s recovery plan.
Organisations including MND Association, National Autistic Society, Parkinson’s UK and The Business Disability Forum have joined forces with disability campaigners such as Baroness Jane Campbell, Richard Herring, Sophie Morgan, Samantha Renke and Lee Ridley to sign the letter.
It comes as new research from Scope, as part of their ‘We Won’t Be Forgotten’ campaign, reveals new evidence about disabled people’s fears as lockdown eases and shielding is paused from 1 August. The charity found that half of disabled people feel anxious about shielding being paused and as little as 5 percent of disabled people feel safe about shielding being paused. 67 percent of disabled people think the government’s plans for easing lockdown did not take their needs into consideration, with 56 percent of disabled people will only leave home for essentials or medical appointments.
However, disabled people’s concerns extended beyond the pandemic with 88 percent concerned about the next ten years, and 32 percent thinking that disabled people will be treated less equally after the pandemic is over.
Mark Hodgkinson, Chief Executive of Scope, said: “On entering Downing Street, the Prime Minister made a commitment to launch a National Disability Strategy that would make life better for disabled people. But coronavirus has magnified the societal and economic barriers that disabled people already face and risks turning back the clock on disability equality.”
“Scope’s findings reveal that many disabled people are worried about life after lockdown. Shielding may be set to pause, but for millions of disabled people at greater risk of coronavirus their fears have not been taken into account and they feel overlooked.”
“Scope is uniting with charities and disability campaigners to call for clear and urgent action from the government to show they haven’t forgotten disabled people. The government must prioritise the National Disability strategy and make sure that disabled people are factored into all recovery plans. The government must protect disabled people’s rights and needs at every turn, through the pandemic and beyond.”
Scope works to provide practical and emotional information and support when it’s needed most and we campaign relentlessly to create a fairer society. During the pandemic - which has disproportionately impacted disabled people - they have been relied upon to support those most in need. To continue this work, they urgently need donations on an individual and regular basis.
