Disability campaigners demand change from next government

Campaigners are demanding that the next Scottish government takes action to help the disabled.

Inclusion Scotland has published its manifesto ahead of May’s planned Holyrood elections.

The group says disabled people are “some of the most marginalised and excluded in society” even before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

In its manifesto, campaigners make five key asks of the next Scottish Government, including for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be incorporated into Scots law.

The Rights and Renewal document also calls for the next government to use Scotland’s social security powers to cut the number of disabled people who are living in poverty.

In addition, it says social care must be recognised as a “fundamental basic right” and that disabled people must have equal access to education and jobs.

Finally, it insists that disabled people must be given a key role in “making post Covid-19 Scotland better”.

Inclusion Scotland chief executive Sally Witcher said: “Disabled people have told us about the problems they face daily, both before and as a result of Covid-19, and what needs to change.

“Before Covid-19, disabled people were already some of the most marginalised and excluded in society.

“We were more likely to live in poverty, be unemployed or earn less than non-disabled people, and less likely to leave school with qualifications, because of the barriers and exclusion we face in our day-to-day lives.

“The Covid-19 crisis and responses to it highlighted this, aggravating existing inequalities and generating new ones, and putting the human rights of disabled people at further risk.”

She added: “Going back to the way things were before is not the answer. We don’t want to go back. We want to go forwards to a more inclusive future.”