An election plea from Deborah King
"Please think about disabled people when you vote in the Mayoral elections on Thursday 3rd May.
About one in seven working age adults has an impairment or a disability in Great Britain. Yet in terms of representation only three MPs have declared themselves to be disabled. If there were to be a representative number we would have 65 disabled MPs.
In London, whoever is elected Mayor will have economic development powers which can be used to help disabled people get jobs. Disabled people have the lowest employment rate of all marginalised groups, lower even than for youth employment.
The employment rate for non disabled people is 78%. For those with a disability it is 48%. For different impairment groups the figures are worse. For those with mental health issues, the employment rate is 22% and for those with learning difficulties the employment rate is 23%.
Step free access on the transport network is another important area. Why should High Speed 2 be a priority when disabled citizens cannot easily access public transport on most of the network? How many of the Mayoral candidates have tried using a wheelchair for a day to see what some disabled citizens have to contend with in the transport system?
Please think of others when you vote and ask all candidates what support they are going to give disabled people if they are elected.
Disability Politics UK seeks to ensure disabled people get access to politics. Please look at our website and sign the e-petition. We are campaigning to get the law changed so that MPs can job share and enable more disabled people to become MPs."
Deborah King
April 25, 2012