The Labour Party has published an election manifesto which removes a key pledge it made last autumn on disability rights.
The manifesto also states the party will continue to refuse to commit to abolishing catastrophic care costs if it comes to power.
There is also no clear commitment to working with disabled people and disability organisations on disability policy-making, which is likely to be seen as a betrayal by many activists after years of promises from the Labour government to “make policy in collaboration with disabled people”.
There will also be concern that the declaration avoids any reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Meanwhile, one of the manifesto’s biggest flaws is that it fails to promise any action on the serious and continuing concerns about safety in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the countless deaths linked to the department’s actions and failures.
Despite growing concerns about safeguarding in recent months, including further revelations from the Disability News Service (DNS) this week (see separate article), there is not a single word in the manifesto about how a Labour government would address these concerns.
Last year DNS obtained a copy of the National Policy Forum report, an internal party document that was meant to form the basis of the party’s manifesto.
In its report, the party promised to “ensure that respect and dignity are again at the heart of our social care system” and that “every step of the social care system is supportive and accessible”.
He also promised to “reform the current unfair and punitive Tory system and end punitive Tory sanctions that rob people of their dignity.”
None of these pledges appear in the manifesto, and there is only brief mention of Universal Credit, the working-age benefits scheme at the heart of many of the recent security fears.
The manifesto simply promises that a Labour government will “review Universal Credit to make work rewarding and tackle poverty” and that it is committed to ensuring disabled people have “the confidence to start working without the fear of their benefits being instantly reassessed if they don’t succeed”.
The declaration makes repeated reference to employment, but also emphasises the importance of claimants’ “rights and responsibilities” and “consequences for those who do not meet their obligations”.
The closest the manifesto comes to a meaningful commitment to improving the disability benefits system is a statement that work capacity assessments “are not working and need to be reformed or replaced with appropriate plans to support disabled people into work”.
There are 10 references to disabled people and disability in the Labour manifesto, six of which relate to jobs and pay.
These include the introduction of a “right to full equal pay for people with disabilities”, disability pay gap reporting for large companies, improved access to reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities, and a pledge to “address employment opportunity delays”.
But there is no mention of repeated calls for an investigation into the countless deaths linked to DWP behaviour over the past 15 years, a pledge made by Labour leaders at the last general election in 2019.
Last week DNS revealed official documents implicating two former Conservative work and pensions ministers, including leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt, in a government cover-up of a disabled person who committed suicide after being wrongly declared eligible to work.
With the DWP currently consulting on the Conservatives’ controversial reforms to disability payment, many disabled people will be alarmed that there is not even a mention of Personal Independence Payment in the manifesto.
It will come as no surprise to disability campaigners that the manifesto contains no commitment to abolishing care charges and, while Labour acknowledges the need for “radical reform” of the care sector, it is unwilling to explain in detail how it would solve the social care funding crisis.
Instead, as expected, it promises a “fair pay agreement” that focuses on the needs of care workers, rather than the disabled people who use care and support services.
The bill promises to “build consensus on the long-term reforms” needed to create a sustainable national care service “underpinned by national standards” and says a Labour government will “explore” how “working-age adults with disabilities can be most effectively supported”.
It adds: “Services will be delivered locally and based on the ‘home first’ principle, supporting people to live independently for as long as possible.”
“Our new standards ensure quality care and ongoing sustainability, and ensure providers act responsibly.”
Rather than committing to co-producing disability policy, the manifesto promises only that Labour will “adhere to the principles of championing the rights of and working with disabled people, and committed to ensuring that their opinions and voices are at the heart of everything we do”.
Disability News Service (DNS) was told the party remains committed to working with disabled people through co-production to ensure their voices are heard in the development of policies that most affect them.
DNS was also told that the party remains committed to the social model of disability, a key principle of the disability movement, despite it being missing a mention in the manifesto.
However, many disability activists are likely to remain wary of the manifesto’s lack of mention of the party’s commitment to co-production or the social model.
Regarding the UN Convention, the Labour Party, through its shadow disability minister, Vicky Foxcroft, repeatedly promised in the year leading up to last year’s conference that a Labour government would introduce the Convention into UK law.
This pledge was softened in the National Policy Forum (NPF) report to a promise to “honour commitments to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ensure that its principles are reflected throughout government”.
Yet not even that watered-down promise appears in the party’s manifesto, despite DNS being assured there is no change to the party’s commitment to ensuring that the convention’s principles are reflected across government.
There are other important commitments that were included in the NPF report but omitted from the manifesto.
The manifesto doesn’t even mention the housing crisis.
The NPF report said Labour recognised that disabled people “are less likely to own their own homes and disabled people often struggle to find suitable rental accommodation” and was “conscious of the lack of minimum standards for new-build properties to be adapted or wheelchair accessible, in line with co-design principles”.
In the NPF report, Labour promised to “work with disabled people’s organisations and disabled-led organisations to ensure new buildings are accessible and adaptable, based on ongoing government review” and to “ensure new requirements are enforceable and empower local leaders to ensure new developments meet the specified standards”.
None of this is mentioned in the manifesto.
The manifesto promises reform of hate crime laws, responding to long-standing calls from the Law Commission for a new, separate “aggravated offence” to cover disability hate crime (and similar crimes against LGBT+ people), mirroring those which currently apply only to racial and religious hostility.
This means that offenders can be charged with crimes such as assault, harassment and damage to property that are aggravated by hostility towards disabled people.
Disability activists have been calling for these changes for more than a decade.
The manifesto also highlights the need to address long waiting lists for mental health support, with the new Young Futures Hub providing “open access mental health services for children and young people in all communities”.
Labour has promised to modernise “horribly outdated” and anti-black mental health laws to provide “more choice, autonomy, enhanced rights and support” and ensure “everyone is treated with dignity and respect during treatment”.
The manifesto describes the treatment of autistic people and those with learning disabilities as “shameful” but does not explain how a Labour government would tackle the issue.
There is also a pledge to improve the “inclusiveness and specialism of mainstream schools”, while ensuring special schools “meet the needs of pupils with the most complex needs”.
Pictured: Disability activists protest outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool last autumn against the party’s stance on the UNCRPD.
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