The DDA and Me
Nikki Fox speaks to young and old disabled guests around the podcast table.
On the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, ±«Óćtv News Correspondent Nikki Fox asks three generations of disabled people about the impact it has had on their lives.
Holly Scott-Gardner is a visually impaired student and campaigner who was a baby when the DDA came in. She has used disability rights law, now embodied in the Equality Act in most of the UK, and calls the process complicated.
Mik Scarlet was a TV presenter in his mid-20s at the time and Phil Friend was 50 years old and working with businesses to improve accessibility. They were both campaigners for equality before there was any.
They remember fighting to get the law passed, discuss the affect Coronavirus has had on disability rights and look forward to what the future might hold for disabled people.
Presented by Nikki Fox. Produced by Emma Tracey and Keiligh Baker.
Say to your smart speaker "Ask the ±«Óćtv for Ouch" to get the latest show, and subscribe via ±«Óćtv Sounds.
Full transcript
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NIKKI - Hello, and welcome to the Ouch podcast. Iām Nikki Fox, disability correspondent for ±«Óćtv News, and presenter of ±«Óćtv Oneās consumer rights show, āWatchdogā, alongside my very good friend, Matt Allwright. Now, this is my first time presenting a podcast, so wish me luck, because Iām going to need it. I can guarantee it wonāt be the most polished episode youāll ever hear, but Iām excited, so fingers crossed it will, at the very least, be entertaining. Okay, here we go.
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[Jingle: Ouch]
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Now, on 8th November 1995 a law was passed designed to stop discrimination on the grounds of disability. The Disability Discrimination Act, or DDA, covered discrimination in the workplace and also brought in some consumer protections, but it didnāt immediately give access to transport. In addition, it had a timetable for a rollout on matters such as the built environment and education, some of which stretched 25 years into the future. This law was absorbed into the Equality Act in 2010, although itās worth mentioning the DDA is still active in Northern Ireland. Weāre a quarter of a century on, so it seems like a good time to look at the impact the Disability Discrimination Act has had on the disabled people whose rights it was meant to protect.
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Now, I am joined by Holly Scott-Gardner whoās a 26 year old disability rights advocate and postgraduate student, and has advocated for the rights of disabled people in Westminster and at the European Parliament. Blimey, Holly. Now, Iām sad weāve never met but I have been stalking you online. Donāt be nervous.
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HOLLY - Er, Iām not sure Iām nervous, but I do wonder what youāve found. [laughs]
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Nikki - Weāll talk about that after the recording. Iām joking. And weāre also joined by Mik Scarlet. Now, I adore you, Mik. Mik is a musician, journalist, a quality consultant, and was the UKās first disabled kids TV presenter, and heās way better than me.
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mik - [laughs] Now thatās not true.
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nikki - No, itās true. Heās in his 50s which I actually cannot believe, Mik, because you look so good forā¦ Well, Iām not even going to ask whereabouts you are in your 50s, but you were a young adult when the law was passed. Lovely chatting to you, Mik. Itās been a long time.
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mik - And you. Yes, in fact, itās just occurred to me that the DDA has been in the exact same amount of time that Iāve been with my wife.
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nikki - Oh!
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Mik - So thatās quite amazing. Yeah, we met 25 years ago, so ah.
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NIKKI - So romanticā¦
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MIK - I think I got a better deal with the wife than I did with the DDA somehow, but weāll talk about that in a bit.
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NIKKI - Well, weāll talk about thatā¦ And weāre also joined by Phil Friend. Seventy-five. What is in the water, Phil Friend?
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PHIL - I have no idea. But whatever it is itās working. Iām still here.
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NIKKI - Itās working. Now, Phil, you were involved in the fight for disability rights in the early ā90s and you still work to improve disability rights today. I feel very much how I felt when I first spoke to Jane Campbell, talking to you. I feel nervous, I feel in awe, I feel a little bit fan girly.
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PHIL - Well, thatās all very lovely. [laughs]
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NIKKI - Itās true.
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PHIL - Iām in awe of Jane Campbell when Iām with her too, still, after all these years. Jane Campbell who used to be very engaged in the Independent Living Movement and is now Baroness Jane Campbell. Sheās been campaigning for years and years.
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NIKKI - Sheās in my phone as āthe baronessā.
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PHIL - Yeah, but thatās very sweet of you. I mean, Iāve been around a while, and certainly I remember the campaigns to bring the Act in. And of course, as Mikās alluded to, it wasnāt the Act that disabled people wanted really, but itās the one we ended up with. So, yeah.
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NIKKI - Well, itās really lovely to chat to you, Phil, today. Okay, well letās start with you, Holly. When were you first aware of the DDAās existence?
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HOLLY - Itās really interesting, because I donāt actually know. I was, I guess, one years old when it passed, and so I grew up just sort of knowing about it. And I remember my parents mentioning it when we were dealing with stuff in school and just access to various different things. And it was something I suppose I had in the back of my mind that it existed and that it was there, and I had no concept, certainly as a child, that it was a very recent thing. Ģż
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NIKKI - Do you know what? Similar. Iām a lot older than you, Holly, but I think I was 15, I was probably partying hard at an under 16 club called Turpinās in Uxbridge, which thankfully and randomly did have a lift and banging access. Mik, what were you doing in 1995 and how aware where you of the DDA?
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MIK - Well, I had a kind of really weird life at that point, because obviously I was still doing kids TV and television presenting. I also ran nightclubs and was playing in rock bands, and then I was also campaigning. So I used to regularly, because I was a celebrity, as you know, Nikki, you get invited to very strange events, and I used to regularly get invited to events with, like, government ministers and I always sort of saw it as this opportunity to try and explain that not only did we want equality because of a kind of moral thing, but there was also this business argument that we now call the purple pound. And so on many occasions I sat with my leather gear and my spikey hair next to some besuited Tory chaps, trying to sell them on this concept, because of course we know about the campaigning and the chaining people to things and throwing paint around and all that, but lots of people in power donāt really listen to that kind of thing.
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So itās really important that there were a lot of voices as well trying to say thereās more to this than just the moral fight, thereās actually a reason financially for business wanting to do that. Because the main barrier we faced was business, going no, itās going to be too expensive, we canāt do it, we canāt do it. And in a way, like Phil said, thatās why we didnāt get the law we want, we got the law that business would allow through. I mean, obviously I was clubbing at a professional level by this time, and I found that lots of clubs, even the ones that werenāt originally accessible were much more likely to let you in.
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NIKKI - Do you think in a way, Mik, that was because you had the ability to kind of make do in a way? You were probablyā¦ I can imagine you sort of lugging yourself up a flight of stairs, you know, making do just to party hard because youāre that type of person.
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MIK - I wonāt deny, there was an awful lot of crawling through various horrible bodily fluids as well, but I think also a lot of the clubs I went to were accessible. A lot of them werenāt, I wonāt deny. And I think that instead of the ones that werenāt getting better the ones that were took out their access. I remember one nightclub that had a lift in a toilet removing their toilet because they were concerned it wasnāt up to code.
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NIKKI - What!
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MIK - The thing is, itās really hard to remember, itās 25 years ago, the confusion was unbelievable. No one had a clear idea what it meant. No one had any real guidance. I mean, very much like today really, and it was kind of like, ah whatās going on? I donāt know, I donāt want to break the law, so letās just not do anything and then that way weāll be all right. So it kind of was the opposite of what we were hoping for.Ģż
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NIKKI - Yeah. Now, Phil, Iām learning even more about this now because weāre going to be making a lot of films on the DDA and the anniversary for ±«Óćtv News, and honestly, Iām watching this old footage of Babsā¦ I keep calling her Babs. Every time I speak, Iām like, sorry, Barbara. Barbara. Itās like I know you. But I mean, all the footage that Iām watching, it got me really excited and Iāve been explaining to a lot of colleagues who arenāt familiar with disability, Iām like, āNow listen, guys, before 1995 there was nothing. We could go to a karaoke bar, get chucked out and there was absolutely zippedy-do that we could do about it. Like thereās nothing.ā Obviously there were protests in the streets werenāt there? There were t-shirts, there were banners. Barbara showed me one that made me absolutely die. I think it was DANās poster: To boldly go where all others have gone before, which is just brilliant. But were you one of those that handcuffed yourself to a bus, Phil?
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PHIL - No. Sadly no, Iām not that dramatic. I was already old by then, so I decided the route for me was much moreā¦ I mean, letās be clear about something here. Without the Barbaras and the Janes and the Mike Olivers and people of that ilk nobody would have listened to anything that was going on. I was one of the people in a sense who was not quite so visible having all sorts of conversations with employers and legislators, trying to figure out how the Act would get written, and that kind of thing. So my inputs were much more on that level, but Iāve never been under any doubt at all that without other physical campaigns this Act would never have happened.
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So, you know, itās like any protest movement, youāve got to have people in the vanguard who were making a big fuss. Disability Action Network, DAN as it became known, they were frontline, they were full on, they didnāt give a damn about very much. They would lie under buses, theyād climb up steps covered in red paint, theyād do all sorts of things to attract attention. And it was all civil disobedience. And it did create an energy in the media. And I think one of the great surprises for the British public, when you saw the public walking by these demonstrations theyād say, āBut what do you mean you havenāt got any rights?ā The British public assumed we were all being looked after properly because of the charity and all that stuff. You know, we had telethons and things. So yeah, it was an interesting time to be around, thatās for sure.
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NIKKI - Yeah.
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PHIL - And itās important also just to remember, there was no internet, there was no social media. None of that existed, so it was all done word of mouth via good old snail mail and stuff like that. And just to give you an example of what it was like before, I applied to Manchester University in the 1970s to do a degree in social work, because thatās what I ended up doing, and I got through all the entrance exams and stuff and then I get this very sweet letter from Manchester University saying that although I was qualified to attend the course they were worried that I wouldnāt be able to live on my own in Manchester so they were turning me down.
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NIKKI - No!
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PHIL - That was just the kind of example. And the Civil Serviceā¦
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MIK - I had exactly the same experience when I tried to apply ten years later.
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PHIL - The Civil Service rejected me for permanent pension because I was disabled. The only ray of sunshine was the Alf Morrisā and Jack Ashleys and the sort of chronically sick, the wonderfully titled Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, which was the fore runner to the ā95 Act, but it didnāt give any rights as such, it was lots of, you know, where it is possible tos, but no rights. Jack Ashley and Alf Morris were two Labour parliamentarians who were responsible for bringing the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act into being, and also campaigned vigorously for disability rights under the ā95 Act.
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NIKKI - Was there any one event, and probably Iāll have to direct this question to Phil and Mik, just on age grounds, Holly-chops, but Iāll be back with youā¦ Was there any one event that really, kind of did it, that sparked the whole kind of movement at all? Because, I mean, I was reading a lot about the telethon that ITV did. Was that one of the very first protests?
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PHIL - It was. The protests were about theā¦ I wonāt use the exact language, but one of them was about we donāt want charity and Iāll leave it at that. There were far more dramatic ways of putting it. So Telethon embodied that and there were direct campaigns, and in actual fact I fell foul of the movement myself because I did some work with the producers of Telethon and it was felt that Iād kind of in a sense crossed the picket line. I regret doing that now, and Iāll say that publicly. Telethon was covered certainly, and there were demonstrations on air at the event itself, so it was very disrupted.
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NIKKI - Yeah.
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MIK - Itās funny you see because I actually presented a Telethon in ā92 because I had no contact with the political disability world at all up until then, I was gigging and playing in bands and I was a TV presenter, and like Phil, I turned up at a big meeting where everyone that was going to be involved with the event, and Michael Aspel stood up and said, āLetās face it, no one wants to be disabled,ā and I shouted the Anglo Saxon for testicles at him. And it caused a great big furore and I explained that I was very happy and proud to be disabled. And actually what was quite ironic was the ā92 Telethon which was the last one because letās face it, it had reached itsā¦ it was awful, was less awful than all the other ones because people like myself and Phil had tried to make them understand. But it meant that I met all of the political people because they all spent so much time attacking me in public. [laughs]
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And I met Vicky Waddington. Vicky Waddington was a leader of the disability rights movement, passionate campaigner, and she trapped me in a lift and said, āYou want to know why we all hate you donāt you?ā And I was like, āYes.ā And so she explained the social model to me. And I went in this lift this unaware person that really thought I was broken and that I was disabled by my body and kind of the more I tried not to be disabled the better I was. And that was conforming to what obviously we now know is called the medical model that says we are disabled by our bodies and that we have disabilities and theyāre the things that make us less not disabled, i.e. able bodied. The social model, the revelation coming out like an epiphany, was saying no, youāre not broken, youāre just different and that you do things differently and that thatās fine, the reason that youāre dis-abled is because society isnāt built for you and you can make it better. You can get an equality law, you can make buildings more accessible, you can change the world.
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And so I went in this lift ridden with guilt and self-loathing, trying desperately not to look like, you know, Iām not disabled, what are you talking about, and I came out so proud of who I was and I came out and realised that all these other people were part of my community and I was one of them and they were one of me. And even if we didnāt share the same impairment or illness or condition we shared that experience of being made less able to do something because the world around us wouldnāt let us excel or fulfil our lives. And honest to God, from that day who I was changed, what I do changed and everything.
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And I think that thatās the thing I think that lots of younger people, like Holly, have grown up with, because that thinking was so new to so many of us, you know, the political gang knew about it, theyād met Mike Oliver, they knew all that, but most disabled people in this country had no idea why Telethon was bad, they just didnāt like it. And I think thatās the thing thatāsĢż changed so much in the last 25 years, is so many more people are aware that there is more to being disabled than just not being able to do something like everybody else.
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NIKKI - Yeah, and thatās beautifully explained, Mik, actually because it is seemingly very simple for people who understand it, but yet sometimes even when I try and explain it to other people I still feel even now in 2020 itās not grasped immediately. Itās probably the way Iām explaining it. Holly, as a younger person how do you feel hearing the events that Phil and Mik have described leading up to the DDA? Do you think similar could happen now, obviously COVID restrictions aside of course? Are we going to see protests again?
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HOLLY - I think itās so interesting. I mean, for me itās so important to hear that because whilst I grew up knowing I had rights I was never really connected with any of the people who got me those rights. And I didnāt know until, I suppose I was a teenager and young adult, about the social model. I mean, I just had a vague idea that it wasnāt all that bad to be blind. My parents had always raised me to be kind of like, oh well, no point in worrying about it, so it was very much like I was raised with a positive viewpoint on my blindness, but I didnāt know the social model until later. So itās actually really important I think for us to hear this.
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And as to whether we could have more protests, from what I see there is a struggle between online activism and offline. And I think online activism is very important and necessary, and what it does is it makes activism accessible to people who maybe canāt do a lot of the stuff offline. You know, people with chronic illnesses who for various reasons may not be able to leave their houses. But what I think can happen is sometimes we can get caught in a bit of an echo chamber, and I know I do this myself where Iāll be so frustrated about an access issue and Iāll talk about it and talk about it online and people are like, āOh yes, this is terrible, this is terrible,ā and you feel like youāre connecting with people. And in some ways you are, but then in other ways itās almost like, well nothing changes because all Iāve done is talk to other people who think itās bad as well.
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NIKKI - No, I hear you, I hear you. Do you think, Holly, though that having disability discrimination legislation in place, do you think itās put you in a better position in your life than those that grew up without it?
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HOLLY - I think itās absolutely put me in a better position; I donāt think itās fixed everything. So I think that knowing I have rights is very, very important for how you grow up and your sense of self. So just that knowledge has helped me. And I donāt think we can underestimate that. As for the strength of the law itself, well the others have said itās not the law disabled people hoped for, and I can really understand that, because what I find as someone whoās now an adult having to deal with this stuff by myself is that the hardest thing is actually challenging anything and using what is now the Equality Act to challenge discrimination. I mean, itās so difficult. Itās complicated. Itās not a particularly robust law, thereās lots of interesting ways of getting around it. And just the money and the resources it takes, and even though you can get Legal Aid, for example, just getting that is a process. And I mean, I recently discovered that the Legal Aid form isnāt fully accessible, so thereās an irony. [laughter]
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PHIL - Oh, why am I not surprised?
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HOLLY - I know.
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PHIL - Iām not surprised by Hollyās comment at all. I just want to add in something that Hollyās triggering in me, and that was that not only was there campaigning around the law and the changes and so on, there was also a massive change in the way we thought about ourselves, and therefore the language we used about ourselves. So you have to remember that when Mik was doing the Telethons it was physically handicapped people. Poor invalids. We drove invalid carriages. All that kind of stuff. Younger people now talk about themselves in a very different way. Even if they donāt know about the social model they are still positioning themselves as viable human beings who happen to have some kind of impairment.
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We all grew up in special schools, spent long periods in hospitals. The movement in some ways was formed because of that. Hollyās challenges now are much more tricky. Many, many disabled people, thank goodness, are now growing up and going to ordinary schools and doing all those things. So itās much tougher now to unite and campaign perhaps, even with all the social media, than it used to be when we kind of all marched or whatever.
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MIK - Itās funny really, Phil, because I think the exact opposite. I was totally outside. I went to a mainstream school, I was disabled since birth, and the whole political thing was a clique that you could not get into. And it was impossible. So actually now Holly and her generation, they all talk to each other. You know, Iāve learnt so much online from talking to people with different impairments and finding out what they want so that when Iām doing my work I can be a conduit for them, and I can get them involved. That I donāt think existed then and I think what we need to do as older people is support the younger people and give them the skills that weāve got and the way in.
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Because lots of us, when we got the law, we all went off and developed very nice consultancies and jobs and things that were about implementing what weād got. I really think itās time to get all the young people involved in that, to get them onboard, to educate them and to bring them up and to give them that pride that we really felt and that we do feel. You know, ten years ago I was offered the chance to walk again and I turned it down because I am happy in a wheelchair and no one could get it.
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NIKKI - Mind. Blown.
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MIK - Thatās the thing that the social model and the law gave us, is that there is a whole generation that are growing up, like Holly, who said, āWell I was raised to just think thereās no big deal about it.ā I donāt think any of our generation had that.
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PHIL - Part of our challenge back in the ā80s and ā90s was getting non disabled people to listen to us. Nowadays I think itās the same challenge. How does Hollyās generation get non disabled people to listen to them?
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HOLLY - Yeah, I think thereās truth in that. I mean, I think both of you are right in different ways. So I think there is truth that when you go to specialist schools and things like that thereās obviously more of a connection with other disabled people because you spend every day with them. So I did go to a blind school for a certain amount of time. I was mostly mainstream educated, but I went to disability summer camps during the summer holidays and that really formed a crucial part of my identity because it got me out of the blind community as well. And the blind community can be quite insular. We like to spend a lot of time with each other.
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And I think thereās something good in that, like there are good things about that, but also sometimes we miss the wider disability rights movement because weāre so busy just hanging out with other blind people all the time. So going to wider disability summer camps, and Iām really grateful to my parents for that, because my parents basically said, āWell just go to this, you donāt have to go to a blind thing, weāll just send you to this instead.ā And that was so cool for me because I met wheelchair users, I met people with learning disabilities, like all across the disability spectrum.
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And it changed my outlook on myself and it also taught me about working with other disabled people and where a wheelchair user might guide me, I might hold onto the back of their chair so they could guide me, I might reach something for them that they couldnāt actually get to. So it taught me a lot about working collectively, and that was really important to learn that young. But then I think thereās truth in what Mik says, that we do connect online as well. I think the danger with connectingā¦ Well, the danger with connecting online is not the right phrase I think. Connecting online is so powerful but weāve also got to learn how to take that offline.
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So thereās two sides to it, you know, I think that connecting online transformed my life and it connected me with adults who were fighting for disability rights and that was incredible, but thereās also difficulty in that because weāre not doing so much offline activism, or perhaps we are, but a lot of us donāt find it. So weāve got to learn how to take that offline and get that out to people, like you say, actually reach non disabled people.
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NIKKI - Yeah. One of the things youāve all touched on during this fascinating chat really is how you see yourself as disabled people. Youāve all mentioned it in some way or the other, and Iām just wondering, now weāve got this unavoidable narrative that is the Coronavirus, this hideous virus, and weāre hearing a lot more use of the word vulnerable, are any of you concerned about how weāre viewing disability at the moment, thinking in terms of Coronavirus?
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PHIL - Youāre absolutely right, Nikki. Vulnerable is a word to be avoided at all costs because it sets you up to be, you know, you need protection and so on. Iām reminded of a six foot ten rugby player who said to me, āIf you come in with a double barrelled shotgun and point it at me Iām feeling pretty vulnerable.ā [laughter] I think one of our colleagues, Simon Minty, uses the term susceptible.
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MIK - Yeah.
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PHIL - And thatās true, I think we are susceptible.
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NIKKI - Yeah.
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PHIL - I have other conditions and I have to be careful, but Iām not vulnerable and I donāt want people to think Iām vulnerable, but there are issues around this virus which clearly disabled people, perhaps more than some other groups, need to be careful about. But yeah, vulnerableās a word to be struck off.
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MIK - Thereās a horrible element as well that vulnerable has come to also mean that we canāt guarantee that weāre going to get the same treatment. Because people are so sure that our lives are not worth living and thereās quality of life and all this stuff, weāve seen huge things being rushed out across the country to increase cycling and walking, and yet nearly none of them have thought about access at all. Where I live between the low traffic neighbourhoods and the cycle lanes, all of which seem to have just been whacked out without any thought at all, my world has shrunk. Do you know what I mean? And I think thatās happening all over the place. So not only can we not go out because weāre susceptible, but when we do go out again I think weāre going to find a very different place, a very different country, and I think that might be the trigger.
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You know you were talking about the trigger before, I think thereās going to be a big trigger when we come back. Weāve locked ourselves away for a long time and itās not fair. Society now knows what itās like. The social model has been applied to the whole country now. Theyāre all disabled by a virus and the need to avoid it. So itās time for everyone to jump onboard, and I think disabled people will get quite active when weāre finally allowed out again, because we as a community have had the most deaths as well. So itās really important that we donāt let this just go, and all that suffering go wasted.
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NIKKI - Yeah.
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PHIL - I think the other thing just to quickly add is that I am older than my colleagues and I think one of the things that is not being talked about enough is the disability in the movement sense has never really been addressed in terms of age. We talk about older people, we talk about old people, but we donāt talk about disabled older people. And the numbers of deaths in care homes and that kind of thing has been just scandalous. As a movement, if we are a disability movement, we need to be focusing attention on how we protect the rights of that group, you know, the lack of visiting and the mental health issues that they suffer. I mean, itās just extraordinary. There is an age construct here and I think younger disabled people, perhaps like Holly, have a different set of circumstances to somebody like me. My own kids, you know, who are in their 30s and 40s now, theyāre not able to lead the lives they want to lead because they may infect me. You know, so itās very, very strange.
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NIKKI - Yeah. Holly, how do you feel about it? I mean, would you go as far to say that the Coronavirus has had an entirely negative impact on disability and the movement now that weāre 25 years on, or do you have a more positive take on it?
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HOLLY - I think COVID is really complicated. Iām young, Iām reasonably healthy. My blindness doesnāt affect me in terms of making me more susceptible to a virus. What Iāve really seen though is the blind community really falling apart, and that really struck me at the beginning of COVID, was just how a community which I identify so strongly about was just struggling so much. And the reason for that was, and we can go back to the social model, it was not set up for us. So there are many, many blind people who, because our rehabilitation system is such a disaster, they arenāt able to actually go out without assistance. And the charity model has always kind of plugged this, you know, just put the plug in and said, oh weāll fill that gap, weāll give you a sighted volunteer who will take you out. Well, that doesnāt work during COVID does it? So itās that whole charity model that has been peddled by blindness charities has completely fallen apart, and instead of actually putting their hands up and saying, well perhaps we should invest in better systems and not just give you charity, theyāre just trying to give us more, which is not the right answer I donāt think.
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But I think it does show how, whilst the virus itself may not be what is affecting a community, just the social changes and the effect of social distancing is, and thatās certainly what Iāve seen from a lot of the blind community, is that so many people are basically, effectively made dependent on other people because of the charity model. And itās fine if you need other people to assist you, you know, we have personal assistants for a reason. I fundamentally believe in that system, when you have the support to employ that person through your local council and through direct payments, but so often itās put in place by blindness charities who would rather do that than actually give blind people empowerment and skills. Because I think, I mean, what would happen if we all had those skills and could rise up? The charities wouldnāt survive would they?
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NIKKI - Obviously charities that represent people with sight loss arenāt here to comment. Throughout the pandemic, no matter who Iāve been speaking to, no matter what disability, theyāve all said something or other similar, that their world has shrunk for whatever reason. And I mean, online shopping was a huge thing wasnāt it in the beginning for people with sight loss? I mean, it was just an absoluteā¦
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HOLLY - Oh, it is already again because of the bloody second lockdown. Sorry, Iām trying to get a Tesco delivery slot and I canāt. [laughs]
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NIKKI - I can hear your frustration, Holly. I can hear your frustration.
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HOLLY - Yeah.
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PHIL - I think itās time we got Disability Action Network to start picketing your local Tescoās. Thatās what you need. You need direct action, Holly. Stop all this social media rubbish. [laughs]
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NIKKI - Holly, I was going to ask you as well while weāve been chatting. Have you ever had to use a DDA or Equality Act to hold somebody accountable?
Ģż
HOLLY - Yes. So when I had a guide dog, absolutely, because as most people know assistance dog owners definitely face their fair share of access denials. I did take a case out using the Equality Act, and at the moment Iām dealing with Student Finance who make their whole application accessible except the part for Disabled Students Allowance. Thatās the only bit that isnāt screen reader accessible.
Ģż
NIKKI - Wow! Really?
Ģż
PHIL - I havenāt done a direct campaign, but as you know I chaired Disability Rights UK for a time and RADAR before that, and certainly we were involved in all sorts of campaigns to try and bring the Act. I think what we havenāt mentioned was that when the Act was passed and not long after it we had the Disability Rights Commission, and the Disability Rights Commission certainly did an awful lot to kind of bring cases to the attention. And then it got merged in with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which in some peopleās eyes made it a weaker disability kind of voice. But yeah, I mean Hollyās story is just legendary isnāt it?
Ģż
MIK - Whatās really tricky about the law is that lots of people who actually have a greater duty, thereās a thing called Public Sector Equality Duty which is an element of the Equality Act that placesā¦ public sector have a greater requirement to show that they are not discriminating against people, and lots and lots of our country still donāt know theyāre covered by it. And one of the things I specialise in, and I spend an awful lot of my life at the moment being contacted by people that suddenly go, āAh, weāve got this legal requirement that we didnāt know for ten years,ā and I think that itās really important that when this is all over the government really needs to focus on who is covered by the Equality Act ā everybody ā and who is covered by the Public Sector Equality Duty, which is all public bodies and anyone who serves the public. So thatās why things like this happen because bodies donāt realise that they not only have to be equal under the Equality Act, but have a greater duty to provide an equal service for all.
Ģż
NIKKI - At the time do you think the DDA was very tailored for people with physical disabilities, not invisible, and what about BAME disabled people? Iām just thinking outside of the physical disability box which Iām thinking of, because I am myself, but BAMEā¦
Ģż
PHIL - Yeah. I mean, if we go back a stage I think at the time of all the campaigning that was going on, direct action and so on, it was a very white male thing. I mean, Jane Campbell and others of her stripe were also bringing to the attention of people like me the fact that there were women in this thing who were not getting their rights met either. And then of course there were the lesbian and gay groups that formed as well, that in a sense were saying look, it isnāt just about white men in wheelchairs, itās about a whole lot of other things.
Ģż
So I donāt think, if Iām being really honest, that people with mental health issues and black and minority ethnic people have been served very well by the movement actually to some degree as well as the law. So the representation, itās extraordinarily difficult to promote the voices from those groups for some reason, which I donāt understand. So the needs and wants of smaller communities which are based in some of our major cities, for example, theyāre ploughing a very lonely furlough it feels at times to me. And Iāve certainly made it my business to do whatever I can.
Ģż
I always remember when I was giving talks myself and going to lots of public meetings, Liz Sace which was then the Chief Executive at Disability Rights UK used to say to me, āWould you please start by talking about the rights of people with mental health conditions because that will focus the audienceās mind on a different group from the one you represent.ā And Iāve always remembered that. Itās a really important thing that we as a group, people with fluctuating conditions for example, that some days are good and some days arenāt so good, what about their rights? How do we look after their needs? Itās very complex this, but youāre right to raise that as an issue because I think we donāt necessarily hear enough from groups amongst the disability groups, if you see what I mean.
Ģż
NIKKI - And thatās still the case you feel, Phil?
Ģż
PHIL - Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Itās got better because of social media but itās still the case.
Ģż
MIK - Itās funny, because I spent a lot of my time in the survivors community of course which is the mental health community who have come out of institutions, and I always really got on with that group, I thought they were brilliant at campaigning, they used creative methods to get their voice across, but it was just that you couldnāt get it heard. And I think thereās a real public perception, itās easy to see wheelchair, guide dog, you know, or sign language, but as soon as you start saying itās hidden and that one in four of us can experience a mental health crisis every year you start getting that fear again. And I think weāre back there where people are really afraid of being disabled without understanding the wonder of it, because we never see that. So many stories around disability are around us fighting this and campaigning for that and struggling with this, you know, and Coronavirus is a perfect example. And itās time that the story changed as well, so that we can be happy and positive and creative. That was one of the things about the whole equal rights movement, it was all artists so they all had these wonderfully creative lives, and we need that back.
Ģż
PHIL - We also need to remember that weāre talking about class here too. We talk about intersectionality, you know, the idea of men and women, black and white and so on and so forth, but youāve also got the issue of class and poverty. And I think disabled people, as we know from the data, are likely to be in the poorest amongst our communities and their voice is even less heard. So itās not just about access to buildings, itās about an access to an income which makes you independent and that kind of thing.
Ģż
NIKKI - Yeah. And letās not forget about disabled people in scooters who are also dyslexic, that might happen to work on ±«Óćtv News.
Ģż
PHIL - Absolutely. Theyāre very high on my list.
Ģż
NIKKI - Yeah, and they canāt read an autocue to save their life. [laughter]
Ģż
MIK - Itās funny how people donāt think that we are more than one thing isnāt it? I mean, Iām dyslexic as well and itās really funny, that whole concept of, what do you mean, you canāt walk or read? And itās like, oh and thereās more, thereās more folks. [laughs]
Ģż
NIKKI - Right, well weāre going to round it off now, so what Iād be really interested in is to ask each of you individually. Iām going to start with Holly, and Iām going to ask you the same question really, and that is how does current legislation need to change to make your life better?
Ģż
HOLLY - That is such a difficult question. I think broadly it needs to be enforceable, and it needs to be easily accessible. And by that I mean it doesnāt require huge amounts of money from the individual to enforce it, it doesnāt require an incredible understanding of the law. Because I will read legal documents but itās still complicated knowing exactly what to say. So I think it has to be enforceable. I mean, I think there needs to be changes to the law itself, but broadly speaking, if we could at least enforce what we have that would make a difference
Ģż
NIKKI - Yeah. And what about you, Phil?
Ģż
PHIL - Iām in Hollyās team. I really think itās about enforcement. I think the chances over the next ten years of getting anything done to the Act itself are pretty remote really. There are bigger fish, it would appear, to fry. So I would support Hollyās argument that we need to enforce whatās there, we need to make the rights of disabled people much clearer to them. We need to see more resource going into organisations that are fighting on their behalf. So for me it would be about enforcement, yes.
Ģż
NIKKI - Enforcement, and access to the whole system. And Mik, what do you think?
Ģż
MIK - I agree, it has to be enforcement. I think there should be say a five or a ten year period where we say right, itās going to change soon so you have this much time to do what you have to do and then it becomes an act against the state and not the person. So immediately itās something you can ring the police and go, āThis person has discriminated against me.ā It sounds silly but I think thatās the only way itās going to happen because however much we create funds to fund private prosecutions, however much we do all that stuff, itās still down to the person to say I have to fight for this, and itās not on.
Ģż
Too many people just cannot do that, they donāt have the strength, the ability, even if we gave them all the money in the world. And it has to be a law that says this is an illegal act, you have done it, weāve given you ten years. Youāve had 25, have another ten, but at the end of that thatās it, no more time, no more excuses, do it or you go to court. And youāre breaking the law against the Queen, not against disabled person B. And thatās the only way I think weāll get it done.
Ģż
NIKKI - Whoo! Has this conversation fired you all up enough to start handcuffing yourselves to things?
Ģż
HOLLY - Yeah, I think it would be quite exciting if we did some protests because I obviously wasnāt able to participate in the last lot, I was only one years old so that wasnāt going to happen, but I wouldnāt mind. Iād definitely do that.
Ģż
PHIL - Iād be very happy to do it in the summer.
Ģż
HOLLY - Yeah! [laughter]
Ģż
NIKKI - Yeah, Iām the same, Phil. Iām totally a fair weather protestor. Iām with you 100%.
Ģż
PHIL - Iām a summer campaigner, and Iāll chain myself to Holly or anybody else who happens to be free.
Ģż
NIKKI - All right, Phil, what about me, love?
Ģż
HOLLY - Right, weāll all go and chain ourselves.
Ģż
PHIL - Yeah, well youāre a scooter user.
Ģż
MIK - And I can bring the handcuffs if you want, butā¦
Ģż
NIKKI - All right, Mik. All right. We know.
Ģż
MIK - Sorry, Iām playing to stereotype there.
Ģż
NIKKI - Ah listen, well thank you, Mik, thank you Holly and Phil for joining me on my very first ever Ouch podcast. Do you think sheāll ever get asked to do one again? Who knows? Thank you all for listening. Now, do keep an eye out for loads more disability related TV, radio, articles, from around the ±«Óćtv over the coming months, there is a lot to look out for, and some really great stuff, all to mark the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act. Please subscribe to the Ouch podcast on ±«Óćtv Sounds and there youāll also find hundreds more disability conversations. You can also get in touch by emailing ouch@bbc.co.uk, and find us on Twitter and Facebook @bbcouch. You can also follow me because Iāve got an appalling number of followers. Now thank you for listening and goodbye.
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Access All: Disability News and Mental Health
Weekly podcast about mental health, wellbeing and disabled people.