It is lovely to be here and unveil a very powerful set of posters the Disability Rights Commission has put forward today.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to hear a great speech, an important speech, not a speech from me but a speech from Bert which I read over the weekend and it is an important and powerful speech.
I am sure it will make an impact on government and opposition thinking and on how we view the key issues of disability and disabled.
I want to say three things by way of introduction.
Put on record my very strong praise and endorsement of the work that the Disability Rights Commission have carried out in recent months and years. I think they have helped - Bert in particular- to make disability a main stream issue. In one part of his speech the answer to the question: Are you disabled? Should not be yes or no, but, not yet. That is a powerful point to make. If you look at the government's targets on hospitals and schools and all the other public sector targets they have, the point the DRC is making is: that they will not achieve those targets unless every Minister thinks about access for the disabled. This is not an issue we ought to compartmentalise in Whitehall or opposition; everybody has to think about it in trying to deliver the better Britain we want to see.
I think the Disability Rights Commission is good at looking at every aspect of disability whether it is access to health services or training and education or whether it is equality in the work place. I think that has been a very important part of their record. I also think they have been strong in terms of being positive rather than just talking about the instances of discrimination. They have stressed the massive contribution that people with disabilities make to our economy, society, culture and arts- and that is vital.
The second thing I want to mention is the conservative party’s work programme on disability issues over the coming year. It is possible in opposition, with our limited resources, but it is not really possible to cover the entire water front. I have appointed Jeremy Hunt, one of our bright new MPs to be Shadow Minister for the Disabled. He is going to be publishing his work programme and focusing in opposition over the coming months.
First, is the importance of helping people with disabilities to live independent lives. I have lost count of the number of people coming to me who have been helping to bring up a disabled child. That child has reached adulthood; they are desperate to live on their own in supported living but, it is not possible to find that project. We have to help disabled [people] and families to help them live independent lives and support them in the home rather than institutional care. I think that is really important and what I want us to look at in the coming months.
The second element of how we support carers in Britain is: how much care is delivered by relatives and people looking after elderly or disabled people, and the huge amount of money they save the taxpayer and the state. We can do more to give carers greater choices and control over the resources they have to go on caring. That is the second part of the work programme I am particularly enthusiastic about.
The third is benefit reform. Anybody who has had to fill in the form will know that you need to have a PhD in paperwork before you do it successfully. I can see someone chuckling in the audience. I think particularly in opposition to look at benefit reform and make it simpler and get rid of some of the complexities in the system. The third and last thing I think I wanted to say was [to] stress my own personal commitment to these issues. I will do what I can do to deliver on what Bert will talk about. To make sure we don't just think about disability in the box of a shadow disabled Minister or a Minister for disability, but stretch it right across all departments.
Part of my personal commitment is from my own experience of bringing up a disabled child. My own battles with social services and the importance of finding a special school place. These experiences are important in helping me to understand the battles that people have to go through in order to get what ought to be theirs as of right. And you do see it daily. I was reflecting about my weekend whether it was going shopping or going for a swim. There are still massive areas where we need to do so much more to make services more accessible to disabled people. That is the one thing I wanted end on- a pledge.
I think the work of the Disability Rights Commission and Bert in particular at making disability a mainstream issue is absolutely right. The agenda of equality is absolutely right. I do think it is important that politicians and others in this area think about the special needs of the profoundly disabled where the equality agenda yes is important but there is an element for some people who need very special treatment for their very special conditions. That goes to what we do in terms of helping in hospices and children's hospices and helping sub families and special needs education and special schools- something I have campaigned on. I hope that agenda, and those growing numbers of children with very profound disability, will have an important part in not only what the Disability Rights Commission has done, but the successor body that will be formed later on this year.
That is all from me, you will hear a far more profound and important speech from Bert. I am delighted to be here and wish the Disability Rights Commission well and endorse your advertising campaign today. We are not treating disabled people as we should. They are part of the society that all of us may well become. Thank you very much having me along and best of luck with your campaign and your event today.