Simon Duffy says it’s time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. The days of easy grants and well-intentioned government have gone – people with learning disabilities, families and their allies need to come together and fight for positive change
It is an obvious truth that people with learning difficulties are not at the top of the political agenda. If we wait for politicians to improve things for people we will be waiting a long time. The positive changes we have seen are the result of grassroots campaigning, innovation and community development.
But politics does matter. Today things are going backwards. Cuts in support and benefits have targeted disabled people, and politicians now blame disabled people and people in poverty for social problems. New tests to eliminate people with Down’s syndrome are being introduced. Independent advocacy is closed down. In the UK the situation is so bad that the United Nations recently called on the UK Government to reverse its policies because they breach human rights (1). Now the Government has stopped funding the National Forum of People with Learning Disabilities and the National Valuing Families Forum. This effectively brings to an end the Valuing People policy.
Lost sense of purpose
Today many people have lost their sense of purpose and their passion; they look back fondly to the ‘good old days’: when theories like social role valorisation made it easy to say what was bad; when government seemed well-intentioned; and when there always seemed to be some funding available for new projects.
It’s time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to get inspired, get practical and get organised.
The good news is the ideals of inclusion and equal citizenship still make sense. People with learning difficulties don’t just belong in community – they show us what community really means. We don’t need complicated new theories to explain what’s wrong with institutions. We just need to start talking with pride and with confidence about what people with learning difficulties are showing us about the true meaning of justice. And these ideals are not just important to people with learning difficulties, they are also important to all those other groups who are under attack for being different: immigrants, asylum seekers, the poor and other disabled people.
We also know how to make things better. We can close down the institutions; we can break down the walls that separate people; we can create more inclusive communities. There is lots of positive experience and practical wisdom out there. We just need to stop waiting for permission from ‘on high’ to do the right thing.
We should also organise ourselves much better. It was a disaster to make the National Forum reliant on central government funding. Now we must get organised from the grassroots and bring together people, families and their allies in a united movement for positive change.
We mustn’t squabble about the little things on which we can’t agree. We must focus on the mountain of things we have in common and reach out to the other groups who are also under attack.
Reference
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) (2016) Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Dr Simon Duffy is Director of the Centre for Welfare Reform and secretary for Citizen Network. http://www.centreforwelfarereform.org
