Liz Sayce: The UK thinks it is a leader in disability rights. But it has a long way to go

The Guardian has today published a wide-ranging interview with Liz Sayce, Disability Right’s UK CEO until she stepped down in Summer 2017.

As well as reviewing Liz’s role as an advocate for disability rights over the last quarter century, the article highlights the reasons why she believes that the movement has reached a “critical moment”:

“She believes it is crucial that protecting and securing rights is a priority, during a time when people with disabilities have borne the brunt of austerity policies and disabled people’s organisations have had to vociferously resist a vast array of cuts to benefits and social care.

Initiatives such as the Work Programme, policies like the bedroom tax and benefits sanctions, moves to alter social care criteria so it is harder for people to access support, and the abolition of the Independent Living Fund for severely disabled people have made resistance essential, she adds.”

In March this year, Liz on behalf of DR UK travelled to Geneva to give evidence to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that is reviewing the UK’s progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Next week, DR UK’s new CEO Kamaran Mallick will again go to Geneva to highlight concerns about the government’s response to a UN committee’s investigation into the upholding of the UN Convention.

Last year, the Committee concluded that the government was guilty of “grave and systematic” violations of disabled people’s rights under the Convention, and made 11 recommendations for improvements. All of them were rejected by ministers.

You can read the full interview with Liz @ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/15/disability-rights-uk-not-doing-enough#img-1