Hansard

It is an honour and privilege to host the first Scottish Parliament members’ business debate on United Kingdom disability history month. I will start by saying a few words about disability history month, which has only just entered its second year.

In 2009, several organisations and charities that represent disabled people were commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to conduct research into the possibility of having a disability history week in schools. The research found overwhelming support for the idea, so it was suggested that the week be extended to a month, to be held every year between 22 November and 22 December. Disability history month aims to bring together disparate organisations including educational establishments, voluntary organisations, employers, local authorities and national Government to allow them to collaborate to facilitate events, organise campaigns and arrange speakers and materials. The idea is to provide a forum in which issues that are of relevance to disabled people and groups can be debated, discussed and publicised. The key purpose is to raise awareness of the unequal position of disabled people in society and to examine the roots of that inequality by highlighting disabled people’s historical and contemporary struggles for acceptance and inclusion.

This year, the theme of the month is “celebrating our struggle for equality”. When I came to write my speech, I was struck by two points. The first was that whenever we discuss issues that relate to inequality and prejudice, the temptation is always to be negative and to dwell on defeats as opposed to victories, and on the past rather than on the future. I do not wish to be negative, partly because this year’s theme includes the word “celebrating” and also because, whether in the service of religion, gender, disability or race, the struggle against adversity is always bittersweet. It is bitter because it reminds us of a collective propensity for fear, discrimination and prejudice, and it is sweet because it reminds us of the unbreakable strength of the human spirit and our refusal to lie down in the face of injustice.

I will celebrate that determination and strength, which brings me to my second point. Some of history’s most famous personages have been disabled, but not enough time has been devoted to the willpower and courage that it takes to surmount such difficulties. What do Socrates, Pythagoras and Charles Dickens have in common? All three were epileptic, as were Agatha Christie and Richard Burton. John Milton—arguably Britain’s greatest poet—was completely without sight when he wrote his famous masterpiece “Paradise Lost”. British percussionist Evelyn Glennie has been deaf since the age of 12, and Beethoven wrote some of his most famous works while suffering from tinnitus—a condition that eventually rendered him completely deaf. Franklin Roosevelt—architect of the new deal, and the man responsible for steering Americans through the second world war—contracted polio in 1926 and was paralysed from the waist down for much of his presidency. Actor Rowan Atkinson suffers from a speech impediment, and the late television presenter Jeremy Beadle was the first person to appear on national television with a visible physical disability. Finally, Alison Lapper has forged a remarkable career as an artist, despite being born without arms.

That is just a small selection of individuals who have shown great courage in the face of adversity. They and others like them serve as examples to us all. However, there are many other individuals whose achievements are equally inspiring, although they are perhaps less well known. Born in 1939, Edward Verne Roberts was the first individual with severe disabilities to attend the University of California at Berkeley. A man of great determination and charisma, Roberts faced up to his fears while still at school and worked hard to generate a positive self-image. He overcame the objections of Berkeley’s administrators—one of whom reportedly commented,

“We’ve tried cripples before and it didn’t work”—

to enrol in 1962. He earned a BA in 1964 and an MA in 1966. Roberts’s example inspired many others to enter the university through the Cowell residence programme.

Roberts formulated a political analysis that interpreted his disability in a positive light, and he attracted a group of like-minded followers who named themselves the Rolling Quads. The group was instrumental in the creation of the physically disabled students programme. Roberts later returned to Berkeley to head the Center for Independent Living, which caters for the needs of disabled people in the wider community. He was a pioneering and courageous leader, who is now often referred to as the father of the disability rights movement.

Christy Brown was born with cerebral palsy into a working-class family in Dublin in 1932. Despite pressure to place him in a convalescent hospital, Brown’s parents raised him at home where, from an early age, he displayed a keen interest in the arts and literature. Lacking formal schooling, he taught himself to write and paint with the only limb of which he had control—his left leg. In 1952, Brown published “My Left Foot”, which quickly became a literary sensation and was later made into an Academy award winning film. Although best known for “My Left Foot”, Brown published a series of other novels, including “Down all the Days”, which was translated into 14 languages. Christy Brown is one of my heroes.

Disability history month not only provides an opportunity to commemorate those achievements and similar achievements, but allows members of the disabled community to express themselves and discuss their experiences of living with a disability. On 22 November, more than 50 people attended the launch of disability history month Scotland in Edinburgh. Contributors included George Lamb—he is present this evening—who recounted his experience of growing up disabled before comparing current and historical attitudes to disability. Jo McFarlane, who is disability history month’s resident poet, spoke with eloquence and scathing humour about the need for disabled people to reclaim their identity and about the recent “hardest hit” rallies. The launch was a tremendous success, and I hope that I will be able to attend next year’s.

I would do the Parliament a disservice if I did not note that many of the UK’s 12 million disabled people are still daily victims of bullying, hate crime and systematic discrimination. Between 70 and 80 per cent of disabled people claim to have experienced bullying at school, while 69 disabled people were murdered between 2007 and 2010 and a further 519 were attacked.

I cannot finish without touching on the Welfare Reform Bill, which will disproportionately penalise disabled people. That is simply not acceptable, so I and my Labour colleagues will continue to fight the proposals at every turn.

I end on a positive note. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to commemorate the on-going struggle of disabled people against adversity. I thank all those who have attended tonight’s debate and I look forward to hearing what other members have to say on this important issue.

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