Hansard

It is a real pleasure to follow Karen Adam’s very powerful speech. Her ability to illustrate her childhood resulted in me almost being transported into that church hall, with the noise, enthusiasm and boundless energy and fun showing what can and should be achieved. Her comment about bridging the two communities is probably better emphasised by highlighting the need to fill in the gap between the two communities. Disabled communities as well as able-bodied communities will be the better for being together, for witnessing the fun, noise and exuberance in that church hall, for understanding the passions and the challenges that people face and, in particular, for seeing how we can all benefit by bringing together the strengths of all our small and divergent communities.

As we have heard, 3 December was the international day of persons with disabilities, which dates back to 1992, when the UN sought to mobilise support for the dignity, rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities and, more importantly, to increase awareness of the gains that can be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. On that point, Karen Adam spoke strongly about the community that she grew up in. It was not a community that sought to pass on its challenges to its young people but a community that wanted to show people what it was.

That brings me to the challenge that I have with the motion that is before us. It talks about an “ambition for Scotland” and developing and implementing an immediate priorities plan for disabled people. It includes the phrase “if effectively implemented” and talks about

“sharing policy development and decision-making in a genuinely inclusive and participatory manner.”

There is nothing that can be complained about in that regard, except for the fact that we are still waiting to reach that ambition. We are still waiting for the development and effective implementation of the immediate priorities plan. We are still waiting for it to be constructed by and shared with people who rightly represent that community.

We have heard about the challenges that disabled people who live in Scotland face—those who are missing out, are living in poverty and are excluded from full and equal participation in our communities. I put that down to a certain amount of division and distraction within the Government. We should have done more by now. It is terrible that we are still waiting to see when we can bring together the strengths and benefits of those communities.

We have heard about the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s warning that disabled people in Scotland are experiencing

“unrelenting attacks on their human rights”.

If the Government’s sole achievement is committing to developing an immediate priorities plan that was promised back in June, that does not even start to address the crisis that our disabled people face today. Consecutive cuts to the social care budget, the lengthy wait for adult disability payments, as we have heard, and skyrocketing non-residential care charges point to a dereliction of duty. This was an opportunity to plan out and announce what could be done.

In September, a group of disabled people’s organisations across Scotland sent a letter to the First Minister, and I do not think that I can put the challenge better than they did. I hope that the minister is able to address what was said:

“First Minister, it should shock and shame us that the position of disabled people has deteriorated since the UN described our lives as a ‘human catastrophe’ in 2017, highlighting ‘grave and systematic violations’ of our human rights as a consequence of welfare reform and cuts to public services. Six years later, the fate of disabled people is in greater peril. A lack of focus and attention, combined with no accountability or political leadership and a genuine gap in disability competence politically and in your Government, has resulted in disabled people and our DPOs feeling dehumanised and deprioritised.”

In this chamber, we speak so much about what we hope will be. We see in the motion what the potential is. From the very powerful contributions from my colleagues Pam Duncan-Glancy and Karen Adam, we understand what can be achieved if we bring communities together, so that people do not need to have a haven just in one place but can live in a society that is a haven for their needs. In that way, we can make this world a proper and better place.

The cry has gone out. The letter to the First Minister succinctly describes the challenge. The question is: after all these years, will the SNP Government meet it? That is the question that is being asked by our disabled communities.