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Powered by Progress Virginia
Northampton County
Northampton County
Not in Northampton County? Click here to choose your customized guide.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th
The Progressive Voters Guide compiles the information that allows you to make informed decisions about the races on your ballot, based on your values. Vote in every race on your ballot! It's our right and our responsibility. Please share this guide with your friends and family.
Senate District 006
State Senator
Incumbent Senator Lynwood Lewis's family has lived in Virginia for three generations. He earned a bachelor's degree from Hamden-Sydney College and a law degree from the University of Richmond. He now lives and practices law in Accomack County.
Senator Lewis was elected to the House of Delegates in 2003 and the state Senate in 2014. Senator Lewis has supported raising the minimum wage and voted to expand Medicaid in Virginia. He has co-sponsored bills that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. He has supported reproductive rights while in office. Senator Lewis has voted for common sense gun violence prevention measures. He has also supported family friendly policies like expanding access to paid sick days and paid family and medical leave.
His opponent, Republican Elizabeth Lankford, is a small business owner who lives on the Eastern Shore. Little information is publicly available about her policy positions or campaign platform.
Senator Lewis is the more progressive choice in this race.
Website: http://lynwoodlewis.com/
Endorsements: http://lynwoodlewis.com/page/awards-endorsements
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynwoodlewisva
Endorsements: http://lynwoodlewis.com/page/awards-endorsements
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynwoodlewisva
House District 100
Democratic candidate Phil Hernandez, an attorney, was raised in Hampton Roads by a single mom. He went to public schools and then to the College of William and Mary, becoming the first in his family to graduate from college.
He has spent the years since fighting for the rights of working people around the country. Hernandez vows to ease the burden of student loan debt and protect borrowers from abusive lending practices. He plans to champion policies that reduce harmful pollution in our air and water, improve coastal resilience, and create new jobs and industries in clean energy technology. He has pledged support for the Equal Rights Amendment and policies that build a more inclusive future, including the areas of housing, employment, and voting rights.
Incumbent Republican Delegate Robert Bloxom fought for increased car inspections fees. He has opposed reproductive rights. Even though he sponsored legislation to give driver's licenses to immigrants, he voted to prohibit sanctuary cities (cities with municipal laws designed to protect immigrants) in Virginia. He also voted to restrict access to safe and legal abortions.
Hernandez is the progressive choice in this race.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Joe White: Ethiopian & Still Not Hungry (New Show)
Tilahun Hailu aka Joe White is a former corporate banker turned comic.
Dressed in a dapper blue blazer, Joe returns home to WA from Melbourne with his signature good natured, easy going demeanour and jokes about life in the northern Perth suburbs where stabbings are just another way for neighbours to say hello.
Joe's stage presence puts you at ease as he navigates through topics like casual racism, illicit drug use, and privilege with a suburban rapport that almost feels like you're reconnecting with an old friend at a high school reunion.
With a runtime of about an hour (which felt more like 30 minutes), Joe seamlessly weaves between his comedy routine and striking random conversations with audience members all the while still delivering punchlines that at worst make you giggle and at best make you snort with laughter.
His relaxed nature and slick delivery allows him to banter with the audience and make jokes at their expense in the same way that childhood friends launch insults at one another at the local playground.
While there may have been one or two jokes that may have not hit their mark, Joe delivers a solid stand up performance, the type we've come to expect from the Perth talent.
Joe is a must-see for those who haven't had the chance to see him perform live on stage.
Not only because he works a room as effortlessly as Pauline Hanson demonising an ethnic minority, or because he happens to be one of our own, but because his positivity and ability to find laughter in suffering and hardship is incredibly endearing and, more importantly, incredibly funny.
An even more incredible achievement when you consider that he fled war-torn Ethiopia as a refugee and resettled in Mirrabooka, two war zones in their own right.


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Ten years on, campaigners ask again: 'If these are not hate crimes, what are?'
Six new cases in which disabled people have been the victims of brutal and degrading assaults have cast fresh doubt on the criminal justice system's ability to recognise, punish and prevent disability hate crime.
It is 10 years this month since journalist Katharine Quarmby and colleagues at Disability Now magazine drew public attention to the failure to deal with disability hate crime by highlighting five horrific murders of disabled people, and asking, "If these are not hate crimes, what are?"
Now Disability News Service (DNS) has had to ask that question again, in the wake of repeated failings by police, prosecutors, judges… and politicians.
Three of the six new cases, spread across England and Wales, were murders, another saw the offender jailed for manslaughter, while two victims survived the violent assaults.
One case saw a man with learning difficulties tortured for a month in a "prolonged period of sadistic torture and humiliation", including having his teeth knocked out with a hammer and chisel, and being forced to eat one of his own testicles, before his body was dumped on wasteland.
Another saw a man, again with learning difficulties, stripped and tortured over 24 hours, in a prolonged, sadistic assault described by a judge as "gratuitous degradation".
But in neither case did the police treat what happened as disability hate crime*.
All but one of the six cases were dealt with by the courts in the last two months, with the other crime sentenced last December.
In all of the six cases, which all led to convictions, the offences involved violent, repeated assaults on the disabled person.
Four of the victims were people with learning difficulties, while the others had long-term health conditions and physical impairments.
But in all six cases, the attacks were not treated as hate crimes by the police officers investigating the crimes, although in one of them the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) disagreed and asked the judge to increase the sentence because prosecutors believed the crime was motivated by disability-related hostility.
Apart from this one exception, in case after case the CPS has told DNS that the offences could not be treated as hate crimes because "there was not sufficient evidence to prove hostility towards disabled people".
These cases appear to highlight how difficult it is to prove an offence is a disability hate crime under current legislation, particularly if police officers have not collected the necessary evidence.
The courts have a legal duty** to increase sentences for offences found to be motivated by disability-related hostility, under Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
But even in the one case in which CPS disagreed with the police, and treated the offences as disability hate crime, the judge is believed to have refused to increase the sentence.
The six cases suggest yet again – following many other horrific offences reported by DNS over the last eight years – that there are enduring and troubling flaws in the way the criminal justice system, particularly within the police and judiciary, deals with the most serious disability hate crimes.
The failure to acknowledge that offences were caused by disability-related hostility –described nine years ago by a director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken [now Lord] Macdonald, as "a scar on the conscience of criminal justice" – means that sentences are not increased, so there is no deterrent effect, and no public recognition of the problem.
This is likely to mean there is less pressure placed on the government and wider society to reduce the widespread incidence of disability hate crime.
Here are brief details of the six cases.
Case one: Jimmy Prout, who had learning difficulties, was found dead on wasteland near his home in North Shields in March 2016.
For months, he had been tortured by a group of people he considered his friends. He was even forced to eat his own testicle.
Two of his attackers were jailed for murder, and the other two for causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult, with sentences ranging from nine years to a minimum of 33 years in prison for the ringleader.
Northumbria police said the circumstances of the murder "did not meet criteria to be considered a disability hate crime", and that Prout had not been targeted "because of any disabilities".
A CPS spokesman said: "The possibility of this case being a hate crime was considered, but there was not sufficient evidence to prove hostility towards disabled people or a disabled person as a motivation."
Case two: Craig Eade, who also had learning difficulties, was attacked in his own home, in Gateshead, over false rumours that he was a sex offender.
He was attacked with a hammer, kicked and stamped on, and strangled, and then finally had his throat cut when his killer realised he was still alive. His body was dumped in a wheelie bin.
His attacker, 36-year-old Paul Watkins, from Gateshead, admitted murdering Eade and was jailed for life and must serve at least 18 years in prison.
Northumbria Police said this case, too, "did not meet criteria to be considered a disability hate crime" because Eade was not "targeted because of any disabilities".
A CPS spokesman said: "The possibility of this case being a hate crime was considered, but there was not sufficient evidence to prove hostility towards disabled people or a disabled person as a motivation."
Detective chief inspector Andy Fairlamb, of Northumbria Police, said of the Prout and Eade cases: "We take hate crime extremely seriously and in any death, a routine line of enquiry is to establish if the death is related to any disability or vulnerability or is believed to be hate-related."
Case three: An unnamed disabled man with muscular dystrophy was subjected to a "sustained and prolonged attack" by a teenager from Rhyl, north Wales, who stamped on his head, hit him with a radiator, and then smashed his head through a window.
The teenager was jailed for 32 months.
A spokeswoman for North Wales Police said: "North Wales Police can confirm that this occurrence was not tagged as a hate crime, and inquiries are underway to determine why this happened."
She said the court was aware of the victim's "vulnerability", and so could have increased the sentence on those grounds – although not on the grounds of it being a hate crime – "had the judge seen fit to do so".
Asked if the case showed that the force needed to review its procedures and policies on recognising and dealing with disability hate crime, the spokeswoman had declined to respond by noon today (Thursday).
A CPS spokesman said: "The possibility of this case being a hate crime was considered, but there was not sufficient evidence to prove hostility towards disabled people or a disabled person as a motivation."
Case four: Wheelchair-user Manfred Jaedke, 61, from Boston, Lincolnshire, was found in July 2016 in his bungalow with 65 injuries on his body, after being savagely beaten to death by a neighbour he had been drinking with.
His killer, Vidmantas Svedarauskas, was given a life sentence, and must serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.
A spokeswoman for Lincolnshire Police said the motivation for the murder was "thoroughly explored during the murder investigation, including extensive enquiries into Svedarauskas' background in Lithuania.
"There was no evidence to support the murder having been motivated by hate and was therefore not recorded as such."
She said the judge had been "very robust" in his sentencing, "stating that one of the main aggravating factors in the case was that Manfred was extremely vulnerable".
She added: "He was elderly, a very unwell man because of his previous strokes, his heart condition was bad and he was disabled and wheelchair bound.
"He was unable to defend himself, therefore Manfred's disability was taken into account upon sentencing."
A CPS spokesman said: "There was no evidence to determine to a criminal standard the motive for this attack.
"Consequently, it would not have been possible to prove that it was motivated by hostility towards disabled people or a disabled person."
Case five: A man with learning difficulties was forced into a cold bath and had his head pushed under water, was strangled with an electrical cord, and threatened with an electric drill, by two women who stripped and tortured him, in an attack that lasted 24 hours.
The man had met one of the women through an online dating site, and had thought they were in a relationship, but when he arrived at her flat, she locked the door and told him: "You're going to die today," before calling a friend to join her in what became a prolonged and violent assault.
He was knocked unconscious with a pole, threatened with a knife, punched, kicked and hit with a hammer and a bottle, and only escaped when an unexpected visitor saw him covered with blood and called the police.
The judge described the assault as "gratuitous degradation". He jailed both women to two years and four months in jail.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the offences were "initially recorded as domestic violence due to the relationship between the victim and one of the convicted women.
"At no point did the victim or anyone else state that the attack on the victim was targeted or motivated because of his learning difficulties.
"We do however recognise that the victim's learning difficulties made him particularly vulnerable in the prolonged attack.
"The investigation was also subject to review and this did not change the recording of the offence."
Despite the police refusal, prosecutors did treat the attack as a disability hate crime.
A CPS spokesman said: "This offence was recognised as a hate crime motivated by hostility to the victim because of his disability and at sentencing a submission was made by the CPS to treat that hostility as an aggravating factor."
The CPS has not been able to confirm whether the judge agreed to increase the sentence.
Case six: Paul Sandford was attacked and punched to death while he was hooked up to a dialysis machine.
Again, his attacker had made unfounded allegations that the victim was a paedophile.
After the attack, Sandford was rushed to hospital with a bleed on the brain, a fractured eye socket and severe cuts and bruising to his face and hands. He died in hospital five days later.
His attacker was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 12 years.
A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: "This case was not recorded as a disability hate crime by South Yorkshire Police due to the clear wishes of the victim and statements given by him, prior to his death."
A CPS spokeswoman said: "There was no evidence presented to us by the police of the defendant being motivated by hostility towards the victim's disability.
"Nor was there any evidence that the defendant demonstrated any such hostility at any point. For these reasons, there was no application for an uplift [in the sentence]."
Stephen Brookes, a coordinator of the Disability Hate Crime Network, said the cases made "further grim reading", 10 years on from Quarmby's first story, while the "total inconsistency" across the criminal justice system was "appalling".
He said he would like to see new "tighter and understandably clear" legislation that focused solely on disability hate crime, but was not convinced that that would be politically achievable.
What can be done, he said, is for MPs and ministers to "force the whole criminal justice system to comply with the current disability hate crime requirements."
He added: "Where communities, disabled people, CPS and police work together on training and implementation and have effective and closely-monitored reporting processes then results are good, as we have generally experienced across Lancashire."
But he said that too many parts of the country had seen "substantial reductions in diversity policing and the proper training input using the knowledge of disabled people", and in these areas disability hate crime was "still a massive issue, as cases aren't charged correctly".
He said the reaction of the CPS in some regions was "still too much by the old book with clear failures to identify and promote section 146**".
He added: "The court system in terms of disability hate crime is still a mockery and if section 146 is even mentioned, too many of the judiciary just don't get it, or don't want the complication, thereby creating a double whammy for the victim – that of being victim of the crime and ultimately being a victim of sloppy justice.
"Where communities, disabled people, CPS and police work together on training and implementation and have effective and closely monitored reporting processes, then results are good.
"It can be done, but it depends on the inclusion of disabled people to create a mindset change in police, CPS and the judiciary practice, and this is where the sieve of justice is far too leaky to be of any practical use to disabled people in their seeking their legal rights."
Anne Novis, a disability hate crime expert and chair of Inclusion London, said: "We will never give up on fighting for equality of justice for victims of any sort of disability hate crime.
"We will challenge the statutory agencies that still have not integrated the learning from too many awful murders of disabled people and the underlying perception that we are not as 'worthy' or 'valued', that pervades society and government polices at this time.
"All who deny the perception of our communities and organisations that such cases are hate crime, need to realise, we, Deaf and disabled people, are the experts, no one else!"
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said: "We have one of the strongest legal frameworks in the world to protect those who become a victim of hate crime.
"This has resulted in more prosecutions than ever before.
"The government will give careful consideration to whether the current legislation requires change following the views of the home affairs select committee in its hate crime report.***"
A Home Office spokesman said: "All forms of hate crime are unacceptable and those who commit these awful crimes should be prosecuted.
"We have some of the strongest laws in the world to tackle hate crime but it is not just about legislation.
"That is why last year the home secretary published a comprehensive new hate crime action plan that is driving forward action to tackle hate crime across government and the criminal justice system."
Last year, DNS reported that angry campaigners had attacked that action plan for its "totally disrespectful" failure to address problems around disability hate crime.
The Home Office spokesman added: "Disability hate crime is significantly under-reported by victims, and that is why the government is working with community groups to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report it amongst disabled people, their carers and families.
"We have also asked Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to assess the police response to ensure it is dealt with effectively and efficiently, and we are working with the Crown Prosecution Service and Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service to ensure that all those who commit hate crimes receive heavier sentences."
He also pointed to new joint training between the police and CPS staff to improve the way the police identify and investigate hate crime, and a national strategy and operational guidance published by the College of Policing to ensure that police deal with hate crime effectively.
And he said CPS was working on a policy statement covering crimes against disabled people, setting out service standards expected when disabled victims and witnesses seek prosecution and attend court.
Neither the CPS nor any of the police forces involved in the six cases raised any concerns about the way the criminal justice system deals with disability hate crime in their responses to questions from DNS.
But a CPS spokesman said: "Wherever there is evidence a crime was motivated by hatred based on a victim's disability, we will always treat it as a hate crime.
"In some cases, disabled people may be the victims of offences which do not amount to hate crime.
"In these cases, prosecutors will still present evidence of aggravating factors in court, as these will have an impact on the seriousness of the offence and any possible sentence."
*The Crown Prosecution Service defines a disability hate crime as "any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's disability or perceived disability"
**Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 imposes a duty on the court to increase sentences for offences motivated by disability-related hostility, while the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 doubles to 30 years the starting point for sentences for disability hate crime murders
***This inquiry looked at the violent consequences of online hate crime and mentioned disability hate crime only in passing
20 July 2017
Jared O'Mara calls for action on bullying and harassment by MPs
A newly-elected disabled MP is calling for action to address the bullying and harassment he has witnessed in the House of Commons, in a bid to introduce a new culture of "decorum and professionalism" into parliament.
Jared O'Mara has previously spoken to Disability News Service (DNS) about some of the access barriers he has faced in parliament since he defeated former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to win the Sheffield Hallam seat in June.
Now he is calling on the House of Commons to draw up a policy on bullying and harassment by MPs, and to carry out a regular access audit of the parliamentary estate.
Many disabled people were appalled when O'Mara – who is unable to stand for longer than five or 10 minutes – described earlier this month how he had been unable to attend a couple of debates in the main Commons chamber because there were no seats available.
But he has now told DNS that he wants the parliamentary authorities to introduce an anti-bullying and harassment policy that would prevent the kind of behaviour he has witnessed in the Commons chamber.
He said he had not been bullied or harassed directly, but had been affected by the comments and "jeering" directed against male MPs who have taken advantage of new rules allowing them not to wear ties.
The new rules are believed to have been introduced by the Commons speaker, John Bercow, after O'Mara made it clear he was unable to wear a buttoned shirt and tie because of his impairment.
All male MPs are now allowed to speak in the Commons chamber without wearing a tie, while O'Mara has also been allowed to wear a tee-shirt under a jacket.
But O'Mara said that comments made by the transport minister, John Hayes, who warned that he would refuse to take interventions from any male MPs who were not wearing ties, had made him feel "really upset and uncomfortable".
He said he had taken these comments as "harassment", even though they were not directed at him.
A spokesman for Hayes had failed to respond to a request for a comment by noon today (Thursday).
O'Mara said: "There has been other jeering when MPs have been not wearing a tie. It's Neanderthal and bestial."
He said he was also disturbed by the general "heckling and shouting" at fellow MPs that takes place in the Commons chamber during debates.
He said: "That comes under that umbrella of bullying and something I would like to take up, so people are more civilised while in the chamber and so they don't make other people uncomfortable."
He said that this kind of "very shrill, aggressive, intimidating environment" could cause problems for MPs who have anxiety or other mental health problems, and he warned that some MPs could even be avoiding the chamber because they do not find it a comfortable environment.
O'Mara said: "I just want to get some decorum and professionalism in the chamber and get it into the 21st century."
He said the kind of "bully boy, public schoolboy rubbish" he had witnessed was "not right", but many MPs were "ingrained in that culture".
He said: "I want to make it a comfortable environment and make it an inclusive environment.
"I don't know if I am going to be able to change it. Certainly, I am going to have a try."
He said he wanted to "speak to anyone I can" to address the need for action on some of the barriers he and others were facing, and was planning to meet with the Commons speaker, John Bercow.
A House of Commons spokeswoman said that "bullying or harassment of any kind in the workplace is totally unacceptable and we are committed to creating an environment in which everyone is, at all times, treated with dignity, courtesy and respect".
But although there are policies that have been drawn up to protect staff working in parliament from harassment and bullying, there does not appear to be any code of conduct that prevents such activity in the Commons chamber.
The MPs' code of conduct refers only to financial interests and rules on lobbying, while a Respect policy refers to dealings between House of Commons employees, MPs and staff working for MPs, but makes no reference to behaviour in the Commons chamber, and the Valuing Others policy in the staff handbook applies to House of Commons staff and managers.
The House of Commons spokeswoman said: "The House has limited jurisdiction over MPs as it is not their employer.
"The political parties and the whips also have responsibility for ensuring that their MPs act according to these rules, and are likely to have policies outlining how they do this.
"Should an MP have a concern about bullying or harassment, they are able to write to the speaker, approach the commissioner for standards or speak to their party whips."
She said the speaker can ensure MPs follow the rules during debates, by directing an MP to withdraw a remark, suspending a sitting of the House, suspending MPs or asking them to be quiet.
She said: "The style of debate in the House has traditionally been one of cut-and-thrust; listening to other members' speeches and intervening in them in spontaneous reaction to opponents' views.
"This style of debate can make the Commons chamber a rather noisy place with robustly expressed opinion, many interventions, expressions of approval or disapproval and, sometimes, of repartee and banter.
"Ultimately it is the chair, the speaker of the House of Commons, who controls the House and who speaks and when.
"Members have the right, when speaking, to be heard without unendurable background noise (deliberate or accidental) and the chair will call for order if it appears there is an attempt to drown out a member or when a number of members are leaving the chamber, or conversing loudly."
On access, she said the House of Commons continues "to work towards making parliament more accessible to enable members of both houses and staff with disabilities to access facilities and fulfil their roles when working on the estate".
She said the House of Commons was working with organisations including the Business Disability Forum, Action on Hearing Loss, and the National Autistic Society, and its own workplace equality network, ParliAble.
She said: "We are doing our best to adapt and find solutions to problems before they arise, and we are very keen to hear from anyone who may have suggestions about the ways we can develop and improve services for those working in or visiting parliament.
"We are always working to improve access (for example, a project to improve signage across the estate is currently underway), and whilst we recognise that there are always further improvements we can make, the pace and extent of change is of course limited by the age and nature of the building and the fact that we are operating within a grade II listed building and UNESCO World Heritage Site."
O'Mara's comments drew support from Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams.
She said: "I have spoken to Jared about the barriers that he has faced since arriving in parliament.
"He has rightly raised a number of serious issues which we are working with the parliamentary authorities to resolve as a matter of priority.
"The Labour whips have found Jared a room close to the chamber, and I understand that the Labour party are looking at what immediate support can be provided for Jared while he is setting up his parliamentary and constituency offices.
"As we set out in Labour's manifesto with and for disabled people, access to political life is a vital part of breaking down the barriers that disabled people face in our society.
"Jared has rightly demonstrated that there is much more work to be done, particularly in terms of ensuring that the parliamentary estate and working practices are accessible to everyone."
Deborah King, co-founder of Disability Politics UK, also welcomed O'Mara's comments.
She said: "Stopping the hostile work environment would remove another barrier which deters would-be disabled politicians from seeking to enter the Commons."
She added: "Disability Politics UK strongly supports Jared O'Mara MP in his effort to change the Commons' policies and procedures which could in turn lead to a change in MPs' behaviour.
"Freedom of political speech is one of the most highly protected forms of communication in international human rights law.
"However, that does not include the 'right' to create a hostile, intimidating work environment for fellow MPs.
"The speaker and the Commons have to act on Jared O'Mara's proposals."
20 July 2017
McDonnell calls for disabled-led solution to care crisis, as DPAC occupies parliament
Labour's shadow chancellor has called for disabled people themselves to be given the job of designing the solution to the social care funding crisis.
John McDonnell was speaking to Disability News Service (DNS) as activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) were protesting about cuts to social care, in parliament's central lobby yesterday (Wednesday).
He said there were two strands to finding a solution to the social care crisis: "One is more money, and two is a system that is designed by disabled people themselves."
Both he and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn supported the actions of the activists who protested in the heart of parliament, within earshot of the main Commons chamber, while there was also support from Green party co-leaders Caroline Lucas MP and Jonathan Bartley.
DPAC had arranged the lobby of parliament – as part of its week of action – so activists could raise concerns with their MPs about cuts to independent living support, with campaigners coming from as far as north Wales to take part.
The protest came two years after DPAC came close to forcing their way into the main debating chamber of the House of Commons during prime minister's questions, in a last-ditch protest against the closure of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) in June 2015.
Yesterday's lobby took place as Theresa May was taking part in the last prime minister's questions before the summer recess, but police officers barred the path of activists – including several affected by the government's decision to close ILF – to prevent them approaching the Commons chamber.
Instead, they chanted from the central lobby, calling for May to resign, shouting "no justice, no peace" and "Tories out", and warning that "care cuts kill".
McDonnell, a long-standing supporter of disabled people's right to independent living, told DNS, just yards from the protest: "DPAC have been consistently campaigning to expose what is going on.
"They want to bring their voice to parliament on a regular basis to make sure their MPs are aware just how much people are suffering."
He said the protest was "exactly what people have the right to do, to demonstrate, to make sure MPs are aware what they are experiencing, what disabled people are experiencing".
He said it "was perfectly justifiable in the light of what is happening, with people's suffering as a result of austerity".
McDonnell said that any solution to the social care crisis had to come from disabled people themselves.
He said: "Nothing for us without us is a fundamental principle of this. Measures, certainly over the last seven years, have been imposed on disabled people by central government without any real understanding of what people's life experiences are like.
"Every individual MP must have experienced what has happened in recent years, with the withdrawal of care and the withdrawal of benefits, which has plunged people into absolute desperate poverty, and we know how many people have lost their lives as a result as well.
"The whole point now is of course we need more funding but at the same time we need a system that is designed by disabled people, because they know best [how that should be done]."
He added: "We're already in crisis, individual disabled people are already in crisis. We know what the UN has said about what the British government has done, we know what communities right across this country are saying.
"This government has got to act, and if they won't act they should stand down from power and allow Labour to come to power to tackle this."
Corbyn also spoke to DNS and offered his support for the protest.
He said that cuts to social care had led to many disabled people "losing the possibility of a genuinely independent life and genuinely supportive accommodation", which he had seen in his own and other constituencies.
He said this was why Labour had said during the general election campaign that it would put more money into social care.
He said: "Social care we did raise a great deal in the general election.
"It often gets assumed that all social care needs are for older, dependent people.
"Of course, many are, but there are also those with disabilities or often quite young people with very special needs that need social care, of whom some obviously are here today.
"I do fully understand that and that is why we made the points we did during the election campaign."
Corbyn also backed the right of disabled activists to protest in the heart of parliament, saying that "everyone has a right to protest".
McDonnell had earlier liaised with Commons security staff after a DPAC activist had become distressed when he was prevented from accessing parliament because he was wearing a tee shirt which raised awareness about invisible impairments.
After McDonnell's intervention, he and another activist, who was wearing a DPAC tee shirt, were allowed into parliament.
DPAC is calling for "urgent action" to tackle the social care funding crisis, and for the government to ensure that the green paper and consultation promised by May will address issues such as upholding disabled people's right to independent living; protecting the futures of disabled younger people; ensuring the necessary infrastructure to support the use of personal assistants; and enabling councils to fulfil their obligations under the Care Act 2014.
DPAC said that "most basic choices such as when to get up, go to bed or use the toilet, when and what to eat, and the choice to leave the house are no longer in the hands of disabled people but subject to local authority budget allocations which are becoming ever more restricted".
Activists who took part in the lobby told DNS why they wanted to speak to their MPs about independent living.
Disability activist Nathan Lee Davies travelled from Wrexham, north Wales, to attend the lobby and put pressure on Theresa May to fulfil her promise to review social care funding.
He said: "We just want disabled people to be assured of independent living in the future, and young disabled people to have the chance to live their lives.
"It is looking very, very bleak at the moment."
Several campaigners from Camden wanted to raise their concerns about the council's plans to increase charges for council-funded social care in the north London borough, while at the same time spending £44 million renovating its old town hall building.
One carer, who has an adult disabled son, said the imposition of new charges of more than £30 a week on his care meant he might not be able to afford the therapies and supplements he needed to stay healthy.
She said: "When I die, what the heck is going to happen? Will he get so little money that he can't get his supplements and therapies and will continue being ill?"
Claire Glasman, from the disabled women's organisation WinVisible, said: "We are very worried that other boroughs are going to use Camden as an excuse to hike up their charges as well."
She said she had heard from a carers group in another London borough that the council had quoted Camden's actions as a reason for increasing charges.
Glasman also said that one disabled woman from Camden had given up her council-funded support because it imposed charges on her, having warned the local authority that that was what she would do.
Now she has had to ask WinVisible to find help with reading her letters and visiting the doctor.
Glasman said this was quite a common problem, and added: "They want people to be self-financing and self-managing, which is their jargon for 'get on with it yourself'."
Sue Elsegood, from Greenwich, said she wanted to talk to her MP about a concern faced by disabled people who previously received support from the Independent Living Fund and were now receiving personal health budgets.
She said that she and other disabled people in such situations were now being told that they cannot receive funding to pay for their own PAs when they are admitted to hospital.
She said a friend who was in hospital had lost her one-to-one PA support, and had to rely on assistance from nursing staff. This also meant that her PAs were not being paid while she was in hospital.
Elsegood said: "I am terrified at the prospect of going into hospital. It doesn't make any logical sense because it will save money if people recover more quickly in hospital, and it also supports the hospital staff.
"It would be impossible for someone who has 24-hour support at home to have their daily needs and general welfare met [in hospital]."
Elsegood said she had not been warned about the policy before she was transferred to a personal health budget.
She said some wards had only one member of nursing staff to seven patients, whereas she and other former ILF-users might require one-to-one support.
She said she was also at the lobby to add her backing to protests against the austerity cuts, because many disabled people had had their social care packages cut and "are really struggling".
Roger Lewis, from DPAC, said the government was "redefining disabled people as outsiders" and "a burden" and "not economically viable" through its cuts to social care, and was suggesting they were entitled only to the "lowest acceptable level of care".
He said the cuts to social care had most affected local authorities that were already "hit hardest" by government cuts and had the highest levels of deprivation and social inequality.
And he called on the government to reopen the Independent Living Fund which "kept people out of residential care and allowed then to live in their communities equally".
He said he was most concerned by the "reintroduction of residential living" as an acceptable form of support and one that was part of a private market.
He said the years of cuts had "pushed us back 30 years" on independent living.
20 July 2017
DR UK's new boss pledges better links with other DPOs and grassroots groups
The new boss of Disability Rights UK (DR UK) has pledged to do more to involve young disabled people in the organisation's work, and improve its relationships with other disabled people's organisations (DPOs) and grassroots campaigning groups.
Kamran Mallick took over as chief executive of the national, pan-disability, user-led organisation this month, following the retirement of Liz Sayce.
His previous job was as chief executive of Action on Disability (AoD), an organisation he helped to double in size over nearly 13 years in charge.
He says he has already been made "very much aware" by other disabled people since his appointment of concerns that DR UK had grown too close to the government.
But in his first major interview since his appointment, he has told Disability News Service that he has no plans for DR UK to stop engaging with government.
Instead, he will build on his own experience of "working round the table" with the local council, in Hammersmith and Fulham, while at the same time working closely with an influential and outspoken grassroots organisation, Hammersmith and Fulham Coalition Against Cuts (HAFCAC).
He said: "We found a working pattern where HAFCAC were the vocal group within the borough and what AoD and I were doing was listening and supporting that group but [also] working round the table with the local authority."
He said it was a "balancing act" to be trying to influence the council and yet also "show people round the table the viewpoint I was coming from and the injustices of the impact on equalities and things that were happening to disabled people".
That dual approach with HAFCAC appeared to work.
As HAFCAC's Kevin Caulfield told an event held to launch new research on personal assistance earlier this month, Hammersmith and Fulham council has abolished charging for care services, ringfenced the funding disabled people had previously received from the Independent Living Fund, and set up an independent review of the decision by a previous administration to scrap the direct payments support service.
But Mallick said there had to be a limit to working closely with government, or other organisations.
He said: "It's important to remember there is always a line that we draw where you say, 'This is my line and I won't cross that,' where things are being done that are fundamentally wrong.
"Having that red line is really important. It's important to me, and I know it's important to many [other] disabled people as well."
He is unwilling to say yet what those red lines might be, but he is clear about some of the areas where he believes the government has been wrong over the last seven years: the move from disability living allowance to personal independence, the closure of the Independent Living Fund, cuts to employment and support allowance, cuts to social care, and cuts to the government's Access to Work programme.
He said: "I am aware of some of the criticism levelled at DR UK and people have felt since they heard I was joining that they wanted to tell me those criticisms, and so absolutely I will be looking at those.
"I do want to understand what the criticisms were, what the substance of that was, our position, DR UK's position, and whether or not we would change that."
He said it was too early to say too much about how DR UK might change under his leadership, but he stressed that he wanted to build closer relationships with other DPOs and see the organisation work more closely with younger disabled people.
There was also a hint – but no more – that he might take a tougher line on some issues, although he was clear that he wanted to continue to engage with the government.
He said there might be a change of approach from DR UK on some key issues, and was "keen" to examine DR UK's stance on some of those areas.
Like Liz Sayce before him, he will draw in his work on his own lived experience as a disabled person.
In his case, he spent his early years in a special school, before his parents managed to convince the local authority to transfer him to a mainstream school at the age of 14, just before he started his GCSEs.
But that led to further barriers, both at school and afterwards, as he tried to build a career after graduating with a degree in business studies.
After his A-levels, he made the decision to move away from home so he could live independently, and studied for his degree part-time while he worked with Hounslow council's social services team in its performance improvement unit.
This was followed by a year's secondment with a local DPO, and a move to the spinal injuries charity Aspire, where he headed a national IT and training programme, before moving to AoD.
While he joined AoD (or Hammersmith and Fulham Action on Disability, as it was called at the time), the organisation had a turnover of about £400,000, with much of this coming from the local authority.
He focused in his time in charge on "creating a diversified portfolio of income sources and on growth", and by the time he left, the number of staff had doubled from 12 to 24, and the turnover had trebled to £1.2 million, with local authority grants just five per cent of that.
Four years ago, he changed the organisation's remit to allow it to work across Greater London, so he could expand its employment service.
Even though the council stopped funding its benefits advice service, he kept it going through funding from trusts and the use of AoD reserves.
He leaves AoD at a time when his work on supported internships for young disabled people – which saw employment success rates of as much as 70 per cent – has just been recognised with a huge City Bridge Trust grant for Inclusion London to build on its work.
The model he developed grew over seven years, from working with one private sector multi-national at the start to now working with six private and public sector organisations, offering 50 internships, with about 70 per cent of those young disabled people in work at the end of the year.
Mallick believes it was the time he spent at AoD that has equipped him for the DR UK job, learning about both the barriers faced by disabled people and their positive attitudes to those barriers, and working with the local authority and local disabled activists to produce "positive change".
He said: "I found what I regard as very innovative solutions to some of the barriers people were facing.
"I then changed the remit of that organisation (AoD) to be more regional rather than just one borough."
Now he says he wants to bring that knowledge and experience to a national organisation and "use that to influence what I hope I can do here".
His immediate priority is to learn about DR UK "and the broad spectrum of the areas that it is trying to work in, where it is being successful, where there is room for improvement".
DR UK, he said, is "led by disabled people, it's user-led, so it has an incredibly important part to play.
"I see it as being representative of disabled people across the country and ensuring we are listening to disabled people about what's going on for them in terms of equality and rights nationally.
"The thing I really want to do is ensure we remain relevant, and do that by encouraging young people to come in, and for us to start listening to young people" and "bring young disabled people's voice into the work of DR UK so that they can influence what DR UK is about and what it does and focuses on in the future".
He contrasts this aim with his own upbringing as a young disabled man, when he had no contact with any disability organisations other than when he was attending a special school.
He also wants to "bring DR UK closer to DPOs, so that we continue to hear from DPOs who are doing the frontline work, who are doing the day-to-day, who are experiencing what is going on locally, because that is where I have come from.
"I have come from a DPO that I grew. I am very proud of that and I want to not lose connections with DPOs.
"I think that's something that would be of strength to the organisation so it has support from DPOs in what it is doing and saying."
This hope for closer working relationships also applies to grassroots organisations such as the Spartacus Network and Disabled People Against Cuts.
He said: "I think it's important to have relationships with those groups because they have a view, they have an opinion.
"They have things that they want to be heard and I think it's important that we do hear that voice and we do not cut that voice out."
He said he almost fell into the disability sector, forced into that area because of the barriers he faced while trying to find a mainstream job with his business degree, having "endless interviews" and "never really getting anywhere".
He "absolutely" sees this as discrimination, with employers "making assumptions about me based on how I looked as a wheelchair-user, people's pre-conceived ideas of me, what I can and cannot do.
"At that point, at a younger age, they [disability discrimination] weren't the words I would have given it at that point because I didn't have those words, but now looking back on it, absolutely, they were very much the barriers we all talk about that disabled people face.
"So I experienced all those through schooling, in education and then in trying to find work and build a career for myself."
His schooling, he said, was a "very mixed experience" that he "would not wish on anyone".
He moved from being "looked after and almost cared for" at a special school, where although he made friends there was no formal curriculum and he did not feel he was learning or being challenged, to a mainstream school where he "enjoyed the challenge of learning" but faced bullying.
He wanted to study physics, but the physics lab was up a flight of stairs, so he had to take a bus to another school for his physics lessons.
He said: "My experience has helped form my belief in inclusive education as the right way to be educated at all ages.
"I had huge challenges there, but that's part of what built my character today."
20 July 2017
Concerns over council's post-18 support after ombudsman ruling
A local authority is facing claims that it is breaching the rights of disabled teenagers by denying them the support they need as they prepare for the transition to adulthood.
The claims come from the grandmother of a disabled teenager, after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman published a highly critical report into the failings of Labour-run Croydon council.
The ombudsman found that the grandmother, Mrs A, had been "stretched beyond capacity" after the council's children's services left her without any respite care for two years in 2015, following years of repeated calls for an improved package of respite care as she struggled to care for her grandson on her own.
His care package ended suddenly in 2015 when his school said it could no longer meet his complex needs – he has very high support needs and life-threatening epilepsy – and she was left with no respite at all.
But Mrs A, who has been caring for her grandson since her daughter died in 2004, also complained to the ombudsman about the council's failure to plan for her grandson's transition to adult services, and to complete his education, health and care plan (EHCP), which would lay out his support package up to the age of 25.
As well as finding against the council over its failure to provide suitable respite provision since 2015, the ombudsman said Croydon was at fault for failing to transfer her grandson to an EHCP within the statutory timescales.
Mrs A told Disability News Service this week: "There is a severe problem in Croydon and we are just the tip of the iceberg."
She has spoken to many other families in the borough who have faced a similar refusal by the council to provide the services they need – including further education funding – as their disabled child turns 18.
She also said that advocacy and advice services for carers in Croydon have been "overwhelmed" by the demand for their services, because of the council's rejection of so many requests for post-18 funding.
She said that other families had just "walked away" from council services because it was "easier to just go without".
She said: "For me, that is a deep injustice. There are some very, very vulnerable families in Croydon because they just don't have a voice."
She said the ombudsman's ruling was a "significant victory", following several years of an "uphill battle" with the council.
She believes that the council ignored what she sees as its duty to safeguard her much-loved daughter's two children, who were left grief-stricken and vulnerable by her sudden death nine years ago.
A council spokesman claimed there had been a national increase in the number of children with special educational needs that councils had to support since the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the introduction of EHCPs, which had been reflected locally.
He said: "As such, our provider of special educational needs information advice and support has mentioned they are receiving more calls and referrals than previously, but has not indicated this is more than they can cope with."
He claimed that each request for an EHCP was "reviewed and treated on its own merits" in "close liaison with families and providers".
He said: "We always plan for the best possible outcomes for each young person, with a focus on employment and independence in or near the young person's local community."
And he said the council followed the relevant codes of practice "to ensure that there has been due regard to young people's and parental preferences where possible and that education provision is suitable and an efficient use of public resources".
He said the council was "extremely sorry for the distress caused to the family" and had "accepted and acted upon the ombudsman's findings".
The spokesman said the council was "working towards having a much more structured transition in place when disabled children move into adulthood", which would "ensure that no one slips through the net and all families are able to get the help they need".
The council has also set up a parents' reference group "to support regular consultation and the development of a co-production approach to future special educational needs and disability provision planning".
A spokeswoman for the ombudsman said she was unable to comment on whether it was investigating similar cases against Croydon council.
But Michael King, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said in a statement: "This case involves a catalogue of unacceptable failings by London Borough of Croydon, which has left a family stretched to breaking point.
"Even before the respite package came to an end, this family was struggling.
"The grandmother made repeated calls for extra help and yet she was left to cope alone with her teenage grandson where ordinarily he would have had one-to-one specialist support at school."
The council has agreed to apologise to the family for the failures identified in the report.
It will pay Mrs A and her grandson £5,000 each for the harm caused by not having suitable respite for two years and it will pay Mrs A another £1,250 for the distress caused by the two years of complaints.
The council has agreed to complete a transition plan for her grandson and issue his EHCP as soon as possible, as well as reviewing its policies and procedures and drafting a new transition policy.
But Mrs A said her dealings with the council had left her highly sceptical that it would implement the changes recommended by the ombudsman.
*Under government reforms which came into effect in September 2014, following the Children and Families Act, local authorities in England have until April 2018 to move all disabled children eligible for support from SEN statements to new education, health and care plans (EHCPs). The plans last from birth to the age of 25 and set out all the support a family should receive across education, health and social care.
20 July 2017
Disabled MP credits mainstream education for new parliamentary career
A newly-elected disabled MP has said that she would never have been elected to parliament if her mother had not fought for her right to a mainstream education.
Marsha de Cordova used part of her maiden speech to other MPs – during a debate on the scheduling of parliamentary business – to highlight the importance of her mother's efforts to keep her out of the special school system.
She told fellow MPs: "When I was at primary school, the headteacher thought that it would be better if I was sent to a special school, but my mother was having none of that and fought tooth and nail to keep me in mainstream education.
"I can safely say that I would not be the woman I am today, or an elected member of parliament, had it not been for her."
De Cordova said she had been a disability rights campaigner for most of her life and that she believed disabled people "should have the right to participate in society equally", including the "right to a good education, the right to travel and access public transport, and the right to work".
She also said that government policies on social security and social care had "disproportionately affected disabled people" over the last seven years.
And she said she was particularly concerned about disabled people's employment opportunities, with less than half of working-age disabled people in jobs, compared with 80 per cent of the non-disabled population.
She said: "That is just not good enough. We need to change that."
De Cordova also made it clear that she would stand up for her constituents in her seat of Battersea, who had voted overwhelmingly against Brexit, and would draw in her work on the values of "openness, tolerance, social justice and co-operation".
In a speech that focused strongly on Battersea, she said she represented "one of the youngest, most diverse and most well-educated constituencies in the country".
She also focused on housing issues.
She said: "We are increasingly divided, not least on housing.
"Private rents have soared. Housing is insecure. Glistening new developments are rising up around us, but the cost of housing puts them way beyond reach.
"It is a scandal that people under 35 have simply been frozen out of home ownership. Too many people are confronted with housing pressures that are getting worse."
And she called for the spirit of the pioneering efforts that led to some of the oldest council housing in the country being built in Battersea, in the 1870s, to be "reignited".
20 July 2017
Senior civil servant admits draft industrial strategy failed on disability
A senior civil servant has admitted to MPs and peers that the government's industrial strategy will not be "fit for purpose" unless it corrects its failure to consider disability and other equality issues in a green paper it published in January.
Alex Williams, the civil servant responsible for sector deals* for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), was twice forced to acknowledge to the all party parliamentary group for disability (APPGD) that the government's industrial strategy would need to address the previous failure to mention disability and equality issues, when it is published later this year.
In its first meeting of the new parliament, the APPGD focused on the government's attempts to halve the disability employment gap.
But Philip Connolly, policy manager for Disability Rights UK (DR UK), told the meeting that both the green paper and the government's earlier national infrastructure plan "may not even be legal documents" because of their "complete omission of equalities".
He said he believed the government had breached its public sector equality duty to look at all of its policies and programmes through the "prism" of equality and fairness, and he asked why there was "a complete omission of equalities in the drawing up of these documents".
Despite the equality duty, there is not a single mention of disability or disabled people, or even equality, in the 132-page Building Our Industrial Strategy green paper, while there is just one mention of disability (relating to investment in special educational needs) and no mention of equality in the 113-page 2016 National Infrastructure Delivery Plan.
According to DR UK, the national infrastructure delivery plan references more than 600 projects worth more than £483 billion of public expenditure (including £48.6 billion on social infrastructure, £88.4 billion on transport, and £9 billion on housing), while the draft industrial strategy mentions about £64 billion of public spending.
Williams told the meeting: "The document wasn't our industrial strategy, it was very much a call to action to contribute to what our industrial strategy should be.
"I will very, very firmly take away that point. If we publish a similar statement…. without that due consideration it will not be a fit for purpose document."
When Connolly then asked the government to "prove that disabled people are being listened to and you are complying with your legal duties", Williams added: "Yes, that message is being very, very clearly registered with me.
"If we publish an industrial strategy towards the end of this year that doesn't take that into account, that will not be a fit-for-purpose document."
Connolly was one of the authors of Ahead Of The Arc, a report published by the APPGD in December on how to halve the disability employment gap, which called on the government to adopt a "new, innovative and multi-dimensional approach combining incentives, persuasion, funding and legislation".
After the meeting, Connolly told Disability News Service: "The [industrial strategy and national infrastructure] documents play into a toxic narrative that starts with cutting benefits, proceeds to reduced back-to-work employment support, and ends in invisibility in the country's economic policies.
"Putting this narrative into reverse requires an inclusive economy."
A newly-elected disabled MP, Labour's Jared O'Mara, told the meeting that the government's cuts and reforms to legal aid had made it much harder for disabled people to take employment tribunal cases when their employers had failed to make reasonable adjustments for them at work.
He said this meant that the Equality Act was "just legislation on paper and it just has no teeth".
In April, a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that government reforms to legal aid in England and Wales had harmed disabled people's access to justice in family law, housing, employment, debt and benefits cases.
It also said there had been a 54 per cent drop in employment tribunal claims on the grounds of disability discrimination between 2012-13 and 2015-16, following the introduction of tribunal fees of up to £1,200 across Britain in July 2013.
The government's Disability Confident employment campaign was also heavily-criticised in the meeting, by another of the Ahead Of The Arc's authors, Professor Kim Hoque, of Warwick Business School.
He said there were "pretty severe doubts" that enough employers would sign up to the scheme to make a significant impact, and that even if they did, there was no guarantee that they would introduce the necessary changes to their policies and practices.
He said Disability Confident would only have an impact on disability employment if enough large, private sector employers signed up, and he had doubts that they would.
The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that of 41 employers that have achieved the highest Disability Confident "leader" status, there appear to be only four large mainstream corporate employers – Barclays, Fujitsu, KPMG and Lloyds Banking Group – that are not involved in disability or providing employment services.
Professor Hoque said: "With regard to whether organisations that sign up will actually put the necessary support in place, the evidence doesn't bode well."
He co-led research that found three years ago that Two Ticks, the predecessor for Disability Confident, was nothing more than an "empty shell" used as a public relations tool.
That study found that one in five Two Ticks workplaces adhered to none of the five commitments they had to make to sign up to the scheme, while there was no evidence that Two Ticks workplaces were any better than non-Two Ticks workplaces.
He told the meeting: "Whether Disability Confident will be any better remains to be seen.
"There is no particular reason to think that it will. It's very similar in nature to Two Ticks."
Concerns about Disability Confident were also expressed by Dr Lisa Cameron, the SNP MP who chairs the APPGD.
She said she had attended a Disability Confident awareness-raising event, which had been well-attended by employers in her constituency.
But when she followed up with those employers six months later, "no-one had made any strides in terms of employing anyone with a disability".
She said: "All the Disability Confident events we are running do not appear to be enough in themselves to generate change."
The disabled Liberal Democrat peer Lord Addington said he believed the key issue was the need to implement laws that had already been introduced, because there was already "enough legislation to sink battleships".
And he called on the government to look at where there was "bureaucratic intervention" with disabled people, such as ensuring jobcentre staff were suitably trained to deal with job-seekers, and know the difference between "dyspraxia, dyslexia and dyscalculia" or have the time to seek further advice if they do not.
Paul Milton, a disabled campaigner who attended the meeting, said the employment problems faced by disabled people were caused by the failure to enforce existing laws.
He said: "The legal rights and requirements are there but they are not enforced. Until they are enforced we will carry on having this problem. We are going around in circles."
Andy Shipley, policy manager for the spinal injury charity Aspire, told the meeting that the government was failing to lay out "a coherent vision for disability that cuts across departmental agendas".
He said this vision needed to address barriers such as inaccessible public transport, the lack of accessible housing, an inaccessible built environment and insufficient social care support packages.
He said he wanted to know how the government was "going to facilitate the participation of disabled people" and allow them to contribute to society.
20 July 2017
Equality watchdog and parts of disability movement 'fail to highlight achievers'
A government adviser has criticised the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and parts of the disability movement for failing to do enough to highlight "disabled achievers".
The criticism comes in a new report which was co-authored by the government's disability employment adviser, Professor Francis Davis, who was appointed to the Office for Disability Issues in April to work on promoting social enterprise and improving employment opportunities for disabled people.
In the report, A Sector Deal For Disability, published by the independent thinktank Localis and the University of Birmingham, Davis and his co-author Liam Booth-Smith say that parts of the disability movement have treated "leadership", "role models" and advocating social mobility with "caution".
As a result, they say, "disabled people are being marginalised and excluded" from positive initiatives supported by the government.
They say EHRC has shown "enduring interest" in the number of women appointed to FTSE boards, and in championing those rising to the most senior roles from black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
But they say there is either no mention of "disabled achievers" in EHRC's published strategies or there is an "almost uniform assumption" that disabled people are "dependent on" entrepreneurialism, business or civil success rather than being responsible for it themselves.
And they point out that the state-owned British Business Bank has to report on BAME take-up of its start-up loan schemes but "has no such responsibility with regard to disabled people".
They warn that the commission's "historic omission in this regard", combined with its decision to make the role of disability commissioner redundant in order to "develop a more generic approach [to equality] risks compounding this gap".
And they say that disabled achievers such as the Tory peer Lord Shinkwin, his predecessor as disability commissioner Lord [Chris] Holmes, the late singer-songwriter Ian Dury and former home secretary David Blunkett "provide a challenge to a culture of disability advocacy that runs the risk of not celebrating the achievements, example and challenge that individual journeys of success can contribute".
They conclude that "this caution regarding 'success' in parts of the disability community is adding to the obstacles that disabled people face" and that it is "time to champion disabled leaders beyond sport and most especially in the economy".
Lord Shinkwin and the EHRC chair, David Isaac, are currently engaged in a stand-off over the Tory peer's role on the commission's board.
Isaac told Lord Shinkwin that the role of disability commissioner had been made "redundant" just 36 hours before he was due to attend his first board meeting, and that he would instead be just a commissioner.
Lord Shinkwin refused to attend board meetings until his position was clarified and has said he does not accept the abolition of the post.
An EHRC spokeswoman said: "We are championing the interest and contribution that disabled people make across all of society and will continue to do so."
The Localis report also calls on the government to make a "bold" commitment to creating a new "sector deal"* for disability as part of the government's industrial strategy.
It says such a deal should offer better support and incentives to employers, training providers and disabled people.
And it highlights the government's failure to mention disability in its industrial strategy green paper, a criticism also made in last week's meeting of the all party parliamentary group for disability (see separate story).
The report says a disability sector deal should be "about shifting the perception of disability as a barrier to full participation in our economy"; should encourage "investment and confidence in our emerging assistive technology companies so that they might become world leaders in their field"; and should "send a message" to disabled people that the government "stands ready and willing to support them in meeting their potential".
Among the report's other recommendations is for the government to abolish employers' national insurance contributions for disabled employees, and to support start-up businesses owned or led by disabled people.
*A sector deal is an agreement between a particular sector of the economy and the government, aimed at making that sector more competitive and stimulating growth
20 July 2017
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com


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Viewfinder: Women's Biathlon at the Winter Olympics in South Korea
Viewfinder is Pacific Standard's daily photo feature, showcasing one image from the news.
Viewfinder is Pacific Standard's daily photo feature, showcasing one image from the news.
A South Korean woman touches the engraved name of her older brother who died during the Korean War at Seoul National Cemetery.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 22nd, 2018.
A round-up of images from Viewfinder, Pacific Standard's daily photo feature.
Spectators stand before a fireworks display over the Taedong River during celebrations marking the anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 15th, 2018.
Alex Hintermair clings to his ox Maxl during a race on Ascension in Bavaria on May 10th, 2018, in Taufkirchen, Germany.
Snowmen stand on a field in Bielefeld, northwestern Germany.


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Hospital full to capacity and misses NHS targets
PUBLISHED: 11:34 03 January 2019
Weston General Hospital suffered the worst record in the area for the amount of general and acute beds it had available to patients last month.
The hospital, in Grange Road, was either full to capacity or at a 90 per cent occupancy rate at the beginning of last month – which has contributed to ambulance drop-off delays and NHS targets to be missed.
Figures published by NHS England highlight the scale of the issue, with some people waiting for more than an hour to be treated after they arrived at the hospital by ambulance.
The figures for December 3-16 are the first in a series to be published by NHS England which looks at winter pressures on the health trust.
Findings show most people had to wait more than half an hour to be seen at the hospital after ambulance crews arrived there, with the target being 15 minutes.
It also shows every bed which is dedicated to adults in critical care was full, except for on December 3.
During this time the hospital saw an outbreak of norovirus which caused the trust to close 12 of its available beds.
A spokesman for the hospital says there has been a rise in demand for its services and as a result has opened up escalation beds, those which are not routinely open and staffed 24/7, to cope with the number of patients who are admitted to the trust.
Weston General Hospital's director of operations, Phil Walmsley, said: "Winter is a challenging time of year across the NHS and our staff work closely to support timely discharges for those who are ready to go home.
"Patients tell us they do not want to stay in hospital for any longer than is necessary and by providing rehabilitation services in the community the hospital is helping patients to get home quicker than they could before.
The trust's A&E department, which saw an overnight closure of its services in place since July 2017, also has a doctor and physiotherapist who both treat elderly patients to enable them to go home sooner.
Mr Walmsley added: "We know unnecessary waiting in hospital leads to harm and through close teamwork and adopting a 'home first' attitude, we can minimise these delays and improve patient safety."
A new set of figures is due to be published today (Thursday).
If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Weston Mercury. Click the link in the orange box below for details.


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We've made a few changes in our company...
Many of you know the name RETROCHEM, but we felt that it didn't fully identify our primary service offering of hard surface restoration. So when we decided to re-brand ourselves, we chose RETROPROS for specialty service but didn't stop there. As we evaluated each aspect of our business, we realized there are actually three key service elements that should each be managed a little differently.
RETROPROS is our specialty services division which offers repair and refinish of architectural hard surfaces for both historic and contemporary renovation projects. Examples include floors, walls, fixtures, windows, columns and ornamental surfaces found in office buildings, schools, hospitals, hotels and other commercial facilities. Although we are based in Kansas City, we have completed many projects throughout the US and in 2018 initiated expansion into other markets through acquisition and Service Partner alliances. This expansion positions us to provide more cost effective solutions in key markets outside of Kansas City and better serve our National Account Clients.
Even with the best of janitorial services, newly restored surfaces do eventually degrade in appearance. RETROCARE is our specialized periodic maintenance division which offers programs that help our clients protect their restoration investment by providing routine cleaning & touch-up as necessary to keep hard surfaces looking their best. RETROCARE is offered to all of our clients who have utilized RETROPROS to repair and refinish their architectural hard surfaces.
We are firm believers in creating sustainable surfaces that help save our environment while also saving our clients money. This is accomplished with proprietary products, systems and application techniques developed by RETROCHEM, that require far less maintenance or reapplication than traditional solutions. Our RETROSHINE division supports our RETROPROS operations and Service Partners throughout the US with product distribution and continued education.
If you have questions, please give us a call...
(913) 422-8810
Bryan Painter
Bryan has over 28 years of successful experience in conversion of ideas into working business models designed to maximize efficiency, cost effectiveness and ROI. He has held executive level positions with three large national corporations, built companies from ground up and served as a consultant in operations, marketing and technology platforms that include e-commerce, automated work-flow and supply chain management.
Bryan has an expansive skill set that includes all aspects of general construction, metal fabrication, welding, synthetic application, architectural glazing, stone restoration, mill work and wood refinishing. In addition, he has authored several articles, technical bulletins, project specifications & training manuals. He also works closely with consultants, designers and manufacturers from all over the United States to assist in development of new ideas, implementation, technical support and problem solving associated with both new construction and renovation.
If not working or spending time with his wife & three children, you most likely will find Bryan in some body of water with a fly rod in hand.
Matthew Mitchell
Matt joined our team from Bayport, Minnesota based Andersen Corporation where he served as Territory Service Manager over a six state region. As Director of Contemporary Solutions, Matt manages daily operations, profitability and overall growth of our program offerings for executive office buildings, medical institutions and other facilities throughout the KC Metro Area. In addition, Matt serves on our regional support & expansion team as we establish RETROPROS Branch and Service Partner operations in other areas of the United States.
Matt graduated from Wichita State University with a BA in Business, Sociology and Minority Studies. He also has his Master's Degree in Management from Baker University. When not working, Matt enjoys family time with his wife and two daughters. He also has a keen interest in product design and 3D technology.
Brad Bruce
For his work at Adorn Studios and Plasterkraft, Brad is well known throughout the Kansas City Metro for his artistic ability and dedication as a craftsman. As our Director of Historic Renovations, Brad manages daily operations, profitability and overall growth of our historical service offerings. Brad is a strong advocate of preservation and board member of the Historic Kansas City Foundation.
Brad double majored in Graphic Design and Marketing with a minor in Art History from the University of Kansas. When not working, Brad enjoys spending time with his wife Katrina and their two children. Brad also enjoys working on his own historical renovation of their 1918 Victor DeFoe designed residence.
John Jackson
John has been serving construction companies, designers and property owners in the Kansas City Metro since creating Integrity Stone in 1998 and has an incredible reputation for commitment to his craft. As our Technical Specialist, John is responsible for development of training, technical support and advanced research programs for all things tile, stone, terrazzo & concrete.
John is an avid history buff and enjoys exploring historical sites when not working or spending time with his family, friends and two Pit Bull fur babies.


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David Cantor explains if you can get a DUI on a bike in Arizona in this short video:
If you have a question for a lawyer please call 602-307-0808 24/7 or click here to fill out our contact form.
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A lot of people think that DUI arrests and charges are only made for people who are driving under the influence in vehicles like cars, trucks and motorbikes. In Arizona it is not possible to get a DUI on a bike or horse. It is possible to get a DUI on a bicycle that is motorized (whizzer). But the truth is that it is always possible to get a citation other than DUI for being intoxicated even if you are riding a bicycle or even a horse. As bizarre as that sounds, it's true because riding a bike or a horse when your senses are impaired can put you or somebody else on the road in harm's way.
However, whether you or someone else gets pulled over for driving under the influence will depend largely on how the state's law defines a 'vehicle'; some of them may include a car, minivan, SUV, truck, motorbikes and other vehicles that run on motor engines. Other states will define a 'vehicle' to include other things like bicycles, horses and scooters as well.
In case you have been charged with a DUI, then you can always challenge your charges in court based on these definitions. Your lawyer can argue that a horse is not a motor vehicle and if the definition of a vehicle in the state is sufficiently ambiguous, the court will not entertain your case. Look for the word motor in the 'vehicle' definition because if the presence of motor is mandatory then you need not worry because both horses and bicycles don't have motors (obviously).
However, certain regions or states may have laws that specifically include targeted cyclists and drunk drivers in which it might be a bit difficult to defend yourself. Even so, the punishments and fines for DUI on a horse or bike will be different; your license may not get suspended and your fines may not be as high as that for a DUI on a motor vehicle.
Some police officers might give you a citation for disturbing public peace, reckless behavior or public intoxication in places where arrest for DUI on a horse or bike is illegal. All of this might sound extremely weird and harsh, but the main focus of law enforcement agencies is to protect public safety from all perspectives. This is because a drunk horse rider or bike rider could get in the way of the road traffic or could injure the animal itself which can become a case for animal endangerment.
If you are caught by an officer riding a horse or bike while intoxicated, then you will be expected to undergo a breathalyzer test and failure will lead you to get a citation or license revocation or even fines and community service.
If you have questions regarding DUI Defense in Arizona, please call our offices at (602) 307-0808 to schedule your free consultation.
Fill out the form below to receive a free and confidential initial consultation.
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Thought for the Day
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right
for you'll be criticized anyway.
You'll be damned if you do,
and damned if you don't."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
*Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
Born October 11, 1884 New York, New York
Died November 7, 1962 (aged 78) New York, New York
First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women.


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Serves 2.
- 1 soft tortilla wrap.
- 2 small, thin-cut sirloin steaks, trimmed of any fat(about 85g/3oz each).
- 1 ripe avocado.
- 2 tbsp mustard mayonnaise.
- ½ 110g bag watercress, rocket & spinach.
- 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas mark 6.
- Brush the tortilla with a little oil, then bake on a baking sheet in the oven for 6-8 mins until crisp.
- Meanwhile, rub a little more oil over the steaks and generously season.
- Heat a griddle of frying pan until hot, then cook the steaks for 1-2 mins each side, depending on the thickness of your steak and how you like it cooked.
- Remove from the pan and rest on plate while you get the other ingredients ready.
- Stone and peel the avocado, then thickly slice.
- Whisk the mustard mayo with the remaining oil, 2 tsp water and the resting juices from the steak.
- Break the tortilla into pieces and slice the steak, trimming off any excess fat.
- Divide the salad between 2 plates, top with the avocado, tortilla pieces, sliced steak and finally with dressing.


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Sleeping under bridges, sleeping under vacated work places,
Sleeping in abandoned apartment houses;
That are no longer safe for Humans.
Not just any Humans but, Americans!!
Who are these Americans?
Many would have us to believe that they are all Vagrants, "druggies" or street people
Who find this kind of life style convenient and useful. Ha, I say let that fellow find his or her own way,
They should have kept a job and paid their bills
Alas, they are part of societies ills. To many this issue is a joke,
As they laugh at the fellow who has just gone broke.
Besides, it is not our fault they say:
It's the government's problem anyway! It is not our problem that the plants are shrinking
And closing down and that many a person is homeless bound! Let the welfare offices open wide
Let the shelters give "these people" a place to run and hide..
The safety net is there for all who want it,
The system works if only you try!! So, go on out there, and lay your head down on that cold park bench,
Or curl up in some dark alley and cover your nose to avoid the stench! Now "you people" be patient and try to understand
That we don't have any easy answers near at hand.
Unfortunately, we all have to wait and see
How many more Americans will fall homeless in the land of the free!!


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4 Healthy Expectations To Ensure A Positive Job Search
By: Vanderbloemen August 9, 2018
Searching for a new job can be a stressful and discouraging process. When that position is in ministry, it can be particularly stressful, especially when you add in the spiritual component. Setting proper expectations for yourself is crucial in maintaining a positive attitude throughout the process.
Here are four healthy tips and expectations to keep you on the right track.
1. Be Prepared For Rejection
More than likely, we have all been through the process of applying for tons of jobs before finally landing that interview and eventual hire. Sometimes you are in a season of transition in which you apply for five jobs and then land your next role. In other seasons, you might apply for over a hundred jobs and not even get an interview. While it's tough to put yourself out there, it's important to not take a job rejection personally even if you felt as if you were the ideal candidate.
"While it's tough to put yourself out there, it's important to not take a job rejection personally even if you felt as if you were the ideal candidate."
2. Check the Church or Hiring Website for Communication Practices and Timelines
Every church and hiring organization is going to manage their communication differently. Make sure you check the application first so you have a good sense of the process. Just because it's been a few weeks and you haven't heard anything, you shouldn't assume the worst.
Searches and hiring processes can take anywhere from a few months to a year depending on the role. Though we do our best here at Vanderbloemen to send out regular updates throughout the search process, you should not expect it as a regular practice by all churches and organizations. I've applied for several roles from which I never received responses or information. Unfortunately, it's just a part of the process and you have to rely on patience and trust.
3. Expect to be Researched
If you are a good candidate for the role you are applying for, the church will do research on you. Have you googled yourself? Have you had an impartial person look over your social media? Expect the church or organization to do some research on you before they even reach out.
On the flip side, have you done your research on the church you are applying to work for? Do you know as much about their background as they do about yours? This is a very important tip to focus on before moving forward into interview stages.
4. Understand You're not the only Candidate
A church or organization in the midst of hiring is not just looking at your resume; they are also looking at other applicants. Sometimes it's hard to understand why you didn't even get an interview when you seemingly would be a great fit for the role. It's likely because there were other candidates with backgrounds closer to the bull's eye and not because you were lacking a particular quality or skill.
It can be a daunting process to search for a new ministry role. Throughout this process, make sure you are dedicating time to scripture, prayer, and communication with close friends and family that are supporting you during your search. With time, patience, and appropriate perspective, you never know when the right role will come along.
What expectations have you found helpful to set as you have searched for a new job?
Similar: The 5 Habits of Highly Effective Job Seekers


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SDSU Blackboard Learn San Diego State University education institution in San Diego County, California, The SDSU Blackboard system find online pupil. Please Read This If You're Having Trouble Logging In! Just a this pupils Believe In Your SDSU Blackboard now or recently registered SDSU Blackboard. Who Wants To Be Successful With SDSU Blackboard not all classes utilize Blackboard, which implies you might have to seek advice from your instructor in the event your course isn't listed under My Lessons as soon as you sign into. To find assistance with logging on SDSU Blackboard examine our scholar log in site or phone help-desk in -LRB-619-RRB- 594-3189. Please be mindful your classes will not be about SDSU Blackboard prior to this very first day naturally. San Diego State University education and learning register to acquire a course having a Blackboard it's going to be from 5 hrs until you acquire entrance to some SDSU Blackboard. To get SDSU faculty assist with registration you need to talk with this five Steps to Registration doc additionally about the Student Internet Services internet site. www.sdsu.edu
San Diego State University Blackboard could be really a platform in SDSU which generates monitor sites where it's possible for you to set articles, socialize with your very own pupils. The SDSU Blackboard website is discovered in another online site, In the event you're a brand-new school celebrity you canobtain a password and then login for SDSU Blackboard in the section. How can I receive a course at SDSU Blackboard In the event your course has been intended for this particular session, the course is going to be created mechanically in Blackboard.Questions about course missions.
College students are put inside your SDSU Blackboard program mechanically employing data provided for our platform every day from the pupil enrollment strategy. College students who incorporate your course will likely can be located on your preferred program.
Blackboard Student and Faculty Support Login Your Blackboard login is the SDSU id. If you haven't already activated your SDSU Blackboard. SDSU Blackboard Login controls to attend its arranged entry in order to thrive login and also to discover the secure entrance. Blackboard.sdsu.edu The consumers need to handle their SDSU Username and SDSU Password to Login.
- Log in to UDSU Blackboard — CLICK HERE
- Click on the Personal Information link, located in Tools box on the left of the page.
- Click Edit Personal Information and make your adjustments and you're able to use any email address.
- Click on the Submit button to save.
SDSU Blackboard Student Help
- Student Telephone: -LRB-619-RRB- 594-3189
- Student Email: [email protected]
- Address: 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
Blackboard Student Aid Blackboard support and support site for students of San Diego State University For answers to common questions, like the Blackboard and how to use your classes, you can visit the sections under: Logging in to the Blackboard.
LL-200 Second Floor — Library
Monday-Th: 7am — 10:30pm
Friday: 7am — 5pm
Saturday: 12pm — 6pm
Sunday: 12pm — 10:30pm
SDSU Blackboard San Diego State University The SDSU Blackboard Success Login and Learning Guide SDSU recognizes online learning via Blackboard login. Users may get more features via SDSU Blackboard Education. It stimulates communication and takes quick solutions.As we've given our positive signals, users will experience the simplicity of getting online classes on SDSU Blackboard.


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This graphite reamer is great for shaping and flaring . You can use the whole length for reaming out vessel necks and making off mandrel loops bigger and perfectly round.
The graphite measures 24mm thick,thins to a 9mm wide end,150mm long with the handle 240mm long,total length is 390mm long.
Don't forget our 2019 Flame Off classes with Dory, Jari, Caroline, James, Jennie and Caroline have just been launched , dont miss out.


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Scrabble & Words with Friends Word Unscrambler
Definition of Abusable
7 Definitions of Abusable
The definition of abusable, the meaning of word Abusable
Is abusable a scrabble word? Yes!
- adj.- using cruel words or physical violence
- v.- to treat someone in a cruel and violent way, often sexually
- n.- cruel or violent treatment of someone
- n.- masturbation – used to show disapproval
- n.- the crime of harming a child physically, sexually, or emotionally
- n.- when someone breathes in gases from glues or similar substances in order to get a pleasant feeling, especially when they become dependent on doing this
- n.- the habit of taking too many illegal drugs, in a way that harms your health
0 Synonym of Abusable
Abusable is worth 12 points in Words with Friends and 16 points in Words with Friends
There are 8 letters in abusable: A A B B E L S U


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Here are some satires I did while in massage therapy school in San Diego during the mid 80s.* I just couldn't resist all the 'you create your own reality,' 'miracles of bodywork' and '(super)human potential' hype endemic to southern California back in the day. One of my favorite titles, critical of a local tai chi teacher promising to learn the art in 5 weeks, was "Learn tai chi, play the guitar and be a plumber is 5 short minutes."
*FYI, I completed the 1000-hour course which qualified me to be a licensed Holistic Health Practitioner in the State. Given the satires one can safely assume my practice was far more science- based without the woo woo claims and practices.