Campaigners have called on the government to back demands for manufactured goods to be covered by new European Union (EU) anti-discrimination laws. The draft equal treatment directive would extend protection from discrimination on the grounds of disability, age, sexual orientation and […]
Archives for 2010
Disabled peers raise concerns over personal care bill
Disabled peers have raised serious concerns about the government’s personal care at home bill, during a Lords debate. Two of them – Baroness [Rosalie] Wilkins and Lord [Colin] Low – voted for a motion to delay the next stage of the […]
Supermarkets pledge to do more on parking time limits
The big four supermarket chains have all promised to do more to ensure disabled shoppers do not face discrimination over strict parking time limits. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons all pledged to act after a survey for BBC Breakfast suggested that […]
Tories will ‘turn back clock’ on inclusion in schools
The Conservative Party’s new draft policies on special schools and inclusion would “set the clock back by more than 30 years” say appalled campaigners. They spoke out after the Conservatives published their draft education policy, three months before the likely date […]
Confusion after minister claims reserved posts are illegal
An equalities minister has caused bemusement among members of the disability movement after claiming it was illegal for them to reserve jobs solely for disabled people. Maria Eagle – a former disabled people’s minister – made the comments this week during […]
Improvements to equality bill will safeguard ‘holy grail’
A disabled peer has hailed improvements to the public sector equality duty – the “holy grail” of the equality bill – as a “huge breakthrough” in the fight to maintain disabled people’s protection from discrimination. Baroness [Jane] Campbell introduced the amendments […]
Lib Dems lead the way on disabled MPs
The Liberal Democrats have become the first of the three main political parties to accept all of the disability-related recommendations of a committee set up to increase the diversity of MPs. The Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation made 71 recommendations aimed […]
Smith pledges to make disabled people love the EHRC
The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) new lead on disability issues has pledged to help change the way it is viewed by disabled people, and to do more to explain and promote the work it is doing. Mike Smith, the […]
Report finds nearly a third of disabled people in poverty
An independent report on income inequalities – commissioned by the government – has concluded that nearly a third of disabled people are living in poverty. Official statistics previously estimated about a quarter of disabled people were in poverty but An Anatomy […]
Minister’s verdict on EHRC: ‘Could do better’
An equalities minister has delivered a lukewarm verdict on the first two years of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) saying the watchdog “could do better”. Maria Eagle, a minister in the Government Equalities Office (GEO), said the EHRC had […]