Activists’ shock as Scope ‘sacrifices integrity’ to partner with ‘hostile’ Daily Express

Shocked disabled campaigners have questioned why the disability charity Scope has partnered with a “scaremongering” national newspaper notorious for its hostile coverage of disabled people and other marginalised groups.

The Daily Express is the official partner for Scope’s second Disability Equality Awards, which are taking place today (Thursday) in London.

The ceremony comes just days after the right-wing newspaper horrified many disabled people with its front-page headline: “PM tells sick note Britain: Get a grip and a job.”

And it comes 17 months after Scope was forced to apologise for the way it ran its inaugural Disability Equality Awards, after excluding disabled people of colour and those clinically vulnerable to Covid, while refusing to pay disabled people who were asked to join its judging panel.

Now some of the disabled activists who protested in November 2022 have expressed alarm at Scope’s decision to partner with the right-wing tabloid on the awards, which are supposed to “shine a spotlight on equality champions”.

The Express was a particular focus for anger during the early austerity years, with headlines such as “Sick benefits: 75 per cent are faking”, and the impact of its disablist coverage was highlighted in reports published by disabled people’s organisations such as Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London.

One of the original signatories of the 2022 petition that led to Scope’s apology, Azeem Ahmad, an inclusion consultant based in the north-east of England, said the Express had admitted to a parliamentary committee – following its takeover by Reach PLC – that it had “contributed to the Islamophobia that has made the lives of me, and people like me, so much more difficult.

“They may argue that things have changed since the takeover, but they continue to seed division and hatred as client journalists for this government and opaquely funded ‘think-tanks’.”

He said the partnership illustrates “how far removed Scope is from their beneficiaries, and it will be very interesting to see what appears alongside the Express’s coverage of the awards”.

Yen Godden, a disability advocate who helped draw up the 2022 petition, said: “I am shocked that Scope has chosen to partner with the Daily Express, especially after the last Scope awards white-out scandal and their public commitments to do better and listen to those who are multiply marginalised.

“Scope has a section on their website about reporting disability hate crimes and incidents, yet seems to miss the glaringly obvious fact that the Daily Express has consistently stirred up hatred and mistrust towards disabled people and continues to do so.

“The latest front-page headline shows that the tabloid’s attempt to purple wash their reputation and make themselves look disability positive by partnering with Scope for this year’s Disability Equality Awards was superficial at best and added insult to injury for the disabled community who have borne the brunt of their headlines for years.”

Godden said the Express “consistently villainises marginalised groups such as refugees, the LGBTQIA+ community, especially trans people” to sell newspapers and generate clickbait.

She said: “In my family, my grandmother’s generation were refugees. It’s painful and distressing to hear the fear and vitriol whipped up against asylum-seekers by tabloids like the Daily Express repeated to me by people in my daily life.”

She added: “The intersectionality of the disabled community is vast and genuinely diverse. We strive for collective liberation.

“We both belong to and stand with the groups who are constantly targeted by the scaremongering tabloids like the Daily Express.”

Disability advocate Sara Westrop said that, as a disabled non-binary person, they were surprised to hear of the partnership, “considering the numerous ways they have contributed towards the increasingly hostile environment in the UK directed towards disabled people and trans people.

“The Express regularly shares articles painting disabled people as drains on society, resources and money.

“They have hundreds of articles which paint trans people as dangerous, and they’re full of misinformation on trans healthcare.

“Recent ones that come to mind are showing support for Sunak’s barbaric reformation of disability benefits and the celebration of the biased and poorly researched Cass review that led to the banning of puberty blockers for trans children.”

Accessibility consultant Julia Peyser Gutiérrez Anstey was also critical of the partnership.

They said: “The Daily Express has and continues to directly harm the disabled community by framing us as ‘benefits scroungers’ and wastes of NHS money.

“The fact that they are partnering with Scope does not take back any of the immense harm they have done to disabled people.”

Despite its partnership with the Express, and the paper’s “sick note Britain” front page, Scope has now launched a petition, backed by other disability charities, calling on the government to “stop demonising us”.

Asked why the charity thought it was appropriate to partner with the Express when it had a long history of discriminatory, hostile and disablist coverage, a Scope spokesperson said: “We work with journalists from across the political spectrum, just as we work with government and all political parties, because of the influence they have on our society.

“Having the Express spotlight stories from our nominees allows us to reach new audiences, and bring positive messages about disability to people that we would otherwise be unable to reach.”

He said that Scope “disagree” with last week’s “sick note Britain” front page and the term “sick note Britain”, but that the Express article “includes our quote that challenges the prevailing narrative about disability, benefits and work”.

He said the Express had not paid Scope for the partnership but had agreed to “spotlight numerous nominees”.

He said: “Partnering with the Express does not impact our independence at all.

“But it does give a platform and increase the reach and voice of disabled people and many of our shortlisted nominees.”

He said the charity was not reconsidering the partnership in the light of the front page.

Ahmad said in response to Scope’s comment: “I’m astonished that Scope is sacrificing their integrity and any credibility they may have had on inclusion in exchange for ‘earned media’.

“This raises serious questions about their leadership and operational decision-making.

“I think it’s time for the trustees to get a handle on the obvious cultural problems that Scope has.”

Godden warned that “spotlighting” award nominees as “inspirational figures” played into the damaging narrative “that disabled people are either a burden or an inspiration” and “was the same treatment applied to refugees and other marginalised groups by these tabloids”, when in fact “we exist as equals in society with inherent value as human beings”.

Gary Jones, editor of the Express, said this morning (Thursday): “The Express has demonstrated its commitment to supporting mental health and disability in recent years, with campaigns such as fighting to get the disabled into jobs, securing life-changing drugs for sufferers of degenerative condition PKU and our ongoing campaign for disabled people to be helped with bills during the cost of living crisis.

“We are committed to bring about positive change and look forward to working with Scope to do this.”

Picture: Gary Jones (left) and Yen Godden

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