Rosalie Wilkins: Disabled peer had ‘unwavering belief in justice and equality’

Friends and former colleagues are mourning the loss of a disabled peer and broadcaster who played a key role in fighting for disabled people’s rights in the House of Lords.

Baroness [Rosalie] Wilkins, who died on 1 December, at the age of 78, had become involved in disability politics soon after becoming disabled at university in 1966, campaigning with the Disablement Income Group, and working for the Central Council for the Disabled (which later became RADAR).

She began her career in television in 1972 with a documentary she presented for World in Action on a village for disabled people in the Netherlands.

This led to her presenting ITV’s fortnightly LINK magazine programme from 1975 to 1988.

Jane Campbell and Mike Oliver later wrote in Disability Politics that LINK had been “the vanguard of disability programming in the UK”, “remarkably ahead of its time”, and had “responded to the lead of the emerging disability movement”.

Its first programme featured Vic Finkelstein – one of the pioneers of the disability movement – discussing the social model of disability.

Baroness Wilkins described in Disability Politics how she had introduced LINK’s executive producer Richard Creasey to Finkelstein, a meeting which “very much turned LINK around”, as it originally had been set to be a “very traditional” series.

She later became a freelance television producer and presenter, producing documentaries that highlighted the movement’s development, before working for the National Centre for Independent Living, and then being made a life peer in 1999, where she sat on the Labour benches.

In her maiden speech, on 23 November 1999, Baroness Wilkins focused on the independent living movement, highlighting how centres for independent living had “sprung up around the country” since the 1980s.

She referenced disabled people’s organisations such as the West of England Coalition of Disabled People and Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People, and called on her government to promote the “social inclusion of disabled young people leaving care”.

In the post-2010 years, she spoke out frequently on the impact of the coalition government’s austerity cuts, and how they would affect disabled people, including with accessible housing, support for disabled pupils, disability benefits, and on hostile rhetoric about benefit claimants in national newspapers.

Her final speech in the Lords (pictured) was on 25 June 2015, and it focused on housing for disabled people.

She spoke of the “catastrophic” impact of the shortage of accessible housing, and of how a Conservative government policy to weaken accessible housing standards “put accessible home building at risk” at a time when disabled people were “facing a growing crisis in finding suitable accommodation”.

She said the government’s policy was “economic folly” and that ministers had “decided to favour the short-term profits of private developers, for which not only our generation but future generations will pay the price”.

She retired from the Lords the following month.

Baroness Wilkins also served as a board member, vice-chair and chair of the London-based disabled people’s organisation Action on Disability (AoD, formerly Hammersmith and Fulham Action on Disability, HAFAD).

Among her other roles were positions on the Central Health Services Council, the BBC General Advisory Council, and the Prince of Wales’ Advisory Group on Disability, and she was president of the College of Occupational Therapists for five years.

Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK and previously chief executive of AoD for 13 years, described Baroness Wilkins as an “extraordinary advocate, mentor, and friend” who would leave a legacy as a champion for disability rights.

He said she had displayed a “quiet strength” and was “thoughtful, measured, and deliberate in her advocacy”.

He said: “It was this quiet determination that made her such an effective leader.

“She could dismantle opposition with logic, build bridges with empathy, and inspire action with her unwavering belief in justice and equality.”

He said she “had a vision for a world where disabled people were not just included but celebrated – where accessibility was a given, and discrimination was a thing of the past”.

AoD said Baroness Wilkins had been “deeply involved” in local and national campaigns for disabled people and was “passionately dedicated to the work of HAFAD”.

David Buxton, the current chief executive of AoD, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news of her death.

He said: “When I think of Ros, my first memory is of her smile and laughter during the times we spent discussing disability issues and political challenges.

“My last memory of her is of her holding my hands firmly in her home and urging me that Action on Disability must return to its roots as a true disabled people’s organisation.

“She reminded me that at the heart of everything is the voice of disabled people – a voice we must listen to in order to shape a better and stronger future for AoD.”

Cllr Sharon Holder, AoD’s chair, added: “Although I never met Rosalie personally, I have heard so much about the incredible work she did for the local disabled community as a leader and campaigner.

“With great gratitude and honour, we will remember and celebrate Ros’s immense contributions to Deaf and disabled people, both locally and nationally.

“Her determination and energy shaped who we are today, and her legacy continues to inspire us to press on with the hard work needed to achieve true equity and inclusion in society.”

A note from the editor:

Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…