Take action to restore disability rights taken away by the Coronavirus Act

Dear friends,

We’re working with Inclusion London and others nationally campaigning against the Coronavirus Act, urgently pressing Parliament and MPs to restore:

·       Rights to social care and support services under the Care Act

·       Disabled children’s support and education

·       Safeguards for people detained in psychiatric hospital or released without adequate support

These rights were taken away by the Coronavirus Act, passed in March, now up for review by Parliament. This Act freed the authorities from many legal duties, this is called “easements”. 

Inclusion London has more info about the changes here.  Liberty’s press release refers to a survey: two thirds of the public are against the social care cuts.

WinVisible has signed the open letter co-ordinated by Disability Rights UK to scrap the Coronavirus Act provisions.

What you can do:

·       Add your organisation or individual signature to the open letter via this link.

·       Write to your MP using the template letter (has campaign info in BSL and Easy Read).

The Coronavirus Act will be debated this Monday 28 September in the House of Lords.  Watch online here

MPs will debate it this Wednesday 30 September.  Watch here.

Baronesses Tanni Grey-Thompson and Jane Campbell have led opposition in the House of Lords, with 30 peers signing an open letter calling on minister Matt Hancock to restore Care Act rights.

As a grassroots group of multi-racial disabled women together, including disabled mothers and family carers for loved ones also hit by the COVID-19 crisis, we have been speaking out against the deaths and discriminatory impact of the COVID-19 measures, especially on older women/women of colour. 

We have put forward our experiences and priorities in several submissions to Parliament committees: on COVID-19 and discrimination, food access during lockdown, and social care.  Our submission on the future of social care is published by Parliament.