Will the Green Party be any different for disabled people?

The former North of Tyne metro mayor, Jamie Driscoll has said that the Green Party will ensure society is inclusive for disabled people. However, it remains to be seen after the Green Party rally in Newcastle yesterday.

Speaking exclusively to the Canary, Driscoll, who is currently standing as a Green Party councillor in Newcastle, said:

People have had all sorts of promises from politicians that they don’t believe. When it comes to disabled people, it is about a social interpretation of disability, not this idea that disabled people are somehow separate. Society should work for everybody and be inclusive for disabled people.

Asked specifically what the Greens would do about the benefits system, Driscoll said:

In local elections, of course, you don’t have any control over the welfare system, but nationally, we need to be moving towards a universal basic income anyway, and you know what that puts everyone on an even footing.

Speaking of local elections, the Canary asked Driscoll what the Green Party would do locally for disabled people:

It’s largely about inclusivity, and it can be tiny, little things like drop curbs. But nobody thinks to ask, or if they do, it’s tucked away on a website somewhere, but then you’ve got digital exclusion where people can’t access it, or you don’t have the disability friendly version for partially sighted people or neurodivergent people.

With all these things, what it actually comes down to ‘nothing about us, without us’ and it’s inclusivity that makes a difference.

Polanski brings hope to Newcastle — not for the disabled community

Driscoll welcomed Green Party leader Zack Polanski to Newcastle to launch the Greens’ new ‘boost for buses’ policy. Under the plans to renationalise buses, Green councillors would scrap bus fares for anyone 22 years and under.

However, what was noticeably missing from this conversation were disabled people. Buses are notoriously inaccessible, and yet bus accessibility didn’t come into it at all. There was also no mention of extending disabled bus passes so they could be used all day, something Labour and the Conservatives voted against.

The Canary asked Driscoll specifically what the party would do to help disabled people get buses:

It’s a question of how much of the public transport is actually accessible for people with different kinds of disabilities…. Again, it comes back to putting people with lived experience at the centre of design.

Polanski also spoke at a rally in Newcastle later that afternoon. He highlighted the importance of centring local issues in these elections, and not whether Starmer will be out soon. However, he said:

Losing council seats in places like Newcastle sends a very clear message to the entire country that after 14 years of conservative austerity, when people voted labour because they wanted or expected something different, what they’ve received is just more of the same. In fact things have arguably got worse.

And so when people vote green in record numbers in 10 days time that shows very clearly that the Green Party are here to replace Labour and stop Reform in their tracks

He also spoke about Labour MPs defending the right to be pissed and go vote and took a stab at Ed Balls’ ‘journalism.’ But what was noticeably missing from Polanski’s speech about standing up for minorities was disabled people.

Disabled people need action, not just words

After the event, the Canary spoke to Green Party member and disabled activist Lee, who wasn’t convinced

It was that whole message of hope, but we need more than just hope. Zack spoke about the plan, but in terms of me, my community, my future, what is that plan? We’ve heard a lot from Zack and some members of the Green Party using the slogans of ‘Nothing about us, without us’ but what does that mean in reality? Because as of yet, I’m still waiting to see disabled voices pushed to the fore.

Lee, involved in Crips Against Cuts North East actions against last summer’s PIP cuts, continued:

I feel slightly let down. I’m hearing the right things, I’m seeing the right things, but none of that’s turned into action. And that’s kind of why I’m involved with the Green Party now, because we’ve got to start making sure our voices are raised, pushed to the front. Because I’m sick and tired of being forced into the background, especially with the rhetoric that’s being pushed from the likes of Labour and Nigel Farage, who are demonising people who are on welfare and scapegoating us for the issues that this country faces.

Lee finished by saying:

We need to be holding these politicians to account, and the only way we can do that is if disabled people are at the front doing it.

Possibly the most symbolic part of the day was a disabled member of the party, who usually uses a wheelchair, having to use crutches because the stage she was due to speak on didn’t have a ramp.

While the Green Party is saying all the right things — these words still haven’t turned into action for disabled people. For a group who have been so let down by politicians, it’s going to take more than them saying ‘nothing about us without us’. In fact, they need to actually prove it.

Featured image via the Canary