Disabled activist left unable to access disability event in Parliament

An event held in parliament to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities was completely inaccessible for two disabled people who travelled by car.

Daniel Harvey is an experienced activist and campaigner who primarily focuses on disability justice. He currently sits on the assembly panel for Scope — a disability charity in England and Wales.

Scope hosted an event in parliament on 3 December to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Daniel made it clear to the organisers that he had an accessibility need and could not currently travel by train. He also requested a travel companion, which they agreed to as well.

Daniel told the Canary: 

SCOPE went above and beyond to try and get everything arranged for me. The agreement was that someone from the parliamentary team would be there to help and support me when I arrive. And to ensure that we knew where we were going, because there are security searches that can take a long period of time. And obviously, as we’re arriving by car, the security search is different because they have to search the vehicle.

Access fail

Daniel and his companion arrived at parliament with time to spare after driving for two and a half hours. However, no one at the gate seemed to know why they were there. A police officer came to his window, and Daniel showed them the emails confirming the arrangements around his attendance.

The police made it clear that they had no indication why Daniel was there. This was despite the proof on his phone and the confirmation from Scope that a parking space was available for him.

Eventually, the police told Daniel he had to find somewhere else to park — in the middle of central London. The two were told to drive their motability vehicle to a nearby short-stay parking space. Doing so would give them a window to contact Scope in order to sort out the situation. However, Scope were not responsible for access to the building, parliament were.

Daniel added:

I used to live in London a while ago, but now I have quite a trauma response to London due to past experiences. I suffer with a reactionary skin condition, which is affected by severe stress or trauma. I feel burning all over.

Not the first time

Daniel told the Canary that the police told him this was a frequent occurrence.

And the crazy thing is that the police officer said to me, “This happens all the time”. He had a smirk on his face. I remember thinking to myself, how has this been normalised? Surely, if this keeps happening within the operations of Parliament, and any people with access needs have to park on site, things need to be looked at pretty urgently.

Just making it to London took a huge amount of energy, preparation and planning for Daniel after a “tough couple of months” with his health. He added:

And unfortunately, this day, which was meant to be a day that I recognise as a disabled person myself, but it’s turned into something that has sparked a reminder that there’s still so much that needs to be done.

Daniel and Michael, his companion and driver, did everything by the book. They provided parliament with all their personal information, including the car registration details. There were some delays in obtaining the necessary information to access the event, but everything was confirmed the day before. Scope assured Daniel that they had passed on all the information to the parliamentary team. Yet, they were still denied entry.

But Daniel emphasised that the issue was with parliamentary communication, not with SCOPE.

Of course, if the people at the top are struggling with basic communication when admitting disabled people into parliamentary events, it’s even more alarming.

What I’ve experienced is ironic considering that this is the government who are making decisions around the rights of disabled people and what we can do with our benefits and motability scheme. One of the biggest challenges I can bring to the table is the fact we did everything by the book for the day.

What might seem like a little thing for a non-disabled person is, in fact, a huge deal with long-lasting consequences for disabled people.

A little thing to them has caused a massive consequence. And I think that’s the problem.

Parliament sees a lot of their actions as small stones within an ocean. But when you chuck many small stones into an ocean, it can turn into a bigger tidal wave. And that’s what’s going on. There’s been lots and lots of small hits against disabled people and they’ve equated into a bigger force.

And it is becoming an issue where people that are actively speaking up and sharing their voice and doing what they can to be able to reach these opportunities, they’re then being denied entry. That’s not OK, in my opinion. Things need to change and things need to be a lot better.

Barriers to inclusion

Daniel wants to ensure that, going forward, disabled people attending events in parliament have a direct point of contact. This would mean that if problems arise, they can be resolved instead of attendees having to go home.

He added:

It’s unacceptable. And it needs to be changed. Because again, looking into the future, and disabled people wanting to involve themselves in politics, what if this continues to happen?

Disabled people should be at the table — especially when the decisions being made directly impact our lives. But what does it say when the event organised to celebrate disabled people triggers such a huge decline in their physical and mental health?

I wanted to be in that room today to ensure what was being spoken about was the truth.

I’m a realist, and what’s happening at the moment is having a detrimental effect on me and on so many other disabled people. So today was important, and unfortunately I was unable to be there.

I’m going to keep fighting another day, but I am broken and I’m bruised.

James Taylor, Director of Strategy at Scope, said:

Disabled people should not be excluded from our political institutions and buildings. Our democracy must be for everyone.

We’re in contact with Daniel and very much hope he makes a quick recovery.

We hope that Parliament takes the opportunity to take a look at what’s happened and improve in the future.

A UK Parliament spokesperson said:

Unfortunately due to an administrative error, a visitor to an event in Parliament to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was not given permission for vehicle access and was therefore incorrectly turned away. We would like to offer our sincere apologies to the individual concerned, and we are reviewing our processes to avoid similar incidents in the future. Whilst this was an isolated incident, we know there is more to be done to ensure people do not face unnecessary difficulties when visiting Parliament.

Feature image via the Canary/Daniel Lee Harvey