Over 50 Conservative MPs are backing an amendment tabled by the Chair of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, calling for Parliament to vote on any future lockdown measures.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been warned to ‘expect defeat’ according to reports in The Telegraph. The report also suggests that Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP will also back the amendment.
Disability Rights CEO Kamran Mallick calls on MPs not to forget that as well as defending human rights and civil liberties through the instigation of a democratic voting process, the Coronavirus Act denies disabled people their human rights by overriding provisions in the Care Act.
He said: “For six months, these provisions have signalled to local authorities that it is permissible, to reduce care and support to their disabled citizens. The councils that have formally switched on Care Act reductions are just the tip of the iceberg, many more have cut care to their disabled residents. This situation leaves disabled people unclear about their rights and with the fear their care will be removed without any means of challenging the decision.
“As infection rates rise and the likelihood of a second wave looms ever closer, we call on MPs from all parties to reinstate our full rights to care. We ask Parliament to provide the necessary money for councils to continue to fully support disabled people, as per the provisions in the Care Act, regardless of the size of any outbreak, and to remember that two thirds of all deaths from this virus to date have been those of disabled people.
“As the chair of the 1922 Committee calls for the reinstatement of full democracy in relation to future lockdowns, and the end of Boris Johnson making unilateral, binding decisions, we demand to be seen, heard, and recognised as valued citizens of society, worthy of the same full human rights as non-disabled people.”
MPs will spend all of Wednesday debating the Government’s handling of the pandemic before a crunch vote to decide whether or not the Coronavirus Act gets renewed.
You can write to your MP before Wednesday here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/act-now-scrap-the-easements-and-restore-disabled-peoples-rights?source=direct_link&
And sign our statement here: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/september/scrap-coronavirus-act-provisions#Statement