UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Philippa Whitford Excerpts

Monday 6th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Dr Cameron]

I absolutely do agree that those rights should be enshrined and that the democratic process should be open to all.

[Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)]

Does my hon. Friend recognise that if we want people to vote, we want more people with disability in this House? Does she agree that it is a shame that none of the learning from the covid pandemic that might have made working here more flexible for someone with a disability or chronic illness has been kept?

[Dr Cameron]

I thank my hon. Friend. That is extremely important and I will move on to speak about many of those issues. We should continually be learning and applying best practice. It is extremely important that measures are taken to improve representation in this House for people with disabilities.

There are 14.1 million people with disabilities in the United Kingdom—one in five people—yet despite making up one of the largest minorities, disability often fails to reach the top of the equality agenda.