THE CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH
THE WORK AND THE ROLE OF THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT'S CROSS-PARTY GROUP ON DISABILITY One in five people in Scotland identify as having a disability. That represents roughly one million people in a country of around five and a half million, meaning that disabled people are one of the largest protected groups in the country. However, these days they are often treated as an ‘add on’ to other issues of the day. An afterthought to issues of race or gender, even though they make up a tiny portion of the population. This is in no way to say that we shouldn’t be addressing issues of racial and gendered inequality (we absolutely should!) but rather it highlights that disabled issues are well underrepresented in the minds of public activists. So how do we approach disability issues with proportionate potency so as to ensure that this large constituency is not left behind in our efforts to foster an ever more inclusive society?
Effective change most often is driven by broad coalitions that bring together groups that wouldn’t necessarily find each other as regular bedfellows. Of course, this is the basis of our parliamentary democracy. People with opposing perspectives coming together to address issues and finding solutions based on the common ground that can be found between their positions. However, it hardly needs to be pointed out that we live in an increasingly polarised political moment, with willingness for crossparty cooperation seemingly on the decline. We are seeing fewer and fewer instances of voluntary reaching across the aisle as we engage more and more in echo chambers of our own creation. In such a time as this, we must work hard to exit these echo chambers and engage with those who are not in complete agreement with us. We must make an effort to get around the table and create as many opportunities as we can to facilitate it. It is for this reason that I believe that Cross-Party Groups are so valuable. A Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament is a collection of stakeholders that come together to discuss, debate, and promote an issue of common interest. They are made up of Members of the Scottish Parliament, interested businesses, third sector organisations and individuals who share an interest in a given topic. These topics are varied and cover a vast number of areas. There are groups focussed on Whisky, Autism, America, Cancer, Oil and Gas, Diabetes and Israel. There are currently 60 Cross-Party Groups in the Holyrood Parliament. As the Convener of the Cross-Party Group on Disability, I seek to address the problem of under-representation of disabled issues in the activist landscape of Scotland. The group comprises Members of five different political parties, many of whom would otherwise not normally interact in such a forum. It also brings together no fewer than 48 third sector organisations along with a number of individuals with lived experience of both living with a disability and caring for disabled loved ones. In this way, we have cultivated a group with a broad voice that is informed by people and organisations with multiple perspectives on the issues.
Hon. Jeremy Balfour, MSP is a Member of the Scottish Parliament representing
the Lothian Region since 2016. Jeremy is a member of two Parliamentary Committees on Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice, and Social Justice and Social Security. He is also a member of 18 cross-party groups including Convener of the Cross-Party Group on Disability.
The Parliamentarian | 2021: Issue Four | 100 years of publishing | 365
