Are disabled and chronically ill people now politically homeless in the general election?

After years of Conservative and Labour Party policies, and general election manifestos where it’s now difficult to tell the difference between the two – are chronically ill and disabled people politically homeless?

Chronically ill and disabled? Good luck.

Being chronically ill and disabled, I have spent years struggling with an ongoing decimated NHS to get a correct diagnosis for the conditions I live with.

Due to years of both Tory and Labour policies I have also struggled with continued issues regarding firstly receiving the entitlements I was due, then secondly being able to keep these entitlements whilst navigating a benefits system that quite frankly a barrister would struggle with.

Not dissimilar to the recent Child Benefit disaster, I was also left with nothing but Child Benefit for just under two years as a chronically ill single mother. God only knows what this has done to my National Insurance contributions – and therefore my state pension. Honestly, if it wasn’t for meeting my now partner and full-time career who helped me raise the funds to go private, I would never have received the correct diagnoses and disability status.

And yes, this all sounds ridiculous that in 2024 that any disabled or chronically ill person should have to experience any of this living in the UK. But this unfortunately is pretty standard for many of us.

The controlled ableism this has caused

These politically-motivated polices that have come from both political sides have not only caused years of poverty for disabled and chronically ill people that have led to deaths and suicides, it has also left many of us now feeling politically homeless.

One of the most recent policies affecting chronically ill and disabled people was the introduction of Universal Credit. Whilst this was supposed to help sort out the benefits system, it has made it very much worst.

Many people, like myself, were firstly forced onto Universal Credit, to only then lose their disability benefits and carers allowance due to their partners work status – leaving them only with Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

If you are on Universal Credit, it also means that your payments are only paid into one account.

So not only does that mean disabled or chronically ill people have to rely on hand outs from their partners – stopping their independence – it is also open to many people being abused by this policy. This is away from the fact that there is the obvious potential for domestic violence and abuse. This is all creating a form of controlled ableism.

Along with the loss of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), social care support, and NHS services, many disabled and chronically ill people are struggling to see any real change or support from the main political parties.

Our current status in politics

So where does this leave us as disabled and chronically voters in this years general election? Are we really even considered in any of the political parties plans or manifestos…? To be fair, we don’t seem to ever really be on anyone’s agenda.

What the Tories are saying…

Hmm, so after reading the Tories’ Clear plan bold action, secure future manifesto I struggled to find any direct policies for disabled or chronically ill people. Taking a further look, I discovered that it was all stuff they’d already announced, or extensions of existing policies. In reality, all the Tories are promising is to cut disabled and chronically ill people’s benefits even more. There’s a promise of more SEND school places, but there’s not a lot on social care. I didn’t expect anything less from the Tories, anyway.

What Labour is saying…

Labour’s manifesto Change wasn’t much of an improvement either. It promises to “review” Universal Credit – even though its been failing disabled and chronically ill people for over ten years. There was talk about social care, SEND, and making disabled and chronically ill people work. But there was little else for us. Come on Labour, seriously you need to get your act together. You proclaim to be a voice of the people, so please stop discriminating against the chronically ill and disabled ones. That’s 16 million votes, by the way…

What the Lib Dems are saying…

The Lib Dems For a fair deal is better than Labour and the Tories. It promises to make the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) law – unlike Labour and the Tories. Everyone has seen the Lib Dems free adult personal care pledge. They will scrap the hated bedroom tax, make some ‘reforms’ to other benefits, and focus on independent living. But the Lib Dems are not doing anything about Universal Credit and the £100bn of cuts to benefits since 2013. For all Ed Davey’s bravado, the Lib Dems are not doing a lot.

What the Green Party is saying…

The Green Party manifesto Real hope, real change is better but still leaves chronically ill and disabled people short. They have a ‘game changing investment plan to nurse the NHS back to health’ which, yep, you guessed it, has absolutely no mention of chronically ill and disabled people. They’re the only party that’s pledged to increase benefits, but as the Canary pointed out it still won’t be enough. The Greens have done a Lib Dems and offered free social care, but both also commit to assisted dying. For the party that is now supposed to be the most radical, the manifesto isn’t radical enough.

Not all disabilities are invisible, but clearly disabled people are in the general election

So, after reading all of these current plans, not only are my chronic illnesses and disabilities invisible, clearly I along with all the country’s chronically ill and disabled people are also often invisible to most of the mainstream political parties, their manifestos, plans, pledges, or whatever they want to call them – because none of them go far enough.

As someone who lives with multiple chronic illnesses, none of the parties have said anything about improving healthcare for people like me, either.

Also, the lateness in which they’ve released them completely disregards the time left in firstly applying for a postal vote, which many disabled and chronically ill people depend on, and secondly the time given to consider their vote and post them to be included in the general election.

For anyone still wanting to do this the deadline for a postal vote is 18 June. You can apply here.

But alternately, whoever you vote for they have currently left me and around 16 million other disabled and chronically ill people completely politically homeless – without a key pledge, decent promise, or plan for us if you’re the Tories or Labour, or not going far enough if you’re the Lib Dems or Greens.

We are the most underrepresented and disproportionately neglected group of people living in the UK. This is just not good enough.

Featured image via the Canary