Disabled people have made a last minute plea to Keir Starmer over the Assisted Dying Bill

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), on behalf of a coalition of Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs) has written to Labour Party prime minister Keir Starmer over the Assisted Dying Bill being brought by Kim Leadbeater.

Sent late on Thursday 28 November, the letter – republished in full below – outlines disabled people’s grave concerns over the proposed assisted dying legislation.

A letter to the prime minister over the Assisted Dying Bill

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to urge that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill does not go ahead in this way at this time.

The mechanism being used to attempt legalisation of assisted suicide – a Private Members Bill – circumvents the Equality Act 2010 duties that apply to government legislation with Parliament being exempt from these duties.

The passage of this bill does not comply with the accessibility needs of Deaf and Disabled people to engage despite the high stakes that we have in this question.

Accessibility requirements covered by the Equality Act include information provided in accessible formats, extended timeframes for responding to consultations and opportunities to give our views in accessible ways.

The speed with which this bill is progressing places Deaf and Disabled people and our organisations at a disadvantage in getting our voices heard and many of our MPs are unable to respond to constituency emails in less than six weeks.

Additionally, there is no requirement on PMBs for a statement of compatibility with human rights and we have not seen an equality impact assessment for the bill, as highlighted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Deaf and Disabled people have been left fearful and voiceless.

On top of this, we have been gas-lit by supporters of the bill who claim we are scaremongering. Deaf and Disabled people have been repeatedly told during the progress
of this bill that it does not affect us.

This is untrue for multiple reasons as listed on the enclosed document.

It is also re-traumatising in the way that the silencing of our voices also discounts our lived experiences of medical neglect, inequality and discrimination within underfunded health services. These experiences have occurred alongside ongoing political rhetoric which demonises Disabled benefit claimants and which dismisses the validity of our disablement – in breach of recommendations from the special inquiry of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Disabled People which found the UK responsible for grave and systematic
rights violations.

At the same we are faced with the threat of further disability benefit cuts, in particular through changes to the Work Capability Assessment specifically targeted at Disabled people with mobility impairments and those who are at high risk of self-injury and suicide.

According to official figures only 3% of the more than 450,000 Disabled people who are estimated to be affected by these changes by 2028/2029 will be able to move into employment. 424,000 of them will meanwhile be eligible for out of work benefits at no more than 47% of the current rate.

The result will unquestionably be more benefit deaths and an increase in already rising rates of disability poverty.

The message we are hearing loud and clear from Westminster is that Deaf and Disabled people are not welcome within society and that our lives are expendable.

We look forward to receiving your assurances that this is not the case.

Featured image via the Canary