Mark That Disabled Green Party Guy

A Step Forward for Accessible Travel in Telford, But We Must Think Bigger. Let’s start with some good news. Telford & Wrekin Council’s Regulatory Committee has just taken a positive step for our community. They’ve voted to cut the red tape for taxi operators who run those vital Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs). Instead of forcing well-maintained WAVs to automatically retire at 12 years, the council can now grant extensions, recognising that these vehicles are expensive to buy and adapt—sometimes costing tens of thousands of pounds. As Conservative Councillor Rachael Tyrrell rightly said, this is about "keeping more wheelchair accessible taxis on the road" and supporting the drivers who are a "credit to the borough." This is a welcome move. It shows the council is listening. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: it’s a defensive move, not an offensive one. It helps stop the numbers from falling further, but it does very little to make them grow. An...

It is only a matter of time now that Royal Assent will be given for the "Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.  It's impact as a piece of legislation is going to be huge, but here I am focusing on areas of concern that could potentially reduce the rights of children and their families compared to the current legal framework. The bill does introduce many positive measures aimed at strengthening safeguarding and support. However, several clauses grant significant new powers to the state, (particularly local authorities and the Secretary of State) which could, in practice, infringe upon the privacy, autonomy, and decision-making rights of families. Here is a breakdown of my key areas of concern: Children’s Social Care 1. Information Sharing and Consistent Identifiers (Clause 4 - New Sections 16LA & 16LB of the Children Act 2004  Erosion of Privacy and Data Confidentiality. The duty to share information between a wide range of agencies is very broad. While the...

Leaders Keynote Speech -Labour party conference 2025 It is a profound disappointment, though tragically unsurprising, that Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech has once again sidelined disabled people. Beyond a personal anecdote, there was no vision, no commitment, and no recognition of the crisis facing our community. This silence speaks volumes about Labour’s current priorities. This omission is not benign. It follows the party’s disastrous past attempts to slash disability welfare and comes as the ongoing Timms review into social security leaves disabled lives in a state of agonising limbo. We are treated as an afterthought, our survival a matter for future consultation rather than present-day action. After years of being failed by the major parties, it is increasingly clear that the only party offering a positive, concrete message of support for disabled people and their families is the Green Party. They alone present a vision where dignity and support are not just promise...

Finally, A Leader Who Sees Us! My Family's Hope Lies with the Greens. Let me be honest with you. As a disabled adult, and as a parent to a wonderful disabled child, politics often feels like a special kind of punishment. It’s a cycle of waiting for the latest budget or party conference, only to have your fears confirmed – once again, you and your family are an afterthought, a line item to be cut, a problem to be managed. My life is a constant juggle of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) forms, fighting for my son’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), and calculating how to make a budget stretch over soaring energy bills – bills that are higher because of my equipment and our need to stay warm and well. I’m also the Green Party’s Disability Officer for Telford and Wrekin, and from this unique vantage point, I’ve watched every major party with a weary and wary eye. And then I heard Zack Polanski, Mothin and Rachel!  Let me tell you, the feeling was like a...

They’re At It Again – And This Time, It’s Going to Bury Them. I listened. Or at least, I tried to. I tuned into the highlights from the Conservative Party conference, bracing myself. You learn to do that after a while—to put on your emotional armour before politicians start talking about people like us. And honestly? The armour wasn’t needed. It was just… empty. A void where any positive vision for our community should have been. But while their leaders were silent on us, their key players certainly weren’t. In the side rooms and the fringe events, they were laying out their plans with a chilling clarity. They’ve learned nothing. Absolutely nothing. Let’s talk about what they actually said. Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride wants to stop claims for people with “less severe” mental health issues like anxiety. Helen Whately is out there, casually throwing around the word “millions” to describe people with ADHD and anxiety on benefits, a figure that’s been shown to be a...

Empty Words: The Unforgivable Weaseling of Stephen Timms on Disability Cuts Let’s talk about responsibility. Or, more accurately, let's talk about the spectacular absence of it on display from Sir Stephen Timms, the Minister supposedly in charge of Social Security and Disability. In a recent performance that should be studied as a masterclass in political evasion, Timms addressed the devastating cuts to the Access to Work (AtW) scheme in an interview with the formidable DNS (Disability News Service). For those who rely on AtW to simply do their jobs, this isn't a political parlour game; it's a lifeline. And Timms, with the finesse of a contortionist, did everything in his power to distance himself from the consequences of his own actions. Let’s start with the most galling part: the accountability black hole. When asked who was responsible for the directive that has seen support slashed, Timms offered this staggering display of leadership: “Well, the ...

Left Behind: How Telford & Wrekin’s Council Tax Changes Are Failing Disabled Residents In 2020/21 the local council under then leader and now MP,  Shaun Davies, and current leader, then Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Lee Carter, introduced a new plan for how much people pay in council tax, especially for those on low incomes or with disabilities.  This plan called for a major overhaul to the  Council Tax Reduction  Scheme.While it aimed to save money and make things fair, many worried that it might actually make life harder for disabled people.  5 years on, we can say for sure that has! What Changed? Under the old rules, disabled people who received certain benefits could get up to 100% discount on their council tax. But now, the council says that disabled people can only get up to a 90% discount. That might not sound like much, but it means they are now using money for disability aids and services for paying tax. However, there is an even bigger problem. T...

An Invisible Workforce   How Labour’s “Working People” Rhetoric Erases Disabled Voters If you did see Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ keynote speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, you’d be forgiven for thinking Britain runs on a very specific type of person.  The words “working people,” “working class families,” and “hardworking people” were repeated a staggering 34 times. But for a significant part of the population, the speech wasn't just repetitive—it was a slap in the face. Not once did the Chancellor mention accessible work for disabled adults or young people. Not a single reference to reasonable adjustments. No plan for those with fluctuating conditions, mobility barriers, or neurodivergence. In short, it was an act of erasure. Instead, we got productivity rhetoric and a Youth Guarantee scheme that, frankly, sends a chill down the spine. The scheme threatens benefit sanctions for those who “refuse” work placements, with no apparent regard for how disabi...

NURSERY SEND FUNDING Shaun Davies the Labour MP for Telford, trumpeted the recent government announcement of the opening of applications for the next wave of school-based nurseries in Telford and Wrekin, which has likely sparked excitement among local educators and families. The funding is supposed to be for schools with nearby deprivation in the community. However, Telford's first two schools were Wombridge Primary and Lawley Primary schools. While Wombridge does meet some of the criteria for deprivation, and was a reasonable candidate for the extra funding, Lawley does not meet deprivation criteria, with low numbers of children needing FSM (free school meals) and higher academic achievements. So will the next tranche of schools truly be in areas of need, or will they success of the program be weighted by including schools not necessarily meeting a genuine need? However, as we welcome the new principal of these nurseries, it is crucial to address a pressing concern: th...

On behalf of the disability charity SCOPE, I sent an invitation to the Labour MP for Telford, Shaun Davies, for a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. His response among my disabled groups and their families has sparked significant disappointment.  In a genuinely heartfelt invitation, I sought to engage Shaun Davies in a discussion about the pressing financial struggles faced by disabled individuals, as highlighted in the charity SCOPE's Price Tag of disability report. Instead of a meaningful dialogue, Davies responded with a generic, government-centric reply that missed the essence of the concerns expressed.  While it is true that his response contained accurate information regarding benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Attendance Allowance (AA), and Disability Living Allowance (DLA), this accuracy felt hollow. His reply was a standard recitation of government policy, devoid of any acknowledgment of the real crises that I desc...