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Davies Fails to Engage with Disability Charity at Party Conference

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 described—issues like the inability to afford medication, a wheelchair broken by poor infrastructure, and the profound social isolation that many disabled individuals experience.

The quality of Davies' response was notably poor, especially given the context of the request. Rather than addressing the specific invitation to meet with SCOPE at the Labour Party Conference, he provided a defensive, cookie-cutter defense of the status quo. The tone of his message, while superficially polite, came across as bureaucratic and impersonal, lacking any genuine curiosity about disabled families situations in Telford or the data presented in the SCOPE report. This disconnect illustrates a troubling trend where constituents feel unheard and unvalued when faced with formulaic responses from their elected representatives.

Moreover, the content of Davies' reply was fundamentally misaligned with the purpose of my invitation. While I sought a conversation about solutions and allyship, Davies delivered a pamphlet on existing policies. His mention of the ongoing PIP review, intended to reassure, only highlighted a lack of urgency in addressing the immediate suffering that had been detailed. By stating that "no changes will be made to PIP until the review concludes in Autumn 2026," Davies inadvertently confirmed a troubling status quo, offering little comfort to those struggling today.

Shaun Davies' response exemplifies a failure of political engagement. It prioritises the defence of a system over the urgent needs of constituents. The impersonal nature of the reply, coupled with its avoidance of the invitation's subject, underscores a significant gap between political rhetoric and the meaningful action required for disability equality. As the Labour Party grapples with its identity and lack of commitment to social justice, it is crucial for representatives like Davies to listen and engage authentically with the voices of those they serve. 

Over 38,000 disabled people, and their families deserve better than this. 


SCOPE Price Tag Report 2025
Disability Price Tag 2025 | Disability charity Scope UK https://share.google/DPFcgA9Iy6WP4FW3Q


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