Did 2012 change the view of disability in the UK

As 2012 draws to a close  the stand out memory I have of the year is when I participated in the Torch Relay for the Paralympic Games. I have the torch I carried  at home at home on my lounge wall. I often look at it and think. Is the flame  of attitudinal change towards disability-that the games was billed to be,  still burning brightly, like the torch I carried, or has it been dimmed to fade away?

To answer this question I have begun to think more and more about what it means to be disabled, so in this blog I will explore what I think disability is and how it is viewed in Britain, then in a second one I will say how this can be changed.

I think disability is a condition and a mindset. My condition is cerebral palsy and yet in my mind I am not disabled. I do not think of myself as disabled but in reality i am. I would love to play sports with my friends. in my mind i am scoring the winning goal for Aberdeen in the champions league final but i know my condition will never allow me to even get close to it because i am a safety hazard on the sports field.

What I have just done is framed my view of disability for you and being framed as a disabled person is something which many people do not like including me and yet for some people its who they are. The media put activists firmly in that box of being disabled first,then being people  I recently went to speak at Kent University and if  the local paper reported the event i would wager that the first words will be disability activist Mark Cooper came to talk to students at Kent University In reality mark cooper came to Kent today to talk students about disability

 

The Mindset of disability is something, which politicians struggle with. Any politician now will say that discrimination for disabled people is wrong and that British society should have freedom and fairness for all but in reality, society is free for some and for others it’s a prison from which they find it hard to escape.

What politicians of all parties have done is not understand that disability is both a mindset and a reality. They have focused too much on the mindset that society should be free for all and not on the realities of how to make it happen.

In technical jargon they subscribe to the medical model of disability, which means that a disability is an issue, which the individual can tackle with help from the state through benefits. When they should look at disability through the lens of the social model it paints a different picture one where the barriers faced by disabled people are the barriers faced by society as a whole so the best thing to do is to remove them.

Getting disabled people back into employment is an example of what i mean 

Successive governments have dealt with the problem by arguing that too many people are on benefits so they have changed the criteria for a benefit. But this only says that the claimant is fit for work it doesnt actually get them into work.

The work program was meant to provide tailored support to help people back into employment, it has not worked because there are too few advisors for the case load, and they do not have the time they would like to work with each participant.  There are 870,000 participants but of those only 31,000 have found work for 6 months or more. Finding a job is like having a disability no two unmeployed people are the same.

  Decison Makers need to be braver on the issue So far they  have used the medical view of disability and just put a stent in the heart of welfare reform when in reality what it needs is a bypass. If they opened up the heart through the eyes of a social surgeon they would see that the way to get disabled people back into work is to have a look at the underlying problems of each case For example I have been on the dole for 2 years and am fit and willing to work. The support I need is not how to write a CV or do an interview but it’s to be able to move house. I live in Edinburgh and found a job in London which I was offered and accepted but could not start because I could not find an accessible place to live. For other people  the help they require maybe transport. So society could  help us by making it easier for disabled people to move home or travel to work

So how is disability viewed in the UK at the end of this Paralympic year. The answer unfortunately is disability is still an issue which the individual needs to deal with rather than society as a whole. How this view can be  changed will be the subject of my next blog.

my remarks to access all areas an event organised by Northwest and Manchester young labour

here is a copy of what i said today to access all areas an event organised by Northwest and Manchester young labour

Good afternoon I’m Mark Cooper the National Disability Officer on the Young Labour committee, it is great to be with you today so thanks for inviting me.

Today is Bastille Day, the day that began the French revolution with the storming of the famous prison in Paris. Politics is often seen as a fortress, with it being hard to break into I is going to share with you my thoughts on how this fortress can be entered. So that disabled people and young Labour members can access all areas of politics. .

There are 3 areas, which I want to touch on

Firstly I will tell you about myself because my experiences have helped shape my political views and given me ideas.

Secondly I will talk a bit about my role as Young Labour Disability Officer and the work I am trying to accomplish and finally I will talk a bit about disability and the Labour party although my thoughts on that could be applied to politics in general

So who am I, I am the 3rd out of 4 children this is important because I was treated like any other of my siblings and my parent fought for me to have a mainstream education and to integrate in society from an early age although at school I was surrounded by adults who wanted to protect me rather than allowing me to make my own mistakes. For example at primary school I was not allowed to fall over in the playground or take part in team sports like football. I wanted to fall over and score the winning goal for my team but I couldn’t. Why did I want to fall over it was to fit in.

My parents had to be firm and with me and the school with me so I wouldn’t be lazy and the school so I would fit in with the other kids build friendships which believe me is hard to do when your surrounded by adults and I still find it hard now. When I was at

Being encouraged by my parents to fit in the other kids was a small thing aimed to make a big difference. They also encouraged us to express our opinion on issues. I have a twin brother who Is also politically active he is in the green party I am thankful for this because if he joined the Labour party and we both ran for leader it would be like the 2010 Leadership election all over again. My dad is from County Durham and is very proud of that. We were on holiday in the area and he took us back to where he was born. At the time I was a conservative party member but I was so shocked that the community he grew up in had been decimated by the closure of the mines by the Tory government I resigned from the party and joined the Labour party. That small idea of my dads to take us there has a huge impact on me because without it I would not be talking to you now

I attended the University of Aberdeen graduating in 2007 and the local paper reported that I overcame my cerebral palsy to graduate so I thoroughly recommend Higher education if you want your disability to be cured.

The best thing I did there was to go to New Mexico for 6 months. It was great for me not just for my suntan but because America is so much more disabled friendly than the UK I don’t mean in attitude I mean in practice

Everywhere was flat and had a disabled toilet so I had a brilliant time rather than constantly thinking about barriers to my life I was able to concentrate on having fun and working instead of thinking can I see my friends? I knew I could.

The time in New Mexico was a small thing that made a huge difference in my life because from that trip I haven’t let my disability hold me back

In 2008 after spending a year job hunting I found a job in banking it was with Lehman Brothers My start date was 13 September 2008 a day forever etched in my mind because I never started the job no I did not have a change of heart, the bank collapsed so my job along with thousands of other just disappeared, I sat in my flat in tears I thought my shot at the big time had gone. Yet two years later I would have gone on change the law to improve pub access

I founded the barred campaign to improve disabled pub access - a subject in which I have no interest! The aim of the campaign was to improve access information to pubs. The campaign changed the law in Scotland so that all new pubs have to say how they are or are not accessible to disabled people this will then allow people to make informed choices about where to go out to

You may of noticed that this speech has a theme to it which is small things can make a big difference and that is the philosophy which I have used during my time as the Disability Officer for Young Labour.

When I was elected in Glasgow I said I would do two things 1) try and reboot the disabled members group. This will give disabled people a voice in the party, which at the moment is not heard and it should be. There are many great disabled members in Young Labour and Labour students but after they leave there is not currently a forum within the party for them. At the moment disabled members are out side the tents looking in when we should be inside the tent looking out. It is up to us as disabled members to say to the party we can help you not you must do things for us

The second thing I said I would work towards it is to ask the party to produce a disability manifesto this would cover things like housing and jobs. In Scotland for the Parliamentary elections we had one, which I thought was great not least because I was on the front of it.

I have also written a disability advice sheet for organizers which detail the kind of tasks people with a variety of impairments can do. The aim of the sheet is to persons out of the equation and just focus on campaigning.

In 2010 I was the PPC in Orkney and Shetland. And I would like to see more support given to disabled people to put themselves forward as candidates. The kind of support I mean is administrative support. When you are seeking selection it is a good move to contact all party members and disabled people may not be able to write addresses on envelopes or it may take them ages to stuff envelopes this may put people off from standing so by offering a small amount of help it could encourage more disabled people to put themselves forward.

Hands up if you have been bombarded by emails inviting you to go to conference here in Manchester in September I know I have! Well I intend to come but it needs to be made more accessible, I don’t mean the venue or the hotels I mean the conference itself. I hope to make a speech, but I can’t jump up and down in the hope of attracting the chairs attention, so how can I participate?

I know I haven’t done any campaigning work during my time in office but I felt if we as party don’t have the infrastructure to support disabled members then what right have we got to lecture others on disability if we cant get it right so ourselves ` by working to towards rebooting the members group and the manifesto these small steps could make a you’ve guessed it a big difference

In 2015 the Labour party faces a challenge, which is to set out a vision of how it would change the lives of people in Britain. It’s a challenge because it has to be a vision which is positive about the future and not just to say the coalition are bad and Labour is good. I just want to conclude with a few thoughts of where I think disabled people fit into that vision.

The Labour has a proud record on disability issues but we need to recognize that we cant just rest on what we did in government and assume because we introduced legislation like the equality act and the coalition are taking away disabled peoples benefits that disabled people will vote for us.

I have always that disability is a strand of equality, then why is it not part of the equalities office? The disabilities minister is working from the DWP that needs to change.

To use a sporting analogy the hardest thing to in sport do is to be behind at half time in the super bowl and change the game plan of how you got there. Well my friends that time has come up to change. Until now the game plans has been to give disabled people rights and support through benefits. Now we have to support disabled people to use those rights. Or to put in another way its time to start seeing disability as a societal issue and not one the individual has to cope with alone. The game plan will be harder to construct because there is one thing that we have to do is to rebuild the trust in politicians from disabled people because it does not exists because as one voter said to me all politicians do is take away my benefits.

That voter was right, all politicians are seen to do is take away benefits from disabled people. For years politicians of all colors have talked about welfare dependency and how this must be changed. I agree but the welfare dependency by politicians must stop too there are other way to help disabled people.

It can stop by addressing concerns of many disabled people like me I am an unemployed graduate I am sent by the Job Centre to A4E to help me to find work yet all A4E offer me are courses on how to do a good CV and interview techniques, they took one look at my CV and said we don’t have any jobs for you so why don’t you become a student again.

I would like there to be a disability graduate scheme or something for people who are not suitable to work for organisations such as Remploy. It wouldn’t cost a lot of money because all that would have to be done is reduce the umber of contracts given to firms like A4E and use that money instead to run this new service. Just this week the government has chosen to close Remploy factories which will place further strain on a system, which cannot cope

Housing is a huge for anyone who is trying to find work and even more so for disabled people.

I have been unemployed since November 2010 and in April 2011 I found and was offered in a job in London which I was unable to take because I could not find an accessible place to live which I could afford. The government is trying to get as many disabled people who can work back into work, but I very much doubt that all the disabled people will be able to find jobs in their locality so some will have to move, but they will not be able to because they will face the problem I did.

I am a social tenant, which means I live in a council flat (or housing association property). Mine has been adapted for the needs of a disabled person. E.g. it has a wet floor shower and lower worktops in the kitchen. This type of accommodation is very rare in the private sector at an affordable rate. So being a social tenant is like having a golden ticket to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory and not something that one gives up easily. When I tried to move to London I found I was not entitled to help to find accommodation in the social sector until I lived there which is fare enough. But that meant I had would have to leave my Edinburgh flat, if I did this I would be declaring myself homeless which meant I would not be entitled to any help at all, because in the eyes of the law I had chosen to move. There are house swapping websites but that can take months to find somewhere. So if someone is offered a job where they don't live the employer will not wait a long time to withdraw the offer. In the end I had to choose my house over my job

Labour would help disabled people by making a small change to the housing system to make it easier for people to move.

Disabled people would fit into the 2015 vision because Labour policies speak to their needs if you get the same response I did from voter I mentioned earlier you will be able to say no politicians don’t just care about your benefits Labour will support you to find a job or a home

In 1789 that would of thought that by storming of the Bastille in France would be changed forever? The revolutionaries did by doing a small thing that made a big difference!

As Young Labour Disability Officer I have campaigned for a disability manifesto and the re introduction of the disabled members group small things that will hopefully make a big difference

As a Labour movement we must change the way disability is viewed by society small change big difference and by simply having this conference you in North West Young Labour have taken a small step to making a big difference to our party! Thank you

its just not cricket

People often say sport and politics dont mix but I am going to attempt to do so. As you will probably know I have been out of work for over 18 months. While I would much rather be in work it does give me time to indulge in my passion for watching cricket and this is what I want to write about.

Yesterday an icon of English sport and cricket retired from the 1 day and twenty20 form of the game. Kevin Pieterson will still play test matches for England. This is a very strange turn of events because many people retire from tests to play more of the short version of the game. He has retired so he can play in the lucrative IPL where he is paid millons of dollars for 6 weeks work.

Let me explain what this has to do with politics. it is linked with politics because I think that the 24hr news cycle has made politics and politicians a twenty20 style sport. this is the case because twenty20 cricket is over in a matter of hours where as test matches take days. so players have a short time to make an impact and so cricketers now are hitting the ball further and scoring more in a limited amount of time 24hr news has put politicians in a similar mindset with them keen to make a good impression or say the right sound bite because it can work in their favour. Just look at what the TV debates did for Nick Clegg

I have a strategic brain and like to see how things unfold. That is why i prefer Test matches because it can take a few days to see how the game takes shape. while twenty20 is a crowd pleaser. The two games need each other but i fear that twenty20 will reduce the skill level in the longer form of the game. In my views its the same with politics. Debating things in parliament is like a test match it takes time and there is an art form to it. I fear that this will be lost as the media generation of MPs comes in because they will know short snappy sounds bites rather than longer debates so i fear the art form of debating will be lost.

a tribute to jack Ashley

Today a pioneer a pioneer of the  disability  movement Jack Ashley has died. Others will be able to write more eloquently and knowledgeably about his achievements but i wanted to say without his tireless work on disability issues I would not be where I am today. His work 40 years ago in helping to pass the first disability legislation which then led to other legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act is something for which I will always be grateful.

With out his work I doubt I would of been educated to the extent I have been or been able to live in America. His work led to disabled people being able to integrate into society and have a normal life. For the past 3 years I have been working on a campaign to improve disabled access information about pubs. It is work that i feel is unfinished because  the law change I secured only applies in Scotland so my tribute to Jack Ashley is not this blog, but finishing the campaign that I started so that all disabled people have access to the same level of access information about pubs so they can enjoy a social life where ever they may live.

green shoots of recovery but not everything is rosey in the garden

As I start another week of job hunting I have had some good news, no i haven't found a job but the job market in Edinburgh is picking up. The latest Bank of Scotland jobs report says that the rise in the number of permanent job vacancies is the biggest since last August. this is welcome news.
As a disabled person is that I face further barriers to employment, not just a lack of jobs to apply for. Until these barriers are overcome disabled people will not be able to fully integrate into society.

I have been unemployed since November 2010 and in April 2011 I found and was offered in a job in London which i was unable to take because i could not find an accessible place to live which I could afford. The government is trying to get as many disabled people who can work back into work, but i very much doubt that all the disabled people will be able to find jobs in their locality so some will have to move, but they will not be able to because they will face the problem I did.

I am a social tenant which means I live in a council flat (or housing association property). Mine has been adapted for the needs of a disabled person. e.g. it has a wet floor shower and lower worktops in the kitchen. This type of accommodation is very rare in the private sector at an affordable rate. so being a social tenant is like having a golden ticket to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory and not something that one gives up easily. When I tried to move to London I found I was not entitled to help to find accommodation in the social sector until I lived there which is fare enough. But that meant I had would have to leave my Edinburgh flat, if i did this I would be declaring myself homeless which meant i would not be entitled to any help at all, because in the eyes of the law i had chosen to move. There are house swapping websites but that can take months to find somewhere. so if someone is offered a job where they don't live the employer will not wait a long time to withdraw the offer. In the end I had to choose my house over my job

the example of housing which I have just given illustrates how disability is viewed in Britain and it needs to change. In my view disability is viewed through the model, which sees disability as something the individual can cope with. and they can be helped by providing things like DLA and physio.

In my view disability should be viewed through the social model of disability which argues that disability should be dealt by society and disabled can be helped by removing barriers to them integrating into society. In my case my barrier is the inability to move to find a job. there maybe green shoots of recovery in the economy but I cant take advantage of them unless i find a job on my doorstep. I am a plant who wants to grow but am stuck in the shade when i should be out in the garden taking in the sunlight.

a degree of success

I have just had my easter break when my parents came to visit. during my break I saw my twitter feed was full of my student friends saying they were busy revising for their upcoming exams. I wish them all good luck and for those of them who graduate welcome to the world of graduate unemployment a place which i know very well. I graduated in 2007 and have been unemployed for 4 out of the last 5 years

Last week the Citizens Advice Bureau launched a survey to find out about to find out about graduates and their experiences of struggling to find work- you can fill it in here www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/news/graduate_employment_survey_s.htm

The problem is not just the job centre which is not fit for purpose and should be turned into a careers service which helps everybody regardless of their qualifications. The major problem is that there are too many graduates. In the early 2000s there was a big push to get 50% of the population through university. The policy was not thought through properly because they should of seen the current graduate crisis coming and made sure the system can cope because it isn't doing so.

That may sound a snobbish thing to say and it is not my intention to be so. I believe if people want to go to university they should be supported to do so. But i would advice people to think about why they are going to university and for their chosen degree subject look at employment prospects. I wish i had done this. Are you going because everyone else is? do you really want 3 or 4 more years of essays. By the end of my degree i had lost my mojo and couldnt wait to finish so ended up with a 2:2 which has proven to be useless because there are so many graduates employers are after a 2:1 so if like me you have a 2:2 you face an even harder battle to find a job and really wonder why you bothered.

I went to university because I believed i would get a better job with a degree and I chose to do Politics and International Relations because it was sold to me as a flexible degree so i could do anything i wished. But upon graduation all of the jobs i looked at the employers wanted specific degrees e.g. business management or I.T. so i was stuck.

I should not have gone to university i failed all my exams in S6 and would probably put the fact I was accepted down to my disability to fill in a statistic. So the desire for the country to be educated a good one but it will only be successfull if the system is designed in a way that makes having a degree worth while and people should take time to think is that really what they want to do.

thank you for the music

People cope in different ways in a crisis, some people turn to drink or hide away in a dark room. I do two things firstly I phone my sister and secondly i listen to ABBA. I phone my sister because big sisters are meant to know everything. and i listen to ABBA because its meant to be the ultimate feel good music.

So what is my crisis? well it is the fact that 16 months ago today I became unemployed. why is this a crisis now given that it has been so long? well the answer is i am fed up. for my last 4 interviews I have been in the top two and at the last one I was told that it was so close if there were two jobs then I would be employed. that has hit me hard I really wanted the job and to be told I was that close is heartbreaking. I wonder what more I can do to gain employment,


In 2008 I was directly affected by the Lehman Brothers collapse as I had just secured employment there. when it collapsed i was gutted and went with a friend to see Mamma Mia at the Cinema to cheer up and it worked so ever since when I have felt low i have turned to ABBA.
I speak regularly to my parents and at the end of every conversation with my dad he says "keep going as I know you do" well that is getting harder and harder as months go on. to quote an ABBA hit I have a Dream, and that dream is to work and When All is Said and done that dream cannot be realalised until some one will Take A chance on me

the welfare reform bill is a missed opportunity

Welfare Reform is an issue which successive government have tackled. In February 2011 the Coalition Government at Westminster introduced its Welfare Reform Bill which it argues is the biggest shake up of the Welfare System in 60 years. It has been very controversial with disability groups uniting in opposition to the Bill in a way that I have not seen before. The Scottish Parliament protested against the Bill by voting against the consent motion. This is a big event as it is the first time the Scottish Parliament has withheld its consent.

The bill affects me directly in two ways firstly I have been unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 14months and secondly I am disabled and receive Disability Living Allowance which pays for my home help and transport. but the purpose of this blog is not to moan about how I am affected. but to point out where the government have not been as radical as they could have been.

According to the home page of the Bill one of the objectives of the bill is to deliver fairness to those claiming benefits and to the taxpayer for more details see http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/welfare-reform-bill-2011/

This objective is what i want to focus on and where I think the opportunity has been missed. I am a university graduate having obtained my degree from the University of Aberdeen in 2007 and since then I have been unemployed for 3 out of the 4 years since. I am a talented hardworking guy and I do not think that that stat is fair on either me or the tax payer.
The current bill is dodging the root of the problem which is the Jobcentre system. What I am about to argue is not an attack on the staff who have been very supportive of me but I think the system they operate in is wrong and that is what truly needs reforming instead of attacking the benefits which help some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

So how would I reform the job centre. Firstly I would turn it into a careers service and encourage more employers to advertise there. Presently the vast majority of jobs are for administrative jobs or jobs for skilled trades such as chefs or builders. In the current economic climate more and more highly qualified are signing on and the job centre does not help them find jobs because they are not advertised there. Highly qualified people are taking the jobs which less qualified people could do, so the people who need help to find work are finding even harder and it is not fair on those people.

I have claiming JSA for 14 months I have been put on a Back to Work program which is welcome but why should it happen now and not at the start of my claim. I feel that this will give people the support they need to find work and thus reduce the length of a claim, if people are trained earlier in interview techniques and other skills.

So the Welfare Reform bill is a missed chance because it does not reform one of the biggest barriers to employment for people which is the jobcentre its self.