if the shoe fits

The new Home Secretary Theresa May is famous for her shoes. Today I am also thinking about shoes. that is because i have just bought a new pair. But this pair is different. they actually fit my own feet. I wear splints to help me walk. but they are away being fixed at the moment. I have shoes which fit my splint, but not my feet. so on sunday I bought my first pair of shoes, i will send mum a picture to fit in my baby book.

so far so good but time will tell if the shoes fit

It could all end in tears

The past week has been momentous in British Politics with the first coalition government in many years and some comentators are saying it could all end in tears. In just a few short weeks the conservatives and Liberal democrats have gone from just " I agree with nick" to " I am time sharing with nick" as william Haugue and Nick Clegg are going to share the use of Chevening the country retreat of the Foreign Secretary with 115 rooms, they could stay there at the same time and never see each other- See full story here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279232/Nick-Clegg-muscles-William-Hagues-Chevening-grace-favour-Kent-pad.html

However something else the could end in tears has done so. This morning was a bright sunny day in edinburgh so I got up and put on a nice white shirt for work this morning and went of out of the door with my lunch in hand, full of the joys of spring

Lunchtime came and I went to the kitchen and went over to the sink to open my lunch. My friends my lunch was tomato soup. I pulled open the can with such force that the soup went onto my shirt at the top of my shoulder and into the chest pocket and covered my glasses.

So how will a coalition not end in tears start by banning tomato soup and white shirts

the blog is back

Ladies and Gentleman I had taken a break from blogging but the blog is back

speech on independent living

Conference I come before you as two things can you guess what they are? The most obvious thing is that I am part of that select group of people in Scotland 1 in 5 of the population, who have a disability. Secondly I am the PPC for Orkney and Shetland. I do not know which of these is more of a challenge, but they are both one I intend to conquer.

The labour party has done so much for disabled people through out the UK to make our lives easier and for that I am grateful

What I want to talk to you about is independence, not political independence but social independence

Conference what do you think of when you think of a disabled person being independent, is that being able to cook and clean for themselves well conference there is so much more to being independent than that

Independent living is being able to do what you want when you want to do it- without having to rely on others. Just like all of you who are not disabled.

An example of this is the barred campaign! This is a campaign, which seeks to improve the social lives of disabled people by improving the access to pubs by improving the access information about them. Yes conference disabled people like to go for a pint too-, as those of you who know me will testify

I am asking the party to put down on paper is recognition of the importance of independent living and also that it means more than being able to do the basics. But to allow disabled to take their place in society.

Like the SNP I want full independence but unlike them the purpose of my independence is not to break up society or a country but to be able to take my place in society and contribute just like anyone else.

Speech to Partnership in Politics Conference Swansea November 6th 2009

Find below my speech delivered today in Swansea

Good Morning it’s a delight for me to be here today, and to be able to share my knowledge and experience with you and I hope to learn things from you.

I think it is very appropriate that the conference is being held here in the Liberty Stadium as I hope what I will say will liberate you to feel that you can bring about change no matter who you are or if you have a disability

I thought that everyone in Wales loves Rugby so this speech was going to be about how Try you best and Converting your campaigning chances but everyone I have spoken to more of a football fan so that plan was a bit of an own goal!

David Lloyd George said you can’t cross a chasm in 2 small leaps and I hope that what I will say today will help you take the first leap

Who am I and what do I know about campaigning ?I am leading the barred campaign in Scotland. The barred campaign is seeking to improve the information available to disabled pub goers in Scotland.

Like all good ideas the campaign started in the pub although we did not go there to start the campaign. It was a typical Friday night and like many people I had gone to the pub to meet friends and unwind over a few drinks.

The evening started off well I got into the pub through the level access entrance and watched my favorite darts player Raymond Van Barneveld win a match on TV and I was settled in for the evening with a pint in hand What could go wrong?

I then needed the toilet and so I asked the bar staff where the disabled toilet was and was told sorry we don’t have one. I thought what am I supposed to do now as I thought they did just by the fact that I could get in to the pub.

I had to leave my friends and go elsewhere and find a toilet then rejoin them.

This has happened to me before but I hope my campaign will stop it happening in the future. I am fed up of it happening to me, James Bond likes his Martinis shaken but not stirred. The experience that night shook and stirred the campaigning beast within me and I decided to campaign for change.

I contacted my Member of the Scottish Parliament to ask them to find out why the bar didn’t have a disabled toilet – I thought it would be more effective than coming from me a punter

Then a local councilor asked Edinburgh City Council To find out the number of pubs in the city with disabled toilets and the ease of access to the toilets. The results were to be published so that disabled people would know where the pubs were and not have to go through a similar experience. The council agreed to this request.

Not content with stopping there I decided to chance my arm and see if I could go nation wide with my campaign and I am now working for Capability Scotland to see if my campaign can have a national impact after they agreed to support my campaign and my quest for equality. I am now working full time for them as their Parliamentary and Policy Officer which allows me to work on a wide range of issues from welfare reform to access to justice

How can you Campaign for change?

Just like the Jackson 5 song campaigning can be as easy as ABC- make sure you pay attention, as I will be testing you later!

The most important part of any campaign is the planning the more work you do here the less work later.

Find out if there have been any similar campaigns not to copy them but to learn from them.

Firstly make sure you know what you and your team are campaigning for. If everyone in the team is pulling in the same direction it makes life so much easier.

Keep your campaign simple. Keep it down to 3 or 4 points this makes it easier for you to remember what your are campaigning for and also if you do any press releases or interview it keeps it short it snappy.

Once you have decided these you have to decide where you want the campaign to go do you want to campaign for change in your school, street or like me your country

Now implement your campaign. Many people think the new way to campaign is to copy president Obama but I would disagree. Although he did use the Internet to great effect the bulk of his campaigning was done the old fashioned way through door knocking and meetings,

How you market your campaign depends on the situation. For example don’t use the Internet if your target audience don’t use the Internet. That may sound simple but you would be amazed at how many people think that just because they have run one successful campaign in a certain way that way will always work.

Talk to people about your campaign and do a piece in your school paper or start a petition. If you get lots of interest then who ever you are trying to get to implement your campaign will have to take notice.

Arguably the greatest thing the Scottish parliament has to campaign for change is the Petitions committee. Which allows ordinary people to take their concerns to the people that represent them I know that the national assembly for Wales has one too and I look forward to hearing what Mike German has to say later on. All I would say is that its there to help you so why not give it a go!

So there are some tips about how to run a successful campaign. Here are some words of wisdom from a seasoned campaigner.

You may not achieve what you set out to achieve but don’t lose heart. Your campaign may have raised an issue, which someone else will take forward.

Campaigning is hard work But as John F Kennedy said we don’t do things because they are easy but because they hard, I am standing fir the UK parliament for the labour party in Orkney and Shetland which is very hard because its one of the safest Liberal Democrats seats in the country but I believe I can do it

If you’re campaigning for change believe in it. Franklyn D Roosevelt said if you believe in something you are half way there. The passion, which comes from you, does a lot for your campaign people may not remember all you say but they will remember how you said it.

Belief in myself is something I have a huge amount of. In September 2008 I had found my first job. It was in Canary wharf at Lehman Brothers. I never started that job.

But I had the belief I could find a job and I have ended up speaking to you today and working in a job I love.

Most of all have fun! You could meet all sorts of people and learn new things

So how do you campaign for change? You plan you organise , you impliment and you believe!

At the start of my speech I quoted David Lloyd George may seem like you are in a chasm David Lloyd George said you cant cross a cassum in two small leaps. With what I have shared with you today are you ready to take the jump?

no expense spared

The current row over MPs expenses has got me thinking of part of the solution. An eariler blog post is the answer to the housing problem- as rolf harris says can you tell what it is yet.

the answer is tied housing- this takes the problem of the perception of the MPs cashing in on their second homes away, I have lived in a tied house all my life until i left home for uni. My dads work provided a home and paid for his work related expenses. so the house of commons should buy a block of flats- like they have in sweden for parliamentarians and when the MPs leave westminster they have to move out and they dont make any gain from it. there should also be a number of homes for MPs who for what ever reason move their familes to london so cant fit in flats.

This solution would also help new MPs who often have to find accommodation in london and have to stay in hotels for some time,

doing exactly what it says on the tin- or not!

As a wheelchair user there is one thing i would not be able survive without-apart from my set of wheels and that is a taxi.. I know that there are buses that take wheelchairs and i use them but if i have to go somewhere for an appointment i take a cab because i know it will take me from door to door.

I have had to take two cabs in two days to get to important appointments and so i got a cab and the driver was less than complimentary about my stabiliser which stop me from tipping onto my back when going up a curb or something he started to complain about my wheelchair and its bloody - to put it mildly stabilisers because he would have to get out his ramp.
I could put up with this because its a common complaint but an incident today really got me going.
I was coming away from a job interview and went to a taxi stand to get a cab to take me home i thought i had found one i tapped on the window of a new minibus cab- in edinburgh as well as the london type cabs we have new kind of van things which take a wheelchair and 4 people quit comfortabley. they even have wheelchair stickers on thie side of them so you know it a good bet.

its a good bet apart from today- i saw the van type of cab so i approached it and asked the cabbie if i could hire it to take me home he said no because he was exempt from carryig wheelchairs. So i challanged him as to why he was driving a taxi designed for that purpose and he said he it wasnt his cab- which may be true but if he is genuinely exempt he should not be driving a cab like that before i could challange him more he drove off i am not a happy bunny!