The Conservatives yesterday promised £1m to fund a four year programme that would help more disabled people become MPs, councillors and civil servants. Tory spokesman on disability issues, Mark Harper MP is quoted in The Guardian:
"Despite there being over 10 million disabled people in the UK, they are still under-represented in public life. It is important that we break down the barriers which prevent disabled people from standing for public office. Given the recent damage done to the standing of parliament and our politics, it is all the more important that we open up our democracy and set up this fund to ensure that disabled people are given a fair chance to enter public life."
The money would come from efficiency savings in existing budgets and would be adminstered by disability charities who devised the best ways of increasing access.
Tim Montgomerie
