Government refuses to listen to Disabled People

This country has witnessed multiple uprisings led by the Disabled People’s Movement against relentless government cuts and regressive policy shifts. 

From the cuts to welfare support like Personal Independence Payment (PIP), to weakening entitlement to Inclusive Education, the assisted dying bill, and the use of force and seclusion in education and care settings, these are not isolated issues. They are connected – deeply rooted in systemic ableism and intersecting oppression. Disabled people are fighting back with clear demands for dignity, rights and justice.  

At ALLFIE, the week commencing 28th March was particularly intense. We worked relentlessly to respond to four separate government consultations on issues relating to education. Three had the same deadline. This we believe was a deliberate tactic by the government to overwhelm and silence the public voice. But ALLFIE responded through gathering our community to respond with urgency and in solidarity. As a result, we met all the consultation deadlines. We also submitted our briefing on the Children, Wellbeing and Schools Bill ahead of its second reading in the House of Lords – watch the debate here. 

Throughout February and March, we created spaces for Disabled people, families of Disabled children, professionals and supporters to shape our responses to the Department for Education’s consultations. In particular, our consultation meetings on the “use of reasonable force and other restrictive interventions guidance government consultation” were deeply distressing. Young Disabled people shared their traumatic experiences of seclusion rooms. Parents of Disabled children spoke about the fear and long-term harm caused to their children.  

The consistent message was clear: stop sanitising violence. Our consultations focused on building collective understanding, centring lived experience, and challenging harmful policies and practices by creating a public record of truth, making it hard for governments to claim lack of awareness about the harm of their hostile policies. The government’s use of vocabulary like “reasonable force” and “supporting pupils” masks the brutal reality of abuse and control. The guidance enables unchecked power, relies on vague definitions, and comes with little accountability. Worse still, the government’s consultation failed to show any commitment to ending this practice. There was no sign to offer any change, understanding or care about the harm being done. 

On 29th April we attended Inclusion London’s Bring People Home from Hospital Day of Action which was produced to raise awareness about the many Disabled people who are being locked up in mental health or psychiatric hospitals, as well as to raise concerns about the new Mental Health Bill.

ALLFIE, in solidarity with other DPOs and activists, attended this Day of Action that included a powerful rally in Parliament Square. As we prepared for the day and drafted our speech, we made sure to lift up the voices of the many individuals who contributed to ALLFIE’s work on End Torture, including the recent consultations. This issue is not separate, it’s part of the same pattern of violence, control, and dehumanisation. 

We gathered in unity in Parliament Square alongside other Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO), Disabled people, campaigners, and allies. Person after person told of their lived experience and the trauma caused by being locked up in mental health or psychiatric hospitals, some detailing years spent in secured wards under the guise of care. The pain and injustice echoed through the testimonies of everyone present. As our End Torture campaign argues, these practices are state-sanctioned, institutionalised violence. 

After the rally, we marched in solidarity to the Department of Health and Care to hand-deliver a letter calling for a meeting with the Care Minister Stephen Kinnock and Mental Health Minister Baroness Gillian Merron. Shockingly, no one from the department would come down to receive it. Inclusion London negotiated, the crowd chanted, and we held our ground.  

ALLFIE’s Justice and Campaigns Lead, Iyiola Olafimihan delivered a powerful speech to offer support and to demand an end to the use of force and segregation in all educational settings. His speech echoed the core message of ALLFIE’s End Torture campaign, stating: “These abuses are not accidents —they are backed by law which gives schools the power to use ‘force’ on Disabled students. This law is a licence for violence.” 

Claire Glasman, from WinVisible and a member of ALLFIE’s Stronger Voice steering group, addressed the crowd with a speech highlighting the intersecting lived experiences of Disabled mothers and their families. Around her neck, she wore a placard that read, “Kids in poverty 10x more likely to be in care,” drawing attention to the damaging impact of current policies. Her message strongly echoed the focus of ALLFIE’s Stronger Voices project, which addresses the intersections of segregation, disability, and poverty. 

From the back of the crowd, our Capacity Building Development Lead, Lani Parker, sparked a chant: “It’s only a letter.” Her words were sharp and a direct response to the minister’s refusal to accept the letter. They were a clear reminder that the real threat isn’t Disabled people, but the government’s hostile and harmful policies.   

Eventually, the letter was handed over to a senior security officer. The message was delivered, symbolising Disabled people’s refusal to be ignored. The event was covered by Disability News Service. BBC News Online also covered the event, capturing Lani and Iyiola at the rally in Parliament Square.   

We later caught up with ‘Bring People Home from Hospital’ Project Manager, Simone Aspis, who had led the day of action. Below are some of their reflections on what the day meant. 

“We need to end all forms of institutionalisation and segregation,” for all.. Simone continued that “too often Autistic People, and people with learning difficulties, have ended up trapped within [the] psychiatric system as a result of being placed in segregated residential and traumatic ‘educational’ settings.”   

They further emphasised that “too often children and Young People are ending up in crisis as a result of many years of insufficient or no support whilst living at home or within mainstream education settings.”  

On the legal issues, Simone commented, “The Mental Health Bill, like the Children and Families Act and Equality Act, must be changed so that Disabled people get the support they need to thrive within education and community as set out in the UNCRPD.”   

ALLFIE was keen to know what Inclusion London’s next move will be. Simone responded, “Our next steps are [to contact the] Mental Health Bill committee” and “MPs to raise our issues in committee with some suggested changes to the Mental Health Bill.  We will still be pushing for a Mental Health bill that upholds our human rights.   We are still pursuing that meeting with Baroness Merron and Stephen Kinnock using the Equality Act disability-reasonable adjustments duties.”   

Simone concluded, “We need to create societies that [are] inclusive of us.” 

Until this government makes it a genuine priority to end the use of force and seclusion in all settings, how can Disabled people have any confidence in their commitment to the progressive realisation of our rights and agency under the UNCRPD including making Inclusive Education a reality in mainstream settings?