Felt discriminated against at a neighbourhood meeting for being on disability benefit

I feel for you Hun, you have every right to feel attacked. Ignorant people xx

I don't think people really understand what it's like to be disabled, unless you are in a wheelchair they think you're OK, can walk or fit for work etc.

The other day I was thinking maybe it's just the way we're brought up? We're told to "Stay away from the person in the wheelchair" or "Mind that person with the stick". I think a little bit of understanding is needed. After all, we are all disabled in some way - nobody's perfect. There are invisible disabilities, and that is what needs to be addressed. We need to learn more.

Hi Remina,

It is appalling that you were treated that way and that no-one objected to those comments especially if police and councillors were in attendance. Councillors are supposed to adhere to a Code of Conduct as well as the Nolan Principles and they will have failed to meet those standards if they let such comments go unrefuted. You do have options if you would like to take this further but I can appreciate that you may not wish to make a target of yourself and there are ways which you could still take action. They are:

Write to the organisers of the meeting and explain that you were in attendance at the meeting and that as a disabled person the behaviour of other at the meeting along with the lack of any action taken by organisers left you feeling shocked. isolated, hurt and vulnerable. You could also raise the point that by allowing these views from being countered they are allowing that attitude to proliferate and that hate crimes against minority groups are rising more rapidly than other crimes because of such attitudes. You could also say that those responsible for the meeting need to ensure that this does not happen again because it undermines the reason for the meeting.

If the meeting was organised by either the police or a council, you could write to them to raise your concerns. Even if you did not use the word complain, they would still be required to investigate the incident. It may be that there could be either a councillor or a police officer who wasn't confident enough to challenge the behaviour but they may be willing to say something if an investigation were to take place. If you are worried about any comeback, with regard to councillors complaints about the actions of councillors are dealt with by the local district council Monitoring Officer who will carry out an investigation (each Monitoring Officer will have independent consultants who can carry out investigations). The process is confidential and there is an onus on the councillor to ensure that it remains confidential. I am not going to lie and say that the process is perfect, it isn't because there are very few actions which can be taken against the councillor (even with councillors and their respective bodies having petitioned the last government to put in place sanctions which could be used). At the moment, if a councillor is found to either breached or potentially breached the council then that councillor can be made to make a formal apology and undergo training to ensure that they have the knowledge of their responsibilities in the future. The government makes the case that any penalty against a councillor is also a penalty against the people who elected them, if they are suspended their electorate might lose their voice in any council discussions or decisions. I believe that the police have a similar complaints structure. In both these cases, you would need to actually name the individuals.

Another way you can make a complaint is my writing to your local paper (if you have one). Local papers generally have a public comments page and you can submit a letter to the paper but advise them that you do not want your name at the end of the letter when it is printed or anything which would identify you because you are vulnerable. They then have a duty to list the writer as anonymous or name withheld for personal reasons.

There is another way which you could take action and that is to stand for election yourself. At town and parish council levels, mostly they do not run along party lines and there are large numbers of independent members. Labour councillors, like myself, have to declare that they are Labour Party members under the rules of the party, but most other councillors do not. As I said mostly decisions are consensus based and left to the individuals opinion after hearing all the information. The points being considered are more reflective of the local community. and they can be useful pressure groups to the district and county councils.

Even if being a councillor is not for you, most district councils are likely to have a disability forum. There isn't a standard set of rules for it but the one locally to be as many local charities who work in the disability support industry as well as individual who are disabled meet to tackle issues affecting disabled being in the local community. You would certainly not be alone on one of those forums as they really push on the realities facing us as a community, especially on physical issues but it is gradually becoming more reflective of mental health.

You can also set up a petition via organisations like 38 degrees if there are issues which you don't think were discussed because of the bias at the meeting.

Hopefully these give you some ideas if you want to take things further but if you feel more comfortable staying out of the limelight, then you need to do what is best for you. I had to step down from being a councillor for a couple of years myself as following relaxations after Covid, my job was too busy for me to be able to have time to listen to my local community and put forward their views in council meetings. There were also a couple of councillors who were toxic in their opinions regarding disability, especially mental health, but other councillors countered their opinions and showed how the bigots where a minority on the council. I still felt the need to step back for the sake of my mental health. (I have been fortunate to be co-opted back onto the council and hopefully making a difference for the local community.)

The key thing is for you to do what works best for yourself, we forget to put ourselves first and often suffer because of it. I have encountered people like them and luckily there are a lot more people who recognise the impact that disability has on individuals as well as their families and friends.