THE SOAPBOX DISABLED MSPS?


▏ There is a key way in which this election result has badly let down disabled people. With one in five members of the working-age population being disabled, a fully representative Scottish Parliament would have about 23 disabled MSPs. Before the election there were three disabled MSPs. One way or another, we lost all three and so far, it would appear that our newly elected Scot- tish Parliament has just one new openly disabled member – Jeremy Balfour MSP (Conservative, Lothian region). Less than one per cent of our new parliament is openly disabled. Despite all the parties signing the ‘One in Five pledge’ over a year ago, and most of them engaging with Inclu- sion Scotland over the past two years on this issue, this does not appear to have translated into support for dis- abled candidates to stand in winnable seats, at least not yet. Even if you only look at the 51 newly elected MSPs entering the Holyrood chamber this session, this still comes out as achieving only 10 per cent of what would be representative of the population. During a time when disabled people


are increasingly being put under pressure by cuts to social security, punitive sanctions, undignifi ed and often inaccessible assessment pro- cesses and the increasing cost of living – the need for more disabled people in our democracy has never been greater. Disabled politicians can also bring additional benefi ts to the role, such as a more varied perspective on many of the challenges faced by their constit- uents and lived experience that may off er a much deeper understanding of the eff ect some decisions can have. The question is: what will political parties do to ensure that disabled members are encouraged and sup- ported to stand? Will they take action to ensure a representative level of dis- abled members are selected for next year’s elections? Help is at hand for those willing to act. The new Democratic Participation Fund and associated advice service run by Inclusion Scotland will off er fi nancial assistance to disabled can- didates wishing to stand for selection or election to councils next year which will give disabled candidates a more level playing fi eld to compete with non-disabled opponents.


- Phyl Meyer, Inclusion Scotland


WHERE ARE ALL THE


INBOX CONSTITUTION ARTICLE BY HENRY


MCLEISH Mr McLeish’s above article (‘Scottish Labour must get to grips with the constitutional question’) is interesting and mostly well thought out but he goes far adrift in his comment, “UK Labour is of little help to Scottish Labour. The politics of Scotland and England are rapidly diverging. English nationalism is at war with Scottish nationalism”. This is plainly wrong about any “war” between English nationalism and Scottish nationalism. In fact, as his own arguments demonstrate, the constitutional confl ict in Scotland is between the dying embers of BRITISH nationalism and the resurgence of Scottish nationalism. In England too the confl ict is increasingly between those British embers and English nationalism. We English hope to catch up with Scotland soon!


Robin Tilbrook, Chairman, T e English Democrats


CONCESSIONARY BUS TRAVEL Holders of free bus passes issued under the National Concession Scheme to elderly and disabled people are currently unable to use them on Night Buses. Whilst Night Buses won’t concern those outwith our major cities, it seems strange to city dwellers that elderly and disabled folk should be discouraged from participating in nocturnal life in this way. Perhaps a priority for our new caring and sharing Scottish Parliament to examine?


John Hein, Montgomery Street, Edinburgh


SQA NATIONAL 5 MATHS EXAM PAPER This is totally outrageous! All pupils sitting this exam yesterday including Higher and Adv. Higher had the same issue. I call on Nicola Sturgeon and MSPs to personally assess this and sit the past and specimen papers to see if they accept that the exam paper was NOTHING like those papers that the pupils were given to practice on. This won’t go away overnight as it is our son’s and daughter’s lives and futures the SQA are toying with. If Holyrood do NOTHING then they are agreeing that pupils should be treated in this way and their futures don’t stand a chance of being achieved. This is the second year in a row


Illustration by Charlie Gilhooley


Letters from our readers


that this has happened with SQA at the helm. They need to be independently assessed and given exams that even they would struggle to complete so they can feel the pressure our young people suff er!


As a parent I am extremely annoyed that SQA


are NOT taken to task when throughout the whole year, including prelims sat in November 2015, they continually kept altering the coursework, confusing pupils. One minute they were being told that they were to follow and be taught certain aspects of the course, which teachers had no choice but to follow, and change to then be told, within a few days in some cases and from week to week, that they were now to be taught a diff erent aspect, again adding unnecessary immense pressure to the already immensely stressed pupils. Parents want answers and actions not platitudes!


Parent of S6 and S4 pupils at Queen Anne High School, Dunfermline, Fife


MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS With mental health awareness week in full swing, I would like to commend all the hard work we are seeing from charities up and down the country, as well as the Scottish Government for its commitment to invest an additional £150 million for mental health over fi ve years. Improving access to services and addressing the issue of mental health, particularly in young people, is an issue we should all be talking about. Unfortunately there is still such stigma around mental health, especially in males. Figures released by the Offi ce for National Statistics last February show the male suicide rate is the highest since 2001, which is a very troubling statistic. The Boys’ Brigade as a major youth organisation has contact with 20,000 members in Scotland alone, and it is a priority for us to recognise the need to provide support and reassurance for anyone who needs it. Earlier this year, we teamed up with the mental health charity YoungMinds UK to provide training for our young BB leaders. It gave our volunteers a chance to learn more about how to support young peoples’ emotional well-being, and how other specialist organisations can help. It also acted as a reminder that organisations like the BB can be instrumental at building resilience in young people. If we can start to get more people talking, we are already making the fi rst step to help tackle the taboo. We are committed to continue this support,


beyond just a few events, and hopefully we can support our leaders and young people and work together with other organisations to stamp out the stigma and see these worrying fi gures change for the better.


Bill Stevenson, Director, T e Boys’ Brigade Scotland 23 May 2016 www.holyrood.com 43


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