DRC: Tory MP derails Tory party policy on parking for disabled people

Tory MP Anthony Steen has directly contravened Tory Party Policy on providing easier car parking for disabled people after being caught parking in a disabled bay at a Devon Railway Station, the Disability Rights Commission said today (Friday).

Mr Steen was fined for the offence, but refused to apologise and launched into an attack on the provision of disabled parking spaces.

Mr Steen, aged 67, told The Daily Telegraph: "The number of disabled bays is disproportionate to the number of handicapped people living in the area.

"I support making the life of every handicapped person easier, but we should not discriminate against the able-bodied."

However, his views appear to conflict with those expressed on the Conservative Disability website: www.thedisabilitychallenge.com, which says it is aiming to improve parking in London for disabled people.

In a letter to David Cameron, DRC Chief Executive Officer Bob Niven said he was “deeply disappointed” to read Mr Steen’s comments, which could serious affect the already low confidence among disabled people over using public transport.

He said: “Anthony Steen MP was not only fined for using a disabled parking bay, but compounded his offence by claiming that they were never used. Mr Steen’s actions certainly put paid to a disabled passenger making use of this provision but more importantly, may have contributed in putting them off using public transport in the future.”

The DRC are now calling for the Tory Party to publicly endorse the Commission’s GOJO campaign, which is attempting to bridge the confidence gap among disabled people on the back of a £600 million investment programme to make public transport accessible.

Notes to Editors
The DRC launched GOJO, the first nationwide campaign aimed at increasing young people’s confidence using public transport, earlier this month.

It is aimed at the thousands of young people – aged between 16 and 25 - who have difficulties or fears using buses, trams and trains.

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), found that twice as many young disabled people said they lacked confidence using public transport than their non disabled peers.

At the centre of the campaign is the GOJO website - at www.mygojo.co.uk - which provides practical tips to increase young people’s confidence travelling on public transport and information on special leisure deals and how to travel there. The site will also include information on rights and how to make a complaint if young disabled people feel they may have been discriminated against under the DDA.

2. The DRC is an independent statutory body responsible for tackling disability discrimination. We aim to bring about equality of opportunity and increased participation for the 10 million people in Britain who have rights under the Disability Discrimination Act.

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