Parliament and disability in Britain

There is a large number of people with disabilities in Britain, yet politically disability issues have a low profile. This paper presents evidence from a study of the attitudes to welfare of 96 Members of Parliament (MPs) illustrating that their general level of awareness of future challenges to policy is low. Overall, whether at a general level or when questioned about specific policy preferences, the needs of people with disabilities rarely figured in MPs' responses. Yet, despite this, the passage of the private members' Disabled Persons' (Services, Consultative and Representative) Act, 1986 shows that there is some prospect both for legislative change and for raising further MPs' awareness of the needs of people with disabilities.