Dreaming of not being a politician

Incidentally, though, Philip, would the smut in question be inclusive smut, incorporating cute disabled guys? If not, why watch it?

Granted, although I'd make the case that even if the Invalids Benefit is seen as 'demeaning' by some, there is the question of total immiseration if it is removed. I am thinking particularly of people with psychiatric disabilities who have experienced significant educational and employment related disruption in this context, which would lead to substance abuse, homelessness and antisocial behaviour.

I do agree, we need a greater focus on enablement and social citizenship. However, given the current ideological persuasion of this government, we'll have to wait for the next Labour/Green coalition. How does the idea of a seperate Disability Commissioner and Charter of Intellectually Disabled Peoples Rights grab you?

Where do I start, Craig?! Party MPs could start by having more meaningful dialogues with people with unique function, one-on-one, over coffee, over a beer. Real, personal engagement, not "consultation" with organisations. Policy wise, for a start, we need to be creative over benefit reform. Vegetating on a benefit is demeaning and wasteful of human resources. But the current labour market is too inflexible to create opportunity for everyone. People with capacity that doesn't match the labour pool need state assistance to survive, but there is no reason why they couldn't negotiate a civic contribution that matches their capability. These would be "designed jobs", created to suit a unique set of attributes and skillset. It's not like everything in society gets done, so there's heaps of scope to design some pretty unique civic contributions. Other woefully inadequate systems are disability and education support - they are currently deficit-based, ie. forcing people to make a case for how incapable they are without support rather than how capable they could be with it. There - and, as I said – that's just for starters!

I stand corrected. What can existing political parties do to promote affirmative policies that enhance disability rights?

Apart from insurance discrimination, what policies would you like to see enacted on a concrete level?

In fact there have been MPs with the experience of disability - Margaret Wilson has post-polio syndrome and George Hawkins had a stroke. Neither had the awareness, unfortunately, to identify, advocate and promote disability as a political issue. Shame.

I agree with this to a large extent - I have always thought that those who pursue power are exactly the sort of people who shouldn't have it.

Speaking of diversity, why is it that this country has never had any MPs with disabilities? An interesting question, which I hope you'll answer (or is it because people with disabilities have far better things to do with their time!)