May 21, 2025

‘My life is on the line’: Why disabled people protest

39 minutes

On both sides of the Atlantic disabled people are protesting, despite the sometimes tricky logistics.

In the UK, a mass lobby event was held on 21 May at Westminster to enable disabled people to 'green card' their MP. That means the MP is informed their constituent is waiting for them in Parliament and they should go and meet them. The hot topic for this event was the £5bn welfare cuts announced in the Spring Statement. But how successful was it?

Access All's Alex Collins goes to meet those who have travelled from across the country to be there and Emma Tracey chats with Svetlana Kotova from disabled peoples organisation, Inclusion London.

Across the Atlantic, American activists have also been out in force. Last week 26 disabled people were arrested in Congress when they disrupted a debate around Medicaid and who gets government-funded health and social care.

Domonique Howell, from US disability advocacy organisation Adapt, was one of those to be arrested and talks about her experience, while veteran protester, Julie Farrar, talks about the importance of direct action.

Plus Ellie Simmonds: Should I Have Children? That’s the thought-provoking title of the Paralympian come TV presenter’s new documentary, which explores the decisions parents make when told their unborn child could be disabled. She chats about how it shaped her feelings around having children as a woman with an impairment that could be passed on, and what she learned by spending time with couples at a specialist foetal medicine unit.

Presented by Emma Tracey

Producer and reporter: Alex Collins

Sound by Dave O’Neill

Editors: Damon Rose and Beth Rose

...more

View all episodes

By BBC Sounds

4.7

6767 ratings