Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill (Hansard, 28 April 1995)

§ Mr. Harry Barnes (Derbyshire, North-East)

I have a petition in support of the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill.

As you will be aware, Madam Speaker, it was the hope of the supporters of the Bill that it would have been placed before the House today for its Report Stage and Third Reading, but, as a result of action that has been taken elsewhere throughout the House, and because of its procedures, it has been blocked.

I therefore have a petition, signed by several organisations, which organised itself in 24 hours, when it was finally discovered that the Bill had been stopped in Committee, or kept in Committee rather than being brought before the House.

The officers and officials of the organisations concerned represent the Muscular Dystrophy Group of Great Britain, MENCAP in Northern Ireland, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and its northern division, Lambeth Accord, Artsline, Scope, the GRAEA Theatre Company, the Greater London Association of Disabled People, React, the Disability Alliance, the United Kingdom Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS, the NAZ Project, the Denholm Elliott Project, DART and the All Aboard Campaign, the Centre for the Study of Integrated Education, the Trades Union Congress, the Carers National Association, People First, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and the National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom.

The petition reads: To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled The Humble Petition of the officers and officials of organisations of, and for, disabled people Sheweth that the principles and provisions contained in the Civil Rights (Disàbled Persons) Bill, particularly its proposed strategic enforcement authority, the Disability Rights Commission, to provide practical assistance to those seeking redress and the establishment of legal precedents for others, represents a better means of moving towards equal rights for the United Kingdom's 6.5 million disabled people than the Government's alternative Disability Discrimination Bill Wherefore your petitioners pray that your Honourable House will urge the Prime Minister, his Government and its supporters not to impede the passage of the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill And your petitioners, as in duty, will ever pray etc. It is signed by Sahra Ahmed and the representatives of the organisations I have mentioned.