On Twitter I became acquainted with Merry Cross, a disabled activist in the UK. Here is my interview with her on the political situation facing disabled people.
Tell me a little about yourself and your involvement with DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts)
My name is Merry Cross and I have been a disability activist since the late ‘70s, having been subject to disability discrimination from an early age, as I was born with a significant mobility impairment. I founded one of the first activist groups in the UK, with Micheline Mason, called the Liberation Network of People with Disabilities* and then also founded a local group in East London that provided support and eventually, accessible transport, for disabled people. (*At the time we thought it was important to use language that reminded the public that we were first and foremost human beings – hence ‘people with disabilities’ but later agreed with the social model reasoning and used ‘disabled people’).