Liberal Democrats put people with disabilities in the picture

Natasha Kennedy04 October 2014

We're excited to see that on 4 October, the Liberal Democrats became the first UK political party to explicitly include people with disabilities in its 2015 general election party manifesto!

The party passed a policy motion that included a commitment to "focus on reducing discrimination against the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society; particularly on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, disability or ethnicity."

This is great news - it's a sign that politicians are not only recognising that poverty and disability are inextricably linked, but also realising that in order to eradicate extreme poverty people with disabilities must be included. And it shows that as part of their election campaigns they're really starting to think about the needs of people with disabilities when they're drafting development policy.

The policy motion also states: "Principles of transparency and accountability must underpin all international development activities, to enable people to pursue their own paths from poverty to prosperity."

We've been calling on the three main political parties to put disability inclusive development in the picture ahead of the General Election in May 2015 - and the passing of this policy motion is a clear sign that the Liberal Democrats have heard our call and done exactly that!