Prime minister Rishi Sunak allocated his team to their departments last week. He also gave them their ranks. Portfolios, however, remain up in the air (at least, officially). Work is being done in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), where the minister for disabled people traditionally resides, and there is a secretary of state. That would be Mel Stride, who can sign off on things that need to be signed off on. Beyond that, who knows or dares to dream?
Someone called Mims Davies, one of the department's three parliamentary under-secretaries of state (the lowliest rank), is listed on Wikipedia as minister for disabled people. However, I'm told it has jumped the gun. There's certainly been no official announcement. This matters.
Disabled people have their backs against a very hard wall. There's the energy crisis; out-of-control food price inflation; and all the other stuff we have to shell out for that able-bodied people don't even think about is also surging in price.
It was already the case that putting "disabled" somewhere in a product's description would double the cost. As I've previously written, for some it's a case of heat, eat or run the ventilator that keeps you alive. With issues like that, and so many people to look after, the job of minister for disabled people should be one of the busiest and most important in government.
This story is from the November 02, 2022 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the November 02, 2022 edition of The Independent.
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