Red Light Spells Anger

As this article is being written (on 21/10/2000), two recent items in the news have highlighted the apparent contradiction between the rights of people with disabilities, and the safety of the majority. The first is the banning of Bert Massie, the chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, from a Scot Airways flight because he uses a wheelchair. The second is the case of Tom White, who is taking Clitheroe Royal Grammar School (where he is a pupil) to court - they banned him from a school holiday in France, because he is diabetic, which is clearly in contravention of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

In both cases, "health and safety issues" are used as the excuse for these blatant acts of disabled-ist discrimination. There is, of course, nothing new about this attitude. For many years, people in wheelchairs have been banned from cinemas because they are supposedly a "fire risk". And disabled users of leisure facilities (eg swimming baths) are often denied access to some of the facilities there, again supposedly on "health and safety" grounds. I intend to show that such claims often do not hold water (no pun intended!)

The "hazards" posed by people with disabilities are largely in the minds of those who make such rules, due to unfair stereotypes of people with disabilities. In reality, the extra risks associated with accommodating people with disabilities are so small as to be almost negligible, and in my opinion people with disabilities are used as a scapegoat, so managers of leisure facilities and transport can avoid spending the money needed to make real improvements in safety.

On that subject, another news item of this last week shows how sickeningly hypocritical it is for the Establishment to cry crocodile tears about health and safety. A train was derailed near Hatfield due to a broken rail, with terrible loss of life. The accident was obviously caused by the privatized Railtrack company putting profits before safety. Yet the same Establishment which bars people with disabilities from facilities on "safety" grounds, cheered on the privatization of Railtrack and has consistently opposed its renationalization. And I'm pig sick of all the excuses for not installing the ATP protection system, which would have prevented the Hatfield and Paddington disasters, on the grounds that it is "too expensive" - while the bosses of Railtrack award themselves huge salaries and bonuses!

Yet Hatfield and Paddington, far from being isolated incidents, are the "tip of the iceberg". Every year, many people are killed in accidents - often on planes, sometimes in leisure facilities - which are caused by lack of maintenance, lack of supervision, or similar penny-pinching. People with disabilities are not to blame !

The real problem is Capitalism, and the need for Capitalist businesses to put profit before safety and also before the rights of minority groups (such as people with disabilities). The real reason for planes and cinemas to be reluctant to allow wheelchairs in, is that wheelchairs take up space. But extra space could easily be created - there are many unemployed builders, aircraft builders and pilots, and others - who could be put to work to supply the demand for the goods and services necessary to enable the services to be available to all who need them, regardless of disability, and also to replace the old infrastructure which is becoming unsafe.

But this costs money, and is incompatible with the Capitalist system - which demands profits at all costs. The only way to ensure both equality and safety is to smash the capitalist system. To do this means we must fight oppression, the tool used by the Capitalist Establishment to divide the working class, wherever it rears its ugly head. And we must not fall for the Establishment's bulls**t that they are oppressing one group for the benefit of the majority.

They are oppressing us all, for the benefit of themselves !

According to Socialist Worker issue 1720, Scotairways (who barred Bert Massie because of his wheelchair) is financed by Brian Souter. Souter also owns Stagecoach buses.

Does he care about safety? Well, earlier this year, 22 Stagecoach East Midlands buses were removed from service after being served with prohibition notices for failing safety examinations. For the same reason, Stagecoach East Midlands received a final warning from the traffic commissioner. Draw your own conclusions ...

Souter is also responsible for donating over £1 million to a homophobic Keep Clause 28 campaign in Scotland. If that money was spent on his transport business, it would go a long way to improving safety and improving access for people with disabilities.

Useful link: Clown-e-Zine Mind Your Own Bus-iness, Souter

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