{"id":310,"date":"2025-04-30T10:28:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T10:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/?p=310"},"modified":"2025-05-30T11:03:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T11:03:49","slug":"david-maples-slams-labour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/2025\/04\/30\/david-maples-slams-labour\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability campaigner David Maples slams Labour-run council"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At a disability-focused hustings this weekend, David Maples \u2014 a disability campaigner and independent socialist candidate in the Westbourne and Poets\u2019 Corner by-election \u2014 criticised Brighton and Hove City Council for what he described as \u201ca systematic failure to support disabled residents\u201d \u2014 pointing to cuts in respite care, regressive charges on families, and the scrapping of essential infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maples, speaking at the event organised by local disability charity Possability People, challenged other candidates to address the reality facing disabled people in the city. \u201cAt a hustings on disability, I heard little from the major parties about disability,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the record is clear. The Labour-run council has pushed through cuts to respite care for disabled children, imposed new charges on families, and scrapped half the disabled parking bays on Regent Street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He cited a council decision to lease out a vacant flat at Drove Road \u2014 one of only two residential respite care sites in the city \u2014 to raise income rather than expanding provision. \u201cThe council\u2019s own impact assessment warned this would increase delays for families already on waiting lists. Yet it was nodded through regardless,\u201d Maples said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Children Act 1989, councils are required to offer short breaks to families with disabled children. Maples questioned how the council could meet its statutory duties while simultaneously reducing the service. \u201cThe rhetoric is about inclusion,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the reality is families are being left without basic support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maples also took aim at new post-16 transport charges for families with disabled children \u2014 rising this year to \u00a3459 \u2014 and at means-tested charges for adult social care under the Care Act 2014, which councils are empowered, but not obliged, to levy. \u201cThese are policy choices. And they\u2019re choices that make life harder for disabled people and their families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He drew attention to the broader impact of such decisions: \u201cWhen disabled parking bays are removed, it\u2019s not a minor inconvenience. It can mean a planned day out becomes impossible. Combined with shrinking respite care, the burden on families just grows \u2014 often invisibly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maples criticised the Labour council for freezing allowances for adults with learning disabilities, even as inflation and the minimum wage rise. He noted that Grace Eyre, a local charity, had been forced to make redundancies \u2014 including staff with learning disabilities \u2014 after warning the council of the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe truth is that the council didn\u2019t just inherit difficult circumstances,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has made them worse by refusing to take the measures it could \u2014 like taxing the rich or campaigning for the return of \u00a3110 million cut from the city\u2019s funding since 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also spoke out against rising hate crime and scapegoating rhetoric directed at disabled people. Quoting the partner of a prominent national politician who disparaged benefit claimants, Maples said: \u201cThis is how hate gets normalised \u2014 by people in positions of influence treating disabled people as idle or undeserving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maples concluded by calling for a benefit system that reflects real lives \u2014 including those living with fluctuating mental or physical health \u2014 and for a city that defends rather than dismantles its support structures. \u201cMinority rights don\u2019t protect themselves. They have to be fought for \u2014 not with slogans, but with real political choices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Westbourne and Poets\u2019 Corner by-election takes place this Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoted by Callum Joyce on behalf of David Maples both c\/o Community Base, 113 Queens Road Brighton, BN1 3XG<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a disability-focused hustings, David Maples \u2014 a disability campaigner and independent socialist candidate in the Westbourne and Poets\u2019 Corner by-election \u2014 criticised Brighton and Hove City Council<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[30,49,17,46,19,48,29,47,43],"class_list":["post-310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action","category-campaign","tag-brighton-hove-council","tag-bye-election","tag-collective-action","tag-disability","tag-hove","tag-hustings","tag-labour-cuts","tag-possability-people","tag-westbourne-poets-corner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions\/333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveactionbh.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}