Message from Judith…
I am delighted to support the Mencap Campaign for Easy Read manifestos for the 2017 General Election.
Over 1.4 million people in the UK have a learning disability. About 1 million of these people will have the opportunity to vote in the General Election. Research for Mencap’s Hear my Voice campaign in 2015 showed that people with a learning disability have a political appetite and want to vote.
I have met with our local Friendship Skills group for a political grilling twice, now, and the questions asked by the group are often just as tough as those from the audience at public hustings.
The support given by groups, such as the Mencap Friendship Skills group is excellent. Nonetheless, many feel excluded from the political process due to the inaccessible language and jargon used in politics. Providing Easy Read manifestos can change that.
The Liberal Democrats provided an Easy Read manifesto in 2015, alongside the standard version.
Easy Read means using simple language and pictures to make information easier to understand for people with a learning disability. By providing an Easy Read manifesto you are making sure that people with a learning disability feel included and that their vote is valued and counts.
I am delighted to report that the Liberal Democrats were one of the first parties to commit to do the same for 2017.
Links to the standard and Easy Read Manifestos will be posted here, as soon as they are available.
Please sign up below, if you would like me to forward the link to the Liberal Democrat manifestos when they are available (should be Wednesday).
Please send me a link to the manifesto
For more information on this issue, this podcast may help.
