Social Policy

Reintroduce Disability Living Allowance

There are two basic categories of disability, those who were born disabled and those who become disabled as a result of injury or illness.

Those born with disability have life-long conditions that remain constant throughout their lives.

A disability is a set of characteristics that meet a recognised diagnosis, however each person is unique and a disabled person may be affected in ways that are unrecognised.

Disability effects not only a persons life but that of their family too, sometimes even more so, that is why I believe that disabled people should receive life-long support.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in 2013, eligibility is assessed by a contracted agency and if awarded then for a fixed duration.

I believe the testimony of parents and doctors should be trusted in determining eligibility and disabled people should receive life-time support with periodic reviews to determine the amount.

The main criticism about PIP is the assessment criteria and outsourcing to private agencies, it has been reported that the assessment criteria is harming disabled people.

More research and consultation with experts would be needed.

Disability Confidence

The government should encourage companies to join the Disability Confidence Scheme by offering benefits.

• Employers could receive an annual allowance that can be spent on adaptations to the workplace that better suit the needs of their disabled employees or customers.
  • The amount of this allowance will depend on which level the employee is.
  • At levels 2 & 3, disabled employee’s DLA will be required in order to asses eligibility for the allowance .
  • If an employer employs more than one disabled member of staff then this allowance will be increased further up to a set maximum limit.

Illegal entry into UK (Small boats)

Any illegal entry into the UK will not be permitted and people arriving by small boats must be sent back withing 48 hours.
Small boats will be intercepted and processed offshore where they will be placed onto ferries which will deliver them, either via sea or air, to a safe country.
Boats carrying migrants will only be permitted to dock on UK shores in order to pick up migrants to be returned.
No migrant shall be alow to set foot in the UK.

People smugglers are paid to deliver people to UK shores, once migrants set foot on UK shores, the smugglers have achieved their objectives.
By preventing migrants from successfully landing in the UK, we can insure that smugglers fail.

We will systematically go through each and every asylum application and return people to their own country if possible.
If it is not possible to return them to their own country, then we will follow this up and make diplomatic efforts to insure that it will be safe to return them in the future.

Abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain and simplify vias

We will abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain which allows migrants to live permanently in the UK after 5 years or even in some cases after only 2 years.
We will simplify the visa system so that there are only two type of visa: Work and Leisure, each of these visas will be temporary.

• Work visa: Maximum 5 years
• Tourist visa: Maximum 6 months.

We will also suspend any new UK citizenship applications.

Blue Badge

A Blue Badge is the very least the state can do to help disabled people, some cark park do have very narrow parking spaces and for disabled people who many not confident drivers, a Blue Badge can enable them to have a social life.

The application process consists of multiple parts, where applicants can upload supporting documentation and list professional contacts. Benefits of a Blue Badge include a larger parking space and extra time at pay and display car parks, some car parks, such as train stations, do offer free parking.nn The cost to the taxpayer however is minimal, a Blue Badge is a one-time issued benefit that lasts 3 years, it is not a recurring benefit.

The assessment criteria for eligibility is focused on distance a person can walk, however the main advantage of disabled parking spaces is that they are larger and allow for extra room to get in and out of the vehicle.

Some disabled people may well be able to walk but they could still stumble or struggle otherwise manoeuvering in and out of their car.

I believe that anyone who is diagnosed with a recognised disability should be entitled to a Blue Badge and that assessment criteria for the Blue Badge should consider manoeuvrability as well as distance.
The materials the Blue Badge is made from should also be looked at to reduce cost and plastic waste.

Pedestrian Crossings

The government should amend The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997 to standardise all road markings to black and white, any other colour or patten shall not be used.

The current regulations only specifies the road markings for Zebra crossings.

It has become a tendency in recent years for some councils to paint rainbow crossings across roads.

However, all mammals, including horses and dogs, are dichromats meaning that they only see two primary colours making it impossible for them to distinguish the different colours on the crossings. – Where a human might see a rainbow, a mammal might see a void.

It is not necessary to paint rainbow crossings but it is necessary for blind people to be able to cross roads safely.

Therefore rainbow crossings are inconsiderate towards disabled people and the government should look at legislation to remove them.

Online Safety Standards

When developing software, companies work towards standards, we use tools and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to make sure the software we create meets the standards set.
We also have to appreciate that social media websites have millions of users and moderating content in a difficult task, often moderators suffer from Post Traumatic Stress and simply fining companies will not solve the problem.

If I become an MP then my office shall explore this idea of an international regulatory body further.

Below are my thoughts on Internet Regulation:

• Privacy and safety by default for social media websites. Define what a ‘Social Media’ website is in law (definition may or may not include internet forums).
• Social Media websites should have an age requirement of 16 or 18 years, preventing children from using these services.
• Videos must not auto-play (especially for anonymous users), unless the user is signed in and auto-play is turned on.
• Anonymous users must be assumed to be children and safety control filters used. See AirDrop: Incidents. This regulation will require that the ‘Everyone’ (Anonymous) security option must be off by default.
• Create and enforce regulations to prevent adults for contacting children on social media websites.
• Professionals offering help on internet forums would be excluded.
• People under criminal investigation should be suspended from using Social Media platforms until that investigation is complete. Those who are convicted as guilty should be banned from Social Media indefinitely.
• Work with leading Software companies and standards bodies to ensure the all webcams have parental locks.
• Ban or block social media ‘challenges’. There have been many deaths due to so-called ‘challenges’ on social media, one such case was Archie Battersbee.
• Standardise and enforce simplistic account deletion processes. Some social media website have a difficult account deletion process or even no way for the user to delete their account.
• Age verification for adult websites.
• Ban animated image and video adverts on adult websites.
• Ban auto-play and ‘related’ suggestions from adult websites.
• Give police powers to remove websites from ISPs/search engines.