Government must take international lead on disabled peoples rights - Alexander

6.12.32pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 30th Mar 2007

Danny Alexander

The Liberal Democrats have welcomed the Government's signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York today [Friday].

Liberal Democrat Disability Spokesperson, Danny Alexander MP, called on the Government to ratify the Convention, and to convince other countries, such as the USA, to sign.

Commenting, Mr Alexander said:

"This is a crucial measure, as it is negative attitudes and derogatory stereotypes of disabled people which contribute hugely to unfair and harmful discrimination.It's vital that the Convention is ratified by as many countries as possible in order to bring the rights of disabled people firmly onto the UN agenda. I hope the UK will take the lead in making that happen and ensure that it ratifies the Convention quickly.

"However, I remain deeply concerned that the US and Canada will not sign the Convention, and that Russia and China have not indicated their support. I particularly welcome Article 8, which promotes government action to raise awareness of disability issues and foster respect towards disabled people's rights, which the Disability Discrimination Act does not currently cover."