Presents...

Hustings: General Election Question Time!

Have you heard? There’s an election, again! Yes, there will be a General Election on June 8^th 2017.

Traditionally disabled people have faced barriers to voting and democratic engagement. These barriers can include a lack of accessible information, inaccessible polling stations and society’s failure to properly value the voices and choices of disabled people. We recently wrote about the fact that even holding a snap election creates extra barriers for disabled people. You can read that article here: http://www.mertoncil.org.uk/news/snap-election-risks-excluding/

These days, political decisions are having a direct impact on the day-to-day lives of Deaf and Disabled people. Disabled people need to make sure our voices are heard in the democratic process. Voting and getting involved in activity in the lead up to elections is one important way to do this.

We want local disabled people to get involved, so we have written a short guide on how to register to vote. We are also holding Hustings events to meet your local Parliamentary candidates.

General Election 2017 - Have your say! Sign up to Vote!

We have put together a guide on how to register to vote and the voting process. Have a read - General Election 2017 Have Your Say - Sign Up To Vote!

I don’t know who to vote for, where can I find out more?

Merton CIL can’t and won’t tell you who to vote for. There are different ways for you to inform yourselves and make your decision.

You could come along to one of our hustings events and meet the candidates asking for your vote – we have invited the candidates from the three main parties, the Conservatives, Labour, and Liberal Democrats to come and meet you. See below for more details of our events.

You could also check out the different party manifestos – this is what they say they will do if they are elected

Conservatives: https://www.conservatives.com/
Labour: http://www.labour.org.uk/
Liberal Democrats: http://www.libdems.org.uk/

There will be lots of coverage on TV and in the newspapers. Lots of people will have an opinion on who to vote for and why, and you could connect with different groups and organisations who are attempting to highlight some of the key issues and policies which you think are important. For example, Independent thinktank Ekklesia is running a campaign with the Centre for Welfare Reform on Vote for the Common Good. You can find out more here: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/vote4commongoodintro

If you want to discuss issues related to disabled people #CripTheVoteUK have just launched an online campaign to ‘enable disabled people to affect the election outcome’. You can read more about them here: http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/online-campaign-could-enable-disabled-people-to-affect-election-outcome/

These are just a couple of examples – we hope to bring you a range of views and perspectives in our next newsletter, just before election day!

General Election Question Time! - Mitcham & Morden (23rd May 2017) and Wimbledon Hustings (25th May 2017)

We are holding two FREE hustings events - one in Mitcham and one in Wimbledon (details below). We have invited the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates to come and speak to local disabled people and supporters in Wimbledon. It would be great to see you there! Come along and question the candidates on the issues that matter to you! There will be a light lunch avaliable.

To RSVP to the event - please click the relevant leaflet above and you will be directed to eventbrite where you can reserve your place. If you would like to RSVP via email or telephone - please use the contact details above

If you have any access needs of dietry requirements please let us know by 15th May 2017

We have also published some guidelines for the parliamentary candidates who will attend the hustings. You can take a look at this document here - Guidelines for Candidates

All Party Manifestos

Conservative Party

Electronic braille format manifesto: Volume 1 and Volume 2

Click here to download the audio manifesto

Click here to download the manifesto in large font format

Click here to download the easy read manifesto