The Greater Manchester Disabled Peoples Panel (GMDPP) support the Black Lives Matter movement. We believe it is important that this is publicly stated and that active anti-racism is an integral part of how we work. We note that many of the Black people killed by police also identify as disabled people [1]. In the UK, Inquest record 184 deaths since 1990 of BAME people (20 from police shootings and 164 in custody). BAME people were twice as likely to die after restraint or use of force, and twice as likely to die if they had a mental health condition [2]. Since the year 2000 fifty one people detained under immigration laws have died [3].
In this light we join with the British Medical Association (BMA) and others in objecting to the censorship by the Department of Health and Social Care of their recent report into deaths from Covid-19, entire sections of the report on BAME were removed prior to publication [4]. We welcome the subsequent publication of this material [5]. We cannot fight racism when government are withholding evidence from us.
The GMDPP will work intersectionally and proactively to combat racism, we welcome the announcement of a GM Race Panel and want to offer to work closely with them to support the establishing of a BAME disabled peoples organisation, of which there is an absolute lack in England.
1 https://rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MediaStudy-PoliceDisability_final-final.pdf
2 https://www.inquest.org.uk/bame-deaths-in-police-custody
3 https://www.inquest.org.uk/deaths-of-immigration-detainees
4 https://www.hsj.co.uk/coronavirus/exclusive-government-censored-bame-covid-risk-review/7027761.article
5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-understanding-the-impact-on-bame-communities
GM Disabled People's Panel 