York sets dangerous Blue Badge Precedent

York council has removed blue badge access in the city centre. It is a dangerous move, shoving our human rights into the dark ages.

My Blue Badge is my lifeline. A pass to freedom and independence, and I have one because my mobility is limited and pain from moving intensely high.

Having it allows me to pop to the bank, shop or pharmacy. It allows me to do normal tasks without fearing or failing.

When it expired during one of the lockdowns, I didn’t realise as my extremely clinically vulnerable status meant I hadn’t been out in months anyway. And when I did realise, it was too late. I didn’t have the fortitude to reapply (which you must do, rather than renew if you’ve moved counties), so I let it go for almost a year. And in that time without my Blue Badge, I became a bit of a prisoner in my own home.

When I finally did reapply, and my badge arrived, it felt like the world had opened up to me again and I realised how small my world had become in my time without this vital accessibility tool.

That’s why when I read about MPs voting to permanently ban Blue Badge access in York city centre, I felt despair. The move is to allow for extra anti-terrorism safety measures, but how the access and rights of disabled people can be taken away like this is breathtaking and worrying.

Surely there has to be a better way? A way that doesn’t discriminate against a group of people protected by law, whose lives are often already harder, more isolated, more impacted?

I wrote about the issue for the brilliant independent publication, Unwritten, which provides a flow of important disabled stories, not inspiration.

Read it here.