The UK Labour Party recently had an election for it's ruling body. There's a seat for a disability rep; being disabled I should have got a ballot. With a few weeks to go, and no ballot in sight, I asked the election organisers where it was. The response was:
Dear ... [charmingly, with my name spelt wrong]
Thank you for your email. Please note you would need to have joined as a member by 24 August to be eligible to vote in the NEC elections.
Disabled members would have needed to self id with the Party by 27 September to be eligible to vote in that contest.
Please contact Labour (labourmembership@labour.org.uk) directly if you have registered as per above guidance and not received your ballot.
Kind regards
I checked my online membership. It stated I had identified as disabled. I also had reciepts for membership payments going back years. I responded, quoting the above, (to labourmembership@labour.org.uk):
Hello,
I have not received a ballot for the disability NEC member. I am disabled & a Labour member for > 1 year.
...to radio silence.
This isn't the first time I've experienced disability denial/exclusion from Labour, nor is it the worst from swapping stories with other members. It's astounding how much bullying goes on inside the party. Old news to Chapos, but if you support Labour, know that you're supporting a disability hate party.
The first time something like this happened, I did ascribe it to incompetence. But after repeated events - including at a CLP meeting, and at a campaign event for a MP candidate (viewed sympathetically by the wider UK left - go figure) - and swapping stories with other disabled & trans members - the pattern of bullying emerged.
In the end it doesn't matter if particular acts result from malice or incompetence. The outcome is the same.