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Disabled people treated as ‘afterthought’ during coronavirus crisis, warns Labour

Labour’s shadow equalities secretary, who herself has a severe visual impairment, tells Lizzy Buchan how the government’s plans to help the vulnerable exclude thousands of ill and disabled people

Saturday 02 May 2020 16:17 BST
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When Labour’s shadow equalities secretary Marsha de Cordova received the letter the prime minister sent to every household about coronavirus, she was unable to read it.

The Battersea MP, who was born with a severe visual impairment known as nystagmus, needs large print documents but when her letter arrived, it was in standard print.

De Cordova believes disabled people are being treated as “an afterthought” by ministers in the coronavirus crisis, whether it is through lack of sign language interpreters for press conferences or poor public health information.

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