What Does The Suspension Of PPC Deborah Hopkins Say About Labour Policy Towards Sick And Disabled People?

Readers, Deborah Hopkins, who, as many of you may know, was until recently a Labour PPC for 2015 in a Cornwall constituency, has caused a storm online all weekend. Why? Because she wrote on Twitter, swearing at an opponent, describing the British Empire as ‘genocide’ and saying that the current Government are ‘killing the sick’ and ‘starving the disabled’ as well as saying that a Government department is using ‘starvation’ to control the population.

I just went looking for Hopkins’ relevant Tweets, but they appear to have been deleted.

Now let me make one thing clear. I can see why her use of a swear word to an opponent would have been a serious problem. And the Tweet about the British Empire would, most likely, be seen as more than a little inappropriate by many people.

However, all the Tweets were a result of Hopkins’ personal opinions. She may have been a Labour Party member, but when she Tweeted, she was not yet an MP. And while I am the first to say MPs should not swear in public, surely party members should not be treated as if they are in the same position of power and authority?

Yes, Hopkins should have been disciplined for swearing at her opponent, and for her comment about the British Empire. Even asking her to delete those Tweets was perfectly fair.

However, on her Tweets about the current Government’s treatment of sick and disabled people, Hopkins has my full support. I write that sentence as an adult who has been disabled since birth. I write that sentence as a  disability rights campaigner who has heard horror stories of how the current Government’s policies, in particular their spending cuts,  have directly affected sick and disabled people more than almost any other group in society. I write that sentence as a person interested in politics who has closely followed Parliament for most of my adulthood so far. Over that time, I am sad to say, I have seen very few politicians prepared to admit to having the slightest bit of interest in sick and  disabled people or in the issues affecting us.

It was not as if Hopkins was speaking against sick and disabled people in the Tweets. And let me make something else clear, with perfect honesty. Even if she had been speaking against sick and disabled people, I would not have supported her suspension from the Party. Why? Simply because when she expressed her personal opinions, on her personal Twitter account, she was not yet an MP or even a councillor. Yes, I admit that I  would not personally have voted for her had she been speaking against sick and disabled people in the Tweets, but that is my personal opinion. Just like Deborah Hopkins’ Tweets were her personal opinion. Had I, as a voter with every right to choose who I voted for, chosen not to vote for Deborah Hopkins because I disagreed with her opinions or policies on disability issues, who would have questioned my decision? No one who understood democracy even slightly, I am sure.

So why should Deborah Hopkins be disciplined so severely for expressing her personal opinions, in a personal capacity, when she had not yet been elected into a position of power at the time when those personal opinions were expressed? Should she not have been allowed to stand as a Parliamentary candidate, so that the people of Cornwall, her potential future constituents, could have been allowed to decide for themselves whether or not they wished to vote for her?

Readers, if the strength of the campaign for the resignation of Cornwall councillor Collin Brewer last year was anything to go by, I think it is safe to say that the people of Cornwall would not have disliked Deborah Hopkins for her views on policies relating to sick and disabled people.

One final point, readers, and this is perhaps the most important point. By suspending Deborah Hopkins, the Labour Party distances itself from her personal opinions on everything she Tweeted about. Readers, I don’t live in Cornwall, so I wouldn’t have been able to vote for Deborah Hopkins anyway.

However, I have to wonder what the suspension of Deborah Hopkins says about Labour policy towards sick and disabled people. Is there, hidden in her suspension, a suggestion that the Labour Party supports those current government policies which hit sick and disabled people harder than most?

I hope not, readers, because if that is the case, I know many, many sick and disabled people, and carers, who would be very unlikely to vote Labour in any constituency at the next General Election.