I was reading a post on LinkedIn on Friday afternoon about the advance of rightwing ideology across the United Kingdom and the terror and fear that this ideology has for disabled people of colour. I was reminded of E. Amy Buller’s Book, first published in 1943, – Darkness over Germany a warning from History. Although the book doesn’t directly discuss the plight of disabled people of colour, Amy recounts a series of interviews with ordinary German people who are living through the rise of fascism during 1930’s Germany and how some people tried to push back against it and others were swept along by it. The book demonstrates the need to stay vigilant and shows how hard it can be to push back against a small number of people who are determined to unleash their destructive ideology onto everyone.
No, I don’t think we’ve got to that point in the United Kingdom yet, but I could see us getting pushed into that ideology quickly, without people understanding what the consequences may be for anyone who is slightly different to the norm.
If we reject right wing ideology, it can be very frightening to think about what the consequences may be for us of not being part of this clique. It feels as if right wing voices get much more attention than those on the left do, in all the different forms of media. This isn’t necessarily because all of the media agree with right wing voices, but right wing points of view are definitely presented in a more media friendly way. They get more attention and thus more money to media companies. This feeds into the tornado of hate that seems to be gripping a small part of the country. But such is it’s ability to create media friendly sound bites, anyone would think that the whole of the United Kingdom is overrun by right wing ideology.
As we know, it is very hard to stand up to a bully, but do we want our family and friends to be pushed over by these bullies? We have to stand up to them before it is too late. We need to stand up to them particularly for the sake of any disabled people, and even more so for disabled people of colour. When I think about when too late might be, I don’t think I am looking that far into the future.
Jim Thomas
September 2025
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