Disabled people need to be involved more in decision making for Scotland to achieve equality, a Glasgow campaigner has said.

On International Day of Disabled People, Pam Duncan-Glancy, who works for the NHS and is a former Labour Party candidate, said inequalities exist in social care, employment and a lack of disabled voices is allowing the situation to be exacerbated.

Ms Duncan-Glancy said the pandemic has laid bare the cracks in the social care system and the Scottish Human Rights Commission recognised the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened already existing inadequacies.

She said: “Many people have been left in ‘dire situations’, including ‘being forced to sleep in wheelchairs, unable to get out of bed, unable to wash and dress themselves and having to move in with family’.”

On employment, she said, it is equally grim.

Ms Duncan Glancy said: “The disability pay gap stands at 28.4 percentage points. This means disabled people who are able to access employment, effectively work for free for the last 8 weeks of the year.”

Ms Duncan Glancy who has stood as a candidate for Westminster in 2019 and 2017 said more disabled people need to be in positions where decisions are made.

She said: “The last Scottish Parliament election saw a reduction in the number of MSPs who self-defined as disabled. Before the election there were three disabled MSPs; after it, there was only one. One disabled member, in 129 in the room.”

She said: “It’s time to give to give a voice to the people in our country who for too long have been seldom heard. We need to equip our work places, boardrooms and Parliaments to face and tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

Read Pam Duncan-Glancy on International Day of Disabled People in full below.

International Day of Disable People: Time to give a voice to the people who for too long have been seldom heard.