General Election! Are you ready to vote?
Hello! We are still here. We have been recovering from giving evidence at the Scottish Covid Inquiry, birthdays, enjoying the weather or getting away for half term. All of us are still, regrettably, dealing with the ongoing health and employment issues that Long Covid has left us with.
Let’s face it everyone, the last few months have been horrendous, with consultations and green papers on changing Personal Independence Payment, as well as changes to fit note reporting which will likely impact those who are on long term sick leave. In our opinion the documentation and proposed changes were ableist and demonstrated ignorance of the lived experience of those with chronic conditions and disabilities. We are working on responding to the PIP green paper as I am writing this, but with all things, we are a small team, with lots of things going on.
The main reasons for writing this post are:
1. Remember to check you are registered to vote. You can do so here. You must do so by 18th June, or you won’t be able to vote.
2. If you’re going to be on holiday, working away from home, struggle to leave the home, you can apply for a postal vote here. You must apply for a postal vote by 19th June.
3. An alternative to postal and in-person voting is the proxy vote. You can find out more information here. Proxies can vote for you in person or by post. The deadline for postal proxy vote application is 19th June. The deadline for in-person proxy voting is 26th June.
4. Don’t forget that you now need valid photo ID to vote - check what is included here.
5. Don’t have any of the listed photo ID? Apply for a Voter Authority Certificate here.
University or college students should ask their student union for advice on where to vote, but if you’re going to be home when the Election happens on 4th July, it’s probably best to be on the register for your home address. The National Union of Students is also offering students free photo ID via their website (check T&Cs for eligibility).
We aren’t going to make any recommendations about who to vote for. We are considering putting up links to tactical voting websites, but obviously we do not want to offend anyone. If we post these, it will be via our Twitter account. Trying to be apolitical here! We might well post links to political party manifestos, but haven’t decided yet.
Keep your eyes posted in the coming days for our big asks for the incoming government to address: Long Covid is now affecting the economy, but there’s still no sign of adequate support for Keyworkers, with our friends Long Covid Educators for Justice also now, rightfully, looking into taking legal action against ministers. We need our compensation and pension scheme. We need changes to make our working environments much safer than they are. We need changes to employment, equalities and health and safety law, to enable better support for those who can still work. Above all, we need better biomedical research, health and social care for all.
We will also post some questions you can ask of doorstepping political canvassers and for hustings. If any political parties or candidates are reading this, please make at least some of your main hustings’ events accessible, ie using Zoom or Teams and publicly advertise contact details for those of us who can’t get to these events to ask questions.
But, for now, make sure you’re ready to do your civic duty and check the electoral register!
Thank you.