Currently, in my local area of South Cambridgeshire, my disabled bus pass is only valid after 9:30am. This differs between councils, for example after 9am in Brighton and Hove, and already 24 hours in London (with the Freedom Pass), East Kent, and Warickshire . It's time the disabled community had travel consistency!

The time frame of the bus pass projects the abelist narrative that disabled people do not work a typical 9-5 job role. As a disabled person that starts work at 8:45am, this is simply not true.I am disabled for 24 hours a day. How is this justified? My disability does not have a time frame, nor do I choose to be disabled.

Scope recently reported that it costs on average £975 per month more for disabled people to just live. This cost includes higher electic bills to charge mobility equipment, paying higher rents for ground floor flats, and higher food bills to meet caloric needs.

Supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and many others have 'quiet hours' for disabled customers, but these are often early in the day before the disabled bus pass validates. If disabled people cannot get to the supermarkets at this time, who is this serving?

It is simply absurd that different councils can decide and dictate when people are disabled. I persist, disability does not have a time frame. This pass is valid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in London, but only from 9am in Brighton and Hove. This has to change. Disabled people across Great Britain demand consistency.

As a disabled woman in the workplace, I am 56% more likely to take up part time work compared to my able-bodied, and neurotypical peers. This motion promotes equal opportunities and suitable access to the workplace. This goodwill gesture of the timeframe on the bus pass is simply not enough. Disabled people deserve equal opportunities and reasonable adjustments in commuting to work, not just in the workplace.

To elaborate, night shift workers, students and many other sectors are wrongly discriminated against as a direct result of the abelist time restrictions of this pass. By allowing disabled workers and students on public transport 24 hours a day, it will prove self sufficent as this will allow disabled workers unrestricted access to the workplace, and provide a taxable income. Disabled people are not "work-shy", and we demand equal access now!

I am just as disabled at 7am on my commute to work, as I am at 9am when my bus pass validates. I am disabled 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, not just when local councils dictate.

I call on the UK Government to extend this deeply abelist time frame to 24 hours a day, across all council areas. I am disabled, but not unable!