Disability campaigner unable to reach door of 10 Downing Street as staff provide wrong ramp
Sam Jennings was delivering a letter on railway inaccessibility to Rishi Sunak
A woman has described being left "raging" after staff at Downing Street failed to provide a suitable ramp for her powerchair outside Number 10.
Sam Jennings from Streatham, London was among a group of campaigners on Monday (20 February) delivering letters to Rishi Sunak on inaccessibility issues affecting Britain's railways.
Jennings said she was unable to reach the door of the Prime Minister’s residence because staff did not provide the correct ramp, meaning her MP, Labour's Bell Ribeiro-Addy, had to knock on the door instead.
“I asked in that letter for a meeting with him (the Primer Minister), I would reiterate that I want a meeting with him now and I want him to see how it felt,” Jennings told Greatest Hits Radio.
“Being left on the pavement and having to lean over and get my MP to knock the door for me because I couldn’t knock the door.
“How can I expect them (the Government) to take me seriously, or take disabled people seriously, or even take the Equality Act seriously?”
It is understood the visit was pre-arranged and that an alternative ramp is available, but staff did not provide it.
Jennings added: “I’m absolutely raging that I was denied the opportunity to knock on that door myself as an adult taxpaying voter in this country, by a guy that couldn’t get the right ramp – despite them knowing that we were coming.”
Asked about the incident, No. 10 said: “We take wheelchair access extremely seriously and make two ramps available depending on need, for those either approaching from the road or the street.
“We always aim to facilitate any requests made.”
44-year-old Jennings began using a powerchair after losing her mobility in 2018 and has previously taken legal action over inaccessibility on the railway, an issue she says remains ongoing despite existing legislation.
“Last Monday I was refused assistance at Clapham Junction because the dedicated assistance team were on their lunchbreak and the supervisor wouldn’t let the person on the platform put me on the train.
“I shouldn’t be disabled by public transport almost 30 years after the Disability Discrimination Act came in in 1995 and I became a wheelchair user in 2018 – which is eight years after the Equality Act came in in 2010.
“The Equality Act evidently has not prevented inaccessibility.”
On the issue of railway accessibility, a Government spokesperson said: “Everyone should be able to travel with confidence and the safety of passengers will (sic) central to any reforms to the railways.
“Our Access for All programme has delivered step free accessible routes at over 200 stations, with additional improvements at over 1,500 stations.
“By modernising the railway and moving staff out of ticket offices, we can enable them to provide more face-to-face assistance, so all passengers get the help they need.”