Fury of wee Eilish as MSPs quash bill aimed at giving vital support to families of disabled kids
06.10.2023 - 03:53
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A campaigning tot is among the kids who will suffer through the rejection of the Disabled Children and Young People Bill.
Little Eilish Cowan, four, of Dunfermline, has a rare genetic disability shared by about just 200 children in the world.
She has an abnormality in a gene called TUBA1A, struggles to walk and is visually impaired. She also has a learning disability. Earlier this week Eilish visited Holyrood to fight for better funding for disabled kids.
She united all the opposition parties who wrote to First minister Humza Yousaf offering to work with him to help fund third sector organisations like the Yard facility where Eilish gets much needed support.
After her visit she said: “I love the Scottish Parliament” and added she was “so proud” to take her campaign there. But the rejection of the Bill has left Eilish and her family in despair.
Yesterday her father Lawrence said: “She was so proud when she went campaigning for the Yard. She does love the Scottish Parliament but that parliament needs to do her proud.
“What is happening with this bill is not providing Eilish with the opportunity to make her proud now and in the future.”
Lawrence said the bill’s rejection ”doesn’t make sense... this Bill was about equality and the reality is my daughter when she grows up will need additional support to be who she wants to be.
“She deserves to have that sense of achievement and independence.
“We talk a lot about politics and independence in this country but this is one independence debate we can all get behind because it is about achieving independence for people with disabilities.
“It is about making sure people like my daughter can live fulfilled, successful lives and allow them to feel like they belong.
“Eilish will face so many