Freedom of City award winner criticises disability access

A woman who was given the Freedom of the City of London for her disability campaigning says it is “absurd” she was unable to collect the award on stage due to not being offered an accessible ramp.

Anna Landre has spoken to BBC London about how she was fighting back tears during the ceremony on Friday at Mansion House in the City.

Ms Landre, who describes herself as a wheelchair-using activist, researcher and consultant, said: “It’s the absolute irony to be granted the Freedom of the City but not the freedom of the room. You couldn’t make it up.”

The City of London Corporation (CLC) said it “offered our sincerest apologies to Anna Landre for the inaccessible stage upon receiving her freedom award”.

One of the City of London’s ancient traditions, freedoms are believed to have been handed out since 1237.

They give thanks to individuals for their contribution to London or public life – or to celebrate a very significant achievement, the CLC says.

Ms Landre, who moved to the UK three years ago after studying in Washington DC, received the award on Friday for her contribution to computer science and disability campaigning.

After being told she wouldn’t be able to receive her award onstage like the other recipients, the 25-year-old said she was “in shock and trying to figure out what to do”.

“Do I leave, say something, make a scene?

“Both as a young disabled woman and someone who grew up working class, who’s not British, you feel a little on edge and belittled surrounded by that pomp and circumstance.

“It’s so posh and I don’t want to make a scene. I spent most of the ceremony trying not to start crying and I’m usually really stoic about these things, as it happens so often.

“This was the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It turned an honour into an indignity.”

The 2010 Equality Act brought together many of the rights first enshrined in the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, which made it illegal for employers and places such as shops and restaurants to discriminate against someone because they are disabled.

Despite this, such experiences are a systemic issue, according to Ms Landre.

She said: “As an activist, whenever this happens it’s an opportunity to fix it for the next person because if I don’t it will happen to the next person.

“A lot of my research centres around the implementation gap.

“They really don’t reflect reality on the ground so disabled people are left with this puzzle of how do we make our rights real?

“Because this isn’t a case of criminal law, you can’t call the police, there isn’t a disability rights line.

“The only way is to sue and it’s an unbelievable burden.

“That’s why we’re never going to have full implementation if the only mechanism for enforcement is disabled people suing.”

She added: “Inaccessibility like this has a real cost to society.

“I really think we’d benefit from an easier way to make complaints – maybe an ombudsman or some leadership from the current government on making disabled people’s rights real.

“It’s nice to get an apology – an admission of wrongdoing rarely happens – but I’m not convinced it won’t happen again.”

A CLC spokesperson said: “The City of London Corporation is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we are undertaking an urgent review to ensure accessibility at our buildings, facilities and events.

“Again, we want to make clear our unreserved apology to Anna Landre and we are making every effort to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”