Hannah Cockroft 'scared' to be disabled in Britain after government decision
- Published
Britain is scary place to be as a disabled person - Cockroft
Seven-time Paralympic gold medallist Hannah Cockroft says disabled people in Britain are being "almost criminalised" in the way they are treated.
The UK government downgraded the role of minister of state for disabled people to junior level last month.
An open letter signed by 57 sporting bodies last week called for the role to be reinstated.
"Britain is a really scary place to be as a disabled person right now," Cockroft told BBC Sport.
"Paralympians are almost seen as different to the rest of the disability community. We are shown for what we can do, and everyone else with a disability is almost criminalised for what they can't do or struggle to do. I feel the statement puts us forward as one."
ParalympicsGB chief executive Dave Clarke said the downgrading of the ministerial role means disabled people "do not have a voice at the top level of government".
Wheelchair racer Cockroft says she faces great difficulties living her life in Britain, and praised the sporting organisations for challenging the government.
Hannah Cockroft has won seven Paralympic and 12 World Championship gold medals for Great Britain
"I still can't catch a train if there is no-one there with a ramp, I still can't catch a bus with my boyfriend, I still can't enter a shop if it has a step to it," Cockroft said. "Everything that affects disabled people in everyday life still affects me, no matter how quickly I push around a track.
"Dave Clark, it is fantastic he felt confident enough and knew that voice was needed to push this forward and put it in the forefront of the government's minds.
"We have no-one to fight our corner, and that's not a good place to be for six million people in the UK. We need someone voicing the things we need changing."
Mims Davies was appointed to the role in December within the Department for Work and Pensions as a parliamentary under-secretary of state - the lowest rung of the ministerial ladder.
Davies' predecessor, Tom Pursglove, was a minister of state when he held the job.
Sporting organisations to sign the open letter included UK Athletics, British Cycling and the British Olympic Association.
A government spokesperson told BBC Sport: "Minister Davies will build upon this government's track record of supporting disabled people, having delivered millions of cost of living payments and helping over one million more disabled people into work five years earlier than planned.
"The minister will help ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive."
'Paris 2024 can be bigger than London 2012'
Cockroft says she currently has no plans to retire and wants to keep competing after Paris 2024
For Cockroft, 2024 promises to be a life-changing year on and off the track.
She is competing in two major championships for the first time, with the World Para Athletics Championships taking place in Kobe, Japan, in May, followed by the Paralympics in Paris between 28 August and 8 September.
Cockroft, 31, has her eyes on increasing her haul of gold medals, but says that preparing for two major events in one year is a challenge unlike anything she has experienced before - albeit one she is welcoming.
"I don't understand going to a major championships and not wanting to win gold, that is definitely the aim in Paris," she said.
"But I have got a World Championships before then, so if I can add some more titles that would be a fantastic start to the Paralympic year. It's the first time in my career that I've had two major championships in the same year so it's a huge challenge to get everything right. Not just the training, but everything around that.
"May and August sound really far apart, but if you don't have the rest and recovery to get that right then things can quite quickly go wrong.
"Right now things are the same as they usually are, but the difference I will really start to see as we go into the World Championships. Right now it more of a mental challenge than physical, but time will tell - it's a completely new challenge, and 12 years into an international career you don't normally have many firsts left. But I like a challenge."
Cockroft is hopeful that the atmosphere and excitement seen around the London 2012 Paralympics can be recaptured at Paris 2024, after two Games beset by problems.
Rio 2016 was affected by budget cuts, while the Covid-19 pandemic forced the Tokyo Games to be postponed by a year to 2021 and eventually take place without fans.
"I really think Paris has the potential to be bigger than London," she said. "The time difference from Rio didn't help us, then the lack of crowd, Covid, everything that happened around Tokyo really didn't push Para-sport into the public eye.
"Paris is only an hour apart from Britain. Coverage seems to be good, already so many companies and people, the things that were around before London seem to be coming back. It gives me great hope that it is going to be a big Games, and have the audiences we had in 2012."
On top of all this, Cockroft is marrying her fiancee, fellow Paralympic athlete Nathan Maguire, in October.
"It's a lot of pressure - the Paralympics, the Worlds and a wedding," she said. "I've pretty much boxed off the things people do in a lifetime in one year, but if I get it right it could be the most incredible year ever."
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