Ex-politician calls for speech inclusivity in Parliament

A former politician from Northamptonshire has teamed up with a national stammering charity in calling for Parliament to be more "inclusive" of communication differences.

Chris Nelson was to stand as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Kettering in the next general election, but withdrew last month after receiving abusive comments about his stammer from his political contemporaries.

Following the incident, STAMMA launched a petition to "demand" MPs discuss and review how well the "debating system works for people who communicate differently".

The petition has signatories from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering, and the actor and podcaster Scroobius Pip.

Mr Nelson said he was "deeply honoured" to stand for Parliament with an openly audible stammer.

But he said some politicians made "cruel personal jokes" about it and he was described as "an embarrassment".

He said the "final straw" came in August when, he says, a politician mocked his stammer in the street.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Nelson said it was "important" to "make a stand."

He added: "There's a lot of people with disabilities that they just don't share because they fear the abuse and the bullying that follows.

"Unfortunately that... weakens the number of people who take part in our democracy."

Mandy Taylor, from STAMMA, also known as the British Stammering Association, said the charity started the petition to "call for parliament to be inclusive of all differences of communications".

She added: "[Parliament] should be leading by example and it's doing anything but that.

"The name calling and the jeering, it's an embarrassment that people have to endure that kind of behaviour."

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