Charles Crawford: Are some disabilities just too expensive to be supported?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.When I heard that the FCO was sending a profoundly deaf first secretary to work in the embassy I did not believe it could work. Diplomacy turns on nuance – deaf officers surely would miss too much.
But Jane Cordell arrived in Warsaw and rose to the challenge. Before coming to Warsaw she had taken Polish language skills towards "operational" FCO standard. This stunned her Polish counterparts. It was hard enough for any Brit to learn Polish – how had a deaf person managed it?
As her posting developed I put to Jane a tough proposition. We did not want to exploit her disability to help promote UK and EU disability policies. But a trail-blazer makes a difference. She could make a unique impact. Jane boldly took on this further portfolio, to the point of speaking Polish on Polish TV and helping the Polish parliament to draft new disability legislation.
In short, Jane Cordell did a superb diplomatic job for UK plc in Warsaw. Her success came at a price: the salaries, accommodation, travel and other costs for security-cleared lip-speakers for a deaf diplomat added up impressively.
This case opens a painful question: are some disabilities just too expensive to be supported at the workplace?
People with disabilities are necessarily super-realistic about fairness and what works and what doesn't. Any organisation grappling with these tough issues should bring in the disabled colleagues concerned to help sort policies and procedures – and the way decisions are communicated.
Talk about irony: if the FCO does lose this case, it may well be because it did not listen.
Charles Crawford is former British ambassador to Warsaw
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments