with Eduardo Reyes, SEND parent, journalist, and #SaveSENDLegalRights London Protest MC
As a person who’s much happier writing words down than saying them out loud, I was delighted that I didn’t have to wield a mic at Parliament Square on Saturday and was able to persuade my husband, Eduardo, to do it.
Eduardo is a journalist who writes about the law for a living, and increasingly finds himself writing about the threat to children and young people’s legal rights. As SEND parents ourselves, we both know how much it matters to get SEND reform right.
He’s written about his experience for SNJ…
If there’s broad support for the SEND reforms, where are the rallies in favour? By Eduardo Reyes
In Parliament Square, Westminster, the stone steps on the west side provide a natural stage. Charged with introducing speakers at Saturday’s Save Our Children’s Rights (SOCR) campaign rally, that’s where I spent two hours, with a view most present didn’t have: the hundreds of SEND families, campaigners, and supporters (including teachers and all sorts of therapy providers).
“Have you been on a lot of demonstrations?” one speaker asked me as I explained the quirks of the microphone. “Oh, against both Iraq wars, tuition fees, Brexit, Trump,” I answered, quipping, ‘I’m afraid I tend not to be on the winning side!’
But there’s nothing inevitable about losing. There on the west side of the square, SOCR speakers spoke in front of a statue of Gandhi, with suffragist Millicent Fawcett just a little way stage right. As SNJ’s Renata Watts and other speakers noted, being part of the great causes of the past didn’t always feel like winning at the time. They had to keep going.
Platform Protest view
What else did I see from the platform? The sheer variety of the crowd was one thing. The event took a lot of organising, but banners weren’t centrally organised; they were made on kitchen tables carrying messages of conviction, experience, frustration and humour.
Bridget [Phillipson] hasn’t done her homework! was one favourite. ‘Paws off EHCPS!’ attached to a supportive dog was another.
Honestly, the superannuated PR agency being paid millions by the DfE to help the education secretary get her reforms over the line are thoroughly outclassed by what ordinary families designed to get their message across.
A family affair
And I saw the hundreds of people who attended as families. That’s not easy for any of them. For those in wheelchairs, I know the logistics: getting to a train station to find the lift is out of order; or parking in Westminster, hoping another car hasn’t parked up against where the rear where the wheelchair ramp has to come down; working out where a nearby toilet is that works for you.
It’s no less of a problem coming with someone whose particular neurodiversity makes the journey, and the crowds of Westminster and the rally a challenge.
Of course, these are insurmountable barriers for some who would have loved to be there. Hundreds stood there for them, and it was the same in other cities across the country.
From my vantage point, I stood just aside from the speakers, having spoken to each of them briefly before. If you were in the crowd, you heard their confident, impassioned voices. I know they had nerves, and did it anyway, some speech papers gently shaking from those continued nerves. But they carried on.
Among those overcoming nerves, and utterly unused to addressing a crowd, was 14-year-old Tee-Jay, who’d written his own poem. He was brilliant.
The same themes resonated among families
Speeches are widely available online, and have been extensively shared, so I’ll not run through them here, except to note the constant themes:
the pain at fighting for what is needed;
the fear that they legal rights that were the lever for achieving support could be pulled by government;
and dismay that the education secretary’s proposals show she has caved so entirely to local authority lobbying, that councils could be so comprehensively rewarded for their failures and unlawful conduct.
Strong emotions, a day of release
And away from the platform, there was the experience of families in the crowd. There were strong emotions, including plenty of tears. Not least, for some it was the experience, after all the battles they’ve faced, the gaslighting from MPs who support DfE’s reforms, and the daily, isolating experience of keeping everything on the road in SEND family, of being in the company of so many people who have that life, and hearing frank speeches that reflected their reality.
What are the lines from government ministers and their supportive MPs? I remember. ‘We know there is broad public support for the principles of our reform.’ And, ‘Some changes will be opposed by those who don’t believe in the life chances of every child, who want to guard, not spread opportunity.’
Really.
Where is this broad support?
And if there is ‘broad support’ from families, children and young people excited by DfE’s SEND reform policies, then surely, sensing the opposition expressed, not least on Saturday, there would be pro-DfE proposals rallies with ministers addressing cheering crowds from the steps.
Which there aren’t.
Ministers can present no group larger than a hand-picked focus group to back up the idea they have acted in good faith in pushing the removal of legal rights.
One last moment to relate from the day. With the rally complete, and after having cleared up, some of the organisers headed to a bar. I went up to the bar to order some drinks and snacks, and the barman had noticed my colleagues’ campaign t-shirts and banners.
He asked what the cause was. I explained the government’s SEND reforms and the limitations they intended on legal rights; the loss of accountability that entailed; and the fact that the campaigners he saw were also SEND parents, children and young people.
‘Why,’ the barman asked, ‘would anyone in government think that was an okay idea?’
Why, indeed.
Thanks very much to Ed for writing this!
Disabled Children’s Rights are Under Attack.
We’re fighting, but we can’t do it alone: we need your help more than ever.
We’re volunteer-run, but costs are rising. To help us keep going, please consider a one-off or, if it’s possible, a regular donation.
Read more about being a regular donor here.
We use Zeffy to fundraise, which doesn’t charge us a fee, so 100% of your donation reaches us.
Key Content
Also read:
- Beyond EHCPs: Why Inclusion Needs More Than a Document
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms
- How health and family support systems are failing children starting school
- WEBINAR RECORDING! The implications for children’s legal rights to EHCPs and EOTAS of the Government’s SEND proposals
- When things go right: Shining a light on SEND Practitioners making a positive impact [Giveaway!]
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children
- Have your say on the future of transport for disabled children and young people
- Unison voices major concerns over SEND reform health plans for sick and disabled children out of school in the EOTAS consultation
- Top Tips for the EOTAS & EHCP consultation: Protect your child’s rights to statutory SEND support
- Navigating constraints: Why a former PCF chair thinks the current model is missing the mark for families
- Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SEN
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them”
- Empty spaces and unwanted freedom: When caring comes to an end
- Remembering AMY, Catriona and Ed’s “fierce and funny and fabulous” daughter
- Partnering with clinicians to reverse Rett, my daughter’s rare disease
Don’t miss a thing!
Don’t miss any posts from SNJ – simply add your email address below. You must click the link in the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your free subscription.
You can also keep up with us by following our
Want more? Be an SNJ regular donor!
SNJ is a non-profit and everyone who writes here does so voluntarily. We need your support to help us with costs by donating once or as a regular patron. Find out more here
When her younger daughter was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in 2009 shortly before her second birthday, Catriona found herself dealing in practice with things she’d previously thought she understood in principle.
She juggles her work as policy manager for a national charity with caring and advocating for her daughter. She's passionate about improving the lives of disabled children and their families, and making the systems that should support them work more transparently and equitably.
Catriona writes for Special Needs Jungle in a personal capacity, and all views expressed are her own.
- “Why would anyone in government think that was an okay idea?” #SaveSENDLegalRights - May 12, 2026
- The SEND reform reality check: Why experts’ and policymakers’ concerns are growing under scrutiny - April 15, 2026
- MPs warn “unsustainable” SEND transport system fails families with disabled young people - March 6, 2026
Please share this article!
Discover more from Special Needs Jungle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
