You’d be forgiven for having missed the current mess of Access to Work – the fund delivered through Jobcentre Plus that pays for practical support, from computer software to support workers, for disabled people at work. Last year, it seems that the government started quietly cutting the amount of support available, resulting in payment delays […]
“Hunger stalks this country” is the finding of a church-funded report by an all-party group of MPs and peers released today. Lady Jenkin, a Conservative, used its launch to declare the main cause of this national crisis was “poor people [who] do not know how to cook”. Jenkin is symbolic of a climate of denial, […]
Lorna Jamison is selling things from her home in Haverhill, Suffolk to buy her two sons winter coats. Family photo frames, ornaments and toys; whatever she can get her hands on and will get some money quickly. She’s full-time carer to Ellis, who is six and has Asperger syndrome, and the benefits the family gets […]
Ched Evans, professional footballer and convicted rapist, walked out of prison on Friday. It’s unclear whether he will be walking back into his career and the money and celebrity that come with it. Over 100,000 people have signed a petition against Evans being reinstated by his ex-club, Sheffield United. The boys have his back though. The […]
The coroner said that when David Clapson died he had no food in his stomach. Clapson’s benefits had been stopped as a result of missing one meeting at the jobcentre. He was diabetic, and without the £71.70 a week from his jobseeker’s allowance he couldn’t afford to eat or put credit on his electricity card […]
Over the past few years of cuts to disability services, I’ve covered many changes affecting adults – and some affecting the whole family. There are, however, currently massive reductions in services specifically for disabled children. This isn’t exactly the angle most of the media has been taking. This week, The Telegraph and The Mirror reported the would-be mum of twins carried by a […]
When London’s “poor doors” – the separate entrances for less wealthy residents of certain buildings – hit the news last month I couldn’t help but think how, for some of us, this segregation has occurred for years and with little public outrage. For wheelchair users, the goods entrance is a familiar way in. Sometimes I […]
