Campaigners hope a new private members’ bill will finally force the government to provide fair compensation for the victims of the NHS contaminated blood scandal. Lord [Alf] Morris’s contaminated blood (support for infected and bereaved persons) bill would implement all the […]
News Archive
Government announces new equality watchdog commissioners
The government has announced the names of eight new commissioners who will join the board of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) next month. One of the new board members is Mike Smith a disabled consultant and leading rights activist, […]
Personal care bill ‘could set precedent for end of means-tested care’
A bill to provide free personal care at home for disabled people with the “highest care needs” has been included in the government’s programme of legislation for the final parliamentary session before the general election. The personal care at home bill […]
Success for Channel Five news experiment
The disabled boss of a disability charity has been presenting a daily national news bulletin in a bid to challenge prejudice and raise awareness of facial disfigurement. James Partridge, chief executive of Changing Faces, who has a facial disfigurement, was presenting […]
Government pledges to cut number of disabled prisoners
The government has promised to reduce the number of people with learning difficulties and mental health conditions in prison. The pledge comes in a new cross-government action plan, seven months after Lord Bradley published an independent review of how people with […]
New housing benefit needs ‘urgent reform’
A new system of housing benefit is discriminating against severely disabled people, a charity has told a committee of MPs. The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (MDC) has called for “urgent action” to reform the local housing allowance (LHA), which last year replaced […]
Mixed reception for new welfare and training acts
Major bills on welfare reform and training – both of which will have a substantial impact on the lives of disabled people – have cleared their final parliamentary hurdles. The Welfare Reform Act and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act […]
Channel 4 drama will ‘test the outer limits of disability on TV’
A “ground-breaking” new Channel 4 comedy drama series featuring a cast of disabled actors aims to “blow preconceptions of disability out of the water”. Cast Offs, a six-part “darkly comic drama series”, follows six disabled people who have been marooned on […]
Hate crime ‘must be taken seriously’
The criminal justice system must start treating the bullying of disabled people as hate crime, according to a prominent campaigner. Anne Novis, who leads on disability hate crime issues for the United Kingdom’s Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC), spoke out at the […]
‘Penny-pinching’ government criticised over lone parents
The government has been criticised for failing to extend a vital concession to some lone parents of disabled children as part of its welfare reform bill. The bill, which is completing its final stages in Parliament, includes measures imposing benefits sanctions […]