Leading disabled artists say London’s mayor has relegated their high-profile, annual disability arts festival to a mere “sub-heading” of National Paralympic Day. The Liberty festival was celebrating its tenth anniversary on Saturday (7 September), but many of those taking part in […]
News Archive
National Paralympic Day: Artists dismiss talk of 2012 legacy
Some of the country’s leading disabled artists have dismissed suggestions of any legacy for disabled people from last year’s London 2012 Paralympic Games. They spoke out as they took part in the annual Liberty disability arts festival, which this year was […]
National Paralympic Day: Paralympic award for Boris sparks anger
Disabled artists and activists have reacted angrily to the decision of the International Paralympic Committee to present its highest award to the Conservative mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The presentation of the Paralympic Order took place during National Paralympic Day, which […]
National Paralympic Day: Paralympians speak of mixed legacy
Two of our leading Paralympians have spoken of the mixed legacy from London 2012, with a public “hunger” for Paralympic sport, but major concerns around the impact of welfare reform on disabled people. Sophie Christiansen, who won three equestrian golds at […]
‘Shocking’ report suggests number of blind service-users is plunging to zero
The economic crisis has seen a sharp increase in the rate of decline in the number of blind and partially-sighted people receiving support from their local authorities, according to new figures. The figures are contained in a “shocking” new report from […]
Review raises questions, but threat to equality duty is lifted… for now
The immediate threat to a vital piece of equality law has lifted after a government review decided it was too early to draw any conclusions about how well it was working. The review – led by the former Conservative MP Rob […]
Disability hate crime ‘slipping down agenda’
Disabled people and their organisations need to work harder to push the issue of disability hate crime back up the political agenda according to a leading activist. Ruth Bashall, a leading campaigner on disability hate crime and now director of the […]
New website could guide service-users through ‘daunting’ support plans
A new website could help to put disabled people in control of their own care at a time of deep cuts to council-funded support, according to the disabled people’s organisation that has designed it. Create My Support Plan was created for […]
Government admits ‘hiding’ benefit cap stats
The government is refusing to say how many disabled people are having their benefits “capped” under its new welfare regime, even though it has the figures needed to make the calculations, Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal. The Department for Work […]
Atos fails to find a PIP assessment centre in north London
The company being paid nearly £200 million to test people for the government’s new disability benefit has failed to provide a single assessment centre within the area covering hundreds of thousands of disabled people living in north London. Atos Healthcare has […]