Disability News Service

The government appears to have been forced to delay the publication of its controversial disability strategy, after four disabled people were granted permission to challenge the legality of its consultation process in the high court. Publication of the strategy was originally planned […]

A world-leading scientist, given just two years to live four years ago, has told parliamentarians that his success in harnessing cutting-edge technology to secure his own right to live – and even to “thrive” – completely undermines calls to legalise assisted suicide. […]

Four leading disabled campaigners – a scientist, an academic, a consultant and a peer – have explained to parliamentarians why proposals to legalise assisted suicide would put disabled people’s lives at risk. All four told a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group […]

Disabled women faced “death by discrimination” during the pandemic crisis because of the decisions taken by the UK government, protesters in Parliament Square were told this week. Disabled activists from the Women’s Equality Party (WEP) chanted, “Who did they not save? Disabled […]

The equality and human rights watchdog has won praise for launching an inquiry that should get to “the heart of the inadequacy” of current social care policy. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said this week that its inquiry would examine […]

Organisers of a conference that will be run by people with dementia say they hope it will help to remove the “cloak of invisibility” that comes with having an invisible impairment. All the speakers at the 100/6000 Dementia Activism Conference in September […]

Disabled people’s organisations have sketched out a 10-year plan – at a cost of up to £18 million – to tackle the “deep and persistent” inequality, marginalisation and discrimination that is blighting the lives of millions of disabled people. A new report, […]

The government has been accused of abdicating its responsibility to millions of disabled people in England and leaving them to “fend for themselves”, after deciding to push ahead with “reckless” plans to lift most COVID-19 restrictions. On Monday (19 July), the prime […]

A disabled woman who made a “miraculous” escape from the top floor of Grenfell Tower has told a parliamentary meeting that her husband would still be alive today if there had been an evacuation plan in place for her. Flora Neda and […]

A minister has been told that his government’s “absurd” plans to protect disabled residents who would need assistance if they had to evacuate from high-rise blocks of flats are “dangerously misplaced”. A parliamentary meeting heard this week that the “arbitrary” proposals drawn […]

The violence and chaos that preceded Sunday’s Euro 2020 final at Wembley could have been “catastrophic” for disabled supporters attending the game, according to a user-led campaigning organisation. Reports have emerged that ticketless England fans who forced their way into the stadium […]

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has agreed to stop intimidating disabled claimants into accepting lower benefit payments than they are entitled to, hours before it was due to face a high court hearing over its tactics. Work and pensions secretary […]

A disabled woman was left angry, frustrated and saddened by the “discriminatory” actions of a major retailer that blocked off a whole row of accessible parking bays for three days, to make space for customers queueing for its sale. Amy-Louise Peach challenged […]

Parts of the rail, bus and coach industries are likely to be able to continue to use inaccessible vehicles for years to come, after a “worrying” government announcement that it was planning a fresh series of exemptions from transport access laws. The […]

Disabled activists have welcomed a new parliamentary report that calls for an end to most admissions to long-term health institutions for autistic people and people with learning difficulties, but they have criticised its lack of direct evidence from disabled people. The cross-party […]

Disabled people’s organisations have expressed their “grave concern” over the government’s “utterly reckless” decision to lift most of the remaining COVID-19 rules in England from 19 July. The move from “rules and regulations” to “guidance and good sense” – although final confirmation […]

The levels of exclusion experienced by disabled people in Wales during the pandemic led many to report confusion, helplessness, abandonment, isolation, fear and frustration, according to a ground-breaking, disabled-led report. The Locked Out report*, commissioned by the Welsh government, details how the […]

A disabled campaigner was in the high court this week to hear her legal team argue that it was “morally and ethically wrong”, and discriminatory, to allow disabled fetuses to be aborted up until the moment of birth. Heidi Crowter, from Coventry, […]

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to explain why it appears to have launched more than 50 secret reviews into the deaths of benefit claimants in just the first six months of this year. This would be a huge […]

A group of deaf film-makers say they are “increasingly dismayed” by a charity’s failure to ensure it is run by users of British Sign Language (BSL), even though it spends about £2 million every year commissioning television programmes in BSL. They say […]