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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been told by a tribunal to release a secret, high-level report that is likely to expose the flaws in the support it provides to “vulnerable” claimants of universal credit. The information rights tribunal has […]
Allowing Network Rail to build an inaccessible footbridge in north Yorkshire would set “a bad and dangerous precedent” for its plans for other parts of the country, a disabled activist has told a public inquiry. Flick Williams was one of several disabled […]
Two disabled campaigners whose brothers’ deaths were closely linked to the actions of the outsourcing company Atos have welcomed the announcement that its 20 years of carrying out disability assessments for the government will end next year. From September next year, Atos […]
A new book will expose how decades of “violent” bureaucracy within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) led eventually to the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of disabled people who were claiming benefits. The Department* reveals how the actions of […]
Disabled people were almost completely ignored by both main political parties at their annual conferences this month, analysis by Disability News Service has revealed*. In Manchester, only three of 21 Conservative ministers mentioned disabled people or disability in their main conference speeches. […]
Media organisations must be pressured to stop discriminating against disabled people and turning them into objects of pity, derision or “inspiration porn”, a national conference has heard. The theme of this week’s annual conference of the disabled people’s organisation Disability Wales* was […]
A wheelchair-user could easily have lost his life in front of hundreds of delegates to the Labour conference, after the party ignored years of safety warnings about the ramp used to access the speakers’ platform, say disabled activists. There was an audible […]
Two ministers failed to respond when a disabled people’s organisation warned at the start of the pandemic that new government guidance would not be enough to protect care home residents, the Covid public inquiry has heard. Disability Rights UK (DR UK) warned […]
Labour has pledged to scrap Conservative plans to tighten the work capability assessment – reforms described by disabled activists as “cynical” and “horrendously dangerous” – if it wins power at the next election. Although Labour offered almost no information at its party […]
Labour has finally admitted that it is not currently planning to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into UK law if it wins power at the next general election. The admission was made by the party’s […]
Labour has dodged a promise made 12 months ago that it would produce a policy on whether it would reduce or scrap care charges if it wins power at the next general election. Shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting promised […]
The number of prosecutions of disability hate crime offences has slumped yet again, despite both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police chiefs admitting last year that their performance was not good enough and must improve. Last year, CPS hate crime lead […]
Changes voted through by Labour at its annual conference this week have further marginalised disabled people within the party, activists have warned. Because of the changes to the party’s constitution, constituency Labour parties (CLPs) now need to have permission from the party’s […]
Labour has promised to govern by co-producing its policies with disabled people, if it wins the next general election. Following criticism of the party’s decision to leave out key disability rights policies from the report that will form the core of its […]
A Deaf student could be forced to leave the country and return to the United States after a university refused to provide them with the sign language interpreters they need for their course. The University of Brighton has told postgraduate student Chelsea […]
Boris Johnson ordered that plans to protect disabled people from being disproportionately impacted during the second wave of the pandemic should proceed at a “slower time” than other crucial work, the Covid public inquiry has heard. Government documents released to the inquiry […]
Conservative ministers have used their party conference to ramp up rhetoric that blames disabled people on out-of-work benefits for the country’s economic problems, just as they did in the post-2010 coalition government. Following months of media articles highlighting the growth in the […]
The work and pensions secretary has sparked fresh concerns that a Conservative government would target the main disability benefit – personal independence payment (PIP) – for cuts and means-testing if it wins the next general election. Both Mel Stride and the chancellor, […]
Disabled activists faced down police officers who tried to prevent them protesting in front of the four-star hotel where prime minister Rishi Sunak was staying during this week’s Conservative party conference in Manchester. Activists from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) gathered opposite […]
The minister for disabled people has failed five times to say whether he was aware of research linking the “fitness for work” test with 590 suicides of disabled benefit claimants, as his department prepares to tighten the assessment even further. The Department […]
Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride appears to have made a significant blunder after insisting that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a duty of care to disabled people who claim benefits, following years of DWP denials. DWP has repeatedly […]