News Category

Committee examining assisted suicide bill ‘is skewed’, ‘a stitch-up’… and may have breached UN convention January 23, 2025
Disabled campaigners have raised serious concerns about the fairness of the committee of MPs that is carrying out detailed examination of a bill to legalise assisted suicide, after it prevented any disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) from giving evidence in person. The actions […]
John Pring
DWP blocked researchers from discussing ‘shocking’ data on ESA suicide attempts in ‘unique’ report January 23, 2025
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants who commissioned a key piece of research on claimants of out-of-work disability benefits blocked researchers from discussing “shocking” data showing how many of them had attempted suicide. The research, commissioned in 2018, examined the […]
John Pring
High court victory over Tory DWP cuts will provide impetus to fight any Labour plans, say activists January 23, 2025
A “groundbreaking” legal victory at the high court has provided fuel for disabled activists to fight the new government’s expected cuts to spending on disability benefits, and to call on ministers to meet their legal obligations to co-produce policy. Disabled activist Ellen […]
John Pring
Lords committee led by Tory banker calls for stricter assessments and conditions for disabled benefit claimants January 23, 2025
Disabled activists have questioned the “draconian” conclusions of a Lords committee that has told the government to impose stricter conditions, more assessments, and a more “rigorous” work capability assessment on claimants of out-of-work disability benefits. The calls by the economic affairs committee […]
John Pring
Minister told it is ‘not too late’ to change direction and stop favouring big charities January 23, 2025
The new disability minister has been told it is “not too late to change course”, after government figures showed he has prioritised meetings with the big disability charities over engagement with disabled people’s organisations (DPOs). The figures, obtained by Disability News Service […]
John Pring
Disability minister is ‘drawing up a list’ of potential actions to address barriers January 23, 2025
Labour’s disability minister has said for the first time that he is drawing up a list of priorities for action to address the barriers faced by disabled people. It is believed to be the first time that Sir Stephen Timms has spoken […]
John Pring
Abuse of disabled supporters at live sports events is growing problem, survey finds January 23, 2025
The proportion of disabled supporters who say that “disability abuse” is a barrier to them attending live sport has risen sharply in the last three years, according to a new survey. The annual survey (PDF) of disabled supporters by the disabled-led charity […]
John Pring
Tory ministers blocked ‘unique’ research on ESA claimants from inclusion in benefit cuts green paper January 16, 2025
Conservative ministers prevented research that showed disabled people on out-of-work benefits were subject to high levels of stress, debt and isolation from being included in a controversial policy paper that called for cuts to spending on those benefits. The research had examined […]
John Pring
Ministers decided to sit on critical PIP report, just days before publishing ‘brutal’ green paper January 16, 2025
Conservative ministers decided to hide a report that exposed the flaws of the “degrading” personal independence payment (PIP) system, just five days before they published proposals to replace PIP cash payments with vouchers or one-off grants, ministerial emails have revealed. Disability News […]
John Pring
Activist’s ‘genius’ two-year plan opens door to more generous compensation for disabled rail passengers January 16, 2025
A disabled activist has won praise for a successful two-year plan that has exposed the “ridiculously-low” awards handed out by the Rail Ombudsman to disabled passengers. Doug Paulley’s efforts have led to the ombudsman issuing what appears to be its highest-ever compensation […]
John Pring