This week the House of Lord voted in favour of cutting disability unemployment benefit by £30 per week leaving many, already struggling people, without money they need to live on. Names of the politicians who voted in favour of such a move have been published in the Independent in a so called ‘name and shame’…

There has been a call recently by health professionals to try to cut waiting times for mental health patients who have to wait often extended periods of time before they can access the help they require. Presently people wait weeks longer to see a consultant, much longer than they would have if they been suffering…

Disabled people who rely on vital monies for mobility, that enables them to have an active life and go about their daily business, are facing an uncertain future. Many thousands of disabled people rely on high rate Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to enable them to access a car via the Motability scheme to enable them to…

I was delighted to read that the government is about to spend millions more monies on improving mental health services in England and Wales. As someone who has experienced acute mental health problems over many years I know only too well the importance having effective services that are easy to access. Mental health is on the increase…

Next Week begins the start of a new series on Channel 5 where families on welfare are offered a years worth of benefit, £26,000 in a lump sum, and in return are expected to come of benefits all together. The program makers and Channel 5 producers insist that this is a worthwhile exercise that has…

For members of the SHRUB CO-OP, recycling and avoiding waste is second nature. Throughout the year, as one of the many community workshops they run, members will be providing sewing machines and a little guidance for students to create their own clothes and jewelry out of recycled material.   We are a wasteful lot and no more…

This week the Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt told the Independent Newspaper that the Labour Party must get over its fear of the ‘F’ word and start promoting family values. He said the party needs to ‘shed its leftist qualms’ about appearing to patronise when talking about family values. In the past the Labour Party…

I have always had a huge amount of respect for Richard Branson, he comes across as a genuinely nice guy and has done tremendously well in life to build up his business from selling records to the £billion brand that he know owns. Nobody can doubt his spirit and flare. He was visibly moved yesterday…

Describing disabled people as ‘not worth the full wage,’ Lord Freud just now finds himself embroiled in bitter political arguments and is facing calls from the opposite side of the House of Commons for him to step down from Cabinet. The Conservative Peer and Welfare Secretary was recorded making such remarks at the recent party…

On a weekend away in Scotland, more often then not, one usually ends up traipsing round the nearest town or village to where you are staying in the rain. Last Saturday was no exception and waking up to a stormy day in Pittenweem we made for St Andrews for a mosey round the shops and…

When I turn the key to unlock the shed, then step inside and smell the recently treated timber, I feel a weight lifting from my shoulders and a sense of peace coming over me.  This happens each time I arrive at my allotment.  After having my name on a waiting list for 7 years, I…

Recently there has been a wave of anti-terror laws introduced and new ASBO criteria included in order to clamp down of the spread of racial hatred on the Internet. Just yesterday David Cameron announced that ‘hate preachers’ should be silenced with the introduction of new anti-terror ASBOS to stop there from spreading their bile on…

It was poignant moment that will stay etched in the minds of many of the over a billion people who were estimated to have been watching. As the world held its breath with excitement and anticipation of the events that were about to unfold suddenly everything stopped and the opening ceremony of the 20th Commonwealth…

On Friday evening Danny Alexander appeared on Channel 4 news offering somewhat of an apology and policy u-turn on behalf of the Liberal Democrats for what was one of the most unpopular policies of the coalition government, the Bedroom Tax. Alexander stopped slightly short of an all out apology but said that those who have…

Just the other week, a care worker was sentenced to four months in prison, and another two given suspended sentences, for their roles in a catalogue of mistreatment and abuse of people with Alzheimer’s disease at a care home in North Somerset. Despite the introduction of some of the tightest regulations and monitoring in the…

Give disabled people support to live, not right to die ‘Thousands of disabled people live valuable and productive lives given the right support’   by DAVID REILLY    2014 WITH the House of Lords to consider today the Assisted Suicide Bill tabled by Lord Falconer, how informed are our lords and bishops who are about…

‘Cruel and Callus,’ are among the terms that have been used to describe the Governments plans to reform Disability Living Allowance (DLA), a reform that will inevitably leave thousands of disabled people without the vital money they need to live their daily lives. Is it thought that among the 80,000 people in receipt of DLA,…

In October last year, Capability Scotland began a yearlong celebration to mark the 60th year since its inception in 1946. Named “The Spastic Society” back then, Capability began as a group for parents of children with Cerebral Palsy and is now one of Scotland’s leading disability charities. However, as someone who has Cerebral Palsy, I…