The Data Protection and Digital Information (DPDI) Bill has moved to the House of Lords for scrutiny following completion of the Report stage and third reading in the House of Commons. Welfare Snoop Various Civil Rights groups, including the Public Aware Project have been briefing MPs that the Bill will weaken important data protection rights and safeguards, reducing transparency and putting individuals at greater risk of unfairness and discrimination. The main cause for concern is Clause 34 which will give the government the right to inspect the bank account of anyone who claims or who is c ..read more

‘Riponopoly’, or ‘I thought you were going to look over that job!’. A board game, in development, based on, seven stories of disabled people who encountered the criminal justice system in Victorian Ripon. Rules of play are as follows, players start with 10d and are given a number of keyholder cards.  These relate to locations on the board, ie The Workhouse, The Town Hall, The House of Correction, that when other players land on, they must pay money to the player who is the ‘keyholder’ of it.  Longest first name goes first. Roll the dice, and in turn, go round the board picking up ‘f ..read more

‘BARKING’ is a beautifully dark and, very human graphic novel by Lucy Sullivan drawing on lived experience of mental health.  Its black inky visual style is severe, and aligned with the human storyline.  Sharp and powerful, ‘BARKING’ speaks of the broken system, trauma and survival in an authentic voice. As Lucy says in the postscript. ‘I took my worst self and scariest days, combined them with that of my friends and poured them in to the scrambled, scratchy forms of Alix and her Black Dog. There is so much that went into them both. But mostly it’s me in there. My fears, my stresses ..read more

The Together! 2012 Pop-Up Poetry Club offers a FREE weekly poetry workshop for Disabled people from 10:30am to 12noon on Wednesday mornings. We read, write, and talk about poetry over a cuppa. There is a theme each week, chosen by Clubs Programme Leader Alison Marchant. We meet by Zoom. Contact info@together2012.org.uk for more information and to join us. The theme for Wednesday 28th February was “Shoes”. A pencil drawing of a pair of red shoes with leopard print insoles. Robert Punton: My shoes I have never made a single step, So, it is useless to look for my footprintsT ..read more

Day of Access is an online resource offering prompts and exercises for arts and crafters whilst on covid social isolation. I first came across it on DAO but cannot find the article I found it on. Credit to the person who made it more widely available. Task 1; make all kinds of balcony music – prepare a playlist to gt you through the crisis. Maybe we could make the playlist together below until then here is my music.   I Hear You Romeo I hear you Romeo Loitering below the balustrade With lute and knife used as slide Elongating stretching notes Droning on dismal about lost love In delta blu ..read more

TW: Ableist Language  In the last 24 hours there has been a fair amount of discourse on social media regarding an interview on yesterday’s Loose Women on ITV. Nicholas Hamilton was on the show to promote his new book. Hamilton is the half-brother of racing driver Lewis, is a racing driver himself and has cerebral palsy. Loose women published a clip of the interview on Instagram. Both the content of the clip and their caption was problematic for many disabled people. Interviewer 1: What actually pushed you to decide to get out of your wheelchair? Was there an actual event? Hamilton: Yeah ..read more

Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) from across the UK have described the government’s evidence to a United Nations disability rights committee last month as “an insult to disabled people” and full of “half-truths, untruths” and “empty assertions”. UK gov insult Following on from my last blog, representatives from more than ten DPOs were in Geneva to witness the evidence given by the UK government as it attempted to persuade the committee it had made progress since being found guilty of “grave and systematic violations” of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 20 ..read more

Not content with spreading malicious lies that thousands of disabled people are fraudulently claiming benefits, the DWP is now spending more money hiring ‘covert surveillance officers’ to work within 20 locations around the UK to crack down on these so-called fraudulent claims. Blame Game I’ve lost count of the number of times that John Pring from Disability News Service, Mo Stewart Research Lead on the Preventable Harm Project and myself have published corroborated facts that contradict this harmful rhetoric that the DWP continue to pump out to a gullible public through the national press ..read more

Mourning Pages I’ve been trying to do The Artist’s Way. I find it very difficult to keep up. I’m in a funk, a meh mood. I’d forgotton I wrote this short story but remembered when I got an email telling me it had been shortlisted for Sonder Magazine. I’m not ready to cut off my ear quite yet. It’s the process that keeps me sane, rather than the outcome. I keep telling myself at least. I’m watching Love Island season two, partly because one of my step-daughters says it’s the best one. She told me one of the contestants is no longer alive, suicide (not including Caroline Flack the host), and fo ..read more

Artists and Disability Oppression Up Close and Intensive Magazine by Lesley Illingworth Exciting news, I have been offered a weeks exhibition space in the upper waiting room of the House of commons. In 2020 I received an Emerging Artist commission from Disability Arts in Surrey (DAiSY). I was asked what my goals were for the project. At that time I had no idea what artwork I would conceive or make, but I knew that it would be about disability oppression. I stated one of my goals was to get the work in parliament. This was received with astonishment and disbelief. However here I am four years ..read more