Blog Posts
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A Welsh Labour MPs office: “rude, sarcastic and impatient”
A disabled woman who suffers with several complex health conditions has spoken of the “unsympathetic, patronising attitude” she experienced from her local Labour MPs office in Wales when she telephoned to ask for advice and help in getting back to work. The 25-year-old, who doesn’t want to be named said: “From the beginning, the woman…
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My story: the rocky road to a diagnosis
I am 28. I am 4ft11, and I am disabled. It’s time to tell my story. I’m not a celebrity, I’m not a high profile journalist, so I doubt that people will be remotely interested in what I have to say, but I’m telling it anyway. Why? Because it has to be told. For me.…
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Questions I hate being asked
One of the Twitter hashtags currently trending today, #questionsIhatebeingasked reminded me of a “conversation” I had with a random guy last summer. It was irritating at the time, and when I remember it, it’s still irritating. It went like this: LONDON BRIDGE *Annie hobbles up some stairs with her stick* Random: Hello. *Annie doesn’t realise…
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Why I love the NHS (and why we mustn’t let it go)
No one believed the 2011 NHS Reform Bill would pass. With growing opposition and hugely influential medical groups, we thought, we hoped, it wouldn’t go ahead. And who are “we” exactly? A militant minority group? No. We are the majority. We are teachers, parents, bus drivers, cleaners, nurses, doctors, surgeons, academics, specialists. Some of us…
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Give up yer seat!
I confess to being an angry person. I always have been. My mother reckons it stems from my frustration as a tot when I couldn’t do things other kiddies my age could do. Y’know, like walk or run or climb trees or whatever. Not that there was much tree climbing in Croydon where I grew…
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State-endorsed fascism in Britain – this time they are after the disabled
In some ways, I feel I’ve become a bit too sensitive of late when it comes to “disablist” gags, but maybe I’m just hyper vigilant these days. The smear campaign the DWP and the media are carrying out on disabled people has made me and thousands of other disabled people distinctly uneasy. Why is it…
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The shortest blog post I’ve ever written…
….but the figures speak for themselves. The Office for National Statistics have today released the latest unemployment figures which the BBC say are the highest since 1996. Unemployment is now at 2.67million. Women make up two thirds of this number. The unemployment rate among 16-22year olds is currently at 1.04million. Those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in…