Author | Lightnews

anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 13h

We did not have an Aga but a Rayburn, and it did not need to be switched on, but emptied everyday to get the ashes out. And it takes a lot of skill to keep it going overnight.

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Prof Ruth Patrick @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social · 17h

I can’t envisage a child poverty strategy which garners any credibility without fully scrapping the two-child limit.

Unconvinced? Check out (even better share) this summary of the peer-reviewed evidence base @kittyjstewart.bsky.social @aaronreeves.bsky.social

largerfamilies.study/publications...

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 1d

Disabled claimant (58) left homeless/destitute by #DWP incompetence, wins appeal, but DWP refuses to implement it & repeats mistake of denying a newly made claim to secure an advance. universalcreditadvice.com/articles/dis...
@patmcfaddenmp
@NeilCouling
@MMorley_JCP
@StephenHardy3
@karaokedaf

Disabled claimant left homeless and destitute by DWP incompetence! - Universal Credit Advice

Good morning A disabled claimant found himself homeless and destitute as a direct result of the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) administrative shortcomings and apparent lack of understanding a...

universalcreditadvice.com

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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 2d

Immigration, indecency, and incompetence. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog. The ever-more indecent terms of the immigration 'debate' are another failure of Brexit, which links to the ever-more obvious incompetence of Reform in local government: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/immi...

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amateurfoi.bsky.social @amateurfoi.bsky.social · 1d

Anyone who thinks anxiety isn't a serious condition needs to speak to people/families where it has lead to suicide or suicide attempts.

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 1d

Lady on PIP explains she's job hunting but also suffers from anxiety

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin doubles down criticising those on disability

#BBCQT

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 1d

Disabled people warn of ‘severe’ consequences if chancellor removes Motability VAT exemption www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disabled-peo... via @johnpringdns

Disabled people warn of ‘severe’ consequences if chancellor removes Motability VAT exemption

Disabled people have warned of “severe” consequences if the chancellor goes ahead with reported plans to remove the Motability car scheme’s VAT exemption in next month’s budget. Disability News Ser…

www.disabilitynewsservice.com

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 1d

Committee calls cuts bill ‘discriminatory’, even though all its Labour MPs voted for it www.disabilitynewsservice.com/committee-ca... via @johnpringdns

Committee calls cuts bill ‘discriminatory’, even though all its Labour MPs voted for it

A Labour-led committee of MPs has called the government’s universal credit cuts act “discriminatory” and warned that it will push disabled people into poverty, despite every one of its Labour membe…

www.disabilitynewsservice.com

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 2d

The path from abusing foreigners to abusing the disabled is well-trodden. I I hope this nugget is bright enough to reflect on who else has walked it.

Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 2d

Reform UK’s Lee Anderson wants to bring back the ‘invalid carriage’.

The Invacar was banned from English roads in 2003 over safety fears after some overturned and others caught fire.

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 2d

Just beads in a glass jar: this is how the Tories dehumanise migrants and those in need
If only disabled people have understood earlier that they were fighting the same battle as migrants in the UK
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Just beads in a glass jar: this is how the Tories dehumanise migrants and those in need | Frances Ryan

The Conservatives, like Reform, are rooting their immigration policy in the language of welfare dependency. It’s deeply harmful, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

www.theguardian.com

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Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 2d

Disabled children are having to wait for nearly four months to receive benefit payments due to government delays, with hardly any applications being processed on time according to the latest figures.

By me, for the Big Issue: www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Disabled children left waiting months for benefits due to DWP delays

Single mother Maryam had to wait three months to get child disability allowance for her seven-year-old daughter, who has kidney cancer.

www.bigissue.com

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 2d

DWP’s plans ‘in tatters’ as McFadden scraps white paper on further disability cuts www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwps-plans-i... via @johnpringdns

DWP’s plans ‘in tatters’ as McFadden scraps white paper on further disability cuts

Ministers have dumped plans for a major white paper containing a swathe of further cuts and reforms to disability benefits, following months of activism by disabled people and allies that forced th…

www.disabilitynewsservice.com

anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 2d

Families with disabled children left waiting months to get benefits due to DWP delays www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Disabled children left waiting months for benefits due to DWP delays

Single mother Maryam had to wait three months to get child disability allowance for her seven-year-old daughter, who has kidney cancer.

www.bigissue.com

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 2d

This from X is a striking example of what I argue in today’s column. Reform and the Tories are out here gleefully saying disabled people on Motability should be forced to drive a 3-wheeler, like a scarlet letter. The stigma is not an accident - it’s the design.

A tweet that says: Just got Reform to commit to a serious crackdown on Motability as part of their reforms to PIP.

Lee Anderson says he’d be keen to see anyone with a Motability car forced to drive a ‘blue three wheeler’

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 2d

Would it happen to dual nationals who travel on 2 passports?

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 3d

New post out:

"The worst social policy ever"

Today we have a guest post from @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social on the abomination that is the two-child limit and why Labour need to scrap it ASAP.

Lots of data but also powerful testimony.

(Free to read)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

"The worst social policy ever"

We have a couple of bonus guest posts over the next week.

open.substack.com

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 2d

"The worst social policy ever"
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

"The worst social policy ever"

We have a couple of bonus guest posts over the next week.

open.substack.com

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Joshua Livestro @joshualivestro.bsky.social · 3d

Worth reading: “… a fall in net migration of 300,000 a year would increase the deficit by about £20 billion. The government are already having to make unpopular tax rises and spending cuts in the upcoming budget, but would have to make more if the deficit increases.”

Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · 3d

'Net migration will fall very sharply in future years... Any political benefit the government may gain from this fall in immigration could be jeopardised by the economic damage that it causes'. Some eye watering estimates here from @jamesbowes01.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/the-coming-c...

The coming collapse in immigration to the United Kingdom - UK in a changing Europe

James Bowes analyses the fall in net migration to the UK as a result of government policies and explores some of the political and economic consequences.

ukandeu.ac.uk

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 3d

Really handy for carrying wheelchairs!!

Luke McGee @lukemcgee.bsky.social · 3d

Bring back three-wheeled cars for disabled drivers, Reform urges

Incredible …

www.thetimes.com/article/e8e5...

Bring back three-wheeled cars for disabled drivers, Reform urges

The chief whip, Lee Anderson, suggests return of ‘Invacars’, which were withdrawn on safety grounds, as part of a replacement of the Motability scheme

www.thetimes.com

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Luke McGee @lukemcgee.bsky.social · 3d

Bring back three-wheeled cars for disabled drivers, Reform urges

Incredible …

www.thetimes.com/article/e8e5...

Bring back three-wheeled cars for disabled drivers, Reform urges

The chief whip, Lee Anderson, suggests return of ‘Invacars’, which were withdrawn on safety grounds, as part of a replacement of the Motability scheme

www.thetimes.com

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 3d

After insisting for weeks that the Conservatives' proposed law to deport millions of people with indefinite leave to remain is a "serious plan" Kemi Badenoch's spokesman now says it has been scrapped and they will unveil an entirely new plan in the coming weeks

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ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 6d

The fuss over who appears in TV adverts misses the point...

Adverts aren't meant to be a mirror of society, but to reflect the advertiser's openness to society as a whole.

A photo of 10 people, including one in a wheelchair, doesn't say 10% of the UK are in wheelchairs, but it does signify that people in wheelchairs are welcome at the venue.

Likewise adverts showing men as nursery teachers, women as builders, Asian people down the pub etc -- it's saying "you're welcome here, join us". And yes, that means including black people in adverts shown in parts of the UK where they are a minority.

Too often we hear that people grew up avoiding something because they never saw people like them doing it -- and adverts that show the diversity of society fix that visibility problem by saying "yes, you can do this if you want".

Isn't that a good thing?

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 7d

Thank you for fighting this

anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 9d

"Everything which comes with being a British citizen", except voting in general election or a referendum, so not quite

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 10d

Why is a Labour Home Secretary perpetuating this myth in The Sun?

Asylum applications in the UK are significantly below the average for all European countries. The only person helped by spreading this falsehood is Nigel Farage

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anitabellows.bsky.social @anitabellows.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you. I may be naive but I don't understand how we got to that point

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