Saba Salman
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sabasalman.com
Saba Salman
@sabasalman.com
Journalist, editor, author
http://sabasalman.com
✍🏽Private Eye|Guardian|Byline Times|Independent|Ed. Community Living
📚Made Possible
📚Book #2 Jessica Kingsley 2026
Chair @sibs.org.uk Ambassador @ndtihello.bsky.social Fellow @thersaorg.bsky.social
Pinned
A new intro for a new term:

I just finished book #2 (pub 2026) and started a new role at Private Eye.

And I chair Sibs, for disabled people's siblings, edit Community Living, was a reporter, loc gov corr, housing ed and 20yrs a Guardian writer.

👉sabasalman.com

My sister Raana's a big influence:
How can a govt claim to create 'strong foundations' and 'secure futures' while failing (again) to fully support SEND or social care (like now, not in 2028)?

SEND: early intervention, supports future potential.
Social care: can prevent health crisis and free up NHS beds.

www.gov.uk/government/n...
Strong foundations, secure future: a Budget that delivers on the country's priorities
Rachel Reeves sets out a Budget that delivers on the change promised by the government to cut NHS waiting lists, cut debt and borrowing and cut the cost of living.
www.gov.uk
November 26, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Saba Salman
Last Chance Budget for Reeves

The new Private Eye is out now.
November 26, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Saba Salman
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I need something positive - it's time to share vital work again, on the intersection of race and disability from Paul Christian, Sue Ledger and Sarah Garrod @gpadmoreinstitute.bsky.social

Black British history and rights brought to life. For all.

communitylivingmagazine.com/black-histor...
Black history is brought to life
The hardest part was deciding to what leave out, says Paul Christian, who explains how he is creating easy-read information on black history from research to critical review
communitylivingmagazine.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:04 AM
How else is racism delivered than in "a hurtful or insulting way”?

So reassuring to see again how how easy it is for racists to forget their funny bantz from decades ago and dress it yup as schoolboy japes. Not so easy for those who suffer it

This timeline too:
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Nigel Farage’s shifting answers on school-days racism claims – a timeline
Reform UK leader’s responses to allegations of racist and antisemitic behaviour at Dulwich college have varied over time
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Accurate to call this a gross injustice and systemic failure, with harm far beyond wronged carers themselves - that's bad enough - but also entire families.

Amazing campaigning work by @joshhalliday.bsky.social Patrick Butler, carers, families and campaigners.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
DWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandal
Damning official review finds many unpaid carers left with huge debt because of government failure
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:25 AM
So good:

'The piece is witness to what can be done with people who move through the world in a different way...I know there is a whole world within Paul, and I wanted people to see it and hear it.'

#siblings #disability
November 25, 2025 at 10:19 AM
‘the Home Office minister Alex Norris said while this would not involve seizing wedding rings, jewellery without sentimental value could be taken’

Good to know these people have hearts and their own limits.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Asylum seekers’ jewellery could be seized to pay for processing costs, says Home Office minister
Idea borrowed from Denmark is latest attempt to reduce number of people seeking asylum in UK
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Sharing again:
‘..in times of frustration or exhaustion I tap into my memories of injustice. I remind myself of why I am doing what I am doing and this sustains me. Anger transforms into a battery charger that gives me a boost when it’s sorely needed.'
#AliceWong

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51
Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Saba Salman
(🚨) MAJOR NEWS: Trump Agrees to Release of the Epstein Files

Let me just be the one millionth person to observe that this quite possibly means that he and his lawyers have already destroyed the portions of the Files they didn't want us to see. Hopefully they left accidental traces of this.
Trump urges Republicans to vote to release Epstein files, marking stark reversal | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump on Sunday night encouraged House Republicans to vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and move on from what he calls a “Democrat Hoax,” marking a stark reversal from his eff...
www.cnn.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Remember when we looked at Trump and thought, well at least our own leaders weren’t so misguided and inhumane?

@maryohara1.bsky.social writing here makes the brutal similarities and trajectory clear - with specific reference to disability policy.

communitylivingmagazine.com/mary-ohara-t...
Mary O’Hara: the UK and US are taking remarkably similar routes
Cautious optimism about the UK government has evaporated as people with disabilities bear the brunt of brutal cuts – like their counterparts across the Atlantic
communitylivingmagazine.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Um, we’re also being torn apart by harsh, populist narratives and inhumane policies targeting people who need more support, not less.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Illegal migration tearing UK apart, Mahmood says
The home secretary is set to announce major policy reforms, including a 20-year wait before people granted asylum can apply to settle permanently.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:14 AM
'...in times of frustration or exhaustion I tap into my memories of injustice. I remind myself of why I am doing what I am doing and this sustains me. Anger transforms into a battery charger that gives me a boost when it’s sorely needed.'

#AliceWong

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Alice Wong, ‘luminary’ writer and disability rights activist, dies aged 51
Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:12 PM
'We need more stories about us and our culture. You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment...Don't let the bastards grind you down.'

Alice Wong RIP.
November 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Saba Salman
I managed care settings for years. Forced removal from one care setting to another increases the risk of early death many fold.
Reform in Lancashire threatens closing five day centres and five care homes, with “reprovision” forcing disabled or older adults (including a 106-year-old) into alternative support. 

🧵1/3
November 14, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Saba Salman
This is what Reform will being to the country. People like Luca warehoused [jailed in a hospital] with no human rights.
Reform in Lancashire threatens closing five day centres and five care homes, with “reprovision” forcing disabled or older adults (including a 106-year-old) into alternative support. 

🧵1/3
November 14, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Care, housing and education are vital local govt functions - I've seen some superb examples in councils over the years...none of which are anywhere to be seen here🔽

Feat. Birmingham, Halton, Kensington and Chelsea, Oldham, Richmond, Enfield, Lancashire, Hamble Valley, Dartford, Leicestershire.
Reform in Lancashire threatens closing five day centres and five care homes, with “reprovision” forcing disabled or older adults (including a 106-year-old) into alternative support. 

🧵1/3
November 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM
In 2025, here's what can happen if you go shopping 'while being Muslim' (or 'not white') at a time when politicians normalise racism as patriotism and the narrative's gleefully spread by some media. Throwback to the 70s/80s, which we thought was done with. #racism
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Head of UK government’s anti-Islamophobia partner ‘refused service in shop for being Muslim’
Akeela Ahmed, of British Muslim Trust, says experience is part of a wider rise in anti-Muslim hatred
www.theguardian.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:10 AM
'...an obstructive care board, unscrupulous care home companies and being kept in the dark'

What a horribly accurate but beautifully written piece by @samcarlisle.bsky.social on that abysmal 'process' called 'transition' - when a young person moves from children's social care to adult 'support'.
October 31, 2025 at 9:50 AM
I'm old fashioned - I always thought that if you don't turn up to a meeting you're paid to attend, you don't get paid. Or get feted as a VIP.

Still, different rules apply here, including even more appalling goings-on in SEND where 'children continue to be failed'.

#SEND #LocalGov #RottenBoroughs
A former Hampshire county council Tory leader who claimed more than £15,000 in allowances over six months – despite failing to attend meetings in that period – has won a ceremonial honour for “dedication and hard work”.
October 31, 2025 at 9:45 AM
I needed some cleaner air, this from @johnharris1969.bsky.social and John Domokos did the trick - on 'how online fear and loathing were beaten back by community spirit, facts trumping fury, and everyday empathy'.

And a vital focus on the local paper's role.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Welsh town that saw off Nigel Farage – video
In last week's byelection in the Welsh constituency of Caerphilly, Reform UK were the hot favourites, and the focus of huge attention. But as John Harris and John Domokos saw close-up, a Reform win fa...
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Normalising racism, stoking fear, poisonous populism day #365.

Buxton: 250 miles from Dover, no asylum seeker hotels

But the concern is new [dark] faces coming over here, taking our jobs [that no one wants - wiping bottoms isn't fun], ruining [running] our NHS.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Buxton: Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK
How national concerns affected a local election in the heart of the Peak District.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 9:43 AM
🔽 essential reason I joined Sibs, and among the many reasons I continue to be involved and am proud to chair this brilliant charity.
Sibs supports people who grow up with or who've grown up with a disabled brother or sister, representing the needs of over 500k young siblings and 1.5m adult siblings.
sibs.org.uk Sibs @sibs.org.uk · Oct 24
Did you know we have online support groups for adult siblings across the UK? Visit www.sibs.org.uk/groups to find out more and sign up
October 24, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Health and social care watchdog CQC's just released its umpteenth 'state of care' report. It's again a grim picture of support and treatment, telling us what we already know, like the fact those facing deepest inequalities are the ones needing the most care and health support.
October 24, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Saba Salman
Not been on here in a while but please check out this wonderful magazine I’m chuffed to be a part of. What a brilliant group of contributors and thank you @sabasalman.com for leading from the front! 🥰
October 23, 2025 at 3:32 AM