Ben Foley
@benwheels.bsky.social
Campaigns and Policy Lead at Wheels for Wellbeing, but views my own.
Published and promoted on behalf of Ben Foley and Luton & Bedfordshire Green Party, both at 48 Olivier Ct, Bedford, MK40 2UU
Published and promoted on behalf of Ben Foley and Luton & Bedfordshire Green Party, both at 48 Olivier Ct, Bedford, MK40 2UU
If you're trans or non-binary and struggling, please ring 116 123 to go through to Samaritans 24/7. You can also reach out to Switchboard: switchboard.lgbt
Today is a day where we remember the trans and non-binary lives lost prematurely to hate, malice and transphobia.
November 20, 2025 at 8:41 AM
If you're trans or non-binary and struggling, please ring 116 123 to go through to Samaritans 24/7. You can also reach out to Switchboard: switchboard.lgbt
Result of Bedford's council tax consultation yesterday. More people gave right answer than wrong answer on question 5 😀.
But signs are it's being ignored 🤬.
So: petition calling on council to respect the outcome. *Please sign & share* actionnetwork.org/petitions/bedford-council-respect-the-decision
But signs are it's being ignored 🤬.
So: petition calling on council to respect the outcome. *Please sign & share* actionnetwork.org/petitions/bedford-council-respect-the-decision
November 18, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Result of Bedford's council tax consultation yesterday. More people gave right answer than wrong answer on question 5 😀.
But signs are it's being ignored 🤬.
So: petition calling on council to respect the outcome. *Please sign & share* actionnetwork.org/petitions/bedford-council-respect-the-decision
But signs are it's being ignored 🤬.
So: petition calling on council to respect the outcome. *Please sign & share* actionnetwork.org/petitions/bedford-council-respect-the-decision
Reposted by Ben Foley
Labour took money from building developers before the last election so it is no great surprise that their policies do more for developers than for those who need affordable houses.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Developers met ministers dozens of times over planning bill while ecologists were shut out
Exclusive: Leading ecologists say warnings over threat to wildlife have been ignored in drive to build 1.5m new homes
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Labour took money from building developers before the last election so it is no great surprise that their policies do more for developers than for those who need affordable houses.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I'm appalled to find Beds Police seem to have no notion of what a legal Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle is, or of a legal, licenced an insured e-motorbike. If they are quite so ignorant of the law, how can they be trusted to enforce it? @roadcc.bsky.social www.facebook.com/share/p/1BNH...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:59 PM
I'm appalled to find Beds Police seem to have no notion of what a legal Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle is, or of a legal, licenced an insured e-motorbike. If they are quite so ignorant of the law, how can they be trusted to enforce it? @roadcc.bsky.social www.facebook.com/share/p/1BNH...
💚 Great news for Bedford! 💚
Welcome to the Greens, Cllr Caroline White (Kempston Cent&E) a hardworking former Labour cllr who’s always stood up for fairness & local people.
Bedford Borough @greenparty.org.uk Group up to 4. The politics of hope keeps growing here in Bedford.
join.greenparty.org.uk
Welcome to the Greens, Cllr Caroline White (Kempston Cent&E) a hardworking former Labour cllr who’s always stood up for fairness & local people.
Bedford Borough @greenparty.org.uk Group up to 4. The politics of hope keeps growing here in Bedford.
join.greenparty.org.uk
November 4, 2025 at 8:52 AM
💚 Great news for Bedford! 💚
Welcome to the Greens, Cllr Caroline White (Kempston Cent&E) a hardworking former Labour cllr who’s always stood up for fairness & local people.
Bedford Borough @greenparty.org.uk Group up to 4. The politics of hope keeps growing here in Bedford.
join.greenparty.org.uk
Welcome to the Greens, Cllr Caroline White (Kempston Cent&E) a hardworking former Labour cllr who’s always stood up for fairness & local people.
Bedford Borough @greenparty.org.uk Group up to 4. The politics of hope keeps growing here in Bedford.
join.greenparty.org.uk
This is quite something. An opinion poll with Greens ahead of LibDems, Conservatives AND Labour. One more to go (and fortunately at least RefUK seems to have stopped going up).
join.greenparty.org.uk
join.greenparty.org.uk
October 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
This is quite something. An opinion poll with Greens ahead of LibDems, Conservatives AND Labour. One more to go (and fortunately at least RefUK seems to have stopped going up).
join.greenparty.org.uk
join.greenparty.org.uk
Unusually I was at work for @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk on Sat. I was at the "Homes for Us" Summit - back in Westminster for the 2nd time in a week, but mingling with activists rather than politicians.
A productive & creative day looking at housing crisis & how it affects minoritised communities.
A productive & creative day looking at housing crisis & how it affects minoritised communities.
October 28, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Unusually I was at work for @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk on Sat. I was at the "Homes for Us" Summit - back in Westminster for the 2nd time in a week, but mingling with activists rather than politicians.
A productive & creative day looking at housing crisis & how it affects minoritised communities.
A productive & creative day looking at housing crisis & how it affects minoritised communities.
Wow. Last time Ashcroft published a poll, it had the Greens at 13%, & _that_ was a record high. *This has just smashed the record again* (there had been three polls from other pollsters with Greens on 15% in the mean time). There's a way of countering hate. Turning to hope. join.greenparty.org.uk
🚨 BREAKING | Greens surge to **17%**
➡️ REF – 28% (+1)
🔴 LAB – 18% (-4)
🔵 CON – 18% (-1)
🟢 GRN – 17% (+4)
🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
Via @LordAPolls, 16-20 Oct (+/- vs 11-15 Sep)
➡️ REF – 28% (+1)
🔴 LAB – 18% (-4)
🔵 CON – 18% (-1)
🟢 GRN – 17% (+4)
🟠 LD – 11% (+1)
Via @LordAPolls, 16-20 Oct (+/- vs 11-15 Sep)
October 27, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Wow. Last time Ashcroft published a poll, it had the Greens at 13%, & _that_ was a record high. *This has just smashed the record again* (there had been three polls from other pollsters with Greens on 15% in the mean time). There's a way of countering hate. Turning to hope. join.greenparty.org.uk
Today I was delivering leaflets, urging ppl 2 respond 2 council consultation abt bunging new bills of £100s/year on the poorest in our community: people who get council tax support. Pls respond - link in thread! Are you willing & able to help out delivering leaflets, please? Plenty more to go out!
![Photo of Ben on a balcony at rooftop level, with block towering above him to the right. He's holding up in front of himself a leaflet that says "Greyfriars Green, Ben and James's Issue 22
Tell them 'No'!
Council want to make the poorest pay!
Overspending by the Tory-run council has... [edge of photo]...financial trouble. Now to balance the books... ...cut council tax support for the poorest."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jzm76b2aobpmhu4n5gfzl4iq/bafkreiajvxtvr7zn46u7idpza33zmldkply7bgb4zhy3ydhbd6clqwslgy@jpeg)
October 24, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Today I was delivering leaflets, urging ppl 2 respond 2 council consultation abt bunging new bills of £100s/year on the poorest in our community: people who get council tax support. Pls respond - link in thread! Are you willing & able to help out delivering leaflets, please? Plenty more to go out!
That's incredible. Doubled since the start of September? Seriously!
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
📈 Since the election of our new leadership team, our membership has doubled, now sitting at more than 140,000.
And this is just the beginning: join.greenparty.org.uk
📈 Since the election of our new leadership team, our membership has doubled, now sitting at more than 140,000.
And this is just the beginning: join.greenparty.org.uk
October 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM
That's incredible. Doubled since the start of September? Seriously!
This afternoon’s workplace for @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk comes with a fine view of the Thames. At the joint meeting launching the report “Behind the headlines: sentencing after fatal crashes”. Joint meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Transport #Safety and #Cycling / Walking.
October 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This afternoon’s workplace for @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk comes with a fine view of the Thames. At the joint meeting launching the report “Behind the headlines: sentencing after fatal crashes”. Joint meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Transport #Safety and #Cycling / Walking.
I was interested to see this blog. While it's less than two years old, for me as a regular at a London premier league club, it seems out-of-date. Huge numbers now use dockless hire cycles to get to the ground. There needs to be adequate provision for parking them! modeshift.org.uk/news/wheelin...
Wheeling all the way to Wembley: Cycle parking at football grounds - Modeshift
Wheeling all the way to Wembley: Cycle parking at football grounds Jonathan Oldaker from Modeshift partner Turvec share’s his thoughts on Cycle parking at football grounds. In the UK, hundreds... View...
modeshift.org.uk
October 15, 2025 at 10:33 AM
I was interested to see this blog. While it's less than two years old, for me as a regular at a London premier league club, it seems out-of-date. Huge numbers now use dockless hire cycles to get to the ground. There needs to be adequate provision for parking them! modeshift.org.uk/news/wheelin...
When I joined the Green Party it had fewer than 10,000 members. It’s very hard to get my head around it having more than 10 times that number.
🎉 We've done it. We've passed 100,000 Green Party members!
📈 But we're not stopping there.
💚 Let's make hope normal again! Join the Green Party today!
📈 But we're not stopping there.
💚 Let's make hope normal again! Join the Green Party today!
October 13, 2025 at 6:26 PM
When I joined the Green Party it had fewer than 10,000 members. It’s very hard to get my head around it having more than 10 times that number.
Wow. 💚 Green Party up to its highest ever national opinion poll rating, and within 2% points of Lab and Con! 💚
Westminster Voting Intention:
RFM: 32% (-3)
LAB: 17% (-2)
CON: 17% (+3)
GRN: 15% (+4)
LDM: 12% (=)
SNP: 3% (=)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 8 Oct.
Changes w/ 1 Oct.
RFM: 32% (-3)
LAB: 17% (-2)
CON: 17% (+3)
GRN: 15% (+4)
LDM: 12% (=)
SNP: 3% (=)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 8 Oct.
Changes w/ 1 Oct.
October 9, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Wow. 💚 Green Party up to its highest ever national opinion poll rating, and within 2% points of Lab and Con! 💚
On Monday I challenged the Tory exec of Bedford council's proposal to bung a new bill of £235 at the poorest residents in the tiniest flats. They don't have an answer about how people should pay it. Tell them “No”. 1/2
www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/councillor-q...
www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/councillor-q...
Councillor questions council tax rises that could “subsidise free car parking” as poorer households face losing support - Bedford Independent
Plans to overhaul Bedford Borough Council’s council tax reduction scheme have come under fire for placing new financial burdens on...
www.bedfordindependent.co.uk
October 1, 2025 at 3:36 PM
On Monday I challenged the Tory exec of Bedford council's proposal to bung a new bill of £235 at the poorest residents in the tiniest flats. They don't have an answer about how people should pay it. Tell them “No”. 1/2
www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/councillor-q...
www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/councillor-q...
Great to see this getting coverage from Disability News Service.
Disabled campaigners have welcomed the government’s announcement that it will review the laws around powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and examine how new mobility technology could be “safely implemented” for disabled people to use.
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/government-r...
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/government-r...
Government review of law on mobility aids could prove ‘absolutely transformative’
Disabled campaigners have welcomed the government’s announcement that it will review the laws around powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and examine how new mobility technology could be “saf…
www.disabilitynewsservice.com
August 12, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Great to see this getting coverage from Disability News Service.
As a wheelchair user who recently moved house, I know too well how dire the situation is. Finding properties where the walls are far enough apart and there is a hope of adapting them (even if it costs a lot) is massively challenging.
Since July 2022, over 375,000 new homes have been built without meeting accessible or adaptable standards.
For disabled and older people with changing mobility, this isn't just about housing — it's about basic rights, health and independence.
For disabled and older people with changing mobility, this isn't just about housing — it's about basic rights, health and independence.
August 4, 2025 at 11:36 AM
As a wheelchair user who recently moved house, I know too well how dire the situation is. Finding properties where the walls are far enough apart and there is a hope of adapting them (even if it costs a lot) is massively challenging.
Kate conveys the appropriate level of excitement much better than I did in my post that she quote-posted! So many #Disabled and #elderly people who use something as a #MobilityAid could get big benefits from getting the current, offensively named "invalid carriage" regulations sorted out.
This is so incredibly ridiculously exciting - Mobility aid laws are going to be reviewed and made fit for purpose!
Woo!
(& yes, I do think this is *that* exciting!)
#disability
#ActiveTravel
#MyCycleMyMobilityAid
Woo!
(& yes, I do think this is *that* exciting!)
#disability
#ActiveTravel
#MyCycleMyMobilityAid
Easy to miss, but important. At @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk we've been working towards this moment for years - the DfT has publicly announced that it is looking at sorting out mobility aid laws. 🎉 Our #MyCycleMyMobilityAid campaign looks like it is paying off.
August 4, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Kate conveys the appropriate level of excitement much better than I did in my post that she quote-posted! So many #Disabled and #elderly people who use something as a #MobilityAid could get big benefits from getting the current, offensively named "invalid carriage" regulations sorted out.
Reposted by Ben Foley
Even for an old hand there’s a first time for everything - quaxing my old-meets-new prosthesis home from the limb centre.
July 31, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Even for an old hand there’s a first time for everything - quaxing my old-meets-new prosthesis home from the limb centre.
Easy to miss, but important. At @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk we've been working towards this moment for years - the DfT has publicly announced that it is looking at sorting out mobility aid laws. 🎉 Our #MyCycleMyMobilityAid campaign looks like it is paying off.
July 31, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Easy to miss, but important. At @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk we've been working towards this moment for years - the DfT has publicly announced that it is looking at sorting out mobility aid laws. 🎉 Our #MyCycleMyMobilityAid campaign looks like it is paying off.
This message is one that needs repeating again-and-again!
It was good to hear recognition from Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government) at #ActiveCityYork. UK politicians need to listen to him!
It was good to hear recognition from Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government) at #ActiveCityYork. UK politicians need to listen to him!
A new study finds that “promoting active travel modes, particularly cycling, may be associated with better brain health and lower dementia risk.” With rising healthcare costs and an aging population, it's another reason that politicians should stop ripping up bike lanes.
Cycling is a magic pill for dementia
A study shows that people who cycle regularly have a 19% lower risk of all-cause dementia and a 22% lower risk of Alzheimer’s. But let's tear up those bike lanes!
lloydalter.substack.com
July 31, 2025 at 11:10 AM
This message is one that needs repeating again-and-again!
It was good to hear recognition from Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government) at #ActiveCityYork. UK politicians need to listen to him!
It was good to hear recognition from Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government) at #ActiveCityYork. UK politicians need to listen to him!
Reposted by Ben Foley
Once again for those in the back: People who can’t drive because of:
health conditions,
age (too young!),
finances (can’t afford a car),
space (nowhere to park),
environmental concerns,
etc
…. very often can cycle & need to cycle to make basic utility journeys!
#MyCycleMyMobilityAid
#disability
health conditions,
age (too young!),
finances (can’t afford a car),
space (nowhere to park),
environmental concerns,
etc
…. very often can cycle & need to cycle to make basic utility journeys!
#MyCycleMyMobilityAid
#disability
Just seen a letter from what looks to be @tandemkate.bsky.social for @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk in latest @cyclinguk.bsky.social magazine to remind people if you're medically disqualified from driving it doesn't necessarily mean you can't cycle & in fact could be your main form of transport. 👍👏👏👏👏
July 31, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Once again for those in the back: People who can’t drive because of:
health conditions,
age (too young!),
finances (can’t afford a car),
space (nowhere to park),
environmental concerns,
etc
…. very often can cycle & need to cycle to make basic utility journeys!
#MyCycleMyMobilityAid
#disability
health conditions,
age (too young!),
finances (can’t afford a car),
space (nowhere to park),
environmental concerns,
etc
…. very often can cycle & need to cycle to make basic utility journeys!
#MyCycleMyMobilityAid
#disability
So, my plan to take today off work for @wheelsforwellbeing didn’t survive. Representing us at the All Party Parliamentary Group on #Disability.
July 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM
So, my plan to take today off work for @wheelsforwellbeing didn’t survive. Representing us at the All Party Parliamentary Group on #Disability.
Utterly absurd to claim that the Supreme Court ruling about the interpretation of one word in the equality act is relevant. The protected characteristic of gender reassignment remains in the act.
Apparently the Supreme Court ruling means councils have to dig up existing pedestrian crossings painted in the trans Pride colours. I must have missed that part of the judgement.
July 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Utterly absurd to claim that the Supreme Court ruling about the interpretation of one word in the equality act is relevant. The protected characteristic of gender reassignment remains in the act.
Reposted by Ben Foley
This article explains what’s going on.
It was never about “clarity” of a word in the Equality Act.
Trans people knew this.
They warned everyone this was the danger.
No one listened.
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/home-af...
It was never about “clarity” of a word in the Equality Act.
Trans people knew this.
They warned everyone this was the danger.
No one listened.
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/home-af...
Behind the ruling: how ‘Sex Matters’ is shaping UK policy on trans rights
The UK Supreme Court ruling redefined ‘sex’ – but for trans people, it’s the start of something far more sweeping and exclusionary
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
July 6, 2025 at 8:39 AM
This article explains what’s going on.
It was never about “clarity” of a word in the Equality Act.
Trans people knew this.
They warned everyone this was the danger.
No one listened.
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/home-af...
It was never about “clarity” of a word in the Equality Act.
Trans people knew this.
They warned everyone this was the danger.
No one listened.
yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/home-af...