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david-s.bsky.social
@david-s.bsky.social
370 followers 490 following 500 posts
Disability, mental health, politics, technology.
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david-s.bsky.social
UK Disability History Month 2025:
Disability, Life and Death

ukdhm.org

#UKDHM
#UKDHM25
Black Triangle on a yellow background. Yellow circle, with black text: UK Disability History Month.
November 24, 2025 at 8:27 AM
david-s.bsky.social
The Labour party aren't 'becoming', they are returning to what they always were.

Sydney Webb, Fabian, eugenicist, and Labour Party founder said this:
Sidney Webb did not go so far as to deny the ‘‘unfit’’ all assistance, but he too was unambiguous in his advocacy of negative eugenics. In 1907 he wrote that the superior classes had far too few children and the inferior classes too many. That ‘‘adverse selection’’ was leading to ‘‘race suicide’’, and the country would slowly but surely fall victim to the Irish and the Jews. He proposed a system of state grants for ‘‘good’’ families from the working class, and later argued in favour of segregating the ‘‘feeble-minded’’.
September 29, 2025 at 1:32 PM
david-s.bsky.social
War criminal Tony Blair shaking hands with his boss, Larry Ellison, Billionaire CEO of Oracle and funder of the Tony Blair Institute.
September 25, 2025 at 6:22 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Grim reading.
Blair and Ellison, and the tech-bromance of perpetual colonialism
Akuagwuagwu also described how TBI would push technology and AI solutions on countries with far more fundamental issues to contend with: “They have issues around hunger, poverty, mass unemployment – and we’re getting them to commit towards some fancy projects like using drones and AI.”
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
david-s.bsky.social
🔥
It's not an opportunity to make change, it's an opportunity to be a patsy for a government who wants to screw disabled people and has a long track record of doing so. The moment anyone signs a non-disclosure agreement with the DWP is the moment a person betrays every single disabled person. We should not be promoting it we should be condemning it.
September 2, 2025 at 11:28 AM
david-s.bsky.social
Kier Starmer, British prime minister, shaking hands with Alex Karp, Palantir CEO, at Palantir Washington Office. Various types of technology used in surveillance and military violence is the background.
August 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Instead, after years of Tory destruction of the public services and support we depend on to live, and if possible, work, (as will anyone in future depend who becomes chronically ill or disabled through no fault of their own), Labour is now driving the final nails into the coffin, with attacks on our benefits, Access to Work and SEND, while doing nothing to address the crisis in social care except kick it into the long grass again.
July 12, 2025 at 11:12 AM
david-s.bsky.social
List of organisations in Alt-Text.
Acts 435 Action for Children Amnesty International British Association of Social Workers Camphill Village Trust Centre for Mental Health Child Poverty Action Group Children & Young People's Mental Health Coalition Children First Citizens Advice Community Money Advice Crisis Cystic Fibrosis Trust Debt Justice Diabetes UK Disability Benefits Consortium Disability Law Service Disabled People Against Cuts End Child Poverty Coalition Endometriosis UK Engender Fuel Poverty Action Home Start Human Rights Watch Huntington's Disease Association Imagine Act and Succeed In Kind Direct Independent Age Independent Food Aid Network Joseph Rowntree Foundation Kidney Care Learning Disability Allies Leonard Cheshire ME Foggy Dog Mental Health Foundation Mental Health UK Mind Money and Mental Health Policy Institute MS Society National Autistic Society National Children's Bureau National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society National Survivor User Network Neuroendocrine Cancer UK New Economics Foundation Oxfam Parkinson's UK Quaker Social Action Rethink Mental Illness Royal National Institute of Blind People Royal National Institute of Deaf People SeeAbility Scope Sense Shelter Sisters of Frida St Mungo's Stripy Lightbulb CIC The Children's Society The Food Foundation The Poverty Alliance The Salvation Army Trussell Turn2Us Turning Point Versus Arthritis Voluntary Organisations Disability Group We Care Campaign Whizz Kidz Women's Budget Group Young Lives vs Cancer Z2K 4 in 10 Black Country Foodbank Citizens Advice Scotland Close the Gap Food Plymouth Hartlepool Foodbank Includem North East Child Poverty Commission One Parent Families Scotland Parenting Across Scotland Scottish Women's Budget Group Shelter Scotland Stay Safe East The Scottish Pantry Network
July 1, 2025 at 12:22 PM
david-s.bsky.social
"How could Labour do this?" people ask.

Sydney Webb, Labour 'hero', and author of their founding 'aims and values' document, Clause IV:
Sidney Webb did not go so far as to deny the “unfit” all assistance, but he too was unambiguous in his advocacy of negative eugenics. In 1907 he wrote that the superior classes had far too few children and the inferior classes too many. That “adverse selection” was leading to “race suicide”, and the country would slowly but surely fall victim to the Irish and the Jews.Footnote13 He proposed a system of state grants for “good” families from the working class, and later argued in favour of segregating the “feeble-minded”.
June 26, 2025 at 8:04 AM
david-s.bsky.social
British Medical Association (BMA) reps vote to oppose the NHS partnering with Palantir.
@medact.bsky.social PASSED. BMA REPRESENTATIVES VOTED IN FAVOUR OF A MOTION OPPOSING THE NHS PARTNERING WITH PALANTIR FOR THE FEDERATED DATA PLATFORM. "This vote is a significant win for patients and health workers, who do not want to see their ethical integrity and data privacy compromised by the NHS partnering with a company supporting genocide, deportation and police surveillance. We stand in solidarity with our Palestinian health worker colleagues and the Palestinian people who are being murdered by the Israeli Occupation Forces with the help of Palantir, and we will continue to organise in our hospitals and nationally for this contract to be cancelled." Dr Rhiannon Mihranian, NHS doctor and BMA member. "Palantir is inextricably connected to the violence of Israell settler colonialism, occupation and genocide. As a UK healthcare worker who has worked in Gaza, and has treated patients hormed by Al systems developed by Palantir, it is abundantly clear that such companies have no place in the NHS or healthcare more broadly. The vote today is a huge win for those who continue to advocate for health justice." Dr James Smith, BMA member and Medact trustee
June 23, 2025 at 2:54 PM
david-s.bsky.social
👍
Page from Easy Read version of open letter about benefits cuts. Photosymbol 1: Community Life. We are worried about the idea to cut benefits. This is not just about money, but life. Photosymbol 2: Disabled person signing 'me'. A fair society helps everyone, not just those who can work. Everyone deserves respect and support. Photosymbol 3: Politician thinking. The government should think carefully about how these cuts will affect disabled people. Photosymbol 4: Group of Disabled people. Disabled people deserve a good life. They should not have to worry about money and support
May 27, 2025 at 10:16 AM
david-s.bsky.social
"The failure of privatised adult social care in England"

www.chpi.org.uk/reports/fail...
The vast majority of both home care and residential care in England is now provided by private companies. A significant number of care home providers are large chains which are backed by private equity and are reliant on risky financial structures, leaving them exposed to collapse, with damaging consequences for care home residents. Although local authority budgets have been drastically cut by central government – forcing them to reduce the amount they pay to private providers – private providers can still achieve significant rates of return on their capital investment, 12% is normally expected. This is despite the fact that adult social care is essentially a low-risk sector – in other similarly low-risk sectors a 5% rate of return is considered reasonable.
May 12, 2025 at 8:33 AM
david-s.bsky.social
List in Alt Text

#AccessFail
Full list of MPs who signed letter Diane Abbott Paula Barker Lee Barron Lorraine Beavers Apsana Begum (currently suspended from Labour) Olivia Blake Richard Burgon Dawn Butler Ian Byrne Stella Creasy Neil Duncan-Jordan Cat Eccles Barry Gardiner Mary Glindon Sarah Hall Chris Hinchliff Imran Hussain Terry Jermy Mary Kelly Foy Peter Lamb Ian Lavery Brian Leishman Emma Lewell Rebecca Long-Bailey Rachel Maskell Andy McDonald John McDonnell (currently suspended from Labour) Abtisam Mohamed Grahame Morris Charlotte Nichols Simon Opher Kate Osborne Richard Quigley Andrew Ranger Bell Ribeiro-Addy Zarah Sultana (currently suspended from Labour) Jon Trickett Chris Webb Nadia Whittome Steve Witherden
May 8, 2025 at 3:06 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Disability benefit cuts to hit 700,000 families already in poverty, with cuts affecting 3.1 million families, government's own forecasts show

archive.is/YnPKO
Kier Starmer, in a suit and tie, grinning and pointing.
May 7, 2025 at 6:33 PM
david-s.bsky.social
"Pro-bono trial"
Three men are accused of offering young people free samples of base cocaine in packages that included their contact information, in case the youth wanted to buy drugs in the future.
April 13, 2025 at 12:54 PM
david-s.bsky.social
It gets worse.

Have you seen this?
No explanation, no context.

Plus, a misleading question that does not refer to the well evidenced neglect and harm caused by the DWP.

Beyond the usual tokenism, and an insult to people who need #EasyRead accessible information.

Cc @johnpring.bsky.social
Page 22 of 'Easy Read' version of government "Pathways to Work" consultation Photosymbols images with text: Keeping people safe. It is really important that we keep people who need benefits safe from abuse and neglect. Abuse is when someone does something to hurt you or make you feel bad. Neglect means not giving someone the help they need. Or it could mean you don’t look after yourself very well. Question 5: What could we do to get better at keeping people safe from harm and abuse?
April 12, 2025 at 12:41 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Screenshot of Cilla Black singing 'Surprise Surprise'
March 31, 2025 at 1:20 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Photomontage. Silhouette of a politician tipping a wheelchair user over a cliff edge. Black and white photo of Keir Starmer with his hands in his pockets, and a menacing expression. In large red letters, the word 'Change' as used in Labour party election propaganda.
March 26, 2025 at 3:28 PM
david-s.bsky.social
*** Do not use this app ***
Screenshot from privacy policy: Information We Collect A. Information You Provide Email address for account management and communications OCD-related experiences and exposure tracking data Journal entries and personal reflections Chat conversations with AI features Feedback and other information you choose to provide
March 24, 2025 at 10:48 AM
david-s.bsky.social
Was sent this poem today.
By a Disabled person in Bristol.
I don’t smell of perfume—just deep heat, No second shoe, no second feet. My bank account’s low, my debts stand tall, Can’t even use the toilet at all. On the floor for hours, I cry, Trapped in a world that wants me to die. Society hates me—by default, Fed on lies, taught who’s at fault. They want you to see me as less, a drain, So when I suffer, you feel no pain. No voice, no choice, the system smothers, While headlines turn you against me and others. Not even half a person now, A rabbit hole of “why” and “how?” On credits, I scrape, while they turn away, Do I even matter? They say I play. A blagger, a fraud, a leech, a thief— When survival itself is beyond belief. They tell you we fiddle, but the only strings played Are the ones they pull when our lives decay. They paint us this way to save their purse, Cut our care, make things worse. The council’s no joke, but still, it laughs, While disabled kids sit out of class. Born beneath a glass ceiling so low, Might as well break us before we grow. Not all disabled are set to compete, Some just dream of food to eat. Of not collapsing, not living in fear, Of basic dignity—so rare, so dear. And yet, instead of help, there’s scorn, Left in ruins, bruised and torn. Not all of us climb, not all will run, Some just pray to see the sun. Not all are “inspirational” tales, Most of us rot in forgotten jails. So hate me, blame me—if that’s your way, But know who taught you what to say. They built the script, they wrote the lie, To watch me suffer, would you stand by.?
March 21, 2025 at 9:18 PM
david-s.bsky.social
It's a harmful and irresponsible policy that targets marginalised children and families.

Quote from final report from CPAG:
cpag.org.uk/news/two-chi...
Despite parents’ best efforts to protect their children from the negative impacts of the two-child limit and the benefit cap, both policies mean that families face a struggle to meet basic needs. This directly causes material harms that affect the whole household, and generates specific social and emotional harms for children. The financial hardship that these policies create also increases tensions in households and can result in children trying to protect their parents from further distress.
March 16, 2025 at 10:06 AM
david-s.bsky.social
I-phone being smashed by a metal mallet.
February 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Screenshot from Vista Health In Health North Bristol Diagnostic Centre website. Book online. Make an Enquiry. Logos for Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, PayPal and Opayo.
February 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
david-s.bsky.social
Last year, while visiting my brother in the Bay Area, we ended up at a launch party for an AI company. Walking into its warehouse office, you could sense the money coursing through the room and the self-importance of the crowd, living on the bleeding edge of technology. But it quickly became clear that the toilets were clogged and there were no plungers in the building. When we left, shit was running through the streets outside.
February 9, 2025 at 10:17 AM
david-s.bsky.social
Neville Chamberlain surrounded by journalists, while waving 'a piece of paper' signed by him and Hitler in September 1938.
December 22, 2024 at 2:28 PM