This is the point that should be made over and over again in the prison overcrowding row. The focus is on releasing violent male prisoners but the majority of female prisoners are not a threat to the public - and should always have been given community orders.

As Rod Liddle has died, I notice this column I wrote in 2019 about his attacks on people with M.E. is on the most read again. Rebekah Brooks, of News UK, described Liddle today as “provocative”. In reality, he spread lies about very sick people for cash. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Rod Liddle vilifies disabled people. I’m tired of the hate. We all should be | Frances Ryan

Whether it is ME patients or another target, huge swathes of the media have normalised hatred of minorities for years, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

theguardian.com

Thanks so much for the lovely messages about this! Who Wants Normal? is also up for the Readers’ Choice award, which means the public decide. THAT’S YOU, GUYS. If you’d like to, you can vote here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Frances Ryan@francesryan.bsky.social · 5d ago

What lovely news: Who Wants Normal? Life Lessons from Disabled Women has been long-listed for best Non-Fiction at the Diverse Book awards. Hugely touched to be included in such a meaningful prize.

I need to read a deep dive into how David Lammy ever thought perpetrators of violent sexual crimes would not have to be excluded from any early release scheme. With every concern for prison safety, it is so baffling I’d love to know why it seemed a good idea. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Burnham to focus on keeping child rapists in prison as release scheme talks enter final day

Review goes down to the wire after ministers speak with victims’ representatives and support services

theguardian.com

Who Wants Normal? is also up for the Readers’ Choice award, which is voted for by the public! If you would like to vote for me, that’d be very nice. My 7 yr old niece checks my shelves for trophies so please help me quench her demanding thirst. VOTE: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

What lovely news: Who Wants Normal? Life Lessons from Disabled Women has been long-listed for best Non-Fiction at the Diverse Book awards. Hugely touched to be included in such a meaningful prize.

A few people are saying this so if it helps: cross-party collaboration is a standard strategy for helping to get a generational reform across the line. A landslide is only the first hurdle for a change this big. You also need to bring voters and (some) of the media along.

Dan (this/that) 🇪🇺🇵🇹📷@chopalley.bsky.social · last wk.

Labour can push this through, they have enough seats. "Seeking consensus" sounds like "seeking a way to stall".

Labour: I hope other political parties, and the media, will allow the country to have a sensible debate about options for social care reform. Reform: Burnham is planning 'universal death tax' which we will 'fight every step of way'.

It’s worth pausing on the scale of Burnham’s social care pitch. This could be the biggest reform to health in England in a generation. A universal care system - effectively a second NHS - would be revolutionary. Just free personal care would be lifechanging for older and disabled people.

I’m sure this is true for some but it’s actually a myth when it comes to many disabled campaigners. Disabled people (including myself) are often pro-assisted dying; we know more than most about pain and lack of choice. But we also know the devastating impact of underfunded care and benefit systems.

Altreik@altreik.bsky.social · last wk.

The assisted dying bill is like a planning application- lot of opponents are just looking for a wide range of reasons to oppose something they do not want or support on a moral level.

Casey's social care review will be fast-tracked, with final recommendations out by next summer, Burnham has announced. The options for reform range in scale but the PM has notably said a National Care service - he first proposed in 2010 - is on the table. Tories and Reform would widely oppose it.

For those who’ve asked today: We don’t know as yet what Burnham is going to do about benefits, including Pip or young people out of work. I know it can be frustrating if I don’t get into this stuff in my columns when the news desk first report it. Or it might seem odd, as if I’m ignoring it. [cont]

Unequal capitalist societies survive on the lie certain things are inevitable. Millions will always be hungry. Some sleep on the street. Old age and disability means not having a regular wash. Burnham admits they’re political choices. So, what’s next? My col: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Burnham is taking a bold risk by busting the big lie of politics – that change is impossible | Frances Ryan

Unequal capitalist societies survive on the premise that certain things are inevitable. Admit that these are political choices, and who knows what voters will demand, asks Guardian columnist Frances R...

theguardian.com

“That’s the thing about a Burnham premiership: the right is scared he will fulfil his promises and the left is afraid he won’t.” My col. on what real change means - and why much of the right gets hysterical when ordinary people’s lives might improve a bit. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Andy Burnham has made a bold start – but convincing people that change is possible will take much more | Frances Ryan

The new PM’s greatest task has long weighed down the left: convincing voters there are actually better days ahead, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

theguardian.com

And this is why disabled and older people in England are currently forced to sit in their own urine because they can’t get to the toilet.

When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.

Friday briefing: How disabled creators are challenging an ableist world - with @francesryan.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Friday briefing: How disabled creators are challenging an ableist world

In today’s newsletter: Amid protests, policy battles and rising hostility, disabled ​designers and artists show how pleasure, creativity and visibility ​defy stigma

theguardian.com

It was lovely to talk to @libbybrooks.bsky.social for this morning’s First Edition newsletter on the Design and Disability exhibition. We chat about art, protest and why you should absolutely yell to a receptionist speaking to the non-disabled person behind you. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Friday briefing: How disabled creators are challenging an ableist world

In today’s newsletter: Amid protests, policy battles and rising hostility, disabled ​designers and artists show how pleasure, creativity and visibility ​defy stigma

theguardian.com

A fine example of why the BBC should not publish vox-pops (“‘Bus fare cut is no good for those who drive’ says Durham man” is literally the headline here) without challenge or context. Buses, famously the preserve of the managerial classes.

I rarely binge TV but I’ve already watched 5 out of the 6 Ann Droid episodes on iPlayer. Diane Morgan plus Sue Johnston are a wonderful duo of humour and pathos. I will be annoying family members by saying, “Sue, Sue, Sue!” around the house for some time.

Great to see Angela Rayner back as housing sec - a role that will have greater weight under Burnham and a quicker rehabilitation than expected. I feel for Bridget Phillipson, sacked from education. Fiercely smart and little interest in in-fighting, she performed miracles getting Send reform through

I just think it would be incredibly funny if Wes Streeting resigned on a gamble to be prime minister and doesn’t even end up with a cabinet post.

JOHN HEALEY named chancellor. Huge relief in many circles it’s not Mahmood and also a hilarious “fuck you” to the press who were leaked the wrong names for weeks.

Building council housing as the fair way to bring down the welfare bill? Ending rough sleeping? Fixing the rot of privatisation and increasing public control of key needs? Immediate help with the cost of living? Andy, don’t excite us like this!!!

Nothing says a big day for British democracy like aerial shots of Buckingham Palace and Fiona Bruce running through Royal protocol with the enthusiasm of a woman thinking, “do we need a Prime Minister when we have a King?”

This is a genuine shame. Timpson was a rare example of an “industry expert” parachuted into government that was rooted in genuine expertise and integrity. With a prison brief burdened by cost cutting and punishment rather than investment and rehabilitation, Timpson feels a particular loss.

Cassia Rowland@cassiarowland.bsky.social · 2w ago

The day’s first casualty: James Timpson resigns as prisons minister. This is a big surprise! Timpson had a long history as a prisons reformer before entering government and seen as one of Starmer’s more innovative & exciting appointments. He’s also delivered a big change programme in gov. So: why?

Some notable exceptions but my impression:

I reviewed Jesy Nelson’s new documentary on her twins being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and her campaign for lifesaving screening on the NHS. A really moving and important watch, not just for Little Mix stans. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Jesy Nelson: Life Changing review – you just want to reach through the screen and hug the Little Mix star

What begins as another celebrity lifestyle documentary shifts completely when the former Little Mix star faces a devastating diagnosis for her newborn twin daughters. Every scene is affecting

theguardian.com

So much guff spouted about Starmer’s legacy. His legacy is that Clive Myrie gave an interview going ‘I am relieved I didn’t have kids’ and that millions of people in this country now feel unsafe.

Sailesh@saileshpatel.bsky.social · 3w ago

And then have the gall to say stuff like “wHy doN’t yOu taLk aBouT frEe brEaKfaSt cLubs?” when you point out that Sir Sensible McSensible has presided over the worst breakdown of race relations since the ‘70s

I reviewed Jesy Nelson’s documentary about her twins being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy - and her fight to get screening for newborns on the NHS. I generally wanted to hug her 73 times. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Jesy Nelson: Life Changing review – you just want to reach through the screen and hug the Little Mix star

What begins as another celebrity lifestyle documentary shifts completely when the former Little Mix star faces a devastating diagnosis for her newborn twin daughters. Every scene is affecting

theguardian.com