Grieving mum. Battling for meaningful lessons 2b learned re preventable death of 33yr old son with Downs Syndrome.
Ipswich, England
Joined May 2014
- Tweets26.7K
- Following701
- Followers718
- Likes105K
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
I’m fed up with certain politicians saying we need to “respect” the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
A decision by a narrow majority 10yrs ago that turned out to be a disaster does not have to be respected.
If a democracy cannot change its mind it ceases to be a democracy.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
It's shocking to see 'low-wage care workers' portrayed as a drain on the welfare state. They're doing essential jobs and the only reason they claim benefits is that the fat cat private equity bosses that own care homes don't pay them enough to live on.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Kemi Badenoch, "6 million people are on out of work benefits. That cannot be right"
My view:
Who are they? People with serious illnesses or disabilities. Carers. Parents looking after young children. People who have lost their jobs or are trying to find work.
“On out-of-work benefits” describes people in very different circumstances. It does not tell us that they are lazy, exploiting the system or choosing not to work.
DWP itself says people may claim out-of-work benefits because of unemployment, ill health or disability, or caring responsibilities.
So when you point to six million people and say “that cannot be right”, you risk turning a complicated set of problems into a charge against the people caught up in them.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Arsenic is natural.
Botulinum toxin is natural.
Deadly nightshade is natural.
But apparently, putting “100% natural” on a product makes it safer.
Nature doesn’t read marketing labels.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Salt can kill you.
Water can kill you.
Oxygen can kill you.
Does that mean we should ban water, salt and oxygen? Of course not.
Toxicity depends on dose and exposure.
That’s toxicology. Not a conspiracy.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Reading through the OBR report, found this fascinating nugget given the current hysteria over benefits and disability support: welfare spending is actually 1.2% lower as a share of GDP than it was in 2012/13.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
“Crime is spiralling out of control under Labour” says Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
It’s a lie.
According to the new Crime Survey:
-violent crime DOWN
-knife crime DOWN
-robbery DOWN
-overall crime DOWN
-shoplifting DOWN
Yet Tory/Reform liars say it’s surging…
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
• Right to live, work, study, retire in 30+ countries
• Friction-free artist touring
• 40 million pieces of paperwork per annum ditched
• Mutual recognition of qualifications
• Reliable multi-annual regional funding
• A say on the rules our exporters already follow
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Kemi Badenoch and Jacob Rees-Mogg, both Conservatives, criticised Andy Burnham for appearing on Gogglebox
Here's Boris Johnson appearing on Eastenders when he was Mayor of London
The double standards are extraordinary.
When Johnson makes a television cameo, it's a bit of fun. When Burnham appears on television to support a cancer charity, suddenly it's an affront to public office.
It's criticism for the sake of criticism. An opportunity to be aggressive, dismissive and unnecessarily rude, rather than acknowledge that someone is doing something worthwhile.
Burnham was supporting Stand Up To Cancer. That should transcend party politics.
Not everything needs to become a partisan attack. Sometimes a politician can simply do something decent without opponents desperately searching for a reason to find fault.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Angela Rayner having to remind viewers of what the Labour govt inherited from the Tories. Hunt sits on the panel unchallenged by Kuenssberg on their dreadful record.
It stinks.
#bbclaurak
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
It would be morally reprehensible to punish migrants who have come to this country at our invitation to work in our health & social care sectors by forcing them to wait 15 years before being granted indefinite leave to remain instead of the 5 years they were promised before they made the decision to uproot their lives to come and work here
The comments made by @Nigel_Farage about Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) are complete bull****!
The £200bn figure he uses has no basis in reality and is unsupported by any reliable data - and he knows it.
If UK news shows won’t call this boll**** out let’s do it ourselves
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
We should support people who can work into employment.
You don't do that by cutting the already meagre support disabled people rely on to live.
Restricting eligibility doesn't mean less people will be disabled, just that more will be in poverty.
That's not the Labour way.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Following the Covid Inquiry's damning verdict on @MattHancock, we've launched a petition to remove him from the Privy Council.
His actions led to thousands of avoidable deaths.
This is a first symbolic step towards accountability.
Sign and share: c.org/RJtgMtQF2f
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
From what I'm reading, the government expected the review into mental health diagnoses to say that conditions like ADHD and autism were being overdiagnosed, particularly in young people and then use that as justification for making disability benefits cuts, particularly impacting younger people with mental health conditions.
However, the problem is the review didn't say that, and it also said that work in and of itself should not be seen as a viable solution for everyone. I mean I could have told them all this without the need for the review, but the central point is, they are stuffed because they haven't got the evidential justification that intensive employment support instead of benefits will be effective and not lead to harm to the individual concerned.
That being said, as I have mentioned many times before in the last few years, I'm not against the principle of disabled people and people with mental health conditions working, as long as the work they are doing is good for them and they are fully capable of doing it without any adverse disability -related impacts. My issue is, and always has been that simply assuming that a condition such as ADHD always has mild implications in terms of work capability is both wrong and immensely dangerous. Also, age should not be used as a determining factor in deciding the severity of the impact of a disability or health condition.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
BBC impartiality.
The ONS says unemployment has fallen, but BBC Breakfast runs with the headline that job vacancies are down.
It's time Lisa Nandy did her job, got a grip on this organisation, and cleared out the Tory henchmen
@lisanandy @Ofcom @BBCBreakfast @BBCPolitics @BBCNews
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
A majority of PIP recipients undertake economically valuable or wellbeing-enhancing activities that they could not do without support.
Close to half (47 per cent) report that the benefit enables them to do at least one "economically valuable" activity, including working, training or caring.
ALT chart showing Proportion of PIP recipients aged 16-64 who report that PIP enables them to undertake various activities: England and Wales, May-June 2026
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
There’s a lot of talk of getting people in work.
But
From the 100k+ jobs on the DWPs jobs site…
Just 480 are remote
Only 29 are remote & Disability Confident
That’s what’s facing disabled people.
We must tackle the barriers employers put up. Not just demand more of people.
Pingu G S Handley retweeted
Fonagy Review findings highlighted re Milburn Review & likely gov response:
1. Rise in mental ill health is real and serious.
2. No evidence of large scale over-diagnosis of ADHD & autism.
3. Work isn't *always* good for mental health
- Returning too early can be damaging
1/n
