Dusty Wentworth

A Lived Example: The Wheelchair Assessment After waiting thirty weeks for an NHS wheelchair assessment, I prepared to attend a crucial appointment. On the morning of the appointment, my car failed to start. Public transport was not an option: buses would not have got me there on time, and even if they had, broken ramps and delays made them unreliable. Missing that appointment would have meant being left in a wheelchair that no longer met my needs, leaving me in pain and at risk of injury. A call to my trusted private hire company changed everything. A driver who knew me arrived quickly, folded and stowed my chair, and ensured I reached the hospital on time. This was not a luxury journey; it was a vital safeguard of my mobility, health, and independence. It illustrates why taxis are not optional for disabled people — they are essential. Introduction The Chancellor’s reported proposal to impose 20% VAT on taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) fares has sparked widespread debate...

As a veteran, I'm compelled to defend my fellow citizens, challenging a government that seems to forget its fundamental duty to those it serves. This isn't just about veterans; it's about every individual facing hardship in the United Kingdom – from the disabled and unemployed, to the hard-working citizens struggling in the face of a failing economy, which is, ultimately, the government's responsibility.  Before persecuting the average person in the street, before cutting benefits for the vulnerable, this government must first rectify its own systemic failings and address its own shocking lack of accountability. It’s not just the injustice of being unsupported as a disabled veteran—it’s the systemic rot that allows it to persist. Consider the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the very body meant to provide welfare and support for millions. Staggeringly, its accounts haven't been signed off in over 36 years. This shocking revelation, as confirmed by...

What if the very system designed to support the vulnerable was, in fact, systematically failing them, hemorrhaging billions in the process? This is the stark reality of the UK's welfare system. While it places immense scrutiny on the lives of its most vulnerable citizens—demanding months of bank statements and detailed proof of hardship—the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) remains virtually unaccountable for its own repeated failings. For decades, successive governments have watched billions hemorrhage through mismanagement, bad policy, and uncorrected structural flaws—with little political will to intervene. This isn’t just a broken system. It’s an engineered dysfunction—one that punishes poverty while protecting institutional failure. And the cost is counted not only in billions of pounds, but in broken lives. Billions Lost: A System Built on Chronic DWP Error In the financial year ending March 2025, the DWP overpaid £9.5 billion in benefits. Of this staggering ...

As a country, we pride ourselves on compassion and a commitment to supporting those in need. Yet recent rhetoric around welfare reform paints a deeply troubling picture—one that portrays disabled people as burdens and scapegoats for rising costs.   This narrative is not only deeply offensive, but also a calculated distraction from the real financial mismanagement taking place within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).   It’s time to challenge this unacceptable blame game and demand genuine accountability. The Stigmatising Language: An Attack on Disabled People Just this week, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch made comments that were, frankly, outrageous. In a speech on 10th July 2025, she criticised the Motability scheme, claiming:   “People are getting taxpayer-funded cars for having constipation.”   She further suggested that “food intolerances” and “ADHD and obesity” should not warrant support, and alleged that “90 per cent ...

It's a stark contrast that's hard to ignore: while the UK government discusses tightening the purse strings on vital support for disabled people, many Members of Parliament appear to be enjoying a more cushioned existence, complete with lucrative second jobs. This disparity has fuelled a heated debate, leaving many questioning the fairness of a system that seems to offer one set of rules for the vulnerable and another for those in power. The Squeeze on Disability Support   The government has openly expressed concerns about the escalating cost of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and other disability benefits. Proposals have included a “four-point rule” for new PIP claimants, aiming to direct support to those with the most severe conditions.   While recent concessions suggest these changes might only impact new claimants from a future date, and current PIP recipients will be protected, the message is clear: the era of seemingly unfettered benefit increas...

“It’s the political equivalent of putting a fox in your henhouse and asking it to count the chickens.” This is precisely the scenario unfolding with the newly announced review of Personal Independence Payments (PIP)—a supposedly impartial reassessment of the benefits system, led not by an independent body, but by the very minister who oversees it: Sir Stephen Timms, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability. The government wants us to believe this review is about fairness and modernisation. But from where I’m sitting—in a wheelchair I never planned for, navigating a system I never imagined I’d need—it looks more like a politically controlled damage limitation exercise than genuine reform. A Review Already Tainted The review, announced just days before Parliament passed the controversial welfare reform bill, is set to run until Autumn 2026. It was presented as a concession—a reason not to worry about proposed cuts to PIP. But let’s be clear: appointing...

Imagine waking up tomorrow and discovering your essential support—your lifeline—is suddenly worth less than someone else’s. Not because your needs have changed, but because of an arbitrary date on a calendar. This is the stark reality now facing disabled people across the UK after last night’s parliamentary vote. Parliament voted 335 to 260 in favour of the government’s amended welfare reform bill. On paper, it passed with “concessions.” In reality, it passed with a chilling message: disabled lives are not equal—they are politically expendable. With that vote, the UK has solidified a disturbing new phase of social policy: one that brazenly creates a two-tier disability support system. A system where the date you became disabled now determines the level of help you receive. Not your condition. Not your needs. Not your humanity. Just your timing. This is more than policy—it’s precedent. What the Bill Really Does Under the new legislation, the split is clear: Existing claimant...

In a dramatic turn of events that sent ripples through Westminster and brought a sigh of relief to millions, the UK government on Friday, 27th June 2025, executed a significant U-turn on its controversial welfare reforms. This eleventh-hour reversal scraps several proposed changes that threatened to severely impact disabled people, pensioners, and low-income households. This ambitious original plan, embedded within Chancellor Rachel Reeves' March 2025 Spring Budget, sought to slash a staggering £5 billion annually from the welfare budget. However, it was met with an unprecedented wave of resistance: intense public backlash, relentless advocacy from disability rights groups, and crucially, a threatened rebellion from over 100 Labour MPs. Trapped between political survival and public outcry, the government found itself cornered, leading to a partial U-turn that, while protecting existing claimants, leaves a vast landscape of welfare policy ripe for continued scrutiny. The...

This is not just about policy. It’s about principle. I served this country. I came home injured. But this isn’t a story about a failed veteran. It’s a story about a system that’s failing all of us. Across the UK, over 14.6 million disabled people are living in a state of manufactured scarcity — not because their needs are unclear, but because the systems around them are deliberately designed to delay, deny, and degrade. I know this because I live it. I live with complex, overlapping conditions: combat-related PTSD, a brain injury following a subarachnoid haemorrhage, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), severe fibromyalgia, partial blindness, significant hearing loss, and neurological seizures and tremors. These aren’t static labels. They interact, compound, and affect every part of my life. Yet, the people assessing me often have no experience of any of them. The Flawed Assessment System Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments are outsourced to private contracto...