Dusty Wentworth

An Introduction: Beyond Suspicion and Hostility Disabled people in Britain are living with the consequences of an underfunded NHS, a fragmented social care system and a political climate that has normalised suspicion and hostility. Public debate has shifted its focus to welfare spending, overlooking the human lives at stake. The result is a country where disabled people are routinely failed by the systems designed to support them. My life as a 52 year old father of three young children, living with complex neurological and psychological conditions following a catastrophic medical event, is a case study in how severely the British state is failing its most vulnerable citizens. Catastrophe and the Absence of Support In October 2023 my life changed instantly. A brain aneurysm ruptured at home, causing a subarachnoid haemorrhage. I collapsed and awoke in intensive care a month later. The rupture left me with an acquired brain injury that affects memory, cognition, processing an...

Who declared open season on disabled people? Because, honestly, that’s what it feels like right now. The government’s latest proposals to “reform” the Motability Scheme — and the toxic, resentful language being thrown around by politicians of all stripes — feel less like sensible policymaking and more like a targeted, personal attack. Unsurprisingly, this has had immediate real-world consequences. The level of abuse I’ve received both online and in public lately has shot through the roof, courtesy of a few bigoted, uneducated individuals who now feel emboldened to shout their opinions in car parks and comment sections alike. Apparently, being disabled has become fair game. Lovely. The New Villains: Disabled People with Suitable Cars If you’ve missed the news, the government is planning to tighten eligibility for the Motability Scheme and remove certain “luxury” vehicles from availability. The unspoken reasoning? Disabled people are apparently having too much fun driving aro...

Standfirst: A military veteran with complex, fluctuating conditions exposes how the Labour Government’s Universal Credit cuts, PIP changes, and failing NHS services are dismantling the financial and physical independence of even the most severely disabled citizens. My Fight for Care: A Veteran’s Battle with a Broken NHS I served my country — now I’m fighting for basic care. Getting a GP appointment shouldn’t require an MP, a charity, and months of chasing. But for me, a veteran living with combat-related PTSD, fibromyalgia, functional neurological disorder (FND) and a brain injury from a subarachnoid haemorrhage, it did. These conditions cause tremors, muscle spasms, seizures and cognitive impairment — and that’s just some of my symptoms. Across my diagnoses there are many more. Worse, they interact: when one flares, it can trigger or worsen the others. That cross-play creates an incredibly complex, unpredictable condition that the current benefits and healthcare systems si...

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...

For most, saving for a flat or a car represents a key milestone—a significant step towards independence. But for many disabled people in the UK, that same sum represents the cost of their freedom.  A reasonably priced, custom-built wheelchair—the kind that enables a full and active life—can cost around £5,000. It is an essential piece of equipment that many must fund out of their own pocket, a sum that could otherwise have been a deposit towards their future. A Week in the Life of a Free-Wheeler Chloe is a graphic designer in her twenties. She loves gigs with friends, navigating London’s busy streets, and building a creative career. But every day she faces a silent battle. The wheelchair provided by the NHS, while functional, is heavy and cumbersome. Trying to board a crowded bus, she feels the eyes of passengers as she struggles with the weight. Her shoulders and wrists ache with every push. It is a daily battle between body and chair—a battle she cannot win. This is n...

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...

My life changed irrevocably on 14th May 2025. Thatn's the day I published my first blog post—not about a new hobby, but born from a place of profound personal reckoning. After a subarachnoid haemorrhage left me disabled, and a subsequent diagnosis of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), doctors told me a stark truth: I wouldn't work again. 'Can't' isn't a word that sits comfortably in my vocabulary. As a former soldier, it's been drilled out of me. New challenges, yes. Difficulties, absolutely. But 'can't'? My experience has always been that with the right support, most obstacles can be overcome. And so, my blog became my therapy—my quest to rediscover myself, to see what I could still do. Just over two months later, on 18th July 2025, I've poured myself into this space, sharing my journey, thoughts, struggles, and small victories. Crucially, I've done it without spending a single penny on promotion, relying sol...

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...

Access Denied: The Harsh Reality of Accessibility for Wheelchair Users in 2025 From broken paths to outdated laws, here's what's still falling short for wheelchair users in Britain. The Illusion of Progress We’re told the future is accessible. But for many of us, it still isn’t. Government and businesses love to highlight their progress on disability access, from new digital legislation to step-free train stations. But for wheelchair users, the lived reality often tells a different story—one of patchy infrastructure, outdated attitudes, and policy decisions that undermine the very freedoms they claim to support. Every day, as a full-time wheelchair user and a father, I encounter countless barriers. I see the cracks everywhere: in disabled bays with no room to get my kids out, in broken pavement ramps, in public toilets that are too small to turn around in. And while there’s a glimmer of hope with new legislation like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) 2025 focusin...