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...

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...

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 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...