Darryl Smith

Why are many employers not ambitious for disabled employees? What are the disabling barriers? How do we overcome inherent bias in recruitment practices? Who are the inclusive practitioners? All this and more...#inclusion#employment#disabled people#chief executives

#BetterOffDead? the documentary I made to explain my opposition to assisted suicide has been shortlisted for a @griersontrust documentary award. Congrats to all who have a passion, a need to give voice to something & make a documentary. Here's mine: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…

@Peter_Gregory_H @ajccreevy @implausibleblog “Taxpayers subsidised rail companies to the tune of £11billion for 2022/2023”taxpayersalliance.com/briefing_the_t…

@ajccreevy @implausibleblog Agree! Why? Because ultimately the process will have to be paid for and by whom? Yes, you guessed it! The entire tax-paying population, even those who don’t use the trains!

BBC News, "Taking the kids to London in August, £327 for a family returned.. Can you give a timeline for when nationalised railways will be cheaper and more reliable?" Pat McFadden, "As the franchises for the individual railways come to an end, bring them into public ownership, to create a more integrated system, to simplify ticketing, to make sure there's more interconnection between the services, to give ourselves a more reliable rail network and rail service" BBC News, "How quickly will we get those?" Pat McFadden, "Depends on the length of the franchises" @patmcfaddenmp

This district really needs to do better at listening and owning its responsibilities to ensure inclusion and improving life chances for all its citizens. #nothingaboutuswithoutus.

As the only pan-disability led organisation in the district their work is so crucial to support and challenge for the rights of disabled people, many of whom continue to face daily barriers to housing, employment, education, health and social care.2/3

Yesterday was my last day at Equality Together. Such an amazing group of people whose values and work I respect immensely. Tough times at the moment for many voluntary sector organisations including ET. 1/3..

@i_iratus …I did lose six pounds during the process. Thus proving (if proof were needed) that my default position is to be full of it!

@i_iratus Ah, the ol’ clean prep! The first time I had it I shared my experience as part of the weekly catch up with the usual half dozen on the terraces at the rugby game. ..It was reminiscent of a scene from Spartacus! I thought whole terrace was going to join in …1/2

@Dr_BellaR ‘Who knows where the time goes’ Sandy Denny. I’m a late comer to her music, her tragic story and the poignant beauty of the song and her voice. youtu.be/jsqztvHIB9Y?si…

@Outside_Margina @TheLastLeg #isitok that George Galloway referred to a Glasgow rangers supporter as a ‘window licker’ then apologised by saying ‘some of my best friends are disabled and he should’ve called himself ‘ morin’ instead?

#IsItOK that If #Sunak & #Starmer are two cheeks of the same arse it could be either the SNP or LibDems being the arsehole? Galloway is a bit further round the bend which would make him the dick of #Rochdale? @TheLastLeg

@mrjamesob Must be challengeable under UN declaration of human rights, and the Human Rights Act (which of course this govt wants to ‘amend’.. Animal Farm style.. all animals(humans) are equal , though some are more equal than others!). The dog whistle scapegoating is shameful!

This is so grim.

@jayrayner1 @ObsFood Please pass this onto Jamie and anyone else who would benefit. accessable.co.uk

It's @ObsFood Sunday so do pick up a print edition. A reminder of my column which is about the importance of disability access to restaurants and the things we can all do, diners and restaurants alike, to help. theguardian.com/food/2024/feb/…

@ElissaNoves It’s the ‘othering’ that continues to show its face by so many people with influence. Ignorance leads to prejudice leads to discrimination leads to hate crime. Society needs to learn from history and demand better of those they put in power.

Cllr Hammersley has said: “Whoever put that vile sh** on TikTok saying we want kids put into asylums and be institutionalised needs a kick, as you know and we know those words were NOT spoken by any of us and needs to be corrected. They were spoken by another person in the meeting if you have watched the recording, as you probably have. Get this corrected and I might have more to say.” warwickshireworld.com/news/people/un…

@neilmcrowther I suspect many would say they are familiar with the UNCRPD. I also suspect it may be difficult to see how it’s embedded through culture and practice.

I wonder how many leaders involved in adult social care in England - in govt, councils, voluntary or private providers, or their trade bodies - are familiar with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, or the history of the independent living movement?

@PostgradSlave @SoniaAdesara How does that work for the millions of disabled people who wouldn’t be able to ride a bike?

@SoniaAdesara Passing a "Cycling Profficency Test" should be a prerequisite for passong a motorcycle test, Motorcycle should be a prerequisite for passing a car test in the same way that a car licence is NOW [it wasn't always!] required to take a bus or truck licence🚲🏍️🚗🚛🚌

I was cycling today on 20mph road Got beeped by the car behind The car then overtook me, shouting out the window not to cycle in the ‘middle of the road’ The car was a police van I chased the police van down and made them stop. There were 3 policemen in the van 1/

🍷🇪🇺 I spent a lot of time during my late teens working in bars, and I remember lots of people ordering wine. I remember them ordering small glasses, large glasses, whole bottles, sometimes several bottles at a time. I even remember the odd person enquiring about buying a magnum or a jeroboam (though mostly just in jest). I also remember people complaining about things. I remember them complaining that they could no longer order a pint of beer, hand over a pound (in paper note form) and get some change. I remember them complaining that they could no longer chat with the person next to them without being drowned out by a jukebox or interrupted by the beeps, bleeps and bangs of a video game. What I definitely DON’T REMEMBER is anyone - not a single person in all the years I spent behind those bars - ever mentioning, never mind requesting, a pint bottle of wine. And that should tell you everything you need to know about this one-pint bottle of wine announcement: There is no demand for one-pint bottles of wine. No one wants to buy them. No one cares whether they exist or not. It’s a total non-issue. The fact that this nonsense is heralded so triumphantly by Brexit loyalists says a lot about where our country is today. These Brexit die-hards know that, in stark contrast to the promises made by the snake-oil salesmen during the referendum, Brexit isn’t delivering solutions to the actual problems people have in their lives. It isn’t making food, electricity or gas more affordable. It isn’t making it easier to access hospital treatment or to get decent social care for elderly relatives. It isn’t increasing people's take-home pay or providing better jobs for young people. Frankly, if anything, it’s making those things worse. And because of that, they are obliged to come up with fantasy problems to which they can claim their fantasy Brexit is the solution. Our passports are the wrong colour. The emergency exit signs in the Dartford Tunnel havw odd numbers on them. Everyone’s distraught because they can’t buy wine in pint bottles. It’s all so trivial and so very tedious…and particularly maddening when millions of decent people across the country are struggling with extreme hardship on a daily basis. But perhaps we can do something about it. There is almost certainly going to be a general election in 2024. That election provides an opportunity to push back against ‘nonsense government’, to insist that our elected politicians stop taking us for fools and start putting our REAL priorities front and centre. The first step in that process is to get them to face facts. Most of the politicians who will be seeking our votes next year have already made clear they will not engage in any form of Brexit debate. They don’t want to go over old ground. They don’t want to replay the debate about whether Brexit was right or wrong. And that is absolutely fine. Brexit is done. The country made its decision. We left the EU. There is no way to change that decision now, and there is no immediate route back to EU membership. But what is NOT FINE is them using that as an excuse to avoid dealing with the very real damage being done by ‘Long Brexit’. In the same way that we have come to realise a bout of COVID-19 can have significant negative effects on our health months and even years after infection, it’s increasingly clear that Brexit is having a significant negative effect on our national well-being all these years later. As with Long Covid, the symptoms of Long Brexit are often difficult to recognise and to disentangle from other underlying issues. But disentangle them we must because, in the same way that Long Covid can persistently reduce the quality of someone’s life, Long Brexit is persistently weakening our economy, fraying the fabric of our society and undermining the institutions on which our democracy depends. If we do nothing else in 2024, Let's at least ensure that we use our democratic power to elect politicians with the courage to find a cure for Long Brexit so we can start getting our country back on track. [If you read all the way to the end and you agree with the above, please follow me and retweet this post to spread the word. Thank you!🙏]

📸 Look at this post on Facebook m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…

@LadyZahraNiazi Thanks for sharing Zahra. Mate/Hate crime is massively misunderstood and under-reported. Would welcome feedback on how we improve awareness, increase reporting and resilience and ultimately ensure it doesn’t gain the first place.

Check out "Hate Crime Awareness Training - Online" eventbrite.co.uk/e/hate-crime-a… @Eventbrite

@baxterjules7 @griffiths_janis @Brydco @RachelCurtis82 @Conservatives A study a few years ago found that there was a perception that 35% of claimants were ‘undeserving’. The govt’s own figures put ‘fraudulent’ claims at 0.5%. The chancellor has just fuelled more scapegoating of dp. Punch up not down.

@griffiths_janis @Brydco @RachelCurtis82 @Conservatives Janis I witnessed it, in the late 90's the benefit system was easy to screw for lots of money, hence the surge in teen pregnancy! I'm talking about a couple claiming every benefit going in those days and working cash jobs. Do you get it now

@Conservatives I have spent hours reading messages from terrified friends. Although we all knew how our government views us, it is a shock to know that they are carrying out plans to strip us of any income. To know it's actually happening now is devastating. Disabled people left in the gutter.

@RachelCurtis82 Another govt initiative likely to lead to yet more scapegoating, prejudice and hate crime against disabled people. The difference between perception of ‘genuine’ dp and therefore deserving of support vs the reality is huge!