November 2009 - Posts

A perturbing hint on how next year's general election campaign might pan out emerged this week when David Cameron attempted to outsmart Gordon Brown on the funding of two Islamic schools. Read More...
Cast Offs , Channel Four's risky mockumentary on disability, got under way last night and turned out to be more authentic than most reality television. It centred on a group of people with various disabilities supposedly marooned on a desert island...
Which is the best way to spend public money: by developing treatments for dementia and cancer or in counselling couples at breaking point? Read More...
Congratulations to service provider Care UK for posting a £1.6m rise in profits to £21m on revenues up from £316m to £410. They must be doing something right. Read More...
It is a poor indictment on the quality of care when a patient leaves hospital in worse shape than when they went in. Read More...
A book I have focuses on deprivation in Hackney in east London. In a chapter entitled Schooling for Failure, the author discusses the cramped conditions in which rather too many children live and the effect on their development both at play and in study...
Posted by Outside Left
David Cameron has been turning his thoughts this week to poverty - and also to the voluntary sector which he sees as key to reducing it. Read More...
In yesterday's blog , I referred to an article by Ian Birrell in the The Independent about the casual acceptance of language offensive to people with physical and learning disabilities. Read More...
If anyone needs confirmation why the abuse of disabled people is a major issue they need look no further than a court case in Devon. Read More...
There are today 995 days until the start of the London Olympics and 1,028 until the Paralympics get under way. But could the London games become the first where disabled athletes line up against their mainstream counterparts? Read More...
It could become even more expensive to practise as a social worker. Read More...
The countries deemed "safe" by the British government now include Zimbabwe, Iraq and Afghanistan. Because they are "safe" it is reasonable for ministers to announce the resumption of the forced return of failed asylum seekers. Read...