Back in March I wrote about the threatened ban on plastic straws. In it I responded to a lot of the questions non-disabled people were asking when disabled people told them they really do need straws. So if you’re thinking “What about…” or “Just carry your own” or “Why make such a fuss about straws?”…

A year ago today the country woke up to the news of the shocking fire at Grenfell Tower.

In the post I wrote later that day I described how, even from those very early pictures and news reports, I felt sure that this was a preventable tragedy.…

Joyce was supporting me today and we got chatting about theatre. She’s not a regular-theatre goer but she did come to the Brewing In The Basement cabaret night we held at The Barbican Centre last November.

Joyce, who’s Jamaican, said she was keen to go to the theatre again, and I remembered there’s a new show at the National Theatre about the Jamaican tradition of Nine Night.…

Over the last few months I’ve seen a number of groups calling for a ban on disposable plastic straws. Campaigns such as ‘Straws Suck’, ‘The Final Straw’ and ‘The Last Plastic Straw’ are but a few of them. Petitions putting pressure on big supermarkets to stop selling straws have hundreds of thousands of signatures, and politicians, including Environment Secretary Michael Gove, have put their weight behind the cause.…

I delivered a training session today for a media company who are making a documentary about Tourettes.

Often when I’m training people on issues relating to inclusion and equality I talk about the need to reduce ‘faff’ around disability. My experience today has been a vivid example of exactly what I mean.…

For over a decade Mencap have run Changing Places, an amazing campaign to improve toilet provision for disabled people across the UK.

Changing Places toilets are loos that meet a specific set of criteria – they are much bigger than regular accessible toilets, have a height-adjustable changing bed, a tracking hoist, and a centrally placed toilet so that you can transfer onto it from either side.…

I remember the first time I ever used Twitter – it’s etched in my memory. It was almost eight years ago on a sunny weekend in July. I didn’t use it to share information – I used it to find some.…

When Teresa May called a snap general election just seven weeks ago I felt a flash of hope, followed by an overwhelming feeling of apprehension.

I desperately want to be part of a society that’s more socially just, where there aren’t massive discrepancies in life expectancy depending on where you live, and where millions of people aren’t forced to use food banks to survive.…

I’m incredibly fortunate to own my home. I know that for many people the current crisis in housing makes this impossible, and is likely to do so for future generations. I watch people I care about being held hostage to increasing rents, being made homeless at a moment’s notice, and being priced out of their communities.…

Like all super villains and/or daft comedy characters, Theresa May has a catchphrase. It isn’t “Exterminate!” like the Daleks, although that would fit with her polices, and It certainly isn’t, “I have a cunning plan” like Baldrick in Blackadder.

Theresa’s catchphrase is “Strong and stable”, and she says it an awful lot, probably as much as I say biscuit.…