Survivors of the drug thalidomide have hailed a new £20 million package of support, and the promise of a long-awaited government apology. The prime minister is expected to deliver a “statement of regret” in the Commons early in the new year. Guy Tweedy, a leading campaigner, said the announcement was “wonderful news”. Tweedy, deputy chair [...]

Campaigners and politicians have reacted with horror and outrage after China refused pleas for clemency and executed a British man with bipolar disorder. Despite repeated appeals from the prime minister, Gordon Brown, and the foreign secretary, David Miliband, Akmal Shaikh was executed on the morning of 29 December in Urumqi, north-west China. Much of the [...]

Disabled people are facing rising levels of poverty and discrimination as a result of the recession, according to a new report. The Disability and the Downturn report, by Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD), is the latest to suggest that disabled people could be suffering disproportionately from the recession. The report says there is “little cause for [...]

A UK-based development agency has been recognised by an African president for nearly 20 years of campaigning work with disabled people’s organisations in his country. Action on Disability and Development International (ADDI), which is based in Somerset, received the Chevalier of Merit award from president Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso. ADDI was one of 20 [...]

London’s tube network is set to miss its latest target for providing step-free access, after Transport for London (TfL) halted improvements at a series of stations. Campaigners are angry that the target – to make a quarter of the capital’s 270 stations accessible to wheelchair-users – will not be reached. In April, mayor Boris Johnson’s [...]