Author: Rachel Charlton-Dailey

This author has written 23 articles

Campaigners demand urgent government action this Severe ME Day

Campaigners demand urgent government action this Severe ME Day

Another Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) Awareness Week will pass in absolute silence from the government. The Canary has reported extensively on how ME patients are left to die in hospitals by the NHS. People like Sophia Mirza who died in 2005 after being sectioned under the mental health act without even basic nurse care. 8 August would be Sophia’s 53rd birthday; instead, she died aged 32. Severe ME Day is held on her birthday, 8 August, to honour her memory, and many others who have since lost their lives to this devastating disease and neglect caused by the NHS. Or  27-year-old…

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‘Palliative and social care must be fixed before assisted dying debate’

‘Palliative and social care must be fixed before assisted dying debate’

Andy Burnham has said that the debate on assisted dying shouldn’t happen until palliative and social care are improved. Speaking to Sky News reporter Sam Coates after delivering a speech on adult social care in England, he said: I take the view that that debate, and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues, personally I think there’s something that needs to happen first, and that’s the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care. I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not…

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Campaigners demand Andy Burnham delivers Autism Strategy

Campaigners demand Andy Burnham delivers Autism Strategy

Disabled campaigners have written to Andy Burnham to demand he immediately establishes a new autistic-led Autism Strategy ahead of the Autumn Budget. Deliver for Autism, a newly formed advocacy group, has published an open letter calling on the prime minister to not let autistic people down. The letter was created by autistic campaigner Chelsea Webster, and backed by well-known disabled campaigners and allies, such as Elle McNicoll, Lou Chandler and Sally Phillips. Autism Strategy must be developed ‘now’ Webster says in the letter: I am asking you to support autistic people by committing to a working group made up of diverse…

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Jared Leto accused of sex offences by women when they were teenagers

Jared Leto accused of sex offences by women when they were teenagers

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault, abuse and grooming Jared Leto has been accused of sexual offences, including rape, and inappropriate behaviour by 10 women when they were teenagers. The BBC documentary, Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret, hears from 10 women who allege that the US musician and singer assaulted them, threatened them with rape or harassed them between 2002 and 2016. Leto would have been in his thirties and forties at the time. All the women were under the age of 18. Despite repeated attempts to contact Jared Leto, he has not responded to the allegations put…

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Wifebeater Johnny Depp attempts ‘return’ with crap Scrooge remake

Wifebeater Johnny Depp attempts ‘return’ with crap Scrooge remake

Actor and abuser Johnny Depp is attempting to ‘return to Hollywood’ with a terrible-looking remake of A Christmas Carol. It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that Ebenezer, a new film based on Dickens’ Christmas cautionary tale, would be coming to theatres on 13 November. In the starring role is the aforementioned abuser. And it’s truly all about him and his valiant return to Hollywood, but let’s not talk about why he’s been missing for so long. First trailer for ‘EBENEZER’, a new film based on ‘A Christmas Carol’ starring Johnny Depp. In theaters on November 13. pic.twitter.com/9MrsOuxoBX — DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm)…

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Study finds DWP benefits already harder to get for people with ADHD

Study finds DWP benefits already harder to get for people with ADHD

Despite what the corporate media and MP’s are always spreading, a new study has shown that it’s actually harder to get disability benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you have ADHD. For months now the rags have pushed the narrative that too many people with ADHD are cheating the system and claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP). The latest was from The Times: More than 100,000 get benefits for ADHD with no need to seek work As the Canary reported at the time, this was days before the DWP released the Timms Review into PIP. This was a…

Continue ReadingStudy finds DWP benefits already harder to get for people with ADHD

DWP controls media narrative ahead of DWP Timms PIP report, again

DWP controls media narrative ahead of DWP Timms PIP report, again

The press has been ramping up its hatred of neurodivergent conditions again. Coincidentally, this was just days before the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released the interim report for the Timms Review into Personal Independence Payment (PIP). DWP controlling narratives again The interim report was released this morning, and the Canary will bring you more analysis on that once we’ve digested all 74 pages of it.  If the Milburn Review report and the Neurodivergent conditions reports are anything to go by, it won’t yield the results the DWP wanted. Ahead of the Milburn Review, the media ran rolling, breaking news…

Continue ReadingDWP controls media narrative ahead of DWP Timms PIP report, again

Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank reminds Burnham he works for them

Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank reminds Burnham he works for them

A shady right-wing think tank is reminding Andy Burnham who he really answers to. The Centre for Social Justice is calling on ‘Labour’s incumbent Prime Minister’ to ‘grasp the nettle of welfare reform’. Whatever that means. The CSJ is making a big hoo-ha of the fact that there have been half a million more ‘out of-work’ benefit claimants for each Prime Minister that’s lost their job since 2019. Or to put it in terms that aren’t highly sensationalist, an increase of 2.7 million. Think tank’s figures as murky as them And it didn’t take long for them to start shitting on…

Continue ReadingIain Duncan Smith’s think tank reminds Burnham he works for them

Senior DWP figure made ableist joke outside Access to Work inquiry

Senior DWP figure made ableist joke outside Access to Work inquiry

A senior civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made an ableist joke whilst waiting to give evidence on the department’s failings. Disability News Service reports that Neil Couling, director general of DWP services and fraud, made the joke surrounded by other senior figures in a corridor in Portcullis House. They were all waiting to give evidence to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the National Audit Office’s (NAO) joint inquiry into Access to Work. Couling shows exactly who the DWP are The DWP came under fire because it’s quietly cutting Access to Work whilst forcing more disabled…

Continue ReadingSenior DWP figure made ableist joke outside Access to Work inquiry

Burnham hands cruel ex-DWP Minister the keys to No. 10

Burnham hands cruel ex-DWP Minister the keys to No. 10

Andy Burnham is already making moves on Downing Street, starting with appointing a chief of staff. The newly elected Makerfield MP has essentially handed the keys of no 10 to James Purnell. Friend of Israel and right-wing lobbyist As the Canary has already reported, Purnell was the chairperson of the lobby group, Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). He was also, until recently, the chief executive of lobby group Flint Global, which counts BP, Amazon, Jaguar Land Rover and Uber among its clients. Flint has also previously advised Thames Water.  As Ranjan Balakumaran said: This appointment exposes the absolute hypocrisy behind Burnham’s…

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Starmer was even more dangerous for disabled people than the Tories

Starmer was even more dangerous for disabled people than the Tories

Well, that’s it, Starmer has finally shuffled off. From behind his sad beige podium, the sad beige prime minister announced he would be resigning. Speaking outside Downing Street, Starmer boasted about ending austerity and working to improve Britain for all. However, for disabled people, Starmer’s short reign was even more dangerous than the Tories. When Labour got in, it was a small glimmer of hope; surely they couldn’t be as cruel as the Tories? But Starmer heard that and went ‘hold my beer’. Starmer’s Labour far crueller than the Tories From the outset, Starmer’s government has been focused on change for…

Continue ReadingStarmer was even more dangerous for disabled people than the Tories

Canary Catch Up: The Take That Circus comes to town

Canary Catch Up: The Take That Circus comes to town

Hello and welcome to Canary Catch Up. Each week, our resident telly addict Rachel Charlton-Dailey will bring us bang up to date with the shows she’s been obsessed with, what she’s hate-watching, and what she can’t wait to get stuck into. It’s officially summer! As someone with multiple health conditions triggered by the weather, the move to summer is another that knackers me out. But it was lovely to get down to my local beach to watch the sun rise on the summer solstice. There’s something glorious about thousands of people gathered together to appreciate how majestic nature is. Take That bring…

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Pat McFadden admits Timms Review could cause DWP PIP cuts

Pat McFadden admits Timms Review could cause DWP PIP cuts

Pat McFadden has finally admitted that the Timms review into Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could trigger benefit cuts. The head of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Pat McFadden, told the Work and Pensions Committee that there was “nothing to stop” the review from recommending reforms that would cut welfare spending on PIP. McFadden desperate for DWP PIP cuts Responding to the fact that many interpreted the terms of reference as discouraging reviewers from recommending any reductions in PIP spending. But of course, Labour wouldn’t want to come across as caring about vulnerable people. McFadden said: What we were saying in…

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Campaigners warn Starmer’s social media ban will harm disabled kids

Campaigners warn Starmer’s social media ban will harm disabled kids

Charities and campaigners have warned that Keir Starmer’s plan to ban under-16s from social media will isolate disabled and LGBTQ+ children. This week, Labour prime minister announced new legislation to stop children from accessing apps like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube. The ban will take effect in Spring 2027 and restrict livestreams and ‘stranger communication’ for children, including on gaming sites. The ban won’t help any kids There are already concerns that, without regulating the tech companies, this will do very little to protect children from the dangers of the internet and punish them instead. The Canary’s Maddison Wheeldon argues that:…

Continue ReadingCampaigners warn Starmer’s social media ban will harm disabled kids

Sinister Labour MP wants to ‘finish the job’ on assisted dying

Sinister Labour MP wants to ‘finish the job’ on assisted dying

The Labour MP who has launched another attempt to rush assisted dying through parliament has urged the Lords to ‘finish the job’. Labour MP for Rochester and Strood Laura Edwards is attempting to push assisted dying through parliament again using dirty tricks. BREAKING: The Assisted Dying Bill will be reintroduced to Parliament next week by Labour MP Lauren Edwards pic.twitter.com/uzvJm5mIoR — Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 14, 2026 Dirty tricks again on assisted dying Under the Parliament Act, if the same bill is passed by MPs in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, peers have no power to stop it. While Lords can suggest amendments,…

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Canary Catch Up: A week of TV announcements – including on the BBC’s Doctor Who

Canary Catch Up: A week of TV announcements – including on the BBC’s Doctor Who

Hello and welcome to Canary Catch Up. Each week, our resident telly addict Rachel Charlton-Dailey will bring us bang up to date with the shows she’s been obsessed with, what she’s hate-watching, and what she can’t wait to get stuck into. Something I was painfully aware of when I started this column was that some weeks there wouldn’t be a lot of TV to talk about. Living with chronic illness means I sometimes can’t look at screens, and some weeks the telly is just crap. Last week, unless you’re interested in football (which I’m not), there wasn’t really a lot to watch.…

Continue ReadingCanary Catch Up: A week of TV announcements – including on the BBC’s Doctor Who

DWP shutdown Whateley’s ‘polygamous marriages are stealing benefits’ dogwhistle

DWP shutdown Whateley’s ‘polygamous marriages are stealing benefits’ dogwhistle

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has debunked the right-wing dog whistle suggesting Muslims are claiming benefits for households where a man has multiple wives. Racist British media are beating the same drum to whip-up hatred against Muslims again… GB News, of course, led the charge, running with the headline “DWP increases benefits paid to husbands with two or more wives.” The rag continued: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has increased the weekly allowance paid to additional spouses in recognised overseas polygamous marriages as part of this year’s benefits uprating. From April 2026, each additional spouse in an…

Continue ReadingDWP shutdown Whateley’s ‘polygamous marriages are stealing benefits’ dogwhistle

DWP’s new AI jobcentre built a CV for a parrot, what will it force disabled people into?

DWP’s new AI jobcentre built a CV for a parrot, what will it force disabled people into?

Keir Starmer has launched the latest crap policy that he thinks will save his failing premiership: an AI jobcentre advisor – because that’s exactly what the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) need. DWP and AI needs to walk the plank The Prime Minister announced at London Tech Week that the DWP had developed the new ‘AI work assistant’. Starmer called the tool a ‘jobcentre in your pocket’ and said it would help unemployed people find work and help build them CVs. Science editor at The Times, Tom Whipple decided to give it a go, with a twist. He wrote on…

Continue ReadingDWP’s new AI jobcentre built a CV for a parrot, what will it force disabled people into?

Canary Catch Up: Pride month gets off to a horrifying start with Tip Toe and Rivals

Canary Catch Up: Pride month gets off to a horrifying start with Tip Toe and Rivals

Hello and welcome to Canary Catch Up. Each week, our resident telly addict Rachel Charlton-Dailey will bring us bang up to date with the shows she’s been obsessed with, what she’s hate-watching, and what she can’t wait to get stuck into. Trigger warning: This article contains discussion of homophobic hate crimes and the murder of a gay man. Please take care when reading. Pride 2026 I’ve been thinking a lot about pride and my local community this week. We, like many parts of the country, got a Reform council in May. For anyone who is disabled and isn’t straight, white and…

Continue ReadingCanary Catch Up: Pride month gets off to a horrifying start with Tip Toe and Rivals

Canary Catch Up: Sauciness of Rivals and substanceless The Testaments

Canary Catch Up: Sauciness of Rivals and substanceless The Testaments

Hello and welcome to Canary Catch Up. Each week, our resident telly addict Rachel Charlton-Dailey will bring us bang up to date with the shows she’s been obsessed with, what she’s hate-watching, and what she can’t wait to get stuck into. My God, it’s been hot this week, hasn’t it? I’m not made for this weather, but on one of the rare occasions I left my cool house, I saw the fantastic Mike Garry perform his poetry at King Ink in Sunderland. Garry’s poetry is a sharp look at working-class family life. His poem ‘what me mam taught me’ brought tears to…

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