One of my favourite chapters in Who Wants Normal? is on body image. I wrote this essay for British Vogue on the way disability and health can impact how we feel about our bodies and place in the world (often more than we expect). www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogu...

It was a real pleasure to write this essay on Who Wants Normal? for British Vogue. “Existing as a disabled woman in the world can feel like straddling a constantly moving line: we must prove we are “normal” while somehow not feeling shame we are different.” www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogu...

Some good news: disabled people will get the “right to try” a job without fear of losing their out of work sickness benefits. Lots more needs to be done, of course, including reassurance over benefit rates, but this is a nod in the right direction. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

My back garden may still be a building site but glass walls on a sunny day makes it worth it.

“Don’t waste your time thinking you’re wrong for being the way you are. You’re working the way you’re able and it’s more than enough.” I love this extract from WHO WANTS NORMAL?: wise words by disabled women, from Sophie Morgan, Emma Barnett, to Jane Campbell. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Next up in my Who Wants Normal? paperback countdown is the second Guardian extract (and one of my favourite parts of the book). Here’s wise words by 26 brilliant disabled women: from Ruth Madeley, Katie Piper, Jameela Jamil, Nikki Fox, to Rosie Jones. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

“We’d welcome a crackdown on illegitimate use of badges to safeguard the deserving users.” Staggering the AA put this out there on Blue Badge use. Talk about fraud if that’s an evidenced issue, sure, but “deserving” rhetoric in current climate is just dangerous. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/a...

“Disabled women are increasingly seen as stats and stereotypes – reduced entirely to our disabilities, or robbed of the dignity of being believed we have one.” Me on why it’s time to hear from disabled women in our own words. (Luckily, I wrote a book on it.) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Forget a Nan in a bingo hall, the face of disability in the UK is now also gen Z in Greggs.” Next up in my Who Wants Normal? paperback countdown is my piece on Britain’s growing number of disabled - often young - women. And what that means for all of us. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Ministers justify cutting help for people too disabled to work by arguing it will remove the “perverse incentives” for benefits, as if a 25 year old bedbound with ME just needs incentivising to get back to the office.” My col. on next week’s Universal Credit cut www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I know people don't like to think of bad things happening, but anyone could become chronically ill or disabled at any time, through no fault of their own, no matter how healthy they are It shouldn't only be disabled people having to fight the government all the time, it's up to all of us

“That the universal credit cut will affect new claimants says the quiet part out loud: anyone can become disabled or ill. And every time governments slash the safety net, we can’t know if it’ll be us, a loved one or stranger who will fall through it.” Today’s col www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Everyone wants to share the TikTok of the girl rising from her wheelchair to dance at the school prom, not when she feels the music pinprick her skin as she sits. I think it’s time that changed.” As Who Wants Normal? paperback is out in April, here’s an extract: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Ahead of the Who Wants Normal? paperback release on 16th April, I’m going to be posting some of my favourite pieces on the book from the last year. First off: the extract in The Guardian. If you’ve ever had a health or “oh shit” experience, I hope it resonates. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

I’m so excited to say that the WHO WANTS NORMAL? paperback is now available to pre-order. This edition has a brand new forward and all the interviews with 50+ of Britain’s best known disabled women, from Ruth Madeley to Rosie Jones. Pre-order from a range of stores here: linktr.ee/WhoWantsNorm...

“Seriously ill and disabled people facing years of significant difficulty are at risk of being left on a lower rate simply because recovery, however partial or distant, cannot be ruled out.”

This is a very hard read (the photos alone are heartbreaking) but such important journalism: four parents of the Iran school bombing victims speak about the worst day of their lives. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘A cruel penalty’: hundreds of thousands of disabled people will have their benefit cut if their conditions are deemed not to be lifelong. My report in today’s paper: www.theguardian.com/politics/202... 1/5

“…a wide range of debilitating conditions may not meet the strict eligibility criteria, despite them often leaving someone unable to work. This includes multiple sclerosis, learning disabilities, bipolar, Parkinson’s, ME and long Covid.” 📣📣📣

If they think a condition has a chance of recovery, how do they expect those people to be able to recover if they can’t afford to eat or heat their home?

Hundreds of thousands of disabled people will have their benefit almost halved if the government assesses their condition might one day improve. Charities warn the move could cause large-scale hardship, including “destitution.” My report in tomorrow’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

After a long 3 months, we’ve finally got a new sofa and Mabel is visibly relieved.

5 star reviews aside, I don’t know if I can watch The Pitt as a lifelong E.R. fan. Noah Wyle is playing a doctor but he’s not John Carter? He’s a character who works in a hospital but Benton isn’t going to come round the corner to bestow cutting but ultimately loving advice?? Make it make sense.

Evening.

Good old Guardian readers have written in with their thoughts on the incredibly complex and important topic I raised this week: why DVDs were better than streaming films. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Friends! I work w/ the charity Arts Emergency which pairs artists from underprivileged backgrounds w/ working artist mentors. IT ROCKS. This week, donations are being doubled. Spare £5/10 & make art better? ❤️🎨 @artsemergency.bsky.social donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

“My personal loathing is how Amazon blocks off popular films from its own subscribers unless they stump up a £3.49 rental charge on top of the £8.99 we’re paying monthly. At the time of writing, this includes brand new blockbusters Babe and Sleepless in Seattle.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Lovely to be shortlisted for an Amnesty International media award, and alongside such important journalism. It means a lot that my nominated piece was an investigation into the impact of the welfare reform bill on disabled women’s dignity and health. Disability rights are human rights.

For our ‘the Hill I Will Die’ on series, I’ve gone to the heart of society’s problems: DVDs were better than streaming. I just want to have a physical copy of my favourite film and not help fund Jeff Bezos’s next yacht!!! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If you’re looking for Sunday night non-doom scrolling, The Guardian is reporting on the Oscars - and the red carpet - live. Right now, the fashion desk is taking you through the early arrivals. I don’t want to get too excited but I will say: leather dungarees. www.theguardian.com/film/live/20...

Outright criminal to promise the world a Buffy reboot only to cancel it. I’d be fascinated to see the pilot and why exactly it didn’t work. Chloé Zhao directed! SMG was on board! Release the tapes Hulu! www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

The definition of a national crisis: almost one in five girls aged 16-19 in England and Wales have experienced domestic abuse, estimates show. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

This is a horrific case of a young woman being held enslaved for 25 years. I hope the media emphasises she had a learning disability and her abuser had £100,000 of her benefits paid into her account. This is grotesque abuse - but also a scandalous state failure. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Look what arrived!

I’ve been telling Mabel all morning she could win Crufts. The best thing is at least part of me believes it. I mean, come on.

I’m on Guardian Opinion newsletter duty this morning. I talk about Gen Z men being statistically more sexist than their dads, Iran’s media blackout, and why there’s no need to film podcasts (unless Jonathan Groff is your guest).

Ian Huntley has died after being attacked in prison. There’s questions to ask but right now, let the media focus on his victims: 10 year old best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and their parents and siblings who must still endure a lifetime of grief. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Brilliant. An expat im Dubai has a startling revelation, by @stephencollins.bsky.social

you are not prepared for the soundtrack

The Guardian’s positive action work experience is open for applications! There are (paid) schemes for disabled, BAME, and working class wannabe journalists. Because the media needs more people like us. Info here: workwithus.theguardian.com/entry-level-...

The Guardian’s positive action work experience is open for applications! There are (paid) schemes for disabled, BAME, and working class wannabe journalists. Because the media needs more people like us. Info here: workwithus.theguardian.com/entry-level-...

So much care for disabled people is rigged with indignity and lack of control but this is one of the worst I’ve ever seen: a young disabled woman moved to a nursing home against her will - literally. Lucinda Ritchie’s power wheelchair was "switched off and pushed". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Matt Goodwin has been sent back to Substack. The Conservatives have lost their deposit. Keir Starmer has been told left wing voters are not a guarantee for Labour. Overall, British politics could do worse than follow Gorton and Denton.

“Critics of Send spending may not find it quite so natural to deprive disabled children of an equal education if their minds had been “stretched” by sitting next to a disabled friend at school.” My col. on Labour’s Send plan and the long fight for “inclusion”. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Really good article. I was born in late 1964. The most important thing my parents didwas to say no when the local authority wanted to pack me off to a boarding special school. Mainstream school wasn't easy, not easy for a lot of children, but I got the skills to navigate the able & disabled world.

“It’s not a show about disability per se – instead, think messy friendships and sex with Smurfs – but it has no issue with skewering an ableist trope if it needs to (and we live in an era where it really needs to). I review the new series of We Might Regret This. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

This comment on my column really sums up the enormous change we’ve seen over the last few decades in disabled pupils becoming part of society. Look at the class photos of your parents or grandparents and see whether there’s a visibly disabled child there.

“If you want a sign of where a nation is heading, there are few clearer litmus tests than how those with power see disabled children. Are they a problem to be erased? Or valuable kids to be included?” My col. on Labour’s Send reforms, progress, and Reform. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“It’s not a show about disability per se – instead, think messy friendships and sex with Smurfs – but it has no issue with skewering an ableist trope if it needs to (and we live in an era where it really needs to).” I review the new series of We Might Regret This www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

We hear little about it in the news but disabled people are being horrifically targeted in the Sudan war. Human Rights Watch report RSF have killed civilians including a blind child, a man with Down syndrome called “insane”, and a 14 year old wheelchair user. A horror. www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...