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Pam Thomas

@pamthomas01.bsky.social
142 followers 126 following 4 posts

PhD Accessible Environments. MA Disability Studies (sociology) For social justice & inclusive built environment, rights not charity, Europe. Against systemic, societal disabling barriers. Former Liverpool City Labour & co-op councillor & cabinet member.

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Pam Thomas @pamthomas01.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
If non-disabled children are separated from disabled children, as adults they'll perpetuate segregation in societal systems & culture, including employment. "But it might be time we also spoke about the enrichment for non-disabled children that comes from going to school with disabled pupils."
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Over 80% of 16 to 24-year-olds would vote to rejoin the EU, ITV poll finds www.itv.com/news/2026-02...
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Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 08/07/2025
👨‍👦 60% say work experience depends on 'who you know', not 'what you know'. Young people need need better careers advice and structured, fair access to opportunities for all. Read more www.ippr.org/articles/tow...
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National Audit Office @nao.org.uk · 31/03/2025
A shortage of work coaches at jobcentres has led The Department for Work & Pension to reduce the level of support it provides to Universal Credit claimants. Read our report on how DWP supports people to work through jobcentres: www.nao.org.uk/reports/supp... youtu.be/dW8nTrFgu_I
youtu.be
Supporting people to work through jobcentres
YouTube video by National Audit Office
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
The body of a disabled man was found in his flat in distressing, squalid conditions, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions wrongly removed his disability benefits because he had failed to return a claim form.
disabilitynewsservice.com
Disabled man dies in poverty and squalor after DWP removes his benefits, just as Labour cuts PIP by £4.5bn
The body of a disabled man was found in his flat in distressing, squalid conditions, just weeks after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrongly removed his disability benefits because he h…
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Disabled people have spoken of their anger, frustration and fear – and sense of betrayal by the Labour government – over plans to cut billions of pounds from disability benefits, as they protested outside Downing Street yesterday.
disabilitynewsservice.com
DPAC says ‘this is just the start’, after protest over ‘vile and cruel’ benefit cuts outside Downing Street
Disabled people have spoken of their anger, frustration and fear – and sense of betrayal by the Labour government – over plans to cut billions of pounds from disability benefits, as they protested …
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
The government’s decision to tighten eligibility for personal independence payment will drag a quarter of a million working-age people into absolute poverty by 2030, official documents have revealed.
disabilitynewsservice.com
Labour’s cuts to PIP will drag a quarter of a million people into absolute poverty, DWP figures show
The government’s decision to tighten eligibility for personal independence payment (PIP) will drag a quarter of a million working-age people into absolute poverty* by 2030, official documents have …
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Labour Unions @labourunionsuk.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
💪 The #EmploymentRights Bill passed the Commons last night – delivering a major victory for working people. ❌ The Tories & Reform tried to block it at every turn.
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
DWP refuses to apologise after using ‘deeply irresponsible’ figure to exaggerate benefit claimant rise #HandsOffDisabilityBenefits
disabilitynewsservice.com
DWP refuses to apologise after using ‘deeply irresponsible’ figure to exaggerate benefit claimant rise
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to apologise for massively exaggerating the rise in people claiming out-of-work disability benefits, and then tried to cover-up its actions, j…
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Getting very angry with @nihr.bsky.social journals people who now run all submissions through a crazy piece of 'plagiarism' software and ask you to insert a lengthy copyright disclaimer whenever they spot a sentence that is the same as, or similar to, a sentence you have published previously.
I have inserted the text but this is ABSURD NONSENSE and I'd like to ask you to ask an editor to agree that we really do NOT need to clog up a properly written paper with this rubbish. What you're asking me to do is give myself permission to quote my own sentence (which I wrote, on my own website, set up for this project) stating a LIST OF PEOPLE WHO ATTENDED A DISSEMINATION EVENT. The NIHR's reputation will be damaged by the insertion of these stupid disclaimers every few pages. PLEASE could someone exercise some COMMON SENSE here?
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DaDa @dadafest.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Hi 👋 Like many we are trying to find a suitable alternative to migrate from Twitter/X so find ourselves here. We are keen to connect with: 🎭 d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists 📢 disability rights activists 👌advocates of access and inclusion 🪇arts venues Anyone else in arts & access 👇
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
If you don’t want history to be re-written please share this video widely - because the only way to stop that happening is to constantly call this boll**** out with the actual facts
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Noreen Masud @noreenmasud.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
'On the nights she struggled to breathe, she was forced to stay awake and hold the mask to her face in the dark. The NHS’s solution?...one assessor suggested her 14-yr-old daughter fill in as a child carer...being on call for the ventilator throughout the night.' www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
A reader with a terminal illness emailed in despair. What she told me should shock us all | Frances Ryan
Rosy is unable to move, breathe or eat unassisted. Yet NHS assessors think it’s fine to leave her alone for hours at a time, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Department for Work and Pensions civil servants who commissioned a key piece of research on claimants of out-of-work disability benefits blocked researchers from discussing “shocking” data showing how many of them had attempted suicide.
buff.ly
DWP blocked researchers from discussing ‘shocking’ data on ESA suicide attempts in ‘unique’ report
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants who commissioned a key piece of research on claimants of out-of-work disability benefits blocked researchers from discussing “shocking” data sh…
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Merseyside Labour @merseysidelabour.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Never again. We will remember them.
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Pam Thomas @pamthomas01.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Around 250,000 disabled children & adults were murdered in Nazi Germany, they were considered a threat to the human gene pool, a drain on society & their lives unworthy of life. It began with 'mercy killing' of children that required approval from medical experts. hmd.org.uk/learn-about-...
hmd.org.uk
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust | Disabled people
The Nazis targeted for persecution anyone that they believed to have mental or physical disabilities. From 1939-1941 the Nazis carried out a programme of ‘euthanasia’, known as the T4 programme (Tierg...
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Disabled campaigners have raised serious concerns about the fairness of the committee of MPs that is carrying out detailed examination of a bill to legalise assisted suicide, after it prevented any disabled people’s organisations from giving evidence in person.
buff.ly
Committee examining assisted suicide bill ‘is skewed’, ‘a stitch-up’… and may have breached UN convention
Disabled campaigners have raised serious concerns about the fairness of the committee of MPs that is carrying out detailed examination of a bill to legalise assisted suicide, after it prevented any…
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Dan white @danwhite1972.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Hello! I am working with Amnesty & I am looking for a Disabled person who has experienced difficulties in the benefits system & then experienced impacts to their wider rights (housing, health etc) because of the violation of their right to social security. Please DM or comment. You can be anonymous.
Image shows a hand with a red pen attempting to fill in a HM revenue and customs form.
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Harry Doyle @liverpoolharry.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Really helpful information for residents over the Christmas period. If you need urgent support and access to good food, our funded collaborative Feeding Liverpool has set up this dedicated page. www.feedingliverpool.org/liverpool-ch...
feedingliverpool.org
Liverpool Christmas Support Page 2024 - Feeding Liverpool
We have compiled a list of Liverpool-based Christmas Food Support services and resources for the Christmas and New Year period. Community Christmas Meals The below organisations are providing a Christ...
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Paul Lewis @paullewismoney.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Water bills to rise 20% (£86) plus inflation in April and then above inflation for the next four years. @Ofwat gives private water companies in England the go-ahead to make customers pay for the investment they have failed to do for 30 years while enriching shareholders and bosses
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
I'm going to guess you won't hear this on the Laura Kuenssberg show – only the numbers arriving.
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Paul Lewis @paullewismoney.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
The scandal of vapes gets worse bit.ly/3ZEGhcV at some point in 2026 the Circular Economy Minister (yes there really is one) will get some powers to make foreign importers pay something towards recycling them. That’s 800million unrecycled vapes from now.
bit.ly
Vapocalypse now: 8m vapes go unrecycled each week
Young people are more likely to bin, litter or flush away used cartridges
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
I’m old enough to remember Boris Johnson telling businesses Brexit paperwork could go in a bin. Now they need a warehouse to store it in
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
“Taking Britain out of the Erasmus+ programme was a huge mistake. Labour must rejoin and accept the EU’s offer of a youth mobility scheme” 👏👏👏
sussexbylines.co.uk
Bring back Erasmus+ and youth mobility in Europe
Taking Britain out of the Erasmus+ programme was a huge mistake. Labour must rejoin and accept the EU’s offer of a youth mobility scheme
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Zara Todd @toddles23.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Not impressed with transpenine today because there isn't a suitable ramp at #haymarket to train manager has to get me on before boarding me he let on two passengers with large amounts of luggage who of course have put it in the wheelchair space
Wheelchair space with luggage in it
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European Disability Forum @myedf.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
On International #DisabilityRights Day, we have a simple request for the @EU_Commission and Commissioner @hadjalahbib: - Commit to advancing disability rights. - Commit to update the EU #DisabilityRightsStrategy. #DisabilityDay #IDPD Our open letter: buff.ly/4idVfiI
Hand witha  microphone pointing to sign saying "Keep up the momentum on disability rights!"A lightbulb saying strategy and the text "Update the European Disability Rights Strategy - The European Commission must adopt new flagship initiatives and actions for 2025-2030."Banner saying "Keep up the momentum on disability rights: 108 signatories, 44 European and International Organisations and 63 National organisations
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Campaign for Disability Justice @campaignfdj.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Reaching our full potential in life is important to us all. But Disabled people are often overlooked as leaders due to assumptions about what we can and can’t do. @campaignfdj.bsky.social is led by Disabled people, one of many organisations reminding the world of what’s possible on #IDDP #IDPD
 poster reads - International Day of Disabled People. 2024 theme: Disabled leadership
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Disability Rights UK @disrightsuk.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
This International Day of Disabled People, DR UK's Mikey Erhardt wrote for @bigissue.com about life for Disabled people in the UK over the last year, as well as the successes of Disabled activism and our demands for the upcoming year. www.bigissue.com/opinion/disa...
bigissue.com
The UK must change for disabled people in 2025 – so we can live lives we deserve
This year saw further decline of living standards for disabled people and a repeated government focus on cutting social security spending.
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Pam Thomas @pamthomas01.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
It's United Nations disabled people's day the logo has 4 colours (not purple, as used by commercial interests). The UN promotes the slogan "Nothing About Us Without Us". In the UK disabled people's concerns are often ignored & overlooked in favour of non-disabled privilege www.un.org/en/observanc...
un.org
International Day of Persons with Disabilities | United Nations
The International Day of Disabled Persons aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development.
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Margaret McCartney @mgtmccartney.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
if it's easier to get assisted dying than a place in a hospice we have royally screwed up
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
The inpatient ward at the Marie Curie hospice in south Liverpool has been closed since July and staff fear it will never reopen. Workers told us people are suffering painful deaths while there is no hospice serving the entire south of the city. www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
liverpoolecho.co.uk
Staff 'just want to cry' after closure of hospice ward
A hospice spokesperson today told the ECHO they were "committed to providing the care people need, when they need it"
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WASPI Campaign @waspicampaign.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
We are so close now, thank you to all who have signed and shared. Just one final push to help us to get justice for 3.6 million #WASPI #1950swomen who have been so badly wronged. Please sign and repost our petition now. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
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The BMA @bma.org.uk · 29/11/2024
The BMA is neutral on the issue of #AssistedDying – meaning we do not support or oppose a change in the law. But we have continued to discuss a number of key issues to be addressed if the law is to change. Read our full response to today's news.
bma.org.uk
BMA responds to assisted dying bill passing second reading - BMA media centre - BMA
Press release from the BMA
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Proponents have been particularly dismissive of those with doubts. It’s striking that key figures pledged there would be no “slippery slope” but as the days have gone on, have admitted they would quite like the other end of the slope, actually. Doubts aren’t so silly after all.
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LabourList @labourlist.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
"Oregon is no assisted suicide Utopia. If it is the best model supporters can point to, MPs ought decisively to reject a risky change in the law." Mary Glindon writes: labourlist.org/2024/11/assi...
labourlist.org
Assisted dying bill: ‘Oregon is no assisted dying utopia’ – LabourList
Supporters of my colleague Kim Leadbeater’s Bill to legalise assisted dying/suicide are well-intentioned but have been unable to assure people that well-documented abuses, horror stories,…
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Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People @gmcdp.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Pls Read @angelaraynermp.bsky.social @kirithentwistle.bsky.social @yasminqureshimp.bsky.social @philbrickellmp.bsky.social @christian4burys.bsky.social @gwynnemp.bsky.social @elsieblundellmp.bsky.social @joplatt.bsky.social @joshsimonsmp.bsky.social @lucympowell.bsky.social @rebeccalongbailey.com
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
I genuinely cannot imagine going into a meeting with a doctor - or social worker, benefit assessor or lawyer - and knowing they will see my life as valuable. And by nature of us all having different life experiences, many other people cannot imagine what it’s like to be anything but valued and safe.
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
I found this such a telling line from Kim Leadbeater in her @politicshome.bsky.social interview on assisted dying. I imagine there’s some minorities who won’t be reassured by the idea they must just “put faith” in the health and legal system.
While the bill does make coercion by another person an offence, it does not address the less direct version – ending your life because you feel like a burden, either to the NHS or to your family. Disabled broadcaster Liz Carr has called it “state-level coercion”. 
Is the omission because Leadbeater felt it was impossible to reliably identify that feeling and thus exclude those people?

“It’s very difficult to legislate for emotions, isn’t it? That’s the point,” she replies. “That’s where the robust training programme and the code of practice would come into play… I know some people struggle with this, but we do have to put our faith in medical professionals and lawyers and judges who are making difficult decisions all the time.”
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WASPI Campaign @waspicampaign.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Thanks to everyone who has signed our petition for #WASPI compensation. Help us get enough signatures for a debate in Parliament by getting just one friend to sign too. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
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Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Not sure when it became a thing for people to just casually park fully on the pavement, but it is a big problem that needs addressing www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
liverpoolecho.co.uk
12 months in pavement parking hotspot as government told to act
The Labour Government is being told that much stronger action is needed against this growing problem
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
The most senior civil servant in the Department for Education has told MPs that educating disabled pupils in mainstream schools is usually much cheaper and produces “similar or better outcomes” than using special schools.
buff.ly
Mainstream is usually much cheaper, with ‘similar or better outcomes’ for disabled pupils, MPs are told
The most senior civil servant in the Department for Education (DfE) has told MPs that educating disabled pupils in mainstream schools is usually much cheaper and produces “similar or better outcome…
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Disability News Service @johnpring.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is at the centre of controversy over her public expression of support for legalising assisted suicide, following a comment she made to the BBC that has horrified campaigners.
buff.ly
Concern over Kendall’s ‘truly chilling’ assisted suicide comment
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is at the centre of controversy over her public expression of support for legalising assisted suicide, following a comment she made to the BBC that has horri…
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Dancing Monk🌻 @dancingmonk.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Government must take firmer grip of ‘inconsistent’ wheelchair services, says report @johnpring.bsky.social www.disabilitynewsservice.com/government-m...
disabilitynewsservice.com
Government must take firmer grip of ‘inconsistent’ wheelchair services, says report
A new report backed by wheelchair-users has called on the government to take a firmer grip of the inconsistent provision of equipment through NHS wheelchair services in England.  The report, commis…
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WASPI Campaign @waspicampaign.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Help us get justice for 3.6 million #WASPI women not properly told about increases to their State Pension age. Retirement plans shattered. #DWP at fault. Sign our petition to get the Government to act. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
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WASPI Campaign @waspicampaign.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
The Govt will now respond to our petition. But we don’t just want a response, we want a debate. We know 100s of MPs support #WASPI compensation and will make their voices heard. Sign and share our petition to make that debate happen. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Introduce a compensation scheme for WASPI women
We call on the Government to fairly compensate WASPI women affected by the increases to their State Pension age and the associated failings in DWP communications.
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Pam Thomas @pamthomas01.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Choice & control is a privilege disabled people don't have in things non-disabled people take for granted, whether business or pleasure, such as accessible homes, transport, venues, shops, mainstream holiday accommodation, pavements (due to pavement parking & cycling, café furniture, high kerbs)
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Disability Rights UK @disrightsuk.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Today marks the beginning of UK Disability History Month💥 For us, this is an opportunity to look back on our long struggle for autonomy, against paternalism and pity. How could we not start with the Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN)?
Image of DAN protestors blocking a bus in the road
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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 18/11/2024
"Vaccination has probably saved more lives & is better researched than most, if not all, aspects of healthcare. RFK Jr could set this back & be responsible for the death & disability of myriads of people, particularly children.” Outstanding BBC fact check on RFK 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
RFK Jr: Fact-checking his views on health policy
Robert F Kennedy Jr has been nominated to be the next US health secretary, but some of his views are not backed by science.
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