Published by The Daily Mail (February 8th, 2025) My daughter Iona was born 32 years ago. She arrived at home, in such a rush to enter the world […]
Policy / Social care
Social care has been unloved and poorly funded for too long
Published by The Times (4th July, 2023) My daughter is lovely. She has learning disabilities and a life-threatening health condition, however, so my family is reliant on a […]
Disability
Notes to a stranger: Thank you for smiling at my daughter
Published by The i paper (30h December, 2020) This is a note to the woman I passed a few weeks ago on the street. But it could also […]
Disability / Health / Policy / Politics
How my daughter disrupted my politics
Published by UnHerd (15th October, 2019) I was one of those strange kids who was always interested in politics, almost as a spectator sport, learning the names of […]
Disability / Health / Immigration / Policy / Social care
Why does Britain care so little for its sick, disabled and elderly citizens?
Published by The Daily Mail (26th September, 2018) My daughter Iona had a seizure at 5am yesterday. Her eyes rolled, she screamed, her limbs flailed and her body […]
Disability / Health / Policy
So many deaths by indifference
Published by The i paper (7th May, 2018) On Friday morning, as the nation woke up to local election results, a report was slipped out by the National […]
Disability / Economics
Neglect of disabled people is shameful waste of talent and resources
Published by The Telegraph (2nd December, 2017) Theresa May wants to get a million more people with disabilities into work over the next decade, pledging to tinker with […]
Disability / Health / Policy
Who will help care for my daughter after Brexit?
Published by The Mail on Sunday (5th November, 2017) I came downstairs to find my wife looking dismayed and frazzled. One of the team caring for our disabled […]
Disability / Health / Policy
As I know myself, there can be no winners in the Charlie Gard case
Published by The Guardian (26th July, 2017) At the centre of the Charlie Gard story, which has captured global attention, is one simple thing: the tragedy of a […]
Disability / Health / Policy / Politics / Social care
Family tragedy shines penetrating light on failures of state care
Published by The Daily Mail (26th November, 2015) The case of the Clarence family is one of the most harrowing to have hit the headlines in recent years: […]
Disability / Health / Policy / Politics
I look at my daughter and welcome this decision
Published by The Daily Mail (4th February, 2015) Given the immense medical and moral significance of the issue, it was curious that MPs were given only 90 minutes […]
Disability
It’s tough when a disabled child becomes adult
Published by The Sun (17th September, 2014) The birth of a child who turns out to have profound and complex disabilities is a shock. It sent me spiralling […]