Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In austerity Britain, disabled people have been recast as benefit cheats through dangerous and untrue media reporting. From social care to the benefits system, politicians and the media alike have made the case that Britain’s 12 million disabled people are nothing but a drain on the public purse.
In this video, Dr Frances Ryan speaks to Sandra – a woman with a spinal condition, living in chronic pain. Stuck in a cycle of being assessed, wrongfully rejected, and fighting tribunals, with devastating consequences.
The social security system should be there to protect disabled people in times of need. Now, too often, it is the thing that pushes people over the edge.
Crippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People by Frances Ryan is out now versobooks.com/books/2972-crippled
Dr. Frances Ryan is a journalist, broadcaster and campaigner. Named one of the UK’s most influential disabled people by the Shaw Trust in 2018, her work has taken her to lecture halls, the Women of the World Festival, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and The World Tonight, BBC Sunday Politics and more. Her weekly Guardian column, “Hardworking Britain,” has been at the forefront of coverage of austerity. She has a doctorate in politics from The University of Nottingham. Ryan was highly commended Specialist Journalist of the Year at the 2019 National Press Awards for her work on disability. Crippled is her first book.
In austerity Britain, disabled people have been recast as benefit cheats through dangerous and untrue media reporting. From social care to the benefits system, politicians and the media alike have made the case that Britain’s 12 million disabled people are nothing but a drain on the public purse.
In this video, Dr Frances Ryan speaks to Sandra – a woman with a spinal condition, living in chronic pain. Stuck in a cycle of being assessed, wrongfully rejected, and fighting tribunals, with devastating consequences.
The social security system should be there to protect disabled people in times of need. Now, too often, it is the thing that pushes people over the edge.
Crippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People by Frances Ryan is out now versobooks.com/books/2972-crippled
Dr. Frances Ryan is a journalist, broadcaster and campaigner. Named one of the UK’s most influential disabled people by the Shaw Trust in 2018, her work has taken her to lecture halls, the Women of the World Festival, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and The World Tonight, BBC Sunday Politics and more. Her weekly Guardian column, “Hardworking Britain,” has been at the forefront of coverage of austerity. She has a doctorate in politics from The University of Nottingham. Ryan was highly commended Specialist Journalist of the Year at the 2019 National Press Awards for her work on disability. Crippled is her first book.
