PHIL FRIEND

Disabled Entrepreneur AI is threatening the jobs that disabled people depend on most. But their lifetime of navigating a world not built for them might be exactly the skill set the rest of us now need. Nearly a million young people in the UK are currently not in work, education or training. The highest figure in a decade, and still rising. At the same time, entry-level job postings are running 45% below their five-year average. Graduate roles in banking and finance have falle

New figures this week show that one in eleven disabled people is now unemployed. That's the highest rate in six years. And disabled people are losing jobs at nearly ten times the rate of non-disabled people.  The government is concerned. Charities are alarmed. Reports are being written.  But here's the thing. We're not short of explanations. We've known for decades that disabled people face discrimination at the very first hurdle — the job application. Cardiff University rese

Alan Graham was 75, Deaf from birth, and a BSL user. After a fall, he was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and diagnosed with heart failure. He was in the hospital for 11 weeks. During that time, the Trust provided a professional BSL interpreter on just three occasions. So who filled the gap? His grandchildren. Connor, who was 16, and Mia, who was 12. Staff asked them to relay medical information to their grandfather and their mother, Jennifer, who is also D

It’s January. The long evenings are still with us, but thoughts are already drifting towards summer. Holidays. City breaks. A bit of warmth and light. For many people, this is the moment when flights get booked, and plans begin to take shape. For disabled people, especially wheelchair users, that process comes with a different set of questions. Not just  where  to go, but  whether  flying will be manageable at all. Credit where it’s due. British Airways has done something gen

We keep saying we want more disabled people in work. So why are we making the support they rely on harder to use? The government is clear about its ambition: more disabled people in employment, fewer people stuck on benefits, and a labour market that makes better use of talent that is currently overlooked. It’s an aim many of us would support without hesitation. But ambition only matters if the systems underneath it actually deliver — particularly for employers who are expect

What the Motability Scheme changed — and why the Budget risks turning the clock back My driving life began in a three-wheeled blue “Noddy car”. It had the turning circle of a shopping trolley and the crash protection of a biscuit tin. More than that, it announced “this driver is disabled” to the world at full volume. It got me around, but it never let me forget I was different. Then the Motability Scheme arrived — and everything changed. Suddenly, disabled people could drive

In this post, I reflect on a thought-provoking article by Rachel Botsman and explore what her ideas mean for disabled people navigating work, isolation, and connection in a post-pandemic world. During COVID, the world stayed home. Work went online, meetings went virtual, and life became more accessible for many disabled people. What had previously been dismissed as “unworkable” – remote jobs, flexible hours, online events – became normal almost overnight. In her RSA article