Latest news with #TanniGreyThompson
The Guardian
7 days ago
- The Guardian
UK taskforce calls for disability training for all airline and airport staff
Airline and airport staff should have mandatory training in disability and accessibility awareness, a government taskforce has urged, to ease the stress, confusion and harm experienced by the growing numbers of passengers requiring assistance to travel. A report from the group, led by the crossbench peer and former Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson, said the experience of flying for disabled people 'can be ad hoc, inconsistent and sometimes catastrophic'. It said clearer information and standard practices should be adopted across the industry for mobility equipment and guide dogs, along with improved accessibility and complaints procedures. Disabled passengers had given 'multiple examples of being treated in an undignified manner' by airport security staff and said security was a 'key area of anxiety and concern', the taskforce said. A series of stories of disabled passengers being badly let down by airlines and airports have hit the headlines in recent years. The BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner described last October how he had to 'crawl to the toilet' on a flight and said he had been left stuck on landed planes at least four times. In 2022 an elderly man requiring assistance fell down an escalator at Gatwick and later died. Lady Grey-Thompson's report warns of 'a clear gap in the training and awareness of security staff in the treatment of disabled passengers and their equipment', and it says ground staff need training to 'understand the importance of equipment and the impact of damage on passengers'. It highlights widespread confusion for passengers in booking and airline policies on seats, companions and assistance dogs, or travelling with health conditions that require medical equipment such as oxygen or medication. The group also found there was limited awareness of non-visible impairments, contributing to 'unintentional exclusion and undignified treatment'. They said more work was needed to address mobility aids, with many stowed in the hold and damaged, and passengers sometimes denied boarding due to battery safety requirements, causing 'significant stress, inconvenience and in some cases physical harm'. Grey-Thompson said there were 'tough challenges' but the scope for action was limited by the international nature of aviation, meaning following the 19 key recommendations in the report would owe more to goodwill than enforcement. The former wheelchair athlete, who has herself been left stranded on planes and trains, added: 'Some of the cases of poor experiences hit the media headlines but the reality is most do not.' According to data from the Civil Aviation Authority, 5.5 million passengers requested assistance at a UK airport in 2024, approximately 1.9% of all passengers – a proportion 40% greater than just before the pandemic, and double that in 2010. The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: 'Everyone should be able to travel with dignity and be respected at every stage of their journeys, including disabled passengers. That's why we established this group in November last year, and I welcome this report's findings which will clear the runway for greater accessibility in aviation. I know industry is working hard to make services more inclusive for all and I look forward to seeing these proposals becoming a reality.' Tim Alderslade, the chief executive of Airlines UK, said: 'As demand for assistance services continues to increase, airlines remain committed to removing barriers so that flying is accessible to all.' Karen Dee, the chief executive of AirportsUK, said: 'The recommendations in this report will help build on the work already being done by airports and the wider sector to ensure air travel is accessible to all.'
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fighters review – rage-inducing study of the barriers to participation in sport for disabled people
This hour-long documentary about disabled life and ableism co-directed by campaigner Michael Grimmett isn't merely 'inspirational'; it's also an articulate catalogue of persisting prejudices against disabled people in the UK today, thanks to contributions from influencer Isaac Harvey, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Grimmett himself. What's ironic about the many instances detailed here of how daily life still excludes them is that being part of daily life is exactly what most disabled people wish to be; not visible, not exceptional. That said, Fighters does choose a focal point: the struggle of lower-limb amputee boxer Matt Edwards to gain approval from sport's authorities to take part in amateur boxing bouts. Training and sparring have been a lifesaver for him; after losing a leg aged 19 in a road traffic collision, he fell into addiction. But with the boxing authorities refusing to let him compete, Edwards is forced to sweat it out – elegantly pivoting on his prosthetic limb – in white-collar bouts. Advertisement The question of Edwards' participation is in some ways highly specific, linked to his disability type (though there is a history of lower-limb amputee and wheelchair boxing), and available opponents. But it's also emblematic of a wider resistance in sport and other arenas of life, both conscious and unconscious, to adapting to disabled people's needs. Unbelievably, it can still come down to basic questions of access. Grimmett recounts an anecdote about a boxing gym who would only roll out their wheelchair ramp for him between 11am and midday. It's exasperating because sport should be a universal route to self-validation and social interaction, all the more so for disabled people whose mental health is ground down by the constant struggle for recognition. Gladiator Jodie Ounsley, who is deaf, attests to how sport coaxed her out of her shell, and Amelia, a 10-year-old deaf boxer from a Pembrokeshire gym, is following the same path. There is some divergence here about whether the business rationale – the so-called 'purple pound' – is the key driver for widespread change. Grimmett doesn't editorialise, but lets the arguments breathe and allows quiet indignation to sink in. It would be good to see him tackle other facets of the disabled experience. • Fighters is in UK cinemas from 27 June.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Fighters review – rage-inducing study of the barriers to participation in sport for disabled people
This hour-long documentary about disabled life and ableism co-directed by campaigner Michael Grimmett isn't merely 'inspirational'; it's also an articulate catalogue of persisting prejudices against disabled people in the UK today, thanks to contributions from influencer Isaac Harvey, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Grimmett himself. What's ironic about the many instances detailed here of how daily life still excludes them is that being part of daily life is exactly what most disabled people wish to be; not visible, not exceptional. That said, Fighters does choose a focal point: the struggle of lower-limb amputee boxer Matt Edwards to gain approval from sport's authorities to take part in amateur boxing bouts. Training and sparring have been a lifesaver for him; after losing a leg aged 19 in a road traffic collision, he fell into addiction. But with the boxing authorities refusing to let him compete, Edwards is forced to sweat it out – elegantly pivoting on his prosthetic limb – in white-collar bouts. The question of Edwards' participation is in some ways highly specific, linked to his disability type (though there is a history of lower-limb amputee and wheelchair boxing), and available opponents. But it's also emblematic of a wider resistance in sport and other arenas of life, both conscious and unconscious, to adapting to disabled people's needs. Unbelievably, it can still come down to basic questions of access. Grimmett recounts an anecdote about a boxing gym who would only roll out their wheelchair ramp for him between 11am and midday. It's exasperating because sport should be a universal route to self-validation and social interaction, all the more so for disabled people whose mental health is ground down by the constant struggle for recognition. Gladiator Jodie Ounsley, who is deaf, attests to how sport coaxed her out of her shell, and Amelia, a 10-year-old deaf boxer from a Pembrokeshire gym, is following the same path. There is some divergence here about whether the business rationale – the so-called 'purple pound' – is the key driver for widespread change. Grimmett doesn't editorialise, but lets the arguments breathe and allows quiet indignation to sink in. It would be good to see him tackle other facets of the disabled experience. Fighters is in UK cinemas from 27 June.
The Independent
21-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson raises concerns for disabled community after government passes assisted dying bill
Former Paralympian, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has raised her concerns for the disabled community in the wake of the government passing the assisted dying bill through the House of Commons. Grey-Thompson sits in the House of Lords and has stated she hopes to amend the bill and make it stronger so that disabled people are less likely to be coerced into agreeing to assisted dying. The baroness said, "Right now a lot of disabled people are worried and this is the job of the Lords, line by line legislation." The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was approved by 341 votes to 291 at its third reading in the House of Commons, a majority of 23.
Telegraph
21-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Esther Rantzen urges Lords not to block assisted dying bill
Dame Esther Rantzen has urged the House of Lords not to block assisted dying legislation. The Terminally Ill Adults (End Of Life) Bill cleared the Commons with a majority of 23 votes on Friday, but critics have vowed to continue their resistance in the unelected chamber. The legislation could face a difficult passage through the Lords, with opponents poised to table amendments to add further restrictions and safeguards to the Bill. Dame Esther, an assisted dying campaigner, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't need to teach the House of Lords how to do their job. They know it very well, and they know that laws are produced by the elected chamber. 'Their job is to scrutinise, to ask questions, but not to oppose. 'So yes, people who are adamantly opposed to this Bill, and they have a perfect right to oppose it, will try and stop it going through the Lords, but the Lords themselves, their duty is to make sure that law is actually created by the elected chamber, which is the House of Commons who have voted this through.' Dame Esther, who turns 85 on Sunday and has terminal cancer, acknowledged the legislation would probably not become law in time for her to use it and she would have to 'buzz off to Zurich' to use the Dignitas clinic. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, the Paralympian and crossbench peer, told BBC Breakfast: 'We're getting ready for it to come to the Lord's and from my personal point of view, about amending it to make it stronger. 'We've been told it's the strongest Bill in the world, but to be honest, it's not very high bar for other legislation. 'So I do think there are a lot more safeguards that could be put in.' Lord Shinkwin, the Conservative peer and disability rights campaigner, said the narrow Commons majority underlined the need for peers to take a close look at the legislation. He thinks the House of Lords 'has a duty to expose and to subject this Bill to forensic scrutiny' but he doesn't think 'it's a question of blocking it so much as performing our duty as a revising chamber'. He added: 'The margin yesterday was so close that many MPs would appreciate the opportunity to look at this again in respect of safeguards as they relate to those who feel vulnerable, whether that's disabled people or older people.' Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who steered the Bill through the Commons, told the PA news agency she hoped peers would not seek to derail the legislation, which could run out of parliamentary time if it is held up in the Lords. She said: 'I would be upset to think that anybody was playing games with such an important and such an emotional issue.' A group of 27 Labour MPs who voted against the legislation said: 'We were elected to represent both of those groups and are still deeply concerned about the risks in this Bill of coercion of the old and discrimination against the disabled, people with anorexia and black, Asian and minority ethnic people, who we know do not receive equitable health care. 'As the Bill moves to the House of Lords, it must receive the scrutiny that it needs. Not about the principles of assisted dying but its application in this deeply flawed Bill.' Danny Kruger, one of the leading opponents of the Bill, said: 'These are apocalyptic times'. In a series of posts on X on Friday night, the Conservative MP who is at odds with his mother Dame Prue Leith over the legalisation, accused assisted dying campaigners of being 'militant anti-Christians' who had failed to 'engage with the detail of the Bill'.
