Josh Halliday

I didn’t realise how much I loved my home town until a terrorist attacked it. I pray unity prevails there | Simon Hattenstone Last week’s attack on the synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, was also an assault on a model and diverse community, says Guardian features writer Simon Hattenstone

Crumpsall is an amazing melting pot where so many cultures, classes and religions have lived peacefully alongside each other. That mustn't be forgotten amid the horror of the Heaton Park synagogue attack
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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Neighbours of Manchester synagogue attacker say they reported concerns to police Exclusive: Concerns about apparently fanatical interest in Islam shown by Jihad al-Shamie and another family member were reported, Guardian told

Excl: Neighbours of Manchester synagogue attacker say they reported concerns to police

- police were at the house earlier this year over safeguarding concerns, they say

- killer said to have suffered brain injury after cliff fall in his teens

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

My dad, his ‘incurable’ disease, and hope at last - podcast Guardian’s Josh Halliday talks about Huntington’s disease, the impact it has had on his family and the hope there may now be a treatment

Huntington’s disease, my family, and hope at last. I spoke to my good friend ⁦‪@helenpidd.bsky.social‬⁩ for this podcast. Spoiler alert: one of us cried.

www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

Manchester synagogue terrorist was on bail for alleged rape Exclusive: Jihad al-Shamie had been due to appear in court over alleged sexual attack earlier this year, sources say

EXCL: Manchester synagogue terrorist was on police bail for alleged rape when he carried out Yom Kippur attack

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

You can find all our Carer's Allowance work below. The campaign goes on!

www.theguardian.com/society/seri...

Amazing to be nominated for Society of Editors awards for mine and @patrickjbutler.bsky.social's work on Carer's Allowance. Congrats to all nominees!

www.societyofeditors.org/events/media...

Huntington’s disease treated successfully for first time in gene therapy trial UCL trialled hours-long surgical procedure to treat disease which causes dementia and paralysis Huntington’s disease, a devastating degenerative illness that runs in families, has been treated successfully for the first time in a breakthrough gene therapy trial. The disease, caused by a single gene defect, steadily kills brain cells leading to dementia, paralysis and ultimately death. Those with a parent with Huntington’s have a 50% chance of developing the disease, which until now has been incurable. Continue reading...

Huntington’s disease treated successfully for first time in gene therapy trial

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

This is so amazing! Anyone who knows how devastating this disease is (my dad has it) will know the feeling today. Huge congratulations to all the researchers and volunteers. Incredible.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Government considering compensation for victims of carer’s allowance scandal Exclusive: Ministers have vowed to fix benefit after Guardian revealed thousands had been plunged into debt for accidentally breaking rules The government is considering compensation payouts for unpaid carers who have been unfairly hit with huge financial repayments in recent years after inadvertently falling foul of harsh carer’s allowance benefit rules. Ministers vowed to fix problems with the benefit after a Guardian investigation revealed how draconian penalties coupled with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) administrative failures had plunged hundreds of thousands of carers into debt. Continue reading...

Government considering compensation for victims of carer’s allowance scandal

Woman, 74, tells of pain and fear after arrest at Liverpool pro-Palestine rally Exclusive: Video shows veteran campaigner being dragged and handcuffed and she says bail conditions effectively confine her to her house

“I’m very sore, very shaken, very emotional and I’m frightened to be honest.”

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Steve Coogan accuses Labour of paving way for Reform UK Exclusive: Actor says Keir Starmer’s party has caused a ‘derogation of all the principles they were supposed to represent’

Steve Coogan's not holding back:

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

The Guardian announces new appointments The Guardian has announced a number of appointments.

It’s official - the north could not be in safer hands with @joshhalliday.bsky.social in charge. Defo recommend a midlife career pivot. www.inpublishing.co.uk/articles/the...

Three bosses at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

More on @guardian soon.

Thanks so much James. You’re spot on. It also relies heavily on national NHS decision-makers seeing the cost benefits of spending hours knocking on doors, winning people’s trust.

This is a great piece, and by no means all bleak. One of the things it highlights for me is the difficulty of scaling up good ideas when the ideas’ attractiveness is so bound up with the commitment and talent of the first ones to carry them out

Britain in 2025: sick man of Europe battling untreated illness crisis As poverty deepens across Britain, the Guardian visited some of the hardest-hit places where leaders are aiming to shift healthcare from hospitals to communities

Fascinating piece on (another) unseen health timebomb, which also helps explain a lot about both pressures on A&E and arguably on sickness benefits www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

“There’s a certain sense of despair among professionals,” said one NHS leader. “We’re trying our best but I’m not sure how much we can do. It’s deep-rooted, it’s extreme, but it’s a symptom of something broader and deeper happening across all society.”

💊The NHS is battling "medieval" levels of untreated illness in some of Britain's poorest communities – at a cost to the health service of about £50bn a year, or the same as the defence budget.

My big read from Barrow, Blackpool, Burnley and Blackburn:

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

‘It’s life and death’: parents of baby killed at nursery call for mandatory CCTV Nursery worker would not have been convicted of Genevieve Meehan’s manslaughter without footage, parents say

Let’s hope some good comes out of this horrifying death: www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The latest figures show that the government is clawing back at least £357m in carer’s allowance paid out in error over the last six years, leaving hundreds of people with criminal records and some with debts of more than £20,000.

All our carers stories are here:
www.theguardian.com/society/seri...

Nicola appealed against the DWP's fine before a tribunal judge, who quashed it in barely 30 minutes last month. No government official turned up for the hearing despite pursuing her for more than a year.

“I can’t believe what they’re putting people through,” Nicola said. “[I’m] just a law-abiding person, who has never broken the law in my life. I’ve always tried to do things by the book … It feels like harassment.”

Nicola Green was pursued by the DWP for more than a year after she was accused of fraudulently claiming nearly £3,000 in carer’s allowance.

When Green insisted she was innocent, the DWP wrote to her employer without her knowledge to try to recoup the sum from her pay.

Carer’s allowance: woman who won case against DWP calls for end to ‘sickening harassment’ Nicola Green, 42, speaks out after significant legal victory against department that accused her of fraud UK politics live – latest updates

Carer's Allowance latest: The mother of a teenager with cerebral palsy has demanded an end to the “sickening harassment” of unpaid carers after a significant legal victory against the government.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

In this era of media disruption and falling trust, it can become unfashionable to point out that good journalists and good journalism are a thing.

Great piece by @arusbridger.bsky.social, through the lens of the work done by the great Duncan Campbell:

This is such a powerful piece.

This piece floored me and will stay with me for ages.

‘Something has gone very wrong’: how the carers scandal was exposed A Guardian investigation revealed how hundreds of thousands of people were plunged into debt – and some criminalised – for looking after their loved ones

Fantastic long read by @patrickjbutler.bsky.social and @joshhalliday.bsky.social on the #CarersAllowanceOverpayment Scandal

If you know nothing about this scandal , or what to know more - this is the article to read ⬇️

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

We're delighted to see Patrick Butler and @joshhalliday.bsky.social‬ honoured and recognised for the contribution these @theguardian.com journalists made to uncovering and sharing the Carer's Allowance scandal.

#paulfootawards #carersallowance #socialcare