Josh Halliday

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

It was amazing to even make the shortlist for this award so to win it is incredibly humbling. All thanks to those brave enough to speak out about this injustice.

Thanks so much, Frances - very kind!

This is yet another example of why we need to see a complete reform of the current system to stop this devastating impact on unpaid carers.

Thank you @joshhalliday.bsky.social and The Guardian for your consistent support in bringing awareness to this issue.

Mother of autistic boy left with £10,000 debt after breaching DWP rules by £1.92 a week Over five-year period Oksana Shahar – who cares for her son – was paid a small amount more than carer’s allowance earnings limits allow

This is outrageous (as is this whole policy) Mother of autistic boy left with £10,000 debt after breaching DWP carer's allowance rules by £1.92 a week www.theguardian.com/society/...

“It will devastate us financially,” said Daniel’s dad, Guy. “It just seems so unfair that it’s not even real. It just feels like this actually can’t go through. In any sort of ethical world, this would not happen.”

📷 Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Over five years for which Daniel’s mum is being targeted by the DWP, she earned a total of £505 more than the rules allow – an average of £1.92 a week.

Yet instead of repaying £505, the DWP is demanding £10,130.45 – plus a £50 “civil penalty”. 3/4

In some weeks, Daniel’s mum earned just 38p more than the threshold – but for that tiny infraction she is being forced to repay £64.60 each time due to the “cruel and nonsensical” DWP rules. 2/4

Mother of autistic boy left with £10,000 debt after breaching DWP rules by £1.92 a week Over five-year period Oksana Shahar – who cares for her son – was paid a small amount more than carer’s allowance earnings limits allow

Latest on Carer’s Allowance scandal: the parents of an autistic teenager have been left with a £10,000 debt after breaching “inhumane” and “perverse” DWP rules by just £1.92 a week. 1/4

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

Twenty years ago, Peter Lodge wrote to the Guardian to complain about the state’s treatment of family carers.

In 2022, he died suddenly at the home he shared with his severely disabled son, David, who had no way to call for help.

1/5

Thrilled to be nominated for this with @patrickjbutler.bsky.social for our carer’s allowance work. Latest chapter in the scandal coming up this weekend!