Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Frances Ryan

@francesryan.bsky.social

28K followers 120 following 1.6K posts

Guardian columnist and journalist. Commentator of the Year 2024. Author of Who Wants Normal? and Crippled. E: [email protected]

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · Apr 17

Four years on an iPhone in bed later, Who Wants Normal? is finally out in the world today.

Part memoir, part guide, it features 50+ of Britain’s best known disabled women. I hope it makes you laugh, possibly cry, and feel seen.

Order all formats here: linktr.ee/WhoWantsNormal

“We all need this book” - Jameela Jamil

Three images of the book in all three formats are below the quote.

9 48 170

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 2h

This is devastating but hard to think of more important journalism. 18,457 children have been killed in Gaza (many more not accounted for). Here, The Guardian prints their names and beautiful faces and tells us what they were like before Israel stole their lives. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive

www.theguardian.com

3 120 160

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 1d

“The electoral decline of the Tories followed by the rise of Reform feels akin to an exterminator getting rid of the rats from your basement only to say he’s found a termite infestation rotting the walls. Out with one, in with another.”

My col. on conference www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It’s Badenoch’s Tory show, 2025: like Britain seeing an old flame and remembering why we blocked their number | Frances Ryan

The conference offers a flailing leader, Trumpite policies and rivals jockeying for position. It is comical, but also worrying, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

www.theguardian.com

1 6 29

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks!

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 1d

“If last year’s general election marked the death of the Conservative party, this week’s conference in Manchester is the wake. Based on the policies unveiled in recent days, one can only assume there’s an open bar.”

My col. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It’s Badenoch’s Tory show, 2025: like Britain seeing an old flame and remembering why we blocked their number | Frances Ryan

The conference offers a flailing leader, Trumpite policies and rivals jockeying for position. It is comical, but also worrying, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

www.theguardian.com

2 7 47

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 1d

“Tory conference 2025 has the air of your ex-boyfriend screaming incoherently on the driveway, begging for another chance. Suddenly, it’s very clear why you blocked his number.”

My col. (following the mantra ‘if you didn’t laugh you’d cry’.) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It’s Badenoch’s Tory show, 2025: like Britain seeing an old flame and remembering why we blocked their number | Frances Ryan

The conference offers a flailing leader, Trumpite policies and rivals jockying for position. It is comical, but also worrying, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

www.theguardian.com

9 42

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 3d

Ha thank you!

Reposted by Frances Ryan

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 7d

Apparently 5% of Reform voters think they are racist.

57 87 320

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 7d

Very kind!

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 7d

Thank you!

1 1

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 7d

It can only be good news Labour will finally ditch the Tory’s two child limit. But doing so with caveats, like paying less for a later birth, misses the point of universal coverage. Every child has the same right to support. No ifs or buts. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Rachel Reeves to lift two-child benefit cap in November’s budget

Exclusive: Officials exploring options to change rule that affected 1.7 million children in Great Britain last year

www.theguardian.com

2 15 66

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks so much!

1 4

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 8d

Only the BMA could want to stop patients from being able to book an appointment online. Every practice needs more resources, of course, but the 8am scramble is hardly something doctors should be defending. God forbid the public has choice and control! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

GPs in England threaten action over online appointment booking plan

Doctors’ union says GPs will be overwhelmed by ‘triage tsunami’ and gives ministers 48 hours to take measures

www.theguardian.com

8 9 56

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 8d

I do not. But I think it’s a depressing insight into the mess centrist politicians now find themselves in.

1 2

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 9d

“Wanting to roll back abortion rights does not make you sexist.”

“Not wanting a mosque in your neighbourhood does not make you Islamophobic.”

“Kicking a dog in the face does not make you dogist.”

3 6 51

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 9d

“Supporting racist policies does not make you a racist” is a top tier line for the Labour Party going into the week. Should go all the way and just make it the official conference slogan. Get that stuff drilled into Starmer’s lectern.

7 40 200

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 10d

That’s so kind, thank you. Will keep trying!

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 11d

“We are no longer at the stage of vainly hoping Starmer will be someone else. That there’s a principled leader lurking who - with enough nudges - will make the right choices. We know who he is and the question is: is that enough? And if not, what next?”

My col. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Starmer should have conference in his hands – instead, power is slipping through his fingers | Frances Ryan

Last year’s triumph has turned into a groundhog day loop of missed chances and bad calls. The PM needs to change tack – but is he capable of it? asks Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

www.theguardian.com

10 22 85

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 12d

Thank you!

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 12d

Thank you!

1 1

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 12d

Thank you!

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 12d

“If it has felt at times to Starmer’s supporters over the past year he is held to account too harshly, to others, he has unforgivably thrown away a precious opportunity. That after 15 years of austerity, Brexit, and Partygate, things could be better.”

My col. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Starmer should have conference in his hands – instead, power is slipping through his fingers | Frances Ryan

Last year’s triumph has turned into a groundhog day loop of missed chances and bad calls. The PM needs to change tack – but is he capable of it? asks Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

www.theguardian.com

3 19 78

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 12d

You can read it online here: www.motabilitylifestyle.com/magazine/aug...

Preparing for adulthood | Motability Lifestyle

Caroline Butterwick shares her experiences and speaks to author Frances Ryan about the help available to disabled people as they become young adults.

www.motabilitylifestyle.com

1 6

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 13d

Lovely to see this double page spread in Motability Lifestyle for my interview with the fab @carolinebutterwick.bsky.social. We spoke about my book Who Wants Normal? and tips on navigating life as a young disabled adult. (She writes, as an elderly millennial.)

A double page spread shows a collage of images of young disabled people. The headline reads: Preparing For Adulthood. On the right side is a small picture of Who Wants Normal? and its orange and yellow cover.

1 7 35

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 13d

Sorry, refuse to live in a timeline where news outlets fact check whether Royal swans are being eaten by migrants. Put Farage in a cupboard with a mic and let him talk to the walls. Leave the rest of us out of it.

Royal Parks says there's no evidence to back Farage's claim their swans being eaten by migrants.,

The Royal Parks have rejected a claim from Nigel Farage that migrants are killing and eating swans from their grounds.

The Reform UK leader made the assertion in his LBC interview this morning as he deflected a question about whether Donald Trump was wrong last year when he claimed migrants in Ohio were eating dogs and cats. Trump’s comment was widely dismissed as a racist slur.

9 50 150

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 13d

The British media will have to reckon with how it reports Trump (and indeed, Farage) in the coming months. Giving false claims endless airtime will not work. Nor will clickbait “is Tylenol linked to autism?” headlines. There is a way to hold account without publicising him. We’ve not found it yet.

3 13 86