91Èȱ¬

Lord Ashley of Stoke, 1922-2012

There was sad news last weekend as the death of Lord Ashley of Stoke (formerly Labour MP Jack Ashley) was announced. He was 89. Two years after entering Parliament in 1966, Ashley lost his hearing. At first he planned to resign his seat, but instead took a crash course in lip-reading and continued to serve in the House of Commons until 1992, when he entered the Lords.

Tributes and obituaries throughout the media have focused on Ashley's major role as a disability campaigner through the years - including pushing for live captioning on TV for deaf people, fighting for Thalidomide survivors and, in the last bill he introduced to the Lords in 2007, arguing for people with autism to be given Blue Badges. Lord Ashley also founded and chaired the All Party Parliamentary Disablement Group for over four decades.

At the end of last week, hundreds of workers at Remploy, the state-owned company which provides employment and placement services for disabled people, in London and Sheffield. They were protesting against plans to close 36 of the 54 Remploy sites this summer, which will leave 1,500 disabled employees facing compulsory redundancy.

More of the week's headlines

Breivik case 'shows insanity misconceptions' (91Èȱ¬ News, Friday 27 April)

The camera that says what it sees (91Èȱ¬ News, Thursday 26 April)

Louis Theroux on dementia: The capital of the forgetful (91Èȱ¬ News Magazine, Thursday 26 April)

Is this the year of disability on TV? (91Èȱ¬ News, Thursday 26 April)

(Daily Mail, Thursday 26 April)

NHS reforms 'a risk to vulnerable children' (91Èȱ¬ News, Thursday 26 April)

(Daily Mail, Thursday 26 April)

(The Telegraph, Wednesday 25 April)

Prospect of 'autism drug' raised after early tests (91Èȱ¬ News, Wednesday 25 April)

(The Telegraph, Wednesday 25 April)

(Daily Mail, Thursday 26 April)

(The Independent, Wednesday 25 April)

'Vicious' attack on disabled man in Fife (91Èȱ¬ News, Wednesday 25 April)

NHS care is 'disjointed' say family of anorexia victim (91Èȱ¬ News, Wednesday 25 April)

Glengormley grandparents deny killing disabled teenager Rebecca McKeown (91Èȱ¬ News, Tuesday 24 April)

(Daily Mail, Tuesday 24 April)

(The Guardian, Tuesday 24 April)

(The Guardian, Tuesday 24 April)

(Daily Mail, Tuesday 24 April)

(Daily Mail, Tuesday 24 April)

(The Guardian, Monday 23 April)

(91Èȱ¬ News, Monday 23 April)

(The Independent, Sunday 22 April)

(The Telegraph, Sunday 22 April)

Obituary: Lord Ashley (91Èȱ¬ News, Saturday 21 April)

Labour peer Lord Ashley, 89, dies (91Èȱ¬ News, Saturday 21 April)

Paralysed woman to tackle marathon on robot legs (91Èȱ¬ News, Saturday 21 April)

(Daily Mail, Saturday 21 April)

Half of all railway stations in Wales fail to meet accessibility standard (91Èȱ¬ News, Friday 20 April)

Sheffield protest over Remploy factory closures (91Èȱ¬ News, Friday 20 April)

Hundreds of disabled workers to protest over Remploy closure (91Èȱ¬ News, Friday 20 April)

(The Independent, Friday 20 April)

(The Independent, Friday 20 April)

(The Guardian, Thursday 19 April)

Bullied autistic teenager 'failed by agencies' before death (91Èȱ¬ News, Thursday 19 April)

Education system failing children with autism (91Èȱ¬ News, Thursday 19 April)

(The Guardian, Thursday 19 April)

Father claims disability allowance for footballer soon (91Èȱ¬ News, Thursday 19 April)