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A pie chart showing the approximate councillor share across all English councils after the 2026 May elections.

English Council Elections 2026 – A Different Perspective

May 8, 2026May 8, 2026 Ben Clark

The election results for English council elections are still coming out, but we wanted to share with you a different perspective to the one you will see in the media.

The media report ‘the English council election results’ and give you all the statistics for those elections. But there are 317 councils in England, and only 136 (43%) had elections today. And, of those councils which did have elections, most of them only elected a third or half of their councillor seats. So, the English council election results do not tell the whole picture. In fact, these election results tell a very partial picture, because more than half of councils did not even have an election and few elected their whole council.

What’s Causing the Rise in Cancer?

May 1, 2026May 1, 2026 Andrew

New Study Gives Better Understanding

A major new research study has given scientists and doctors a better understanding of why cancers have been on the increase in the UK and many other countries for many years.

Cancers On The Rise

Cancers of all kinds have been increasing in adults in the UK and in other countries for many years. The reasons for this rise are unclear and there are many different theories among scientists and doctors.

It is well-known and proven that lifestyle risk factors like smoking, diet, alcohol use, exercise and obesity increase the risk of developing cancer. One theory is that people are simply becoming unhealthier, that is to say they are exposed to more of these lifestyle risk factors. If that is the case, say some scientists, growing un-healthiness might be a simple reason why cancer rates have gone up.

The Study

Published in the British Medical Journal for Oncology, the study tested the theory that growing un-healthiness explains why cancer rates are going up. The study looked specifically at younger (20 – 49 years old) adults in the UK between 2001 and 2019. It asked whether increases in lifestyle risk factors in these adults over this period explained why cancer rates increased in this group in that period. In other words, were these younger adults living less healthy lives over that period and that was why they were getting more cancers?

The researchers first worked out which cancers had become more common in adults aged 20 to 49 years old in the period from 2001 to 2019 – there were eleven. They then looked at how lifestyle risk factors were affecting this age group over the same period, and whether lifestyle risk factors affected more people or less. They then ran a statistical analysis to see if the rate of increase in cancers in matched up to the changes in lifestyle risk factors, taking into account other factors which might confuse the comparison.

The study showed that, apart from obesity, lifestyle risk factors were affecting the same number or fewer younger adults from 2001 to 2019. In other words, younger adults were not living un-healthier lives and exposing themselves to more lifestyle risks over that period, except that more of them were seriously overweight.

Cancers related to obesity did increase as expected. There was a clear link between more younger people being overweight and more younger adults getting cancer.

However, cancers not linked to obesity also increased in younger adults between 2001 to 2019, even though lifestyle risk factors affecting those adults did not increase in that period. This shows, according to the researchers, that changes in lifestyle risk factors do not explain most of the rise in cancers in younger adults between 2001 to 2019, although some of the rise was due to more younger adults being obese.

The study recommends that more research is done to explain why cancer rates are increasing in younger (20 – 49 years old) adults in the UK and in many other countries. The study also recommends that people should be encouraged and helped to avoid cancer lifestyle risk factors and in particular to maintain a healthy weight, to reduce their risk of developing cancer.

What Does This Mean For You?

Whatever your age, your lifestyle has a lot to do with your risk of developing cancer. This study has identified obesity, or being seriously overweight, as having a proven link to being at higher risk of developing cancer. So, keeping your weight in a healthy range is important. You can find resources to help you manage your weight below.

While this study has shown that there is not such a clear connection between other lifestyle risks and the causes of cancer, it is an established medical fact that reducing your lifestyle risks will reduce your risk of developing cancer. You can find resources to help you reduce your cancer risks below.

Covid & Cancer

This study looked at adults between 2001 and 2019, before the Covid pandemic, and therefore does not say anything about any link between Covid & cancer. Covid is still a new virus, and time is needed to assess and prove its effects. It will not be possible for some years to look back on the health records of people who caught Covid and show whether they experienced higher rates of cancer than people who did not catch Covid.

It is known that there are several biological means by which Covid might cause cancer, and it is not unusual for viruses to cause or be linked to cancers. For example, one study showed that Covid causes inflammation inside the body which can cause dormant cancers to become active and spread to other parts of the body. This study proved that cancer relapse rates were 1.5 times higher in cancer survivors who caught Covid compared to cancer survivors who did not catch Covid.

It is not yet possible to say that Covid causes cancer or affects cancer survival rates. However, avoiding Covid infections is a good thing to do in any case, as the virus is well-known to have many damaging impacts beyond the immediate acute symptoms.

Resources

Here are some resources and information which may help you. Click the button to visit them.

BMJ Oncology Study

Help to Manage Weight

Help Reduce Cancer Risk

Covid Risk For Cancer Survivors

A group of disabled people protesting outside the Houses of Parliament against the Assisted Dying Bill

BuDS Welcomes Failure of Assisted Suicide Bill

April 24, 2026April 24, 2026 admin

BuDS Disability Service has welcomed the Parliamentary failure of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill today, Friday 24 April. This Bill is commonly known as the Assisted Dying or Assisted Suicide Bill. This failure at Westminster marked the defeat of all the Suicide Bills attempted to be rushed through British parliaments by lobbyists in the last two years.

Welcoming the Parliamentary failure, BuDS said:

“The failure of the Bill is good news for dying people, for the NHS and for Britain. We say this for two main reasons:

This Bill would have done nothing to address the humanitarian concerns that many people have about end-of-life care. It was a lobbyist Bill designed to introduce suicide on demand for NHS patients, something which no political party or politician had ever even mentioned before this Bill was introduced.
The Bill was dangerous because it did not protect the basic human rights of British people. This was said from the start by disability and human rights groups like BuDS but was dramatically proven when the Lord Chancellor had to prevent a similar Bill, in the Isle of Man Parliament, from becoming law on these exact grounds”.

Much has been said about how this Bill has been ‘blocked’ by unscrupulous Parliamentary tactics, especially by ‘unelected Lords’. The reality is rather different. This Bill was not Government legislation, but a Private Members Bill (PMB). PMBs cannot be used to make complex and controversial legal reforms because they do not have enough Parliamentary time, even in the best of circumstances, to make such broad changes. The Terminally Ill Adults Bill was doomed to fail from the start by the incompetence of its sponsors and multimillionaire lobbyist backers, not by any Parliamentary blocking.

The passage of this Bill through Parliament has proved that the welfare of dying people and the protection of vulnerable people cannot be left to opaquely-funded, multimillionaire lobbying groups, especially those ideologically committed to suicide and euthanasia. A properly informed national conversation about end-of-life care and assisted suicide must happen before there is any future attempt at legislation. A Royal Commission or similar independent official body must now look at all the issues, consult widely, gather objective evidence and make recommendations. BuDS and other disabled-led organisations are ready to play their part in that conversation.

A coloured atlas-style map of the Gulf States with a magnifying glass over Iran

The US & Israeli Conflict With Iran

April 11, 2026April 11, 2026 Freya Clark

Post updated 10 Aoril 2026

There is now a fragile ceasefire in the US, Israeli and Iranian war, and we have taken this opportunity to update our information. Although the fighting is partly stopped, the economic impact of the war is still affecting people all over the world, including here in the UK. Disabled people, as always, are hit hardest by these impacts.

Screenshot from the BBC News website showing the headline "Assisted dying bill will not now become law, say both sides" over a picture of both pro- and anti-assisted dying demonstrators.

Assisted Suicide Bill In Westminster Falls

March 27, 2026March 27, 2026 Ben Clark

More great news, as the Assisted Suicide Bill in the Westminster Parliament also falls, joining the Scottish Bill which was voted down last week.

The multimillionaire lobbyists behind these Bills are spreading an untrue story that the Westminster Bill failed because it was ‘talked out’ by opponents in the House of Lords. This story is objectively untrue for the following reasons.

Responding To The Timms Review

March 25, 2026March 25, 2026 Ben Clark

The Government have decided to review Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This page is designed to help disabled people understand this Review and contribute to it.

Why Is This Review Happening?

In the summer of 2025, the Government introduced legislation to cut PIP so that fewer disabled people would be able to claim it. However, many MPS said they would not support this plan and so the Government said that no cuts would be made to PIP until after PIP had been ‘fully reviewed’.

A white blonde woman wearing a white t-shirt leaning her hand on a wall with her other hand to her head indicating pain. Stock image.

Meningitis Alert

March 16, 2026March 16, 2026 Ben Clark

Article accurate as of 16 March 2026

There has been an outbreak of “invasive meningococcal disease” in the Canterbury area of Kent. Two teenagers have died, and a number are seriously ill. The NHS are warning that anyone who becomes unwell with symptoms of meningitis or septicaemia should go immediately to A&E or call 999.

Cases of this serious disease have not been reported outside Kent so far. The NHS is giving antibiotics to thousands of people in the area to try and prevent any spread. However, meningitis can and does spread between people. For this reason, we are warning all disabled people, carers, and clinically vulnerable people to be on special alert for the symptoms.

The Palace of Westminster seen from Westminster Bridge against a blue evening sky. In the foreground are coloured motion blurs of moving traffic

BuDS’ View On Using The Parliament Act To Salvage The Assisted Suicide Bill

January 30, 2026January 30, 2026 Ben Clark

BuDS roundly condemns the unprecedented and extraordinary threat to use the Parliament Act to bypass the House of Lords and force the Assisted Dying/Suicide Bill through Parliament. Such important legislation must not be railroaded in this way. We call on Kim Leadbeater MP and Lord Falconer, the sponsors of this Bill, to abandon this outrageous and unworkable idea.

BuDS also condemns the underhand methods used to bring this Bill before Parliament and prevent a proper national debate about the difficult and sensitive issue of assisted dying/suicide.

We call on politicians of all parties to recognise this Bill has reached the end of its life, and to step back so that a careful and well-informed national conversation about assisted dying/suicide can take place in the future.

A woman wearing a white shirt and grey jacket talks to a woman wearing white, who's back is facing the camera. In the background is a medical bed set against a light yellow wall.

Health Information versus Medical Advice

January 22, 2026January 22, 2026 Ben Clark

Health Information

BuDS Disability Service provides general non-personalised Health Information and Advice, that is to say general information and advice about health and health-related issues, including public health and health education information and advice.

We do this by publishing information on our websites and on social media platforms for the public to read. We use only reputable academic and official sources and take great care to ensure that we provide accurate information and advice. We also take care to present information in an accessible way, so everyone can understand it. We welcome feedback about all our publications, and you can give it using the form below.

A caucasian woman wearing a red blouse and white headscarf looking gravely into the camera, against a neutral grey background

Covid & Cancer

September 26, 2025September 26, 2025 Ben Clark

There is now compelling medical evidence that Covid-19 infections can reactivate dormant cancer cells, and trigger the growth of secondary cancers (metastatic progression). In studies, cancer survivors who contracted Covid had a statistically significant higher risk of cancer-related deaths compared to uninfected cancer survivors.

This is such an important issue that BuDS has decided to run an awareness campaign over the autumn and winter. The aim of the campaign will be to warn cancer survivors of the very real additional danger that Covid poses to them.

We have worked hard to give you accurate information. However, you should always speak to your own GP, oncologist, or cancer clinic to get personal medical advice. We are not doctors, and we cannot give you medical advice.