About Paul Cooke
I'm Paul Cooke. I'm a disabled campaigner, writer, and advocate. I investigate poverty, welfare, and civil rights failures – and I publish the evidence.
This is my personal blog and campaign hub.
Why I do this
I started this work because I kept seeing the same pattern repeat: institutions break the law, vulnerable people suffer, and nothing changes. Regulators sit on their hands. The media looks away. The people affected – disabled people, benefit claimants, debtors, the poor – are left to deal with the consequences alone.
I reached a point where silence became complicity. This is my answer to that. Not a hobby. A weapon.
What I've done
- Supported over 100 individuals through complaints and legal processes
- Submitted FOI requests exposing the ICO's failure to enforce against debt collectors
- Documented 7 major investigations covering data misuse, disability discrimination, and bailiff abuse
- Built a transparent evidence archive – every document, every response, every letter
My priorities
I focus on three interconnected areas:
- Poverty – economic injustice, housing, energy, transport, community resilience
- Welfare – social security, disability support, the DWP, carers
- Civil & Human Rights – data protection, discrimination, accountability, justice
They're intertwined. Poverty creates welfare dependency. Welfare failures violate civil rights. Civil rights abuses trap people in poverty. I write about all of them.
My approach
- Evidence-based. I do not publish claims I cannot prove. Every investigation is sourced to correspondence, documents, recordings, or named individuals.
- Uncompromising. I am not neutral. I am on the side of ordinary people.
- Personal. This is not a newsroom. This is me – writing, investigating, and campaigning. No deadlines. No pressure. Just the work.
I follow evidence, not narratives. That commitment applies even when the evidence is inconvenient.
What you'll find here
- Investigations – documented cases, FOI responses, evidence archives
- Campaigns – specific policy asks – debt collection reform, PIP protection, bailiff bans
- Articles / Blog – weekly media roundups, commentary, book excerpts, travel writing
- Books – my published and upcoming books – including Why Is The UK So Sh!t? and The Edge of Britain
The law gives you rights. You assert them – you don't request them.
That's the line I live by. It's not a slogan. It's a philosophy. The law exists. The protections exist. But they only work if you know them and use them. I'm here to help people do that.
If you have a story to share
Your experience is evidence. And evidence is how things change. If something has happened to you – with a debt collector, a bailiff, the DWP, a local authority, or any other organisation – I want to hear from you.
Join me
You don't need to be a journalist. You don't need to be a lawyer. You just need to be angry enough to act.
Pick up your pitchfork. Join the army.