State Killing.

         The present system we live under is a mish-mash of inequality and injustice, poverty in the midst of opulence, managed and administered by soulless freaks of inhumanity. In a system so riven with greed, they put in place systems that are "supposed" to catch those who, inevitably, because of the systems structure, find themselves in need. Like everything in the system, these systems are run on economic factors, never on humanity, the result being inevitable poverty, deprivation, misery and on occasions, death, these deaths should be listed as state economic killings..
        It is easy to find cases where this gross inhumanity takes your anger to boiling point, but then what? What do we do about the avoidable death of a young mother because of the system's lack of humanity? What do we do about a young child being robbed of its mother, because the system doesn't care enough? What do we do about a family buried in grief because of a system run by emotionless economists, who can't see the misery inherent in their system?
       The following case is just one of the multitude of cases of misery and deprivation spawned by this exploitative economic system of greed.
         The following report by the BBC:

 

Photo courtesy of BBC

 

        A single mother with mental health problems took a fatal overdose after failures in the benefits system, her family has claimed. Philippa Day, from Mapperley, Nottingham, applied for a new benefit last year but saw her payments cut from £228 a week to £60.
          Her family believes she took her own life over her debts and after a request for a home assessment was denied. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it could not comment.
          Miss Day, 27, died in October last year. She had been in a coma for 10 weeks after being found collapsed at home. She had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, said her family. Her sister, Imogen Day, said Philippa's mental health had deteriorated with post-natal depression and she was unable to work.
         She had been receiving disabled living allowance (DLA) payments as she had type 1 diabetes. Those payments stopped after she made an application for a personal independence payment (PIP) in January 2019.
        The correct forms were not received and her payments were reduced to a standard living allowance of £60 a week, said the family. "In the months leading up to her death we only spoke about the PIP claim, we only spoke about the fact my sister had no money and she was unable to live a life with any kind of quality," said Imogen. Philippa's family say her mental health deteriorated after she was left living on £60 a week
      She said the family believed her sister's death was triggered when a request for a home assessment was rejected by the DWP. Imogen said the family was arguing that the DWP "broke Article 2 of the Human Rights Act - which is a right to life".
      "They're trying to argue they were unaware of my sister's vulnerable circumstances, which is incorrect," she said. "With all her dealings with the DWP, both her psychiatric nurses and my sister were very clear that it was impacting her mental health and was making her feel more suicidal." Imogen added: "I would like them to overhaul the entire claimant process to protect vulnerable people."
        A DWP spokesperson said: "Our condolences are with Miss Day's family. As the inquest process is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment at this time."
        An inquest into Miss Day's death will open on 7 December.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

A Need For A Declartion Of War.

      For the ordinary people of the world to bring about justice and freedom for all, they will have to wake up and accept the fact that we are at war, the war that will end all wars, the class war. Without accepting that fact, we will continue to be mired in the wars, misery, poverty and injustice, which for us, are the only fruits of the capitalist system. 

     The following written by my friend and comrade, John, states the case very clearly:

DECLARATION OF WAR.

      There is a ferocious war being waged in our Society today, but it is not a War fought with guns and bullets or tanks and aeroplanes, and the enemy is not some invading army or outside threat.
    The weapons used in this war are the policies and actions of Government departments and civil servants, and the victims in this war are working class people.
     And although there are no guns or bullets, the War is just as deadly in terms of casualties. But these casualties aren’t on both sides; the casualties are all from the ranks of the working class.
     This is a CLASS WAR. The ruling elite through the medium of the Capitalist system controls and exploits the working class.
     The Government wages this one – sided War against working class people in a number of ways. It attacks and destroys the lives of disabled and unemployed people by depriving them of their benefits through the criminal actions of the DWP and their hired mercenaries Atos and Maximus, and attacks those in work with anti Union legislation to ensure a compliant, unresisting and underpaid workforce.

     Do you doubt this? Do you doubt that a Class War exists and is taking place in our society? Well the rich and privileged have no such doubts. This is what Warren Buffett investor, billionaire and one of the ten richest people in the World said in 2005, “The rich class - is waging class warfare on the rest of Society.” And again in 2006 “There’s class warfare alright, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and were winning.”
     So even if ordinary people do not know of the Class War or doubt if it even exists, the rich are perfectly clear about it.
     The reason this is a one sided war is that many working class people have not yet begun to fight back. Many had supposed that by voting against the Tories this would be enough. They had assumed that their jobs and rights at work were being protected by their Trade Unions. And the reality is that this is not the case. The Labour Party and the Trade Unions have proven to be no defence in this war

Who are the people waging this war?

     This Class War is a war waged by the rich and privileged against the poor and powerless; it is a war between the “Haves” and the “Have Nots”
     This war was not started by working class people, but by the ruling elite; big business, multi-national companies, the Arms trade and so on. Their aims are carried out by privileged Tory MP’s who receive (earn would be the wrong word) £74,000 per year and about the same in expenses - plus all they can steal on top of that!
     So while ordinary men, women and children struggle to make ends meet, these pillars of the Establishment - the majority of them privately educated at elite Universities, these honourable Gentlemen and Ladies, these crooks, thieves and liars in the Houses of Parliament, use the farce of “democracy” to scheme and dictate how we should be governed and controlled in the interests of Global Capitalism.
     Anyone who participates in this charade of Parliamentary Democracy is an enemy of working class people. Not only does it perpetuate the myth that everyone is equal and that by voting every four years or so we are part of this great democratic structure, it is also the means by which violence is perpetrated on working class people. While big businesses and corporations receive any amount of public money and are virtually allowed to pay whatever amount of tax they choose – if any, - working class people are subjected to the violence of homelessness, the bedroom tax, benefit cuts and sanctions, foodbanks, inadequate wages and poor living conditions, which make it almost impossible to survive.
     And many don’t survive. Statistics released by the DWP state that during the period between December 2011 and February 2014 2,380 people died after being denied benefits through being found “fit for work.” Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that suicides have reached a ten year high and are linked with welfare “reforms.”
     The situation is so bad that DWP staff have been given “guidance” on how to deal with suicidal benefit claimants! The Sunday Herald reported on the 25th of August 2015 that workers had been issued with a six point plan on how to deal with people denied benefits who appear to be suicidal. Staff at call centres have been instructed to allow rejected claimants to talk about their intention to kill themselves.
    All the laws relating to the above are passed by our so - called elected representatives, and enforced with all the might of the State through the Police and if necessary the Military. If the working class organise to fight back against these injustices, we are the ones who are labelled violent and criminal.

     It is not us who are violent; the violence is inherent in the system that is used to control us. Every act of institutionalised violence directed at working class people is backed up by the Law. The Law is not there to serve working class people: it is a weapon, an instrument of control to be used against us; it is there to maintain and increase the power of the State.
     Labour MP’s or any other “left” MP’s – even if they voted against certain laws are still participating in this violence against the working class – as are any of the agencies and individuals who carry out their policies.
    Some ordinary workers can also wittingly or otherwise act against the interests of their class. Often, out of economic necessity they have taken on jobs that act against the interest of their fellow workers. Capitalism relishes this; it divides working class people and so furthers the interest of the Capitalist system.
     In 1886, a financier and railroad developer called Jay Gould said “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.”
     Workers, trade unionists in G4S, in Jobcentres or in any potentially repressive occupation really need to re-assess their position. On no account should they impose hardship on members of their class. The Trade Unions should be very specific on this: they need to educate and instruct their members to refuse to participate in carrying out actions which have a detrimental effect on our class.
    How likely is it that Trade Union leaders will jeopardise their well paid positions by leading any kind of revolt? How likely is it that “left wing” MP’s are going to risk losing their cushy numbers to support a fight against unjust laws? The answer has to be – not bloody likely! These MP’s and Trade Union leaders have more in common with the bosses than they do with the workers.
    Working class people need to become aware of this Class War being waged against us. We have to understand that we have nothing in common with the ruling class. They have not the slightest concern for working class people. The poor, disabled and homeless are an inconvenience to them; they would be happy if the poor in society went away to die quietly and uncomplainingly in some secluded dark corner.
     They see the unemployed and poor as a burden, and their laws and sanctions are used as a form of social cleansing.
     They want a society based purely on the pursuit of profit; the concept of fairness and equality has no place in their thinking.
    This is why they wage a Class War against us. This is why they seek to eliminate anyone who does not have the capacity to be a wage slave.

     The interests of the Working Class and the Ruling Class are diametrically opposed. They want a world controlled by a few for their own selfish ends, - we want a world where the needs of all are met equally. They want a world of oppression and fear, - we want a world without fear, hunger, homelessness, and one in which everyone has the opportunity to lead a happy and fulfilled life.

 Don’t be a willing victim in their Class War, -

 join us and fight back.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Corporate Murder, Political Murder, What's The Differnce?

      Ian Duncan Smith, master of the grand plan, creator of the final solution, the culling of the sick, the vulnerable, those with disabilities, those deemed by the corporate world to be none productive units. We can't afford you if you don't sell yourself to the corporate greed machine, embrace the minimum wage, beg for zero hour contracts, profit is what it is all about.

      The recently released figures showing the number of people who have died after having their benefits cut, or been deemed fit for work, is nothing less than a crime, a crime against the most vulnerable in our society. Those who bring these pressures to bear on the sick and vulnerable are responsible for their deaths, and must be held to account. If it was a factory, there would be a charge of corporate murder, these deaths didn't happen in a factory, but the responsibility still lies with those pushing and enacting this legislation.

      However it is no more than we should expect from a system of exploitation based on profit for the few, at the expense of the many. We can protest, complain, demonstrate, all we want, but we can't turn capitalism into a caring compassionate system. It is not a system of social sharing, mutual aid, and caring for the needy in society, if you are unfortunate enough to be in need of any of these terms, you will be dumped by the wayside. Your only recourse to survival will be charity.

 Figures from Vox Political:

      A statistical release published today (August 27) in response to my Freedom of Information request dating back to May 28, 2014, states that the total number of deaths involving claimants of Incapacity Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance and Severe Disablement Allowance – between the start of December 2011 and the end of February 2014 is 81,140, including 50,580 (ESA claimants) and 30,560 (IB/SDA claimants). All figures are rounded up to the nearest 10.

      Add this to the 10,600 deaths that were already known between January and November 2011 and you have 91,740.

Information for ESA claimants shows:

• 7,540 deaths while claims were being assessed, bringing the known total to 9,740.
• 7,200 deaths in the work-related activity group, bringing the known total to 8,500.
• 32,530 deaths in the support group, bringing the known total to 39,630.
• And 3,320 deaths in which the claimant was not in receipt of any benefit payment and is therefore marked as “unknown”.
  

The total number of claimants who flowed off ESA, IB or SDA whose date of death was at the same time and of those the number with a WCA decision of “fit for work”, between December 2011 to February 2014 was 2,650 (2,380 ESA, 270 IB/SDA).

Read the full article HERE:

        The above figures show quite plainly the way this system treats its vulnerable and needy. This is not done with a heavy heart, it is worked out by expensive suits sitting round a table in the marble halls of power, in a cold and calculated way, checking balance sheets to see how much they can save by abandoning the weak, needy and vulnerable, based on their poisonous ideology of, if you can't provide for yourself, then you can be abandoned to the fate of poverty, deprivation and death.  

            Capitalism can't be reformed, it must be destroyed, or it will destroy any semblance of society that we might have at the moment.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Solidarity Is Our Winning Weapon.

       A call for solidarity from Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty, (ECAP). This case epitomises the callous, brutal and heartless attack on the poor and vulnerable in our society by a system with no compassion. Remember, the Cameron/Osborne financial Mafia henchmen, have promised £30 billion more cuts over the next few years. Believe me, yi ain't seen nothin' yet.

This from ECAP:

      Please contact ecap@lists.riseup.net if you would like to help at any Edinburgh or Lothians jobcentre.
      As we face unprecedented sanctions and benefits cuts, its more important than ever that we support each other and stand up to the DWP bullies.  The Scottish Unemployed Workers Network, Dundee Against Welfare Sanctions and other groups have established a strong presence at the Jobcentres in Dundee and in nearby towns and cities like Arbroath, Perth and Blairgowrie, supporting claimants in opposing sanctions and harassment.
WHAT HAPPENED AT ARBROATH JOB CENTRE
    On 29 January Tony was accompanying a vulnerable woman claimant, who suffers from severe dyslexia and literacy problems. The claimant, D, had been signed up to the Universal Job Match (UJM), the computerised job search system, and was being forced to complete five job searches per day, the pressure of which had led to her having several panic attacks.  Tony proposed that D's UJM account be closed, and that her number of job searches be significantly reduced.  The adviser refused to consider this, and so Tony and D met with the Jobcentre manager.
    The manager likewise refused to even look at the issue, falsely claiming that all jobseekers had to be registered with UJM.  She even suggested to D that she should arrange another meeting without Tony or any other witness or rep present. Despite the pressure D was being put under by the manager, she replied that she would not attend another meeting without Tony. At this point the manager demanded that Tony leave the building or the police would be called. Tony refused to leave, but the meeting ended when it was agreed that a further meeting be arranged to discuss the issue further.  Tony was arrested after he left the Jobcentre.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

  

A Society Of Lies, More Lies, And Damned Lies.

      Most informed people in this society know it is a society of lies, more lies, and damned lies. That's how the system works, sleight of hand, fiddled figures, smoke and mirrors and wild propaganda. If the truth were told, the whole pack of cards would come crumbling down, people just would not accept the fact that  all the wealth we produce is shovelled into the coffers of the corporations and their merry band of pampered parasitic managers. 

       There are those who say the system is broken, far from it, it is doing what it is meant to do, syphon wealth upwards. One reason this robbing, plundering system survives, is the fact that the majority seem to accept the illusion that it can do the opposite.

Our Lords And Masters. (apologies to the hogs)

This from The Void:

      The body established to lie on behalf of the fraud ridden welfare-to-work industry have launched a new campaign on the back of a report so breath-takingly dishonest it would make Iain Duncan Smith blush.
     According to the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the floundering Work Programme has been a huge success and is set to add £18 billion to the economy.  This is based on a report which ERSA commisioned from a consultancy company called Europe Economics who have mangled the figures in an attempt to hoodwink the DWP into giving Work Programme providers like A4e and G4S even more tax payer’s cash.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

ATOS Still At It.

        Well well, would you believe it, ATOS told fibs, this and the government's idiotic blindness to their failings, allowed ATOS to make millions from tax payers money, as it humiliated, harassed and stressed, our most sick and vulnerable. 

             ATOS made millions from their brutal treatment of the disabled as they carried out the government's Work Capability Assessment scheme. Eventually they had to pull out this lucrative adventure, because of all the bad publicity highlighted by such bodies as Glasgow Against ATOS, and others. Of course undaunted they set about getting their hands on another bundle of tax payers money, knowing that their buddies in The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, would overlook the brutal chaos they left in their wake, with the last contract. Just shove in a phoney tender and hey presto, another contact, in the form of Personal Independence Payments, PIPs, and another stash of tax payers money pops into your bank account.

   "Atos stated in its tender document that it had 'contractual agreements' in place with a national network of 56 NHS hospitals, 25 private hospitals and over 650 physiotherapy practices to provide assessments. This turned out not to be true.

         Will there be fraud charges to follow? I doubt it very much. The bunch of thugs in the Cameron millionaire cabal go into an apoplectic fit, when they even think of someone who may have cheated on their benefit claim, but it is just a finger wagging when corporate bodies plunder the public purse for millions.

          All this back scratching between our governing body of Oxbridge millionaires, and their buddies, corporate CEO's, at no time benefits the ordinary people, it is just a scheme for transferring public money to corporate bank accounts. Cutting benefits, traumatising the disabled, closing Remploy, getting people to work without a wage, will do nothing to improve the social fabric of our society, but it does make a lot of money for the private bodies paid by tax payers money, to carry out these policies. Isn't time we asked, “what's in it for us?”

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Punished For Being Low Paid!!

       So you think the present "austerity" policies are as bad as it gets, and you believe that the rich bastards can't do much worse to us? Well, what is in store for the us will make the present feel as if you have been living in a socialist utopia. You will be punished for not earning enough, you know it's your fault, you should be out looking for a better paid job. It's a strange philosophy, you work but don't earn enough, so punish the worker and not the employer who doesn't pay them enough. Logic, sanity, fairness, justice, all turned on their heads and spouted as truths. Ah the wonders of capitalism.

This from The Void:

     In breath-takingly savage news, it has been reported that the DWP plans to stop Housing Benefit payments to low paid part time workers if they fail to carry out ‘work related activity’.
       When Universal Credit is finally introduced, those earning less than the equivalent of the minimum wage for 35 hours a week will be forced to constantly look for more or better paid work to qualify for in-work benefits such as Tax Credits and Housing Benefit.  Part time workers could face being sent on workfare in the hours they are not at work and will have to prove to Jobcentre busybodies that they are constantly looking for another, better paid job.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

ATOS Is Dead, Long Live ATOS!!

      French IT firm Atos saying they are planning to pull out of Work Capability Assessments, the shambolic and cruel tests designed to strip away benefits from sick and disabled people, is the most humiliating blow yet for Iain Duncan Smith’s bodged attempt at reforming social security.
      In a stunning victory for campaigners, Atos say the Work Capability Assessment isn’t working, for them, claimants themselves and even the hapless DWP.  The attempt at early withdrawal from the contract comes just days after protests were held outside Atos assessment centres in towns and cities across the UK.

      If ATOS pulls out of this bludgeoning of the sick and disabled, it will be due to the sustained persistence of those who campaigned relentlessly against their savage implementation of the DWP policy, of punishing the most vulnerable in our society. It is of course only a partial victory, as there is an army of blood sucking leeches waiting to jump into the place vacated by ATOS. It is Ian Duncan Smith and the whole stinking system that he represents that has to be flushed down the toilet.
       We are a very rich country, we can afford to keep a family of parasites, that we call "Royals" in unimaginable splendour and pomp, we can buy and maintain the most expensive weapon systems on the planet, we can spend billions of pounds on spectacles such as Olympics, Commonwealth Games, we can indulge in endless wars. However, we can't keep our sick and vulnerable in reasonable comfort, we have people dying from hypothermia, because they can't afford to heat their homes, and we have 25% of our children living in poverty. Any sane person can't accept this, we have the wealth and resources for a fair and just society, all created by the people, but sadly we leave that abundant wealth in the hands of thieving parasites, and call it a market economy, as if that made everything OK. We can do better than this.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

When Does The Killing Stop?

 

      

      Day and daily vulnerable people are dying after being assessed as fit to look for work, and having their disability benefit cut by ATOS. This vicious penny-pinching scheme devised by Ian Duncan Smith continues to cause anxiety, stress and trauma and in a number of cases, death to some of the most vulnerable in our society. Despite this, our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, keeps very quiet on this matter. Thankfully people across the country are taking action to support and show solidarity with all those in the firing line of this brutal ideological attack by our millionaire lords and masters.

 

     

     The group, Glasgow Against ATOS, has been holding a monthly pickets on the last Friday of the month, outside the doors of the Glasgow offices of ATOS. This Friday, in spite of the dreadful weather, saw a very colourful and imaginative group once again show their support for those vulnerable people being victimised and to show their anger and disgust at this attempt at a cull on the working class.

 

Photos from Glasgow Against ATOS.

These figures are from Black Triangle Campaign, and though out of date give an indication of the devastation and misery caused by this unjust, brutal attack on the vulnerable in our communities.

Number of deaths for Jan. to Nov. 2011 = 10,600 - supplied by DWP via Atos from page 6 of following pdf

http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2012/incap_decd_recips_0712.pdf

THIS BREAKS DOWN THUS:

Those with Assessment not complete 2,200 (50.6 per week)

Those in Work Related Activity Group 1,300 (29.9 per week)

Those in Support Group 7,100 (153.6 per week)

Total number of deaths 10,600 (to nearest 100)

Jan to Nov inclusive is 11 months = 47.5 weeks

10,600 deaths divided by 47.5 weeks = 223.2 deaths per week

Total approximation in EACH group is 223.2 divide by 3

Approximation of deaths in each of 3 groups = 74.4 per week

1. It’s important to know how 73 (74.4) was sourced, and

2. That this number is an average within 3 different groups and

3. That the overall number of deaths is 223.3 per week

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Glasgow's Monthly Anti-ATOS Picket.

An appeal from Glasgow Against ATOS:  (Corrected date)

      Please come and join us at our monthly picket of the ATOS testing centre at Cadogan Street Friday, August 30, 12:30 to 14:30, and support our fight against the cuts to the sick and disabled, we want the so called Health Care Professionals to  know we wont be going away until ATOS is removed from its role as DWP medical assessors.

    This IT company has found thousands of people fit for work who have subsequently died within weeks of assessment, plunged thousands of sick and disabled people into poverty, everyone knows a friend or has family member who has a debilitating illlness or disability that leaves them unable to work, ATOS KILLS ! KILL ATOS !

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

PICKET ATOS GLASGOW.

Picket Atos

Friday 17th February 2012

4pm-5pm

Atos Medical Assessment Centre,

Corunna House,

29 Cadogan Street,

Glasgow G2 7AB.

Against the latest Atos and DWP con:

Atos and the DWP are conning people into signing on for Job Seekers Allowance when they get turned down for sickness benefit. This means they are forced into applying for jobs that loads of other people are applying for and as most people win their appeal against getting turned down for sickness benefit with the help of an advice centre it also means a lot of sick and disabled people are being harassed into applying for jobs that they are too ill to carry out. If claimants just ask for a reappraisal their money is reduced until they win their appeal, but they are not forced to job search or restart their claim for sickness benefit from scratch and they will get their sickness benefit back-dated.

We also want to let claimants know that it is fairly easy to appeal against being placed in the Work Related Activity Group on Employment Support Allowance (the new name for sickness benefit). In this situation you get sickness benefit, but they try to harass sick and disabled claimants off ESA by forcing them to attend regular interviews over a number of months.

We will be giving advice leaflets to sick and disabled claimants outside Atos, but please share this information with anyone you know on sickness benefit:

Good morning, I'm your new assessor.

What to do if you 'fail' a Work Capability Assessment -

http://thecrutchcollective.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-to-do-if-you-fail-your-work.html

How to prepare for an ESA Tribunal Hearing -

http://thecrutchcollective.blogspot.com/p/how-to-prepare-for-esa-tribunial.html 

We will also continue to inform the public of how Atos are helping the government make the sick and disabled pay for the public debt caused by the greed of bankers and the inevitable booms and busts of capitalist economics:

http://thecrutchcollective.blogspot.com/p/atos-robbing-poor-to-give-to-rich.html

thecrutchcollective@gmail.com

http://thecrutchcollective.blogspot.com/

Facebook Event Page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/190066311101505/?context=create#!/events/190066311101505/

ann arky's home.

ATOS & DWP: THE GREEDY MUGGING THE SICK

       ATOS Healthcare are a part of a private, profit-driven corporation. On behalf of the government (DWP), they carry out the medical assessments now called the 'Work Capability Assessment' (WCA) for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA: formerly Incapacity Benefit) claimants, and the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

       They are currently recruiting more staff to help meet government targets to force more people off benefits. They plan to cut £2.5 billion from ESA and to limit ESA benefit to just one year will- presumably those who are deemed unable to work will have made a miraculous recovery. 

       These measures are pure cost cutting and not based on any medical opinion, nor have they got anything to do with the tiny level of fraud within the ESA/DLA budget. The government are doing this to reduce the massive national debt caused by the banks gambling on the financial markets. It is clearly the most vulnerable in society being made to pay for the greedy failures of the rich.

CONFUSED?

THEIR STORY DOESN'T ADD UP!

       Already some 75% of ESA claims are failing. People with severe disability and life-threatening conditions are being declared fit for work. It's seems obvious that the government are deliberately refusing many thousands of claimants the support they need and condemning the most vulnerable to even worse levels of poverty.

      ATOS examinations are also now being carried out by non-doctors. Most doctors are already woefully under-qualified to deal with mental health cases, but ATOS now employ physiotherapists and nurses who have less training than even a GP to examine people and give the opinions that will decide their fate. “The Jobcentre Plus Decision Makers do not in practice make decisions, but instead they typically ‘rubber stamp’ the advice provided through the ATOS assessment. They often do not have or do not appropriately consider additional evidence submitted to support a claim for [ESA]. This results in the ATOS assessment driving the whole process, rather than being seen in its proper context as part of the process.”, Professor Harrington.

        Is this an indication that they are having difficulty finding enough doctors that will compromise their ethics or just that they want to squeeze even more profit out the sick by hiring under-qualified people to tick boxes on a computer and contradict the diagnoses of specialists and practitioners that have a better knowledge of the cases?

       Studies have shown the medical test to be largely unreliable and of the 29% of refused claimants that appeal the decision 49% win. What about those who feel they can't face the appeal process? Which clearly indicates that a substantial number of claimants are being failed wrongly. ATOS Healthcare doctors are paid a fee of over £100 for each DLA medical they carry out. Many people report that the doctor seemed in a rush, stayed only a very short time and wasn’t interested in what they had to say. Some found the doctor positively rude.

       These distressing and anxiety inducing tests are being extended to those relying on Disability Living Allowance (now: Personal Independence Payments) in order to deny more of the genuinely needy essential assistance and cut the budget for DLA/PIP by 20%.

       The tests have already been strongly criticised by Citizens Advice Bureau, Child Poverty Action Group and others. "Doctors produce inaccurate reports... reporting incorrectly what the claimant has said about their own conditions and taking their answers out of context... Doctors pay more attention to the computer than the client."

       An independent review of the WCA tests by Professor Harrington concluded “There is strong evidence that the system can be impersonal and mechanistic, that the process lacks transparency and that a lack of communication between the various parties involved contributes to poor decision making and a high rate of appeals.” and that “evidence has consistently and regularly highlighted problems with each stage of the WCA process, which limit both the assessment’s fairness and effectiveness.”

        Citizens Advice Scotland is extremely concerned that many clients are being found fit for work in their WCA despite often having severe illnesses and/or disabilities.

Their evidence has highlighted the cases of many clients with serious health conditions who have been found fit for work, including those with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer, bipolar disorder, heart failure, strokes, severe depression, and agoraphobia.

       In a recent government report, ATOS’ own staff say the assessments are too harsh. Prospect, the trade union who represents 135 ATOS doctors, has stated that the target of seeing ten or more people a day is unrealistic and will lead to wrong assessments, especially in complex cases.

       Despite this obvious injustice, the government has recently announced it believes that 68% of ESA claimants can be sent back to work either immediately or with assistance. This is quite obviously a blatant lie designed to merely reduce the amount spent on society's most vulnerable.

       ATOS aren't content to be stitching up the needy at a tidy profit, but they are also undermining the NHS by paying way over the NHS rates for doctors & nurses.

      ATOS claim that they do not make the decision as to whether someone can work and have their benefits reduced, but that the decision is made by the DWP from their report and that performance targets are based simply on the number of claimants seen in a day. However, they admit that if a medical professional passes all claimants for disability benefits it will not go unnoticed.

WHO ARE THE REAL BENEFIT FRAUDSTERS ?

       Despite a fraud rate of just 1%, plus £16 billion in unclaimed benefits, they are determined to toss 500,000 people who currently rely on sickness benefits into the bleakest labour market in a generation; to cut already meagre disability benefits to starvation levels; to confiscate mobility scooters and community groups from the most needy; to remove key services that make life bearable for thousands of families with vulnerable relatives. With the recent changes in Housing Benefit and possible changes to Council Tax benefit, these cuts will leave hundreds of thousands of people with severe health problems without enough money to feed themselves and heat their homes.

PIMPING THE DISABLED

        ATOS also has a contract to carry out compulsory work programmes, meaning they will get paid for getting disabled people back into work. This is an incentive for them to fail people's claims: a clear conflict of interest. The most damning fact about the system is that ATOS will get £500m over 7 years for running the Work Capability Assessments, while fraud in ESA over this period would amount to around £250m: the tests intended to stop fraud cost twice as much as the fraud. Thus the only way ATOS can offer value for money is if they cut £250m off the ESA case load – which has to be their target.

        IF YOUR CLAIM FOR ESA OR DLA HAS BEEN FAILED YOU HAVE TO APPEAL WITHIN 30 DAYS. THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE YOU WILL WIN. SEEK ADVICE FROM WESTGAP or CAB IN LODGING YOUR APPEAL! CONTACT DETAILS... WEBSITE DOCUMENTS MORE INFO...

http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/money_debt_benefits/index.html

SOLIDARITY.

 
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