As happens in all authoritarian organisations, the truth is so dreadful that it begins to seep out through leaks, secret briefings, off-the-record briefings that turn out to be recorded, and by other risky but well-intentioned means. It has long happened in the case of disabled resisters determined to fight back against grotesque misjudgements by Atos […]
Posts under ‘Disability’
The mentally ill are neglected in the NHS, but tormented by the DWP
Jul 23rd, 2014 by Michael Meacher.
How did the disgraced Atos get a £184m disability assessment contract?
Jun 13th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It is bizarre that the hated Atos, whose reputation was destroyed by its punitive mishandling of work capability assessments of the disabled, should be awarded a multi-million contract for the new personal independence payments across London and the south of England. In one sense it is not surprising because the Tories, having privatised major public […]
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Why I’m voting against the benefit cap
Mar 26th, 2014 by Diane Abbott.This is the text of Diane Abbott’s speech in the House of Commons this afternoon against a ‘welfare cap’. Details of voting will be published as soon as it is available. Any member of the public watching this debate this afternoon and listening to people jeer, laugh, smirk and joke might imagine that some Members […]
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Intersectionality and Postmodern Feminism
Feb 27th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.We left the last post having worked through the basic conceptualisation of intersectionality. If you can’t be bothered to trudge through its thousand or so words, simply put it is the appreciation of how different oppressions rooted in ostensibly discrete sets of violent (symbolically and physically) social relations can intersect and condition the lives of whole groups of people. […]
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What is “intersectionality” for? And where does it leave class?
Feb 24th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Intersectionality is the study of intersections between different disenfranchised groups or groups of minorities; specifically, the study of the interactions of multiple systems of oppression or discrimination. Julie Burchill wrote this. Paris Lees rejoined with this. Burchill (paraphrased): “intersectionality is about scoring points off multiple oppressions”. Lees (paraphrased): “intersectionality is about respecting difference”. Who’s right? Both of […]
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Disability protesters target Atos benefit test centres
Feb 19th, 2014 by John Millington.Disability campaigners laid siege to Atos assessment centres up and down the country today, in a bid to increase public pressure on the government to end what many see as a war against disabled people. Union activists, Disabled People Against Cuts and Black Triangle targeted 144 assessment centres where people are told whether they are […]
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How many persons has Atos killed today?
Dec 20th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.“You have nothing to fear…It is a proud duty to provide financial security to the most vulnerable members of our society, and this will not change. This is our contract with the most vulnerable” That was Iain Duncan Smith in 2010. He added: “This government and this party don’t regard caring for the needy as a […]
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New minister for disabled must be made to face the cruelty of ATOS & bedroom tax
Oct 29th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.With a new minister in DWP dealing with disability and a government increasingly riled by persistent reports of the mishandling of work capability assessments by ATOS, now is the time for a renewed push for fundamental changes in these two hated measures. I continue to receive dozens of letters that tell heart-rending stories about […]
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Abolish ATOS demands Skinner (video)
Oct 17th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.Dennis Skinner in his finest attack mode, trounces Cameron at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s questions, with the harrowing story of his constituent, a farmer and butcher from Bolsover, who was stripped of his benefit by ATOS, and then stripped of his sight, his hearing and finally his life by his cancer whilst waiting for an appeal.
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Employment Minister Hoban forced to rethink Atos after critique from Spartacus
Sep 12th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.At a meeting with Mark Hoban, the ‘work capability assessment’ (WCA) Minister, a delegation of disability activists and I presented him with a systematic catalogue of all the main weaknesses, faults and failures of the whole WCA process. He was told in no uncertain terms that under the Evidence-Based Review new descriptors are needed now since not […]
