Over 225,000 people have put their names to a petition, calling for publication of the number of people that have died after having being declared “fit for work”. The petition is here.
Iain Duncan Smith and co are fighting a legal battle to keep the true numbers out of the press. The ICO have ruled that the department is acting unreasonably in withholding the evidence.
I ruffled some feathers during the run-up the general election by claiming that a Conservative government would see more people die. Perhaps a little unfair on people that just weren’t confident in Ed Miliband, but the statement was made. Could we be about to get a true idea of the scale of the damage these policies have caused?
The problem is linking the declaration of fitness ti their death. People normally considered fit for work die as a matter of course. How can you tell if they would have survived if their status hadn’t changed? I agree that the government policies have made peoples lives worse. I am completely against many of the austerity measures introduced. I am however, doubtful that you can actually prove the link between these deaths and government policy.
The problem is linking the declaration of fitness ti their death. People normally considered fit for work die as a matter of course. How can you tell if they would have survived if their status hadn’t changed? I agree that the government policies have made peoples lives worse. I am completely against many of the austerity measures introduced. I am however, doubtful that you can actually prove the link between these deaths and government policy.
I think you can - for example an ex-soldier, diabetic, who was denied his benefits and was unable to afford food and electricity (to keep his fridge working so that he could keep his insulin at the required temperature)
That’s reasonably strong case. I hadn’t heard of that. I guess it depends how many cases like this exist. But even within this case there is doubt as his sister says he stopped injecting himself. There could be any number of reasons why he stopped injecting. It could be because the poverty he was in due to cuts made his life unbearable. Or it could have been grief due his mother, depression caused by his illness or life as a soldier. Don’t get me wrong, what has happened is terrible and the way people like this chap have been treated is a disgrace. However, it’s still very difficult to prove a link between his death and the cuts. Even if it seems that that is the cause.
I understand he stopped taking his insulin because he couldn’t afford the electricity to keep his fridge going and insulin needs to be kept in a fridge.
Also diabetics have to eat very regularly and if you can’t afford to buy food because you have no money whatsoever the chances are you’ll fall into a diabetic coma.
You’re right - she didn’t specifically say that. But she did say he couldn’t afford to keep his fridge running for his insulin.
I’m pretty sure the insulin would have been ineffective if it wasn’t kept cold, even if he had taken it. I think the point still stands, too, about his lack of food that he would, as a diabetic, have needed so regularly.
“Tonight his distraught sister Gill Thompson told how she believes he may have stopped injecting himself with the life-saving drug after becoming so desperate over his lack of cash and work.”
See, this is where things get difficult to prove. She doesn’t say he stopped injecting because the insulin was unsafe after not being stored at the right temperature. She says he chose to stop injecting because he basically gave up on life and not having work. Or at least that’s how it could be read, which is my point, it’s difficult to prove a direct link between cuts and death. If people can prove it then well done to them because that’s an important thing to do and they deserve credit. Maybe I’m just a bit cynical and have been beaten down by the man.
hi i have googled and found out that insulin can be kept at room temperature for upto 28 days i wonder what he used to do with his insulin in iraq or whatever makes you think rip
I think that’s what we’re all waiting for - a Request for Information was made some time ago under the Freedom for Information Act and Iain Duncan Smith refused to co-operate. I THINK it went to the High Court or a judicial review or something similar and I think the department has been told to comply. This all happened before the General Election I believe.
The PM implied the information would be made available ‘shortly’ - quite when that’ll be heaven only knows.
There are cases that obviously highlight that some deaths can be linked to sanctions, hence why I have reversed my feelings on further cuts and sanctions.
I think it will be interesting, but will come down to some sort of ‘mismanagement’ of these accounts and ‘regretful circumstances’.
Cutting through the shit, you’ve got a DWP Secretary dragging his heels on facts and figures that are going to make him look bad. While I have a measure of agreement with Fatso’s general point about individual circumstances, it really shouldn’t be a difficult question to answer. How many people classified “fit to work” in a back-to-work assessment scheme died shortly afterwards. I’m sure a fraction of them are going to be explainable, or justifiable, but a fraction of what, precisely?
IDS is both delaying and obscuring these figures. I suppose the question is whether anythiing would happen if he wasn’t, and the numbers were sufficiently large to cause a level of public concern. It is a difficult issue to discern because both sides are presenting extremes as the norm. Those pushing an anti-austerity agenda focus on some of the harshest cases, while IDS and co would have you believe that working people are having their blood sucked by the very small fraction of the benefit budget these people represent.
how bout, right, if it turned out that the dollar they saved by doing benefit cuts, which killed 60 bros, was used to do i.e. more anti-smoking adverts, which saved i.e. 61 bros? I don’t spose that’s the case, it was prob wasted on i.e. more Hillsborough enquiries, but Hypo-pathetically, Would You Be Ok With That?
If the benefits saved from those that died were used for the general good then that would be some sort of justice. I would suggest spending it on £150m re-wiring of the queens house.
