IF WE TREAT THEM BADLY ENOUGH THEY WILL ALL DIE AND WE'LL SAVE ON THE BENEFITS

George Potter has a particularly interesting post here, about the horrific number of deaths among people who have either completed, or are in the process of completing the ATOS assessments. (Between January and August last year, 1,100 claimants died after they were put in the "work-related activity group", where they have reduced benefits and are given help to find work; 1,600 people died before their assessment had been completed and 5,300 who were put in the "support group"  -  the most unwell, also died.)


Of course, as George points out, some of them may have been hit by buses only a matter of weeks after being declared fit for work, or indeed while the tortuous process of the assessment is taking place, but surely not thousands of them.

The article is based on information sought by The Daily Mirror from the DWP by way of FoI request. Interestingly,  according to the Mirror, 'We don't know how many people died after being found "fit to work", as that information was "not available" '. I wonder why, Mr Grayling? Any ideas?  It surely couldn't be that it was just too embarrassing, could it? 


Or could it?


Yes, of course there are people cheating on sickness benefit, and we need to find ways of dealing with this, but there are very very many more who are not cheating; who are in fact seriously and horribly ill, and ATOS clearly seems to care not a whit about this or the consequences of its cavalier attitude to what is, after all, life and death to the clients, as long as it reaches its targets. 


Incredibly, when people appeal against ATOS decisions 40% of the decisions are overturned, and when appellants have legal representation at the hearings, which are conducted according to English Law by the English Department of Justice (even in the Celtic countries), the number of overturned decisions rises to 75%, and as high as 90-95% in some (geographical) areas, where clearly ATOS is employing work experience children, or possibly their pet cats, to do the assessments.


Despite this seemingly astounding level of  incompetence (which would surely not be tolerated anywhere else), ATOS managed to make £42 million profit out of us in 2010, and its boss was paid £800,000. (What was it Pickles said about people not being entitled to more than the prime minister if they were working for the government? Just another pile of hypocritical crap from the government, was it?)


It seems to me that if you are monstrously incompetent, unlikely to get results and have very little regard for people or human life in general, the DWP is a good place to pitch up for contracts. After all, as well as the apparently criminally useless ATOS, we have the simply criminal A4E, which appears to believe that if it just says it got people into work (along with the magic words) and claims the fee for having done so, a good wizard will come along like the tooth fairy and make it so. 


And no one at the DWP seems to give ATOS (a toss).


Don't you just wish that they would take their vile Department for Work and Pensions and bugger off, and leave Scotland to deal with its sick.

IDLE THOUGHTS ...

"British Gas would do better to focus more on being energy experts not experts in making a quick buck at the expense of the British people. We get gigantic gas and electric bills, they get gigantic profits, this has got to stop. We urgently need the Government to intervene and impose a levy on the big six energy firms to help people with their bills, coupled with an independent public inquiry into energy just like we've had for banking and the media." Gavin Hayes, General Secretary, Compass.  He's not really wrong, is he?


Mr Cameron has said Britain will find another £51m for aid to refugees fleeing from Somalia to Kenya and Ethiopia. Clearly he has become a great expert on Somalia (which is a relief as he seems to be expert at nothing else), because he is claiming that Somalia is 'within reach" of a new political process. Unlike some, I have no problem with us being generous to those who have it far harder than we can even begin to understand, but I wish the government were a little more understanding of the plight of some Britons. The trouble is that the world's press isn't showing any interest when we are talking about some of the welfare reforms. As for his analysis of the Somali situation? Any takers?

Oh dear, oh dear. Another of Cameron's close aids, Emma Harrison, has had to resign from her Tzar post, as her company, A4e, is being investigated for "systematically" defrauding the government (yes, the same government she was advising about family). And only a few weeks ago she happily boasted that she was "in and out" of Downing Street. Only 'out' now I'd think Emma sweetie. Pity. That seat in the HoL was only weeks away.

In yet more embarrassment for Cameron, the Royal College of Paediatricians and Health Care, one of the Royal Colleges that was in favour of his privatisation plans for the NHS in England, and as a result was invited to the "nodding heads" summit at Downing Street this week, has changed its mind partly as a result of that very summit. Cameron apparently made it clear to the attendees (all his buddies), that he will push ahead with the changes regardless of the opposition. The college's chairman, Professor Terence Stephenson, has explained that this is impracticable. For the changes to work, the government must take the clinicians along with them. That's not Cameron's style though. Another example of bully boy Flashman tactics when he thought he was among friends.

"Put a young person into college for a month's learning, unpaid – and it's hailed as a good thing. Put a young person into a supermarket for a month's learning, unpaid – and it's slammed as slave labour." So says Cameron. But you see, Mr Cameron, there is a difference. In a college there is a real chance they will learn something; whereas in Tesco's they will provide the company with cheap labour so that they can make more profit by not employing someone. Simples! And as Tesco are now offering paid placements in the same way as they were previously offering unpaid placements, I think we can call it "job done". Cameron says he is sick of the anti-business culture. I say, who the hell cares what he's sick of?

The Royal Bank has lost a fearsome £2 billion this year. It's staff are getting almost half of that (785 million) in bonuses. On the same day, the English have announced that there will be a pay freeze in council wages, for the third year running. Now, I can understand that there's no money for pay rises for council staff, but when your wage has been frozen for three years and inflation has been running at 3-6% according to official figures, then you have got seriously poorer in that time. Imagine then, if you will, that a company, almost entirely owned by the tax payer, which made £2 billion of a loss, is paying out getting on for a billion in bonuses, never mind the pay rises... well!!!! Add that to an international sporting competition costing £25 billion going down in the middle of the summer, and I'd say you were begging for BIG trouble.

Talking of Olympics, have you seen the stamps? There is just no way on Earth I will pay whatever it is to put an advertisement for this festival of wealth on my letters. I trust Scottish stamps will continue to be available for the duration.