UN to probe the UK's deadly disability cuts

[Ecoclimber]

UN to probe the UK's deadly disability cuts

UN investigators to determine if the government committed "grave violations" after disabled people ordered back to work.

|Dunham/AP]
London, United Kingdom - The UK has become the first country in the world to be placed under investigation by the United Nations for violating the human rights of people with disabilities amid fears that thousands may have died as a consequence of controversial welfare reforms and austerity-driven cuts to benefits and care budgets...

..."It is absolutely shameful that we are the first country in the world to be investigated," said Linda Burnip, founder of the campaign group, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), which submitted evidence to the UN over several years to trigger the inquiry...[FONT=Comic Sans MS,sans-serif]After years of austerity policies, the coalition government is planning to slash benefits by another $19bn...

...Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in August showed that 2,380 people died between 2011 and 2014 shortly after having their benefits stopped. A further 7,200 people also died after having their benefits reduced and being put in groups to help them prepare for a return to work...

..."We urgently need an enquiry into the government's back-to-work regime. These disturbing findings cannot be swept under the carpet. The fact that more than 80 people are dying each month shortly after being declared 'fit for work' should concern us all," said Frances O'Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress...

...Freud said in 2012 the poor should take the biggest risks as 'they’ve got least to lose' [Policy Exchange]
UK minister: Disabled not worth minimum wage... More:

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[Sasha]

Thanks, @Ecoclimber - this is great news and that article is well worth reading.

Here's the excerpt with the formatting stripped out and the auto-cut bits added back in (I've never seen a news piece fight back like this, and the injection of Comic Sans is just weird!):

UN to probe the UK's deadly disability cuts

UN investigators to determine if the government committed "grave violations" after disabled people ordered back to work.

Dunham/AP

London, United Kingdom - The UK has become the first country in the world to be placed under investigation by the United Nations for violating the human rights of people with disabilities amid fears that thousands may have died as a consequence of controversial welfare reforms and austerity-driven cuts to benefits and care budgets.

UN inspectors are expected to arrive in the country within days to begin collecting evidence to determine whether the British government has committed "systematic and grave violations" of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The convention, which came into force in 2008, codifies the rights of disabled people to freedom, respect, equality and dignity.

"It is absolutely shameful that we are the first country in the world to be investigated," said Linda Burnip, founder of the campaign group, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), which submitted evidence to the UN over several years to trigger the inquiry.

"The UK was at one stage doing quite well in meeting disabled people's human rights and supporting people living independently, but all of that has been stripped away."

Disability rights activists joined large crowds of anti-austerity demonstrators on the streets of Manchester last week as British Prime Minister David Cameron's governing Conservative Party staged its annual conference in the city against a backdrop of angry popular protests.

Some pushed skeletons in wheelchairs holding signs reading: "Declared fit for work" - a reference to the government's widely criticised "work capability assessment" scheme, under which hundreds of thousands of people who previously received disability welfare have seen their payments stopped and been told to find jobs.

Some pushed skeletons in wheelchairs holding signs reading: "Declared fit for work" - a reference to the government's widely criticised "work capability assessment" scheme, under which hundreds of thousands of people who previously received disability welfare have seen their payments stopped and been told to find jobs.

"People are living in fear on a daily basis of either being sanctioned and left with no money, or that their care will suddenly be cut, and they'll be trapped in their homes, and they won't be able to go out and do anything any more."

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in August showed that 2,380 people died between 2011 and 2014 shortly after having their benefits stopped. A further 7,200 people also died after having their benefits reduced and being put in groups to help them prepare for a return to work...

"We urgently need an enquiry into the government's back-to-work regime. These disturbing findings cannot be swept under the carpet. The fact that more than 80 people are dying each month shortly after being declared 'fit for work' should concern us all," said Frances O'Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.

Weird that we have to hear about this from Al Jazeera!

 

[alex3619]

This has been developing since the first half of the year. While the deaths cited are in the thousands, the full death toll may be on the order of a hundred thousand. If an increase in total deaths is used, and projected to now (based on UK government data) the death toll is more like 100,000. Is this genocide? Is covering it up genocide? Is willfully ignoring it genocide?

Its clear cut when a government uses military force or death squads. What is the significance of passing laws that kill the disabled as a secondary consequence? This is not a trivial question, it may be very important to address this question.

 

[snowathlete]

The shame of it. What has happened to my country?

 

[Sasha]

The shame of it. What has happened to my country?

I know. Utterly shameful that this is happening in a developed country.

A source of great shame to the UK.

 

[Sean]

What has happened to my country?

The spivs got into government.

FWIW, it is happening in other countries, to a greater or lesser degree. We here in Oz are fighting exactly the same forces, sometimes the very same faces.

 

[alex3619]

There are some people in our government here that admire what is being done in the UK, and we started down the same road. Its widespread, its just that it has been more obvious in the UK.

 

[Ecoclimber]

Unfortunately the austerity mantra is being promoted throughout the EU especially with Merkel and her austerity policy toward Greece, Spain and other EU countries. Yet at the same time, they are able to absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees who will require enormous outlays of economic support. The austerity program is hitting Australia, Canada and even here in the U.S.

What we observe taking place is the balancing the budget off the backs of the poor, disabled and the elderly to forego the expense of raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Starbucks (Netherlands), Facebook, Apple, (Ireland) which have all created shell and holding companies in tax havens such as Isle of Man, Cyprus, Cayman, Maldives, Gilbralter,etc.
Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in 2014
Social network giant Facebook paid just £4,327 ($6,643) in corporation tax in 2014, its latest UK results show.

Paul Ryan, Congressional representative of Wisconsin is Chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee. He is currently being recruited for the speaker of the House. His philosophy is wrapped in Ann Rand, 'Atlas Shrugged' a philosophy based on 'survival of the fittest. She is a philosopher who once said she “promote[d] the ethic of selfishness.”

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/paul-ryan-tells-seniors-its-too-bad-if-

Paul Ryan Tells Seniors It's Too Bad If You Lose Your Benefits ~~~ "... We Can't Keep Doing Everything For Everybody In This Country."

(As Congressman Paul Ryan cracked a joke about him, Tom Nielsen found himself face down on the floor being handcuffed by police. The 71-year-old retired plumber from Kenosha was thrown to the ground, placed in handcuffs, and arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest after objecting to Ryan's plans to gut Social Security and Medicare during his congressman's only public appearance scheduled during the August recess -- a $15 Rotary Club luncheon in West Allis on Tuesda)

http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/take-look-what-paul-ryan-did-his-own-congressional-district-and-be-very-scared-your?page=0,2

Take a Look at What Paul Ryan Did to His Own Congressional District, and Be Very Scared for Your Country: Child abuse and suicide is skyrocketing, the number of battered women has tripled, foreclosures have tripled, wages plummeting, and more.

His philosphy has been reported as well in the TheGuardian, Time Magazine, New Repubic and Huffington Post as well.


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[alex3619]

This started long before austerity measures were needed. Its been going on for more than a decade. Its tied to the social theory behind some proponents of biopsychosocial medicine. They have outrageous views, completely unsubstantiated, but they sound good to a certain mindset, and specific economic and political ideologies.

 

[Sean]

Its tied to the social theory behind some proponents of biopsychosocial medicine. They have outrageous views, completely unsubstantiated, but they sound good to a certain mindset, and specific economic and political ideologies.

Agree. There is a nasty confluence of certain beliefs and goals and vested interests. The BPS school provide a thin veneer of pseudo-scientific justification for some very harsh and regressive government policies. 'Behavioural activation', and all that sort of gobshite.