#VotingToryKillsDisabledPeople Archives

Chronically ill father hung himself after cruel DWP stopped his benefits, inquest told

6 June 2019 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

From Welfare Weekly: A chronically ill father hung himself shortly after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took the cruel decision to stop his lifeline benefit payments, an inquest has heard.

Kevin, from Leeds, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and mental health problems, was found dead by his daughter shortly before Christmas 2018.

An inquest into his death heard how the 48-year-old often struggled to breath because of his condition, but was still found “fit for work” following a medical assessment for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

His daughter, Leanne Dooley, is convinced that the DWP’s decision to stop her father’s benefit payments “led to him taking his own life”, due to being left in financial distress and unable to pay bills.

[Read full article on Welfare Weekly…]

PM refuses to scrap work capability assessments despite link to suicides

10 October 2018 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

From Welfare Weekly: Theresa May has refused to scrap her government’s controversial Work Capability Assessments, despite reports almost one in two women taking part in the assessments say they have attempted suicide before or after the process.

Ian Blackford, Commons leader of the SNP, congratulated the Prime Minister on her appointment of a Minister for Suicide Prevention, but said if the Prime Minister was serious about the issue, she would eradicate polices that lead people to believe suicide is their only option.

A series of secret internal inquiries into the deaths of people claiming social security revealed that UK government ministers were repeatedly warned of shortcomings of their social security policies.

Nearly one in every two women (47%) claiming incapacity benefits and undergoing the WCA have attempted suicide.

[Read full article on Welfare Weekly…]

Theresa May refuses to reveal any details of disabled benefit claimants’ suicides, instead says “work is the best route out of poverty”

24 January 2018 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

From Daily Mirror: Theresa May has refused to reveal any details of suicides by disabled benefit claimants, instead cruelly declaring: “Work is the best route out of poverty.”

[Read article on Mirror website…]

Attempted suicides by disability benefit claimants more than double after introduction of fit-to-work assessment

28 December 2017 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

From The Independent: According to new analysis of NHS data from surveys taken in 2007 and 2014, nearly half of people surveyed on out-of-work disability benefits said in 2014 that they had attempted to take their own lives.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Mentally distressed man declared ‘fit for work’ by DWP found dead on beach days later

11 November 2017 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

From Evolve Politics: A man declared ‘fit for work’ by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), despite suffering with extreme anxiety, stress and panic attacks for nine years, has been found dead on a beach after his sickness benefits were removed.

Following the removal of his benefits, 54-year-old David Metcalf was visited by police and a mental health practitioner after concerns for his wellbeing were raised. Just four days later he was found dead on a Durham beach. Read more

Fiona Robertson: Voting Tory in #GE17 is a vote to kill people like me

9 May 2017 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

Disability activist and writer Fiona Robertson writes on Commonspace: “When I and my fellow disability activists woke up on the morning after the last General Election, we spent an unrelenting few days tag teaming as we tried to keep people in our community alive. We were not always successful. Over and over, hour after hour, we saw iterations of the same message: ‘I do not think I will survive this government.’

“There were 30,000 extra deaths in England and Wales in 2015 as a result of cuts to health and social care, according to research by Oxford University. There were hundreds of suicides by the very lowest estimates, though we who spend our days working with people who are struggling to survive this government know there are more which aren’t counted; that there are many, many deaths because the stress and fear and pain and malnutrition and isolation exacerbated a person’s condition to the point of lethality. Read more

Disabled man worried by benefit cuts killed himself by setting himself on fire

29 April 2017 #StopTheTories Channel Monitoring

From Daily Mirror: A disabled man committed suicide in front of horrified shoppers in a town centre by setting himself on fire, after fearing that he faced a cut in his benefits, an inquest heard.