[UK] Autistic man starves to death-Why? Benefits cut by ATOS

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Even the most die hard of social reactionaries now have to admit we are now well and truly through the looking glass.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/110433 ... _were_cut/

Hello,

I believe that yes, we are.

The other day, I heard or read that in France (but I don't remember where I happened to read about it), it's about 60 whole families a year that die because of lack of help. Or very wrong help. It's a disaster.

Unless there is a wide spread famine and food shortage it makes no sense why anyone would starve.How awful.

The UK benefits application process is a finely tuned product of years of sociopathic bureaucracy. It is an obstacle course of humilitating forms, interviews and document collecting that would make an able bodied persons head spin let alone an aspie or someone with poor executive functioning.

Its engineered with the specific process of detering as many people as possible and the government is continually inventing ways to make applications more awkward with this goal in mind.

The forms are structured in a way to be as intimidating as possible. While assessment is done, assessors only look for placement of key words and consistency. I knew someone that know how this system is failing individuals.

The forms themselves are almost guaranteed to fail, 90% or so of time. Because there's so many, the forms can't be thoroughly assessed so there's likely an automated process in handling things.

Reconsideriations and reassessments often fall through and it's often left to an independent medical tribunal in courts that most appeals are accepted.

I had the "fortunate" experience being in a court room in front of 3 medical health professionals and judges to prove, despite having full written evidence from 4 various health professionals about diagnosis.

I recommend anyone having trouble with the appeals to take things all the way to the court of appeals as deemed necessary. Seek Citizens Advice if you have to.

Your title isn't quite true. He didn't die because ATOS cut his benefits; he died because of a range of issues, and the benefit cut contributed to it.

Sounds like the man was very much at risk even without his benefits being cut. He was severely underweight and malnourished and probably had a lot of problems in that area. Him refusing any other help when he was in hardship would not have helped. It doesn't sound like he was close to his family.

But yes, the ATOS system is very heartless.

But them cutting him off is what made him die because of his issues. He isn't the only one who has died after getting their befits cut by them.

http://www.demotix.com/news/2816810/lon ... ia-2816315

http://www.demotix.com/atos-slash-disability-benefits

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/1 ... im-ending/

What I don't understand is the parents gave their son 260 pounds and he gave it to someone else because he wanted to be independent. Well he wasn't so independent when he was living on benefits IMO so getting money from your own family for survival isn't any different than getting benefits from ATOS.

I still am curious how all these mentally ill and disabled people died after getting cut off by them. Did they commit suicide or something?


I wonder if the system is trying to get rid of moochers but instead it backfired because they are cutting off the wrong people whom they assume can work. Statistically, very few people are abusing the system but that is for the USA.

These stories are the true goal of the conservative party. They want to squeeze the vulnerable as much as possible to this end. It suits them to have people die rather than support them on benefits.

Atos are a bunch of filthy liars saying they make a thorough assessment. If they did then they would have contacted that man's GP.

And furthermore our government is not saving any money by doing all of this because they are paying companies like Atos, A4E, and who knows how many others to do all this. So even if they manage to kick a few people off benefits they will have spent more doing so.

In Manchester Atos sent a letter to a woman in a coma asking her to attend a back to work interview!

Yes the system is trying to get rid of anyone who is claiming incorrectly. There is a thing called the Work Program in Britain for the long term unemployed. It is held up as a helpful way of getting people back into work. But my adviser told me that it is really about uncovering those people who are claiming benefits but also working on the side. They are looking for those people who have no intention of finding work. But at the same time they not really helping those who are seeking work but cannot find it. Apparently they have an internal phrase called "parking". This is something they do to those they think will never find work because of a disability or lack of education etc, they basically leave them and don't bother doing anything for them.

The benefits system is absolutely s**t.

It's completely arse about face.

The reason why it was put into place initially has been completely lost, to the point where the most deserving in society are left to f*****g die, and those who aren't deserving of it are exploiting it for all it's worth.

I don't often get annoyed, I do about this.

This makes me cry.

Just saw Edwina Currie on Panorama saying she thinks food banks "should be scrapped because they encourage bad choices".

What a disgusting excuse for a human. Why do people elect these monsters?

It sounds like the English govt has gone completely bonkers and is wanting disabled people to simply hurry up and die. In the USA we have the Tea Party (radical conservatives) who control the lower house of Congress, but the upper house and the presidency are controlled by liberals and who can put the brakes on any wild ideas that the TP tries to ram through.

America's system was designed so that one small group couldn't seize control of the entire govt and ram through harmful policies. In England you have the House of Commons, that's it, and if a small group of radicals grabs it they have pretty much carte blanche to do as they please. The English believe that "nobles and the Queen (or King) are above politics" so the House of Lords and the monarch simply rubber stamp whatever the House of Commons comes up with. England doesn't have a court system set up to rule on general matters of law, unlike the US, and the US has a written constitution that all policies can be judged by.

I feel sorry for you guys over there, a revolution is looking more and more likely the longer the nuts hold power. Americans love to jabber about revolution, but very few people are willing to go all out and forcibly overthrow the govt. The only examples of govt overthrow after the American Civil War are on the local level, such as the Battle of Athens in Tennessee (I think) after WW2 where a corrupt cabal got into power in a rural area and thwarted all attempts at change so the local farmers grabbed their guns and forced the corrupt pols out.

If I had my way, the people responsible would be round up and publicly tortured before being hung from the neck until dead. I'm usually against death as punishment, but these scum showed no mercy, no care for their fellow man, and will never contribute anything but pain to our world.