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Petitions and activism

To ask you to all sign this petition asking the government to investigate 9,580 benefits-related deaths?

301 replies

BowieFan · 02/11/2016 15:12

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170364

The excellent Jack Monroe has started a campaign on twitter and has been collating stories of awful experiences with the DWP, Atos, Capita and Maximus. Some of the stories are heartbreaking.

Please, please sign this petition - at the very least, the families of people who died because of the DWP deserve some closure.

Take David Clapson - former soldier who died of hunger and insulin-related shock. He had been sanctioned for being late for an appointment, and couldn't afford to pay for electricity for his fridge to keep his insulin cold. The coroner said his stomach had had no food in it for upwards of three days. Nobody should be dying like that in 2016.

I recommend you check out Jack's twitter (@MxJackMonroe) and read some of the stories using the #HungerHurts hashtag. It's heartbreaking, but we need to confront this.

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PlayOnWurtz · 02/11/2016 15:39

No. Excellent is not a word I'd use to describe ms Monroe at all.

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ItsJustNotRight · 02/11/2016 15:49

Signed. A friend tells me there are very few questions on mental health so it is almost imposssible for anyone with MH issues to score enough points to qualify for benefits. It was a significant factor in contributing to the suicide of their DC.

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BowieFan · 02/11/2016 16:05

Why PlayonWurtz I think she's generally pretty good.

Even if you don't like her, surely you can see that this is something that should be investigated.

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rainyinnovember · 02/11/2016 16:08

I think there is clearly an overhaul needed but a costly and lengthy investigation to conclude with something we all already know - no.

Far better to consider how things can be made smoother and avoid people slipping through the cracks in the first place.

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Bettybooop25 · 02/11/2016 16:10

No sorry. I don't like Jack Monroe and I don't like this 'campaign' that she's started.

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Thefishewife · 02/11/2016 16:12

Why doesn't she look into the people who live next door to me who, have 5 children and have a next income that is more than ours and we fucking work

She should look into them riding around of bloody mini motors all day curtsey of people's like my dh who are up and gone by 6am

FOR WORK the left are always looking for ways people to be victims and keep there hand out stretched

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BowieFan · 02/11/2016 16:13

So you think it's OK that so many people who are "fit to work" have died? Or have died because they were sanctioned unfairly?

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PinkiePiesCupcakes · 02/11/2016 16:14

Nope. Don't like Jack or this campaign.

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BowieFan · 02/11/2016 16:14

Thefishewife

We're not talking about that. We're talking about sick and disabled people who are dying because of sanctions and being found fit for work despite the advice of their trained medical professionals.

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rainyinnovember · 02/11/2016 16:15

I do hate it when people try to win arguments by stating something that no one said.

I have concerns about the benefit system.

However I do not believe this particular campaign is the best one to address it.

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Cheesecake53 · 02/11/2016 16:15

Signed and shared :)

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myyoyo · 02/11/2016 16:16

Why don't you like this campaign pinkiepies?

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Thefishewife · 02/11/2016 16:18

poster BowieFan Wed 02-Nov-16 16:13:05
So you think it's OK that so many people who are "fit to work" have died? Or have died because they were sanctioned unfairly?

In your view people with out stretched hand are always crying could I actually never heard a person say actually

I have a free home paid for by the tax payer my kids are paid for they have free lunches if I am in London I get free travel acully I am good

Your unfair and other who get up at 6am to fund this unfair my well be very Different

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Thefishewife · 02/11/2016 16:19

She claims to be the voice of the working class we are working class and she don't speak for me

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ItsJustNotRight · 02/11/2016 16:23

Thefishwife those people are still alive, this is about those who have died. Let's hope you & yours are never too ill to work. I sometimes think that some of the population won't be happy until we reinstate the workhouse.

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SallyMcgally · 02/11/2016 16:24

She's asking that the stories of those who died should be heard in Parliament. Whatever you feel about her as a person, what's wrong with that?

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ItsJustNotRight · 02/11/2016 16:28

So Fish maybe you should work harder and stop claiming free housing, free lunches and free travel? You must be a parasite by your reckoning.

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PinkiePiesCupcakes · 02/11/2016 16:29

Basically, these numbers and statistics are bandied about by the media to gain sales and headlines:
"Thousands door after being found fit for work"
Actually it means,
"Stats show that a small percentage of claimants have died hafter their claim ended"
But that is inaccurate still. Of the thousands, the vast majority have been four d to have died perfectly naturally and then their claim has ended. BUT the way the info is collected means when someone dies the DWP have to end their claim on set days which could be up to a fortnight before that person died, thus leading to the misleading claim that that person doied 2 weeks after.
Eg:
John Jones claims Disability (or versions thereof). He dies on October the 13th. DWP marks his claim ended on October 1st because they collect fortnightly info. State show he died 13 days after claim ended.
Does that make sense.

Now that's not to sauy there have been no people die shortly after having claims stopped, but it certainly isn't thousands.

Here's a link to FullFact, the independent fact checking charity.
fullfact.org/economy/reporting-fit-work-deaths-isnt-fit-purpose/

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Dawndonnaagain · 02/11/2016 16:44

Fishwife I have worked hard for a number of years, probably more than you. I have become steadily more disabled over the years and now I'm suffering from PTSD as well. I was turned down when I last put my grubby little hand out for a bit of extra, just enough to heat the house in winter because being at home all day and not being particularly mobile until it comes to needing the loo, it gets a tad chilly. I got turned down, despite having copious amounts of evidence. The woman that interviewed me lied. Yes, you read that properly she lied. I am sitting in an unheated house. It's currently five degrees outside and will be chillier this evening. I would work but I have a rather unfortunate tendency to shit myself every hour or so, I'm a tad slow and can't always clean myself up alone. On top of that, I may end up crying every ten minutes, for about twenty minutes at a time. Or I may not, completely unpredictable. My arthritis means I can't manage any delicate work. Any suggestions?

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PausingFlatly · 02/11/2016 16:46

So that's an argument for producing proper figures. The DWP definitely knows which claims stop because of death, because they are notified by the death registrars. They must have simply chosen not to separate out the figures.

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Pisssssedofff · 02/11/2016 16:49

I went for an interview to be an assessor for this organisation .... And within minutes realised I could never work for them. They pay these assesses fuck all setting the poor against the poor really. Felt very very uncomfortable environment.

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RepentAtLeisure · 02/11/2016 16:55

No. Excellent is not a word I'd use to describe ms Monroe at all.

You won't sign the petition because you don't like the OPs use of the word 'excellent'?

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PausingFlatly · 02/11/2016 16:56

Thank you for that informative link to FullFact, btw. I usually find them worth reading.

It picked out a particular refinement that someone who has been found Fit for Work and started the process of challenging that, may not be counted in the figures:

Once found FFW [Fit For Work] an ESA [Employment and Support Allowance] claim ends so anyone who died during a mandatory reconsideration period would not be classed as being in receipt of ESA at the time of death and should therefore not be included in the figures. If the claimant goes on to appeal the MR [Mandatory Reconsideration] decision then the ESA claim is reopened.

(The appeal process has two stages: the first is not called Appeal, it's called Mandatory Reconsideration. People can be left at this stage for months. I was once left 17 months from an ATOS assessment to a decision, after I challenged the original decision.)

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Manumission · 02/11/2016 16:57

Happy to

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PlayOnWurtz · 02/11/2016 17:00

No. I won't sign because it's another ego trip for Ms Monroe.
I won't sign because none of the petitions to date have done anything so I can't see this one will either
I won't sign because there are a proportion of people on dla and Pip who can work to some extent and don't like being told they have to
I won't sign because there is help out there if people want it - of all people who can get help a soldier can there are countless charities for military personnel who have hit hard times on leaving the forces. But you can't help a proud person

Before you accuse me of all sorts I claim pip and I have had a horrible experience at assessment. But no, I will not sign.

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