[Sunshine Meadows]

I left the word death out of the title because we do have people reading the headlines who are triggered by such things.

Everyone needs to be aware that this thread is going to include distressing information and discussion. Please do not read on if its not for you.
 

To get started here are two links to more recent articles on the topic. I will add my thoughts to the next post.

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwps-secret-benefit-deaths-reviews-investigations-into-deaths-double-in-two-years/

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwps-secret-benefit-deaths-reviews-universal-credit-death-linked-to-claimant-commitment-threats/

[Sunshine Meadows]

Some of you will remember in the early days of Ouch Too we had threads on this topic and I would talk about how we did not have any comparable information about rate deaths occurred when people were claiming Incapacity Benefit. I dont like it when any news sources uses a headline which uses words like numbers have doubled without adding the actual number.

In my opinion we would be better served by emphasising the fact that one avoidable death is too many. However I am not sure how that would play in the media so as things are maybe the headline the News Service used is appropriate.

John McArle makes a good point,

McArdle said that if there was a tragedy involving the deaths of 33 people in a train crash there would be an independent inquiry into what went wrong.

I agree with the following

“Universal credit should be scrapped, sanctions should be scrapped and the government should call off the dogs, because it is leading to people’s deaths.”

Maybe by emphasising the death rate campaigners are saying the suffering caused to claimants generally is so significant that it causes death.

 

[JLR2]

Sadly the way the government have tried to bring in this wholesale reform of the benefits system from when it started under IDS has been to use claimants as expendable human test tubes as again and again the government changes its formula. It would appear it takes the number of deaths to reach a particular level before the government decides it'll have to again change its formula.

Were it any Westminster MP's son or daughter suffering under these experiments we might see real interest in them in preventing more deaths but as things stand I feel most MPs are only concerned to secure enough support from their political party's candidate selection committee rather than what is in the interest of those on welfare benefits in their constituency who find themselves subject to the government's hostile benefits policies.

[lankou]

Some of you will remember in the early days of Ouch Too we had threads on this topic and I would talk about how we did not have any comparable information about rate deaths occurred when people were claiming Incapacity Benefit.

Actually I do have offlows due to death from each benefit in paper format because I used to be sent them from the Goverment statistical department on a regular basis, (this was from the very start of IB,) Later they were emailed to me.
That stopped the day Iain Duncan Smith was put in charge of the DWP.
Since then court cases, the information commissioner, freedom of information requests and hard campainging has not got those offlows due to deaths published again.
The touchy subjects for the DWP are the death rates for those in the support group,death rates of those who appeal and die before they gate to a tribunal  and the deaths of those found fit for work who are not on any benefit and not in work because over 500000 of those have disappeared and are not on ANY database.
A figure was used at the Labour party conference yesterday of 118000 deaths. I personally think it is higher than that beause thay figure is the total for 2010-2015.

[JLR2]

''A figure was used at the Labour party conference yesterday of 118000 deaths''

I missed that Lankou, partly because the coverage by the BBC has been terrible with their main presenter winding me up as she constantly interrupts those she is asking questions of before they've had a chance to draw breath as they attempt to respond to her question.

[Sunshine Meadows]

Lankou can you remember who mentioned the 118,000 deaths? It is just I would like to read more of what they said.

You make a good point about the people who lost their benefits entiely and are no longer in the database. I have up to now not seen any statistics about how couples were affected when one partner's Contributions based ESA WRAG time limited ran out.

[Fiz]

I was at a meeting on Monday where someone waiting for their PIP tribunal which would sort out her failed messed up universal credit claim was. She looked skeletal physically but the glazed vacant look of her face made me feel there's no life inside her. This is universal credit at work.

I really felt for her.

[lankou]

Lankou can you remember who mentioned the 118,000 deaths? It is just I would like to read more of what they said.

I personally don't use the 118000 deaths because it is out of date, because it only relates to Iain Duncan Smith's time in charge of the DWP.
The 118000 number is one that was forced out of the DWP by court actions, Freedom Of information requests and action by the Information Commissioner.
I do not have access to the data.

Edited to add there are some embedded links here. (I am not a fan of The Canary.)

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2018/08/16/the-dwp-was-just-forced-to-reveal-that-100-benefit-claimants-a-day-have-been-dying-on-its-watch/