Disabled activists are celebrating that a final push with their crowdfunding campaign will now allow copies of a new book about the “violent” history of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to be sent to key politicians across the country.
The book, entitled The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence, by Disability News Service (DNS) editor John Pring, was published by Pluto Press on Tuesday 20th August 2024.
It describes John’s 10-year investigation into how the actions of DWP, spurred on by politicians and the outsourcing industry, led to the deaths of hundreds, and probably thousands, of disabled people, and how they covered up their role in those deaths.
It includes new documents obtained from the National Archives that show how the violence inflicted on benefit claimants built slowly from the late 1980s until it exploded in the post-2010 austerity years.
It also tells the stories of some of those who lost their lives because of that bureaucratic violence, following years of dehumanisation and destitution, and the impact on their families and friends.
At the time of this blog going out the crowdfunder had reached its fundraising goal of £7,000. The original aim was to raise £3,500, enough money to send a copy of The Department to every Labour MP in the House of Commons. But the campaign was so successful that the target was doubled, and the aim extended to MPs from other parties.
Now organisers of the campaign hope to raise enough to provide copies of the book to other leading politicians across the country, including some members of the legislative assembly in Northern Ireland (MLAs), Welsh assembly members, members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs) and other key figures such as elected mayors.
They also plan to use some of the funds to organise a campaign event in parliament on 2 September, the day MPs return from their summer break and the same day the books are due to be delivered to the House of Commons.
Among the organisations supporting the campaign are Disabled People Against Cuts, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP), Inclusion London, Recovery in the Bin and the radical working-class media organisation The Canary.
Rick Burgess, a GMCDP spokesperson, said: “While the DWP dictates policy from Westminster, the devastating and harmful effects are felt everywhere. It’s fantastic the crowdfunder has reached its stretch goal.”
The idea for the crowdfunder came from John McArdle, co-founder of the disabled people’s grassroots group Black Triangle, who is leading the project with fellow disabled activist and author Ellen Clifford, who leads the coalition of disabled people’s organisations monitoring the UK implementation of the UN’s disability rights convention.
John Mc said: “Politicians across the country need to know the devastating impact of austerity on disabled people, so they can use that information when making their own decisions on vital local services. Successive Conservative-led governments used austerity as a justification for cutting disabled people’s support. This book shows how they did that and how it led to countless deaths.
Ellen Clifford has described it as “an expertly crafted, vigorously researched response to the gas-lighting endured by disabled benefit claimants at the hands of government and the DWP for the past 14 years” and “a powerful call to arms for all decent human beings”.
Read the full story in Disability News Service
You can also still contribute to the Crowdfunding page.
Description of image for those using screen reading software
The image is the front cover of John Pring’s book which has a torn and crumpled piece of paper on it baring the legend ‘How a Violent Government Bureaucracy killed hundreds and hid the evidence’.
Crippen Cartoons 