The Death Toll from Benefit Cuts: The DWP Blocks Attempts to Find the True Numbers

Last Updated: July 13, 2013By

My brother weighs in with a historical perspective on the campaign to persuade the Department for Work and Pensions to release the ESA/IB death figures. From this viewpoint the current government is not only found wanting, but found to be betraying the principles of open government that have made Britain great.

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11 Comments

  1. Nick July 13, 2013 at 6:30 pm - Reply

    the DWP will never release the death figures would you knowing that you would get the government kicked out of office ?

    This country will be running like the middle eastern countries in future you’ll get what you need to see and hear and nothing else

    • Mike Sivier July 13, 2013 at 6:33 pm - Reply

      Nick, we’ve been through this only a few hours ago. Let us get on with trying to get the facts, please!

      And think about this – they’re in a cleft stick. If they release the figures, they might get the boot; if they DON’T, they might still get the boot, for failing to record, hold or release figures that are vital to our understanding of whether they are doing their job properly!

      • Nick July 13, 2013 at 8:41 pm - Reply

        i understand mike but sometimes you have to realize that all the blogs like this one are not drawing the desired input from the public

        This is one of the top ten bloggs on this subject DWP but how many people are reading it ? and furthermore understanding on what has happened to these sick and disabled people who have lost their lives through no fault of their own

        it is very difficult mike to make sense of any of it the government will just carry on with their head in the sand and that is the end of that

        you must have heard of sue marsh ? she has been on tv and radio over the past 3 years batting as a disabled person herself on behalf of getting the welfare reform more balanced and despite her meeting many mp’s she has not got much further then when she started

        http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/

        i may sound negative but i am ill but I’m also a realist and live in the real world but the government has set out an agenda and as they keep saying on the tv there sticking to it so please believe it because i most certainly do

        • Mike Sivier July 13, 2013 at 9:28 pm - Reply

          I’m sure Sue will speak for herself if she wants to do so.

          I’m aware the government has set out an agenda. Are you aware that this government has made more U-turns (reversals in policy), probably than any other in the history of the UK? It seems strange, then, that this policy – this hugely unpopular policy – should be the sticking point for it.

          I’ll just keep on plugging away, if you don’t mind.

          • Nick July 13, 2013 at 11:11 pm

            i an with you mike as you have said before you are well but for the likes of myself who are ill it is very difficult to feel positive and am sure most ill people would agree with me

            but as a outsider all we do on the blog front is just go round in circles and that is something ill people cant do as much as we would like to as depression is something we desperately try to keep at bay

            i hope you understand my view point and i do like sue admire your work but as i have said the agenda has been set and the government are not like in the past and i don’t see any sign of a u- turn as the tone from anne begg is not what i would call encouraging nor from lord fraued in fact from him things will get worse as his mind is well set to destroy people like myself

          • Mike Sivier July 13, 2013 at 11:30 pm

            I think you’re right about Lord Fraud – I mean, Freud.

            But we’re not going around in circles here. My FOI request is likely to succeed. If the DWP then says it has destroyed all the relevant information, that puts it in a very actionable position, legally. So matters are moving forward.

          • Nick July 14, 2013 at 12:13 am

            i hope you’re right as this like sues are the only blogs that keep on the main topic

  2. janice July 13, 2013 at 7:04 pm - Reply

    what can i say ? i love your brother for what he is doing i for 1 am rite behind him xx

  3. Mike July 13, 2013 at 8:31 pm - Reply

    lying by omission is that not their Modus oparandi? that is how they taught me history and current affairs at school.

  4. branwen July 13, 2013 at 9:52 pm - Reply

    Politicians from the other parties should be demanding transparency in these matters – of course we know they wont because they are all in it together. There should be some form of legal redress open to those who have suffered and a legal right to all the facts – in the meantime all we can do is keep protesting. Keep up the good work.

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