Duncan Smith and Grayling ‘must face criminal probe’ over WCA deaths

Last Updated: March 24, 2016By
Will Iain Duncan Smith slither out of this one?

Will Iain Duncan Smith slither out of this one?

Disabled activists are calling for Iain Duncan Smith to face a criminal investigation over his refusal to address a coroner’s concerns about the safety of the “fitness for work” test, which led to “countless deaths” over the last six years.

They want to hold Duncan Smith – and his former employment minister Chris Grayling – to account for their failure to improve the safety of the work capability assessment (WCA), even though they were warned that it risked causing further deaths.

Tomorrow (25 March), one leading disabled activist will meet with two officers from Police Scotland so he can hand over a dossier of evidence calling for Duncan Smith (pictured) and Grayling to face charges of misconduct in public office.

John McArdle, co-founder of Scottish-based Black Triangle, said he believed that Duncan Smith and Grayling had shown “reckless disregard for the lives of disabled people”.

He said: “For so long, the government has acted with sheer contempt for the rule of law.

“It is time they woke up and realised that the law doesn’t only apply to us, but to them equally.”

McArdle said he believed there was sufficient evidence for a file to be submitted by Police Scotland to the Procurator Fiscal, the Scottish equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service.

He said he had “no doubt whatsoever” that Duncan Smith and Grayling had both “knowingly” neglected their public duty, and added: “The facts speak for themselves.”

Source: Duncan Smith and Grayling ‘must face criminal probe’ over WCA deaths

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16 Comments

  1. nicola159nicola March 24, 2016 at 2:00 pm - Reply

    Good. I doubt the police will act – but who knows? I sincerely hope they do, though. Those two need to swing for the blood on their hands – especially that CUNextTuesday, IDS.

    • A Grumpy_Old_Man (@Hairyloon) March 25, 2016 at 6:12 pm - Reply

      The first question is of whether the police have recorded the incident as a report of a crime; if they have not, then they are duty bound to say why they did not…
      Unfortunately the police do not always seem to be bound by their duty…

      • Nick March 26, 2016 at 9:21 pm - Reply

        The only way the government can be held to account is for either a lawyer or the press bring to the attention of all those that have died in going through welfare reform to the public as a whole

        what we have at the minute is that the public are aware of the deaths of the sick and disabled but they think it is only a few when in reality it is vast

        maybe if the police look at how many that have died and under what circumstances there maybe be a way forward form them to take action and persecute IDS and CO

        All we know is that hundreds of sick and disabled were told they were fit for work but were not and died shortly after

        these are the facts and they are the only facts that a court could consider

        By the very nature of these deaths those concerned were ill hence they died but a jury would need convincing that by being told they were fit for work did that expedite that death

        now if that could be proved that those those deaths were expedited and the additional stress that had taken place on being told they were fit for work then yes i believe a court case could take place especially as IDS had been told that many were dying by many people

        if i were the police commander i would certainly bring him in for questioning about the deaths of the sick and disabled and get him to explain the many hundreds of deaths that the public know of as outlined in the Facebook blog remember the dead and how all these people came to die so soon after being told they were fit for work

        was this negligence on behalf of the DWP ?

        was this negligence on behalf of IDS only ?

        was this negligence on behalf of other government ministers ?

        or was their someone within the DWP or their contractors who was out to kill intenthionnly ?

        for example telling a long term person with mental health that they would not be receiving any benefits in future that would indeed prove fatel’ as with nothing to live for and no doubt become homeless that person would likely to commit suicide and that has we have all witnessed that to be the case

        as i say i would bring IDS and co in for questioning as to what went wrong and why did so many sick and disabled have to die in the way that they did

        https://www.facebook.com/ribbonsforwelfare?hc_location=stream

  2. jeffrey davies March 24, 2016 at 2:03 pm - Reply

    hmm norman law

  3. Iain Crawford March 24, 2016 at 2:10 pm - Reply

    Looks suspiciously like a breach of Health and Safety Law to me.

  4. Nick March 24, 2016 at 2:23 pm - Reply

    they both need to be tried for the deaths of hundreds of sick and disabled people over the past 6 years

    if you go to the facebook page remember the dead you will find that in just scrolling down will take forever to get to the first of the deaths that were recorded there which just goes to show how large that list of dead are in going through welfare reform

    https://www.facebook.com/ribbonsforwelfare?hc_location=stream

  5. David March 24, 2016 at 3:13 pm - Reply

    Wouldn’t it be lovely to see those two scoundrels in the dock?

  6. Lynnette March 24, 2016 at 5:46 pm - Reply

    Wouldn’t it just David. I have been saying for ages that it would all go wrong and they would get their comeuppance. (I’m being very polite)which is more than they deserve. The amount of stress and heartache they have caused cannot be measured and I speak from experience. The irony is I’m disabled because I worked in the NHS and this is how you get treated

  7. Michael Broadhurst March 24, 2016 at 5:50 pm - Reply

    it would be the highlight of the year for those 2 to be charged and teach these arrogant b*****ds they cant just do what they want.

  8. roybeiley March 24, 2016 at 7:09 pm - Reply

    If they are ever charged they will probable employ Cameron’s brother as their defence lawyer. If you recall he reprented Rebekka Brookes and look what the outcome was in that case. The Law and Justice are not the same.

  9. John March 24, 2016 at 9:46 pm - Reply

    Never mind misconduct (although I wouldn’t complain of course), I think it’s Corporate Manslaughter we all want, isn’t it?
    Both of these ‘people’ MUST PAY – – End Of!
    I’m not sure that those people out there that care, will allow them to get away SCOT FREE (no pun intended).

    • A Grumpy_Old_Man (@Hairyloon) March 25, 2016 at 6:09 pm - Reply

      I don’t believe that they meet the requirements for Corporate Manslaughter, but Misconduct in Public Office can carry a life sentence.
      It seems to me to be an offence that is widely committed, but almost never acted upon.

  10. Brian March 24, 2016 at 10:02 pm - Reply

    “Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic responsible for ‘Srebrenica genocide’, sentenced to 40 years”.

    Lets hope it does not take a long time before Iain Duncan Smith is up before the Human Rights Court for Abuse.

  11. MarkG March 25, 2016 at 12:33 pm - Reply

    This would be a light of true democracy and law. Unfortunately we do not have these things. Every MPs bank accounts should be investigated to see what money came from firms given contracts or questions made in parliament. I would bet my life there would be 25% would go to jail for fraud and corruption. We have the most vile criminal murdering cowardly b——ds to ever rule in Britain. Would love to see every Tory MP behind bars.

  12. collette March 25, 2016 at 3:59 pm - Reply

    I have been saying this for a long time but what about Osborne and Cameron they also allowed this to happen they all have blood on their hands.

  13. Malcolm MacINTYRE-READ March 26, 2016 at 1:24 pm - Reply

    I do hope that John McArdle has a better response from today’s Police Scotland officers than an investigative journalist got from previous place officers in Scotland

    He was detained for talking with local residents whose properties and daily life were being stamped on by Donald Trump to ensure that he would be able to build a vanity golf course in an SSSI, an act that was filmed by the journalist’s accompanying crew… but there does not appear to have ever been an explanation for the laws the officers were applying.

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