This was not suicide – it was ‘social murder’ by the Tory DWP
Jodey Whiting, 42, took her own life after her benefits were stopped [Image: Evening Gazette].
Four years after This Writer, on This Site, launched a campaign to force the Tories into revealing the extent of their bloodshed – a successful campaign, at that – they are still getting away with it.
Perhaps even more upsetting is the fact that some readers will seize on the fact that Jodey Whiting was a mother of nine, and claim that she was a scrounger.
The simple fact is that she was relying on the ESA to which even the DWP now admits she was entitled – and the government took it away from her for no reason.
Does the Tory government’s action not fit the following description, from Friedrich Engels’ The Condition of the Working Class in England, published in 1845 (for those of you who want to know how far we have regressed under Conservatism)?
“When society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live – forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence – knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual; disguised, malicious murder, murder against which none can defend himself, which does not seem what it is, because no man sees the murderer, because the death of the victim seems a natural one, since the offence is more one of omission than of commission. But murder it remains.”
I think it does. “Murder it remains.”
The mother of a disabled mum-of-nine who took her own life after her benefits were stopped says “sorry isn’t good enough” after receiving an apology from the government.
Jodey Whiting’s inquest was told she committed suicide after her Employment Support Allowance was stopped for missing one appointment for a ‘health assessment’.
She later claimed that she knew nothing about the appointment as she had been in hospital at the time.
Department for Work and Pensions bosses have now apologised to her family after its staff left Jodey a voicemail – despite having been told of her death.
It has since emerged the decision to stop her benefits – which her family claims was the “trigger” behind her suicide – was overturned after her death.
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They overuled the decition…….after her death……great…wtf….when are thease tories gonna be brought to heel…they…..are…murdering the most vulnerable people..litteraly….whats it gonna take rioting the murder of a torie mp…what….what will it take…i live in west london not far from glenfell and unless thease tories come up with some answers and stop there murdering…..i will end in rioting…and nobody wins espesh the poor
All involved should face criminal proceedings & the right to defend themselves in a court of law, something that is hard to do if your on the receiving end of these assessments & they get it wrong, by the time your fit enough to complain & take it further, they have got rid of the documentation, we need a pals system, independant of the 3 co’s, maximus, capita & atos & if there is wrong doing mandatory reporting to the professional body so that professionals involved can be at maximum struck of & fines that are in accordance with private treatment for any wrongdoing by the 3 companies involved until the person is better, why should the nhs pick up the cost for these companies & the dwp’s ineptitude, the decision maker’s should accountable,, start jailing them & include minister’s & advisors (any party), they should be held accountable
we refuse to admit the extent of the malevolence in the political classes, we don’t really believe in their rhetoric, but it keeps us from facing the truth.
I want more than a mere apology. The DWP is out of control and its litany of human rights abuses needs to be forcefully countered. I’m recommending a crowdfunded lawsuit.
I’ve been persuading grieving families of wrongly deceased benefit claimants to file lawsuits against the DWP. But so far they haven’t gone the litigation route, probably due to the fact that they lack financial resources, in addition to the high cost of legal advice. But initial consultation fees with law firms can probably be raised via crowdfunding sites, and it might even be possible to crowdfund a DWP lawsuit if it is planned and executed properly, with the assistance of a law firm.
I share your belief Mike, and worry how many more lives have to be lost as a result of this ongoing assault on disabled people by the Tories…there for the grace….
I sincerely hope that one day these evil Tories, beginning with Duncan-Smith, will be held to account for their crimes.
These people are sick…..tories I mean!!!
Its the subtext in that news report & headline that is also of concern. Why is the number of children she has delivered of any concern? There is nothing to show that these “children” were dependent. This is to create a subtext that she was “just” having kids to avoid work, to live off the state, etc., and to reduce her worth as a person. Sheer poison.
Makes you wonder why terrorist bother attacking the people of country when our own Government are killing us off so efficiently.
yet action t4 rolls along with out much of a ado or they now whot they doing they now by all the cries they hear letters emails or they now by right they culling the stock through benefits denial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww800PzlJ6Y&t=1s
Heartbreaking. The system intentionally drives you so low, on top of living with chronic debilitating illness day in day out, and then a savage, completely unjustified decision like this to sanction her (presumably this is what happened here), is the final straw. Yes, murder, they know exactly what they’re doing.
Thank you, Mike, for your piece on my beautiful friend http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2017/03/12/this-is-how-the-tory-disability-assessments-are-killing-people/
The inquest was 2 days’ ago – natural causes. The post mortem found bronchial pneumonia in her lungs, which had been asymptomatic due all the pain medication she was on for diabetic neuropathy. In addition it was stated that diabetes made her prone to catching and not being able to fight off infection, so diabetes mellitus was also stated as a cause of death. I sent in documentary evidence she’d written to me a week before her death citing 3 contributory factors that were stressing her to the point of making her more ill, one of which was the wait for her PIP result after her gruelling 2 hour assessment (which also made her ill afterwards). Contributory factors are not taken into account at an inquest we were told. She was also repeatedly severely anaemic (& had been for over 2 months at time of death) which her local hospital were responsible for – both informing her each time post-blood test, and treating her with an infusion – but failed to do each time. We were told at the inquest that the Coroner’s service is not responsible for considering contributory factors in a death, and to ask for a medical negligence investigation via complaint to the local trust.
So where does the significant (IMO) & contributory factor of benefit assessments in a death go? Who dare we complain to?!!!! Knowing it will get nowhere, and anyway, as claimants ourselves we’re all too scared. I have no doubt myself, along with others of her friends, that the stress and worry around her latest PIP assessment contributed to making an already very chronically ill and severely disabled woman more ill, weaker, and therefore more susceptible to catching infections. Masked by medication, unable to fight off due weakened immune system (also affected by stress), resulting in her death. Poor soul. Went to her death worrying about her PIP lifeline. Going loopy in the head with that worry (her words in her final correspondence to me which I sent to the Coroner’s office to no avail).
3-4 weeks AFTER death (!!!!!!!) she was awarded PIP Enhanced Care, but Standard effing Mobility, despite the extreme numbness and pain in her legs meaning she could only hobble around slowly on 2 crutches, along with having to use a wheelchair sometimes. She fell over several times in her last week. So – £20/week for the cabs she totally relied on to get anywhere. That would be one return journey anywhere per week. Bastards. And the award was for 3 years, which equates to 2 years in reality since they contact you a year before to ‘invite’ you to reclaim. Her severe disabilities could not have improved.
I am frustrated and angry. And in bereavement counselling.
Now 9 children have been left without a mother, my heart cries out in pain for them.