ATOS pockets the money but their assessments are flawed

My MP is Francis Maude. He recently sold a million and a half pound house. Nevertheless he needs a public handout to pay his travel costs, first class all the way for Francis.

It is galling that his government has the cheek to label disabled people, the unemployed and pensioners as "scroungers" and to seek to cut their benefits further.

The basis of the attack on the disabled, leading to headlines in the gutter press such as "80 percent of claimants are frauds" was the so-called assessments carried out by ATOS. ATOS were tasked with getting these fraudulent scroungers back to work. In some cases they succeeded in pushing them to commit suicide which was a "final solution" to the problem of disabled people. Disability campaigners have labelled ATOS "contract killers."

To be fair, ATOS were 'only obeying orders'. Their orders to harrass and stigmatise disabled people were carried out to the letter. The result of three years of their ministrations is that just under half of their assessments are regarded as "flawed." Not by disability campaigners but by the Department of Work and Pensions itself.

Does this spell the end to privatised assessments. Not a bit of it, the DWP are just going to look for other private companies to do their dirty work. Perhaps the ever-efficient G4S will fit the bill - assuming nothing comes of those pesky fraud claims against them.

http://derekmcmillan.com/