Disabled people and their supporters braved freezing weather to stage an hour-long protest outside the UK offices of Atos, protesting against the unfair testing of fitness to work and benefit cuts and supporting the 'Atos 2'. London, UK. 03/02/2012
The protest at Triton Square in London was in solidarity with the 'Atos 2', a wheelchair user and a pensioner, Notts Uncut activists who were charged with ‘aggravated trespass’ safter peacefully entering an Atos assessment centre in Nottingham on a National Day of Action Against Atos and the Benefit Cuts last December. Charges against the two have now been dropped but the arrest and illegal confiscation of video material by the Nottingham police marked a new and disturbing attitude by them towards peaceful protest. The London protest took place at the same time as a protest in Nottingham.
Around twenty protesters and one crow - given to the group and adopted as a mascot - came to the protest outside Atos's corporate HQ, although the around zero temperature meant that some of the disabled supporters were unable to attend, and others were not present for the full protest. Among the disabled protesters were three wheelchair users, two of whom spoke while I was there. Another of the disabled protesters talked about his own experiences in attending an Atos 'Work Capability Assessment', warning that even simple statements like stating that you watched television or read a book could be abused by those administering the tests as evidence of fitness for work.
The tests were found to be inadequate and poorly administered by the government's own investigation and have led to many with terminal cancer, MS, severe mental health problems and other chronic conditions being found fit to work, stripped of their benefits and left destitute. Several have been driven to suicide by the decisions. As the large banner and some of the placards state, 'Atos Kills'. The appeals process against the decisions is slow, and although a very high percentage of appeals are successful, often they are followed within a few weeks by another faulty test which again finds the disabled person fit for work.
The tests completely ignore the evidence of GPs and consultants in favour of a brief computer-based interview, and these same tests which have been discredited are shortly to be applied to all those who claim Disability Living Allowance.
Government cuts under the Welfare Reform Bill will also lead to hundreds of thousands of people - the disabled, families, pensioners, unemployed and low paid workers - being unable to afford their homes. The government expect them to move to cheaper accommodation, which in cities such as London does not exist.
The protesters feel that the government, many of whom are Eton educated millionaires - is completely out of touch with the realities of life for ordinary people. They chanted:
'Stop the Eton looters
Save the Welfare State
Stop the profiteers
Save the Welfare State'
The French company Atos they see as one of the profiteers, making large profits from the government for depriving the poor and disabled of the benefits they need to live. One of the leaflets they handed out stated:
"When not boosting their public image by acting as the official IT partner for the Paralympic Games, French firm Atos are paid hundreds of millions of pounds of our money to harass and bully sick and disabled people, sometimes to death."
Among those who came to support the protest were two members of the PCS from the nearby Euston Tower, who reported the unease felt by many government workers in the civil service at the continued use of the Atos tests. They hope to persuade their union to take action.
