Welfare “reform” kills

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Just some of the people who committed suicide after their (disability) benefits were stopped:

Richard Sanderson, 44, an unemployed helicopter pilot of Southfields in London, who stabbed himself twice in the heart in May. He had been informed that his family faced a £30 a week cut in housing benefit and he feared this would leave his family homeless

Paul Willcoxson, 33, of Corby, Northants, was according to the suicide note he left behind, worried about benefit cuts when he hung himself in April.

[…]

Elaine Christian, 57, of Hull, was worried, according to reports of an inquest in July, about a meeting to assess her disability benefits. She was found drowned in a drain with ten self-inflicted cuts to her wrist and she had taken painkillers.

Now imagine you’re on long term disability benefits, unable to work or even find an employer willing to take you on, knowing that the “reforms” will mean you will lose what little money and assistance is getting you by at the moment. Sign the petition against this “reform” that will end up killing more people.

5 Comments

  • hannah

    December 7, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    The government has blood on its hands. Stop the cuts to the benefits and services of disabled people and please sign Pat’s Petition now!

  • Joanne

    December 8, 2011 at 3:19 am

    While I absolutely agree with you about the subject of this posting – that the welfare reform is killing people – I do worry about the way you have reported these suicides.

    It would be enough to name the people (though do we even need to know that?) and give their reasons. We do not need to know how they did it. There are very good media guidelines on reporting suicide (see the Samaritans website) which were developed to help all journalists to report the subject sensitively. Please do take a read of them.

    Any reporting of suicide should include the details of a helpline. I’m not sure if your comments allow links but the website of Samaritans and Papyrus would be useful – http://www.samaritans.org/ and http://www.papyrus-uk.org/ If you do not want to publish this comment – please just add these links to your piece.

    thank you

  • Pat Onions

    December 8, 2011 at 3:20 am

    How many more lives will be lost as this Coalition continues un its merciless destruction of ALL disabled people? One lost life is one too many. We have done nothing wrong and yet we are being punished for our disabilities. We can and WILL fight back. Join with me and make it happen. Pat x

  • Martin Wisse

    December 14, 2011 at 3:21 am

    Joanne, you make some good points about reporting on suicides, though I do want to point out these were quotes from the Guardian’s own website..

  • Essie Bacon

    March 24, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    I understand what drove the petition to existence. And so I am curious to know of what can this petition do to stop increasing suicidal rate exactly? It’s only right to get involved in this matter, but I also want to know how exactly this will help.

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