A report reveals jobcentres are using targets to push the most vulnerable off benefits, says MICHAEL MEACHER
As happens in all authoritarian organisations, the truth is so dreadful that it begins to seep out through leaks, secret briefings, off-the-record briefings that turn out to be recorded and by other risky but well-intentioned means.
It has long happened in the case of disabled resisters determined to fight back against grotesque misjudgements by Atos over work capability assessments.
It is now just beginning to happen in the case of the mentally ill who are often even less able to protect their rights.
What is now being exposed is even worse than people’s wildest suspicions, exacerbated by the revelation that such bullying and aggressive treatment is deliberate policy.
A secret briefing by a Department for Work and Pensions jobcentre manager, recently reported, highlights the sheer cruelty with which mentally ill people are hounded by the DWP in order to push them off benefits.
A great number of those on employment and support allowance (ESA) are suffering from mental illness or learning difficulties.