Mo Stewart

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the new Conservative government since 2015, despite the WCA being demonstrated to be ... Email sent to DWP Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Tues 15th Nov 2016 ... https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/act-now/cash-not-care- .... Perhaps, Dr Ira Madan would be best to ask why so many ESA claimants ...
CASH NOT CARE: ~ UK Government called to account A research summary by Mo Stewart ‘Cash Not Care: the planned demolition of the UK welfare state’ was published in September 2016 by New Generation Publishing and was launched in London on October 4th 2016. The book is a research text and is the culmination of six years of self-funded, independent research into the background of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), introduced in 2008 by the New Labour government, as claimants of Incapacity Benefit were to be migrated to the new Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The ESA is an income replacement benefit, acknowledged as the long-term sickness benefit, and used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to fund benefit claimants who are unfit to work. However, access to the ESA is via a WCA, which is identified as a dangerous assessment model, designed by the healthcare insurance industry to resist funding claims, and the WCA is linked to many thousands of deaths of chronically sick and disabled people in the United Kingdom (UK), which is not acknowledged by the UK government. Regardless of a long list of detailed academic evidence based research from a variety of universities, exposing the inevitable harm of the WCA, the assessment uses a totally discredited biopsychosocial (BPS) model and was supported by the 2010 Coalition government, and by the new Conservative government since 2015, despite the WCA being demonstrated to be causing preventable harm, death and despair for those for whom the disability benefits system was originally designed to protect. The WCA has no clinical credibility and it is demonstrated to be dangerous by disregarding diagnosis and prognosis and using unqualified basic grade DWP ‘Decision Makers’, who disregard all medical evidence provided by claimants to support any conclusions of the WCA, which is nothing more than a compromised and discredited computer assessment. The British public remain totally unaware of the ongoing crisis in social policy as the national press are loyal to the government, and continue to resist appraising the public of the ongoing atrocities, as recently identified in a report by the United Nations (UN) who exposed the UK government as failing in its duty regarding the Human Rights of sick and disabled people. The UN report is mild compared to the ongoing identified preventable harm created by the ‘welfare reforms’ and, as was predicted, the UK government totally rejected the findings of the UN. All this evidence was demonstrated at the London book launch, which was supported by high calibre experts, and may be viewed online via Periscope at: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1OwxWqXloAWGQ

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With the detailed and confirmed evidence of the deaths, despair and preventable harm created by the UK government now in the public domain, no-one as yet has held the DWP to account and it was time to offer a detailed summary to the DWP, as provided in a very detailed email to the DWP Chief Medical Officer, now reproduced below:

Email sent to DWP Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Tues 15th Nov 2016 Dear Dr Pui-Ling Li Re: CASH NOT CARE: the planned demolition of the UK welfare state by Mo Stewart http://www.newgeneration-publishing.com/bookstore/politics/bookdetails/1750 Further to our previous contact please be advised that following six years of independent study the detailed research evidence has now been published, and the book launch was held in London on 4th October, where I was honoured to have a number of significant guest speakers supporting the research. For a link to the book please see above, and I understand that a number of your colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have already accessed the often disturbing contents. I must advise that I make no apology for the length of this detailed email. The identified and confirmed preventable harm, deaths and despair directly linked to the totally discredited Work Capability Assessment (WCA), and the American insurance corporate influence with the UK welfare reforms using the fatally flawed biopsychosocial (BPS) model of assessment is identified in the very detailed research, as is the unacceptable influence of a previous DWP CMO whose research has also been totally discredited by academic excellence. Yet, the DWP continue to use an assessment model based on this DWP commissioned policy based research, knowing that it will cause preventable harm or worse to large numbers of people. This is totally unacceptable. Many people have known about this for a long time: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/sep/12/private-firms-disability-assessmentregime? CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Chronically ill people are living in fear of the DWP and chronically sick and disabled people are dying in their thousands, all linked to the WCA, and it’s past time for the UK government to be held to account. I strongly urge you to see the critically acclaimed new film ‘I, Daniel Blake’ which, despite predictable political protests, is a very realistic demonstration of the dangerous and totally bogus WCA and the implications of it, with totally under qualified ‘Decision Makers’ who are incapable of comprehending medical evidence provided by claimants who, therefore, support any conclusion of the fatally flawed WCA with often fatal consequences. The book launch for CASH NOT CARE was recorded and may be viewed online: (42mins). I urge you to note the evidence presented at the launch, Dr Pui-Ling Li, as supported by Inclusion London who are working on behalf of deaf and disabled people: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1OwxWqXloAWGQ https://www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy/act-now/cash-not-care-planneddemolitionuk-welfare-state-mo-stewart/ The book is now in the public domain, is achieving critical acclaim and 5* endorsements and was

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recently acknowledged by the distinguished Disability News Service. http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disabled-researchers-book-exposes-corporate-demolitionofwelfare-state/ The research has also attracted a mention in Times Higher Education, which was an unexpected but welcome pleasure: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/reviews-new-and-noteworthy-3-november-2016 May I remind you please that the harsh cruelty now endured by chronically ill and profoundly disabled people dependent upon welfare benefit for their survival was introduced on the basis of two commissioned reports, which have both been totally discredited by independent evidence based academic research. See attached. The latest threat to the welfare of chronically sick and disabled people is in the form of the new Green Paper and consultation on ‘Work, Health and Disability’. We are told the two departments will in future work more closely together, and that “being in work can help an individual’s health”. But will the review take any serious notice of the massive concerns that the highly contentious Work Capability Assessment process has raised among disabled people and those with mental health conditions – and the enormous body of evidence that they have accumulated to back up their fears? The green paper on the highly contentious policy suggests that the Department for Work and Pensions is considering forcing all sick and disabled people on out-of-work disability benefits to take part in “mandatory” job-centre related activity. This is revealed in a single line of the 92 page green paper... Mark Harrison, chief executive of Norfolk based disabled people’s organisation Equal Lives called the green paper “a massive smoke screen to divert people’s attention away from deaths and suicides that the work capability assessments and sanctions have created”. Harrison added: [The Ken Loach film] I, Daniel Blake has shone a spotlight on it beyond the disability movement and those that really understand what’s going on”. While right-wing critics and government spokespeople have attacked Loach’s latest film as unrealistic, postings on social media make clear that for many disabled people the film is telling welfare reform how it is – and spreading the truth more widely. Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of the whole welfare ‘reform’ cuts story, is how muted the response has been from big mental health and disability charities. Such groups claim to speak for disabled people and have relatively massive resources compared with those ofuser-led organisations. Work makes us well? After ‘austerity’ comes complicity. Peter Beresford November 2016 http://www.shapingourlives.org.uk/archives/work-makes-us-well-after-austerity-comescomplicity The attached will be of interest I believe, demonstrating that the BPS model of assessment used for the WCA is the invention of the private healthcare insurance industry and is totally discredited, as are the academics who provided the 2005 DWP commissioned ‘policy based’ research which led to the dangerous and fatally flawed WCA being introduced into the UK. The influence of an American corporate insurance giant with the UK welfare reforms – identified as the second worst insurance company in America - is evidenced by a memorandum submitted by the company to the Work and Pensions Select Committee (WPSC) as all their recommendations, which were guaranteed to create preventable harm, have come to pass. See attached.

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The influence of UnumProvident Insurance is demonstrated in the memorandums provided for past WPSC reports that clearly listed the transformation of Incapacity Benefit to ESA. The requirement to ‘resist diagnosis’, ‘revise the sick note’, ‘encourage the Government to focus on ability and not disability’, ‘change the name of Incapacity Benefit’, and ‘benefits not to be given on the basis of a certain disability or illness but on capacity assessments’ have all come to pass as UnumProvident Insurance have influenced UK Government welfare policy since 1994. The influence of the private insurance industry on the UK welfare reforms Mo Stewart January 2015

The 2007 Freud Report was discredited shortly after publication by independent academic excellence, as the references in the Freud Report had been misinterpreted, and that is also identified in my book. The ongoing deaths, despair and government imposed human suffering all linked to the WCA is on the basis of totally discredited research, as commissioned by the government. This was policy based research not evidence based research, and people are dying, in their thousands, due to a dangerous assessment model which was the invention of the insurance industry and copied by the UK Government on route to the removal of the welfare state; which was Mrs Thatcher’s ultimate goal. ‘CASH NOT CARE’ refers. We outline the chief features of the Waddell-Aylward BPS and argue that, contrary to Lord Freud’s comments above, there is no coherent theory or evidence behind this model. We have carefully reviewed claims in Waddell and Aylward’s publications; compared these with the accepted scientific literature; and checked their original sources, revealing a cavalier approach to scientific evidence. In conclusion, we will briefly outline the influence of the Waddell-Aylward BPS on contemporary British social policy, and the consequent effects on disabled people.” Blaming the victim all over again: Waddell and Aylward’s biopsychosocial (BPS) model of disability Tom Shakespeare, Nicholas Watson and Ola Abu Alghaib May 2016 (Attached) (My emphasis. MS)

Our results have important implications for policy. The WCA and the associated reassessment process were introduced to increase the employment of people with disabilities and long-standing health problems. However, we have found no evidence that the policy had a substantial impact on their chances of moving into employment and some indication that it might have had a negative impact on some groups. We have previously shown that the reassessment policy was associated with an increase in a number of adverse mental health outcomes, including a large increase in suicides. The observational evidence presented here and our previous paper suggests that the harms of the reassessment process may outweigh the potential benefits.” Fit-for-work or fit-for-unemployment? Does the reassessment of disability benefit claimants using a tougher work capability assessment help people into work? B Barr, D Taylor-Robinson, D Stuckler, R Loopstra, A Reeves, S Wickham, M Whitehead December 2015 (Attached) (My emphasis. MS)

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The UN have now identified ongoing atrocities by the UK government, and Ministers’ protests demonstrate the dangerous situation we now have in the UK for people who are too ill to work, and who now live in fear of a UK government when using a dangerous and totally discredited assessment model: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/austerity-government-policy-conservatives-poorfoodbanks-inequality-un-a7110066.html “ c The impact assessments conducted by the State party prior to the implementation of several measures of its welfare reform expressly foresaw an adverse impact on persons with disabilities; (my emphasis. MS) d Several measures have disproportionately and adversely affected the rights of persons with disabilities; e Measures resulting in reduction of support provided to meet the extra cost of disability, denial of reasonable accommodation in assessment procedures and realization of the right to employment have had a discriminatory effect on persons with disabilities; f The core elements of the rights to independent living and being included in the community, an adequate standard of living and social protection and their right to employment have been affected: persons with disabilities affected by policy changes have had their freedom of choice and control over their daily activities restricted, the extra cost of disability has been set aside and income protection has been curtailed as a result of benefit cuts, while the expected policy goal of achieving decent and stable employment is far from being attained; g There is evidence that a large number of persons with disabilities have been affected (e.g. 13,900 persons with disabilities have lost their Motability schemes and therefore their adapted cars, upon implementation of Personal Independence Payment up to February 2016; 492,180 had been placed in the Employment and Support Allowance work-related activity group by end of 2015; 41,792 Employment and Support Allowance work-related activity group sanctions were handed out up to March 2014) h Evidence gathered nationally by the Parliament, the independent monitoring framework, universities and research institutes and centres and independent experts, has documented adverse and disproportionate effects of measures on persons with disabilities.” Extract from UN Report. Published Oct 2016. Attached. https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/preventable-harm-government-policy (see attached) https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/07/uk-austerity-policies-amount-to-violationsofdisabled-peoples-rights https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/14/independent-living-fund-dignitysafetyseverely-disabled-people This country is blessed with academic excellence at a variety of UK universities, who produce evidence based research as opposed to DWP commissioned and fatally flawed policy based research; now totally discredited by independent experts whose academic papers have supported my own research findings. We have various Centres of Academic Excellence in the UK. There is a Centre for Health and Wellbeing, a Centre for Welfare Reform, a Centre for Mental Health, a Centre for Crime and Justice, a Centre for Disability Studies and a world leading Centre for Health and Inequalities at Durham University to name just a few. None of the academics working in these Centres of Academic Excellence need to manufacture evidence yet, when it comes to the planned demolition of the UK welfare state, ‘academic’ research which is demonstrated to be fatally flawed and commissioned by the DWP is the only ‘research’ used by the DWP to justify the ongoing use of the WCA, which was always guaranteed to cause preventable harm, death and despair.

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The minute diagnosis and prognosis is disregarded, preventable harm or worse is guaranteed, and that should be obvious to anyone whose medically trained. The DWP do themselves no credit by constantly identifying with one of two very rare successful quadriplegics, when most are not successful and are suffering due to government policies that, for example, removed the vitally important Independent Living Fund. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/14/independent-living-fund-dignitysafetyseverely-disabled-people It is cause for serious concern that the DWP routinely ‘commission’ research prior to new policies, which will be discredited years later when identified as ‘policy based research’ after the damage has been done. If you take the time to access academic excellence from some of our universities, disregard DWP commissioned research, and the research by the politically biased Reform team regardless of their claims to be ‘politically neutral’, as funded by more corporate giants, then you will be much better informed as will Professor Dame Sally Davies. http://socialinvestigations.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/reform-think-tank-and-their-links-to.html Whilst I note your reported keynote speech in July 2015 at the annual SOM conference, nevertheless, whilst identifying the risk to health of obesity, is there no challenge as to why there is now this growing problem? Is there no acknowledgement that ‘comfort eating’ is well documented, is likely to lead to obesity and is much more likely to be linked to mental health problems of anxiety and depression rather than gluttony. Is there really no comprehension that people who are destitute will buy the cheapest possible food, which is invariably unhealthy food? Is there no understanding that if funding minimal waged zero hour contracts, which makes the workforce insecure, that they will use the little money they have to buy the most they can, which is by definition poor quality food that may well contain a high fat and high sugar content. “Mental illness leads to worklessness and this, in turn, leads to debt, which creates an ongoing spiral. In 2013, around 41% of employment and support allowance recipients had mental and behavioural disorders as their primary condition.” http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/occupational-health-doctors-focus-mental-health-obesityannualevent/ Is it really possible that the DWP totally disregard medical ethics in the hope that no-one will notice the atrocities committed in the name of ‘austerity’ or ‘welfare reforms’? The DWP may overlook medical ethics Dr Pui-Ling Li, but others do not: http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4368 Perhaps, Dr Ira Madan would be best to ask why so many ESA claimants have a mental health problem, and you would do well to research the numbers of physically ill people who have developed the onset of mental health problems, as well as their physical health problems, due to the relentless intimidation and persecution by the DWP, using neoliberal politics and the input from a notorious American corporate insurance giant. Then there are Ministers, whose totally false statements were guaranteed to attract banner headlines in the tabloid press, thus increasing the pressure on those whose only crime is that they are too ill to work but, using DWP commissioned and discredited ‘policy based’ research, Ministers continue to provide totally incorrect statements when giving evidence to Select Committees, making statements in the HoC or writing for the national press. The world is watching Dr Pui-Ling Li, and it is past time when the DWP was much better informed before more needless deaths related to dangerous welfare reforms are exposed.

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Whilst there are those who have an extreme reaction to the use of the words ‘crimes against humanity’, with claims against their use resorting back to the atrocities of the Second World War, nevertheless, by definition of the International Criminal Court, which include ‘intentionally causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury’, crimes against humanity have been identified in the ongoing ‘welfare reforms’ by the UK government as led by David Cameron. CASH NOT CARE: the planned demolition of the UK welfare state (p76) Mo Stewart 2016 http://www.newgeneration-publishing.com/bookstore/politics/bookdetails/1750 If you wish to be better informed fast, may I suggest you access the book: CASH NOT CARE: the planned demolition of the UK welfare state. You can see more endorsements online via Amazon Books, and the book is available via various book shops and via my publisher. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Cash-Care-planned-demolition-UK-welfare-state/178507783X Whilst the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions totally dismissed the recent UN report, I doubt he will be able to disregard a charge of ‘crimes against humanity’ and this country is perilously close to that charge, as all DWP officials totally disregard the numbers of deaths linked directly to the dangerous and totally discredited WCA. This evidence is now all in the public domain. As the DPW CMO I strongly suggest you note the contents of the book before you are called to account as to why the DWP have permitted such preventable harm and clearly identified human suffering, as knowingly created by the UK Government. How many more chronically ill and disabled people must die in the UK before this is achieved when intimidated by the DWP, when their only crime is that they are unfit to work but the UK government don’t want to fund their long-term sickness benefits, have misrepresented evidence that was reproduced in banner headlines to successfully manipulate public opinion and have now decided not to publish the updated mortality figures following a WCA. There have been no mortality figures published since February 2014. These should be a matter of public record and available in the public domain. Someone should ask why these figures are being hidden by the DWP? What do they reveal ?? I respectfully suggest that you get much better informed as soon as possible. If you have any questions about the research, please feel free to contact me. Yours, most sincerely Mo Stewart “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King Jr

Mo Stewart Disability studies researcher *** The contents of this email are intended for the recipient only and may be confidential. Permission is not given for this information to be published, forwarded or distributed further. ***

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