governments since the Thatcher era; the toxic rhetoric employed by right-wing media to patronize and berate the poor; and ... Samuel Miller. Disabled Academic ...
“The disability benefits system is a result of decades of campaigning by disabled people. Those benefits are under attack as never before as the Government targets them in its quest to reduce the welfare state. The latest is the plan to abolish the Employment and Support Allowance [ESA] on the grounds that this will encourage disabled people to seek work. Motivation is not the problem but the loss of ESA will impose such financial hardship on many that they will be unable to afford to seek work.
Government is entitled to ensure that benefits are given to those with a genuine entitlement and to assess people. But the process must be professional and honest. In this book Mo Stewart peels back the layers of deception, and the confused thinking that underpins the destruction of social support for disabled people. She shows how an American insurance company has contributed to this as it sought to expand its market to the UK. Disabled people are expected to undergo medical assessment to claim benefits but the people conducting them seem to know little about disabled people or disability in general. Inept assessments result in loss of benefits with money withdrawn from disabled people. Some of those assessed as fit for work died just afterwards. Others died later and some committed suicide. This callous and cruel policy is fully supported by the UK Government, who argue they are concentrating resources at those with the greatest need but provide no evidence. Yet in doing so they are condemning disabled people to greater poverty and more limited lives. Stewart names names. She shows where and how the policies originated. She destroys all claims that they were based on solid research. And she vividly paints a clear picture of how disabled people are the group chosen to pay for the bankers’ greed and stupidity in 2008, as government slashes expenditure. To understand what is happening and why, this is the book to read and I thank Mo Stewart for writing it.” Sir Bert Massie CBE, DL Chair, Disability Rights Commission 2000 – 2007 ityev
“This compelling book offers an accomplished and vital expose into how welfare reform policies are continually crushing the rights of disabled people in the UK. The book is impressively up to date and concise, no mean feat considering the minefield that has been the changing policy context for disabled people in recent years. Meticulously researched, and always passionately written, Mo tells us what it is like to be on the receiving end of the harsh and cruel regime perpetuated by the government, from a different perspective. As Mo herself clearly states, “this researcher has never claimed to be an academic”. The years of detailed research that forms the basis for the book build on Mo’s former role as a healthcare professional. This is a huge draw to the book, as it is without the reticence that academic writing is sometimes constrained by, and offers a personal element to the book that is rarely seen. ‘Cash Not Care’ will make you feel angry, sad and inspired in equal measures. This is a book that needs to be widely read and talked about.” Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite Research Associate Centre for Health and Inequalities Research The University of Durham
“For all those opposed to current welfare reforms, Mo Stewart has provided an invaluable service by joining the dots and revealing the shadowy connections between politicians, American private health insurance lobbyists and the Work Capability Assessment regime. Mo painstakingly goes through the evidence to show that not only are disabled people and their benefits under attack, but that the eventual aim of the Government is to completely dismantle the Welfare State. This is an essential read for those wishing to arm themselves with the arguments and facts to counter the “strivers vs. skivers” rhetoric indulged in by far too many politicians and promoted by a compliant right-wing media. Every Disabled People’s Organisation should grab a copy and read it from cover to cover. Not only does it reveal why things have already occurred, it also lays out what further cuts are likely in the near future.” Bill Scott Director of Policy, Inclusion Scotland ~ a national network of Scottish Disabled People’s Organisations
“The welfare reforms, which would be better labelled as welfare cuts, are taking place with vengeance in the UK today. Many decisions have been made and are being acted on. Because of such rapid change work published just a few years ago will now be very outdated. In the search for who has blood on their hands when it comes to dismantling the welfare state and implementing austerity, ‘Cash Not Care’ shines a light on the murky world of the private companies and their allies in the civil service. Mo’s account is both harrowing and informative, and it is urgently needed.” Professor Danny Dorling Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography The University of Oxford
“Mo Stewart’s groundbreaking and tenacious research has led the way in exposing the destructive force of the corporate state on the concept of welfare. It has traced the twists and turns of the devious tricks played on the British public. It has exposed the duplicity, harm and abuse these actions have caused to disabled people with the courage of truth. Its value cannot be overestimated and its worth must not be ignored.” Debbie Jolly Co-founder: Disabled People Against Cuts
“The effect of welfare reform on sick and disabled citizens in the UK is a largely unreported scandal. Mo Stewart’s excellent and painstaking research shines a light on the shadowy influence of large corporations on our government, the adoption of their models and systems, and the subsequent erosion of the welfare state. As increasingly extreme and punitive welfare policies are proposed, it is vital that Mo’s work is read by as many as possible, so that we can understand what is happening and act before it is too late. I highly recommend her work to anybody who wants to live in a society where all are valued as human beings, not as economic units.” Bernadette Meaden Ekklesia Associate and author
“The research undertaken is thorough and detailed making the conclusions all the more disquieting. Many of the policies, attitudes and ideologies of the UK Government revealed in ‘Cash Not Care’ will come as a shock to many people, but I feel works of this nature are essential in order to challenge the policies of the government of a supposed social democracy. The layout of the book is very clear and concise, making it accessible to most readers and the stand alone nature of the chapters make ‘Cash Not Care’ a readily accessible reference work. Given the nature of the subject matter, ‘Cash Not Care’ is a prime candidate for a version in Braille and compatibility with screen readers. To summarise, ‘Cash Not Care’ is an excellent testament to the culmination of extensive and rigorous research and groundwork and is a must read for anyone engaged in disability studies or research. Given the social interactive nature of disability most people know of, or are close to, a disabled person. Therefore, the issues facing disabled people have repercussions that reach far beyond the individual. Consequently, ‘Cash Not Care’ is a book that has relevance far beyond the disability community.” George Low Coordinator of Disability Research Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh
“Mo Stewart’s book offers its reader a compendium of the dreadful attacks on the lives and rights of disabled people in the UK today. But at its heart is one key story that describes in microcosm the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of our current political elite. The book describes how the vested interests of private insurers and the ideological commitment of extreme right-wing politicians have combined to undermine what was an essential component of our social security system - Incapacity Benefit. It is easy to become dispirited by all of this - but I think Mo Stewart is right to quote Nelson Mandela: “Never underestimate the power of persistence.” This book is the fruit of Mo Stewart’s own persistence and tenacity. She has had to deal with her own disability while fighting to find the truth and I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who wants to look beyond Government rhetoric and understand what’s really going on.” Dr Simon Duffy Director, The Centre for Welfare Reform
“When the history of the persecution of disabled people in the name of welfare reform in Britain finally gets written for mainstream audiences, Mo Stewart’s evidence will form the starting point. Read it here first.” Catherine Hale, Independent Researcher Author of : Fulfilling Potential? ESA and the Fate of the Work-Related Activity Group “I have known Mo Stewart since 2010 when I came across her intelligent research into the welfare state and its destruction. Her tireless support of disability rights and the undermining of the government policy has been a thorn in the Whitehall flesh. ‘Cash Not Care’ is a major step forward in the fight to protect the most vulnerable in our society from the ravages of “Austerity”. Chris Johnstone GP, Paisley “Mo Stewart has played a vital role in raising awareness of how private sector companies have helped to both design and encourage the welfare reforms and cuts that they hope to profit from. Her research has been used by MPs, peers and disabled activists to draw attention to subjects that the mainstream media has repeatedly shied away from. Without that research, we would know far less about the murky figures who have been lurking in the shadows of welfare reform in the UK for the last two decades.” John Pring Editor, Disability News Service “Mo Stewart’s research on welfare reform, especially the role that private sector companies have played in designing and supporting welfare reforms, has provided invaluable information. This work has led the way in highlighting reforms that have a devastating impact on the lives of disabled people.” Richard Hawkes Chief Executive Officer, SCOPE 2010 ~ 2015
“ Mo’s tireless research on welfare reform provides essential evidence for all campaigners. Her determination to disseminate the results means there are no excuses for not knowing the facts behind the reforms.” Pat Onions Pat’s Petition
“Mo Stewart is not someone who gives up. She has been tenacious in carrying out her detailed research into the origins and flaws of the medical tests which various governments have adopted to judge whether people with ill health or a disability are fit to work or not. She has also been relentless in getting her research disseminated to those who need to know.” Dame Anne Begg Chair, Work and Pensions Select Committee 2010 ~ 2015 “This book is a vitally important addition to the canon on the terrible fallout from austerity cuts and welfare reforms for the disabled people in the UK. If you care at all about politics and if you care about how society and government treats its citizens, then this is a must-read.” Mary O’Hara Author of ‘Austerity Bites’ “Mo Stewart is a researcher who keeps telling it as it is, especially when her work reveals inconvenient truths. Mo’s work, over the years, has been invaluable to campaigning groups like ours. Thank you Mo.” Frances Kelly and Rosemary O’Neil CarerWatch “Mo Stewart’s dedication and advocacy in challenging the unfairness of the disability claims process is of tremendous benefit to the most vulnerable of our society, both in the United Kingdom and United States. Her work has been invaluable by exposing adverse influences that negatively affect the rights of disabled persons to be treated with respect. I highly recommend Mo’s work as a skilled researcher as well as her desire to protect those who often cannot defend themselves.” Linda Nee Licensed Disability Claims Consultant Maine, USA “Mo Stewart has been an invaluable source of information for the members of the forum. The detail and precision of her work adds weight to the continuing battle on behalf of the poor and disabled – many of whom simply don’t have the strength to fight for themselves.” Anna Annana DWP Examination forum
“This book is a revealing and, frankly, shocking look at the current systems and procedures in place with the Government for assessing peoples’ capacity to work, and the effects that the system has on those going through it. We in the British Psychological Society have grave concerns about the reliability, validity and fitness for purpose of the systems and procedures currently in place and have, for some considerable time, been seeking meetings with the Secretary of State and his Ministers to articulate these concerns, so far without success. This book makes it abundantly clear that these talks need to take place in order that we can advise and assist the Government with reforming and improving the current system, for the benefit of everybody.” Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes Prsident, the British Psychological Society
“No-one in the UK has done more than Mo Stewart, with her detailed research, to expose the corrupt links between the private healthcare insurance industry and the British House of Commons. It should be crystal clear to every citizen in the UK that the agenda of cuts and austerity will kill. Mo Stewart is the person who has done more than anyone else in the UK to expose the infiltration of the private healthcare insurance industry into the lifeblood of our welfare state as a toxin.” John McArdle Creator – Black Triangle Campaign
“Mo Stewart outlines in compelling detail Britain’s draconian welfare reforms, and exposes the immense suffering and hardship they inflicted on sick and disabled people. Of particular interest is the role of an American insurance company advising successive governments since the Thatcher era; the toxic rhetoric employed by right-wing media to patronize and berate the poor; and the “sham” Work Capability Assessments.” Samuel Miller Disabled Academic, Canada Adviser to UN human rights office re welfare crisis in UK
