Disability Community Mourns The Loss Of ‘Karen Sherlock’ – Campaigner, and Duran Duran Fan!
Thank you for using your time, whilst often dreadfully poorly, to stand up for the people targeted by a brutal Government. Your courage was inspirational to many.
Some of Karen’s Comments and Experiences:
“So, I got a phone call today to tell me that my benefits will be stopped at the beginning of May. I reached the year’s cap and that’s it, it will be taken away and there is nothing I can do. Thank you so much government, you’re so bloody great picking on the most vulnerable in society and making them suffer.”
“I feel the same way. I also worked for 22 years until my health got the better of me, and took over my life causing me to be too ill work again. The figures are not realistic and the WRAG is ideal for making the government look better as it is a limbo group which shadows the true numbers. Therefore taking the true facts away from what is actually happening. I have several debilitating and serious conditions, and yet I am still in the WRAG. A cruel way to be treated when I will never be able to work and as such will never be employed, not only because of my illnesses, but also because of the insurance risk I would too post to any employer. After all, who you take on, the fit any healthy person, or the one with serious health conditions, which would put themselves and other people at risk in the workplace?”
“I got a letter the other day saying that I “no longer needed to attend the Work Focussed, Work Related Activity Group interviews as I was now in the Support Group, and that the one that had been arranged for me, (which I knew nothing about), had been cancelled. I emailed my adviser back and reminded her that we were, in fact doing the interviews over the phone, as she did not expect me to go in due to my illnesses, and that was fine. Is this ironic, or what. My money has been stopped. Tell me exactly what they can of if your money has been stopped and you refuse to take part in the interviews, as I would really like to know????”
“Hello friends. I have had to pinch myself a few times today. I have had a letter from J/CPlus to say I have been moved into the Support Group today. The relief is fantastic. I have no date of it finishing, can anybody tell me what that means, and what the timescale is of an award without and end date. I also wanted to thank you for the support you have given me when it has been tough, and I have been frustrated by it all. Now all I need to do is sort out the hospital.”
“Welfare Fraud and Error, of which the majority is adminstrative error, accounts for roughly £3.2bn in lost revenue for the Treasury. In contrast Tax Evasion amounts to an estimated £7bn lost for the Treasury. ConDems need to get their f*****g priorities right and stop slammin’ the poor!! It’s time the public were shown the facts and the ConDem and media propaganda campaign ended! Most people won’t share this,.. will you?”
I will miss Karen greatly, as a fellow campaigner and on line activist we used to chat into the small hours about the abuse been metered out by atos and the dwp upon the most vulnerable in our society.
I till cant take it in that she is gone.
Over 6000 have now died due to the wca and dwp, we cannot stand by anymore and just talk about this and watch the figures climb higher and higher, we have to fight for every life and family that has been effected by this, and in the memory of karen. Call it karens law if you may, but we need to take legal action against the dwp and atos, a public enquiry and a judicial review into the deaths. I believe we have the collective strenght to do this, we will not stop fighting, Karens memory will always live on
May Karen Sherlock RIP, when will the government abuse of the vulnerable end?
Dawn would you mind If I put this up on my website to let my members know?
There should be a Public Inquiry into the government’s policy of reducing disability benefits through the use of Atos assessments by the DWP before more people are damaged, stressed & die.
A Public Inquiry is the thing to fight for but – & I don’t know anything about the law – there should be the possibility to prosecute government ministers for their culpability in framing regulations & laws if they are found to damage & harm people in a way which is from an obviously flawed policy in the same way corporations can be prosecuted. In Iceland the government was taken to court because it had the ultimate responsibility for policy decisions