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Monday 7 July 2014

By Paula Peters Tomorrow, Monday 7th July 2014, at 10,30 am,#wcamentalhealth



By Paula Peters
Tomorrow, Monday 7th July 2014, at 10,30 am, DM one of the two claimants who took the DWP to court over the Work Capability assessment for mental health claimants will walk into Court Room number 64 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London with her legal team to begin the final part of the WCA Judicial Review Court case - to challenge the DWP to make reasonable adjustments to the WCA process as it has already been ruled by the courts in May 2013, and upheld in favour of DM and MM that the WCA process discriminated them and placed them at a substantial disadvantage.

It is important to stress that DM and MM won not once but twice, and that the DWP did make the decision not to appeal the appeal decision last December and permission was granted to the two claimants to challenge the DWP on the reasonable adjustments that the DWP will be proposing to the courts in the next few days.

We all know the dreadful harm that the WCA process has caused hundreds of thousands of claimants, how stressful filling out the ESA50 questionnaire is, how degrading that Atos face to face assessment is, the never ending cycle of the constant assessments, the constant stress, the fear, the uncertainty.

Just recently, the DWP released information that over 715,000 claimants are in the backlog of ESA re assessments waiting to be re assessed. The wait on that postman is horrendous. Is it going to be a white envelope calling me for an assessment with Atos, or, is it the Brown Envelope and the horrendous sickness feeling when it lies on that mat.

Many are going through the horrendous cycle of mandatory reconsiderations introduced in October 2013, many have been left with no money, unfit by the job centre to work thus can't claim JSA, but found fit for work by Atos.

Many claimants have died due to the stress, fear, uncertainity this process has caused. Many more have endured their health detoriorating even further with the constant stress of re assessments.

My thoughts are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones due to this horrendous and callous process called the work capability assessment. This policy is about denying us support, ignoring the advice of our doctors, and in many many cases the constant hounding by the DWP.

I messaged DM this morning to see how she is, she knows how important this case is to many of you. She has given this everything she has and then some.

I need to make you aware of this, in 2011 she began the process to look at taking the DWP to court over the WCA. A year's worth of work went into proving there was case and that it could be won and presented it to the public law project. She had to find £1,000 for the law project to investigate further and then they agreed to take this case on.

In the last two years we have had three vigils outside the royal courts of justice; one for the pre application hearing to see if the case would proceed which took place in June 2012, a second vigil for the judicial review court case itself in January 2013, and the appeal which took place in October 2013. In the sun, wind, rain, blizzards, the intense cold we were out there with our banners, megaphones and lots of leaflets to give out to the public how unfit for purpose this entire process was and still is.

You know the DWP are fighting tooth and nail not to implement any reasonable adjustments, denying that this is causing harm and stress to many and discriminates against disabled people. Dr Paul Litchfield the government's independent reviewer, at the WCA Inquiry in front of MP's at the DWP parliamentary select committee denied that claimants had died as a result of the constant stress and uncertainty this process has caused.....think a visit to him is on the cards if people want to come along with me and we will put the record straight.

I have lost 18 of my friends to this cruel and callous process. Many of whom jumped to their deaths and took their own lives, some of whom their last ever words were to me. I do not think I will ever be able to talk without breaking down how their deaths affected me. Not one day has gone by where i do not think of them. They are with me always. I miss them more than words will ever express here. I wrote the peice of poetry Lest We Forget in honour of every human being who has died as a result of the WCA. They will never ever be forgotten.

Tomorrow, I will be supporting DM on her continuing quest for justice. I will not leave her side, it will be emotional and really tough, but everyone involved is determined, and we know on Wednesday when the case ends, this is not the end to the campaigning and fight for justice against the WCA.

I need your help. Tomorrow as the case begins tweet your support to DM use this #wcamentalhealth cause a twitter storm of support for the following three days 7,8 9 July. Tweet at 12 noon as we will be at the front entrance of the Royal Courts of Justice.

write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith, MP write to him how you have been affected by this cruel and callous process, and show your support to DM and show your support for the case and why this is important. Why the DWP should be held to account, and why we will never give in to this unjust callous government.

Most of all if you can, come along to the vigil on Tuesday 8th July 2014. From 12 noon until 2 pm we will be at the front entrance of the royal courts of justice, the strand, London WC2A 2LL and we will be showing solidarity and support to the two brave and courageous claimants, amazing human beings both who bought this case.

This case is personal for me, and personal to you. Hold on to the fact that the two claimants won not just once but twice, and however you can on line and on the street show your support to them both.

Thank you. x

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