Brian McArdle died the day after his disability benefits were stopped, suffering a fatal heart attack which relatives insist was caused by stress related to the decision.
The 57 year old Scot, was paralysed down one side of his body, blind in one eye, and couldn’t speak — yet in a bizarre but not uncommon decision Atos thought he wasn’t deserving of Employment and Support Allowance.
Figures from the Daily Mirror have revealed that 32 claimants each week — nearly 1,700 per year — have died after they were branded “fit for work”.
Criticising the previous incapacity benefits regime in March, then employment minister Chris Grayling said:
“To have such a high percentage who are fit for work just emphasises what a complete waste of human lives the current system has been.”Grayling has moved from a metaphorical “waste of lives” to a literal one
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