Every Labour MP will soon be given a book about the failures of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after a crowdfunding campaign was launched to buy more than 400 copies to help the new government “understand the enormous suffering that the Tory ‘welfare reform’ agenda caused”.
The crowdfunder, titled “Tell Labour MPs the human cost of benefit cuts”, has met its initial £3,500 target. The campaign plans to deliver 412 copies of The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence by John Pring to parliament on 2 September, when MPs are due to return from summer recess.
Now that the campaign has met its initial goal, it has set a new target of £7,000 with the aim of delivering copies of the book to all MPs.
The book is about “slow bureaucratic violence, and the impact of that – bureaucracy that ran out of control, really”, said the author, who runs Disability News Service (DNS). It looks at how the DWP “covered up its role in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of disabled people”, said publisher Pluto Press.
In May this year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said that it would investigate benefits decisions linked to the deaths of vulnerable claimants. Previously, the DWP was criticised for “incredible secrecy” over such deaths.
Organisers said that they want to give books to Labour MPs to “stress the urgency of ending the cruel, counterproductive and murderous social security system left by the Tories”.
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There are “some really concerning comments coming from Liz Kendall, and then backed up by Rachel Reeves this week”, said Pring. “There will be reforms, and the words we’re hearing coming from ministers … they do seem to suggest that they’re going to be repeating some of the mistakes and the harm caused in the post-2010 Conservative years, and that’s really worrying.”
In 2016, a UN report concluded that UK austerity policies had led to “systematic” violations of the rights of people with disabilities. A follow-up report published this year concluded that no significant progress had been made; the UK had “failed to take all appropriate measures to address grave and systematic violations of the human rights” of people with disabilities.
Pring said that the idea for the campaign did not come from him but from John McArdle, co-founder of Black Triangle Campaign, who has previously worked with DNS; McArdle is running the crowdfunder with disabled activist and author Ellen Clifford, who helped get the book published.
Guardian columnist Frances Ryan said that the book is an “expose of one of Britain’s biggest hidden scandals. Every politician, civil servant and journalist in the country should have this on their bookshelf.”
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The Department by John Pring (Pluto Press, £16.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.