As I posted last week, we are winning the argument against the Work Capability Assessment. When we started out back in 2011, not many people knew about Atos Healthcare. Now, it is a household name and not for good reasons. In fact - thanks to brilliant campaigning from Black Triangle, DPAC, Spartacus, Kaliya Franklin, Sue Marsh, Where's the Benefit? Mark Thomas and many more - it's become so toxic, it is pulling out of its DWP contract early. So it feels like this is the right time to be ending the Atos Stories project.
Since we wrote our plays they (or sections of them) have been performed in many places:
A tube train opposite the Olympics Stadium
Greenbelt
A Leeds Uncut demo
Recorded as a podcast by My Life My Choice
Been banned by Newham Council
In a variety of places and ways as part of a Mass Read
And wonderfully performed by Act Up! Newham as part of an event celebrating the legacy of the Paralympics and more recently for the launch of Newham CCG.
We're proud we helped to get the message out about Atos, and we're proud of what the campaign achieved. We're glad to have played our small part, and now it's time to bow out and move on to other things.
So the title of the blog is changing to Write to Protest and I will be using it to write about other campaigns I'm committed to. Starting with End Hunger Fast. I will be fasting one day a week throughout Lent and blogging about the experience, particularly remembering the victims of welfare reform who go hungry every day.
In the meantime we would like to say a huge thank you to the amazing people who shared their stories with us. We hope we did justice to them:
David, Aletheia, Mary, Tim, Kate, Yvonne, Adam, Nelson, Elizabeth, Sam,Vincent, Karen Sherlock, John, Adrian, Martin & all the fabulous people who took part in our Facebook and Twitter games.
Huge thanks go to Yvonne Brouwers, Sterre Ploeger and everyone at Act Up! Newham who did a fantastic job on making the play accessible and getting it performed.
We would also like to thank the following for their help:
Amelia Gentleman, The Guardian
Patrick Collins
James Ivens, Flood Theatre
John McArdle Black Triangle
Linda Burnip & everyone at DPAC
Jon Peace News
Kaliya Franklin Benefit Scrounging Scum
Sue Marsh Diary of a Benefit Scrounger
Nelson DWP Examinations
John Moffatt
Liz Crow
Rick and Jane and everyone at the WOW Petition
Everyone who took part in the Mass Read
And everyone who has tweeted, facebooked and generally promoted our work
And finally, thanks to Lisa Chalkley the other half of the Collective, without which none of this would have been possible.
Judith Cole
Having been a keen supporter of the WOW petition from the start, I was hoping to get to London today. Unfortunately I wasn't able to and as I was busy couldn't follow proceedings too closely. When I checked in the morning it was to read snippets from the marvellous John McDonnell MP and all those of his ilk with any integrity and to see pictures of a disgracefully empty House of Commons. There was a similar poor showing for the Pat's Petition and Bedroom Tax Debates so I thought I could predict what would happen next. The MPs who care about disabled and sick people would tell their important stories to the handful of Coalition MPs who had been ordered to show up block their ears and spout the party line, and suddenly the chamber would fill for the vote, which would be won by the government. The best we could hope for, I thought, was an increase in the abstentions and rebels, so the majority was reduced.
So I was astonished when I looked on twitter just after the vote to find my timeline full of people saying "the ayes have it". I wasn't the only one to be asking incredulously "have we won?" It was a moment of collective disbelief that this petition that so many of us have worked so hard on, not only got to the House of Commons but was actually PASSED. And then the joy followed, we won, we won, we WON! And we won in a week where the WCA reassessments have been suspended and Atos are pulling out, and in a month where religious leaders have united in condemning the government for taking away the safety net.That's very good news indeed.
Of course, when you look at what happened, it's not a perfect victory. The house was empty for the majority of the debate, and it seemed today the government's tactic was to not even try to defend the indefensible. BUT, two years ago, this government pulled every despicable trick to whip reluctant MPs to vote for welfare reform, and when the House of Lords kept overturning their votes, they forced it through on Royal Privilege. Since then they've lost legal case after legal case, found it increasingly difficult to win votes on welfare reform, and today, it is in black and white in Hansard. The House has resolved to call on the government to commission an independent cumulative impact assessment on the impact of welfare reform and cuts on sick and disabled people. And I'm sure the tactic will be to try and kick this into the long grass, but we won't let them.
We've got them on the run now.
The Atos Stories Collective was formed in 2011 in response to the horror stories that were beginning to emerge at the time. Stories about people like George, who died from a heart attack after Atos twice failed to put him in the work support group or Matthew found fit to work even though he has limited language and understanding of the world, fuelled a desire to act. When Atos threatened to sue its critics we decided we'd like to do something about it. Two of us who met on-line formed the Collective and invited others to join in by sending us their stories. Over the course of six month we received emails, blogposts, and information via social media, and we wrote Atos Stories, The Atos Monologues and Atos Street Theatre.
From 2012 till now, the plays have been published on-line (first at Scribd, and then later at the WOW petition), been used at demonstrations and vigils, as part of a mass action via social media and the main play has been performed by Act Up! Newham. And as time has passed, we've been delighted to see more and more people becoming aware of, and protesting about the Work Capability Assessment and Atos' involvement. Even better, we've heard that Atos has been seeking ways to get out of the contract, a sure sign that a policy has become toxic, something that was confirmed last week. (With typical gall, they claimed it was death threats from the disabled people they've been harassing that have pushed them out, yeah...right)
Today, comes the best news of all. Our friend and brilliant campaigner Sue Marsh posted on her blog that with Atos on the way out, the DWP are scrapping reassessment of WCA's indefinitely till they can find another organisation to take it on. Of course, it's not over yet. People are still getting assessed and unfortunately Atos will stick around for the time being, still using the terrible DWP descriptors and still wrongly finding people fit for work. But at least, this gives those people who have been through the process, and won their appeals a breathing space... And, given the protests Atos has faced and the damage to its reputation, one has to ask whether there's another company willing to take the risk of bidding to run such a discredited process.
It's right to be cautious, but even so this is a major victory in the battle to scrap the WCA. And campaigns are won, bit by bit. It's not the end, but it's the beginning of the end, and for that, tonight, we should all celebrate.
The Atos Stories Collective is delighted to support 10,000 Cuts and Counting which will take place on 28th September, 12pm outside 10, Downing St.
Details of the event can be found on the organisers' facebook page, the salient points being as follows:
" the disabled and non-disabled community will gather to remember those who have died and those still suffering as a result of the Government's austerity assault, which particularly affects disabled people.
The memorial will remember those who have died and those living who are having their independence and dignity challenged as a result of austerity, led by disability activists, Occupy activists, David Ison - the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Michael Meacher MP and other representatives."
"The gathering will demand an immediate end to the Work Capability Assessment, as voted for by the British Medical Association, and a New Deal for sick & disabled people based on their needs, abilities and ambitions as outlined in the WOW petition."
"Clothing. Please wear white clothing as a symbol of remembrance. If this is not possible, a white scarf or other small item would be useful. Please also bring a white flower if you would like to lay one in remembrance"
We would urge all who are able to come to London on the 28th and to join in via facebook or twitter using the hashtag #10KCuts
There's nothing nicer for a writer than seeing their work in print or being performed. So it was an absolute treat to travel to London last night to watch the world premiere of Atos Stories as performed by Act Up! Newham.
When we first conceived the idea of a play about Atos, the intent was always to make the work public and encourage others to perform it in their own communities. We were a tad naive about how easy this might be. The professional theatre companies we approached were interested, but the piece was either not quite their thing, or they were struggling with resources and needed help with fundraising. Despite being a collective, we're not a proper organisation, we're writers with busy lives (one of us with health problems), so unfortunately we've not been able to help in this regard. We have managed to have some success with getting the Atos Monologues out there as they are relatively easy for anyone to use/read (they've been performed in Leeds, at Greenbelt, been used in a mass read that involved performances in Oxford, Cardiff, podcasts, livestreaming and tweeting, and podcast by My Life My Choice. But it's been much harder with Atos Stories which is a proper play that needs actors, props, a bit ot technology and a director.
Fortunately, one of our early contacts was Act Up! Newham - a small inclusive theatre company based in East London. We were really excited when we met them last year, as a) they were enthusiastic about the script and b) they're based in Newham the site of the Olympics/Paralympics stadium. Since Atos' sponsorship of both events was one of the triggers for writing the play, we had high hopes that perhaps a performance might be linked with the opening ceremony. That too was naive - we really hadn't thought through how much work it takes to get a play like this ready for performance. Still as the year progressed, Act Up!Newham kept us posted about their rehearsals and we were thrilled when they were given an opportunity to perform at the Newham Council Christmas festival. Sadly Newham pulled the plug on this as they felt the play was too "unfestive" - we disagreed (& after last night even more so), and were glad that Act Up! Newham didn't let it put them off.
So last night, was special in several ways. The company were at last able to perform the play after that setback. The performance was in Newham as part of an event looking at the legacy of the Paralympics AND it was the world premiere.
And it was terrific. Act Up! Newham is an inclusive company with members with and without disabilities. Some of the members have limited speech, so the company cleverly adapted the play so everyone could take part. They cut some scenes, adapted others, used the technique of someone with limited speech saying something and the actor they were playing the scene with repeating the line as a question. The physical aspects of the play worked beautifully and as an ensemble they performed with great gusto. The whole point of Atos Stories is that everyone who performs is part of the Collective and everyone can make the play their own. I absolutely loved it. Stand out scenes were the menacing "We will shop you" opening as the cast threatened Ian Dury before he fought back with his rhythm stick; the "Congratulations" song when Atos found people fit to work; the three wise monkeys (See no Evil about Atos etc) which is a stunning visual, and the dramatic I'm Spasticus. We'd imagined people singing it, but reading the lines gives the song a whole a new energy. "Never underestimate the power of the Spasticus" indeed.
All in all it was a marvellous evening. The play was part of a series of events organised by E13 People United, looking at disability and community life in Newham. A second performer, Ju Gosling, treated us to a wonderful reflection on what it means to be normal. Afterwards we had round table discussions asking questions about "what is normal?", "what was good and bad about the Paralympics?", "how can communities be more inclusive?" A stimulating conversation, that gives me great heart. Disabled people are facing SO much crap at the moment, it was great to see so much positive energy, ambition and desire to make change happen. I'd really like to thank everyone who attended for the warm welcome and for also letting me plug the WOW Petition.
And a huge thank you to Act Up! Newham, for working so hard and giving us such a memorable performance, here's a clip from a rehearsal earlier this year
It was a great night and a real in your face to the DWP, Atos, IDS. The people united will never be defeated - and you can never, ever underestimate the power of the Spasticus!
The Atos Stories Collective is open to anyone who wants to join in. Anyone anywhere can use our material to act against Atos in a theatre, library, street corner, at a community event, festival, or protest. So please do feel free to download them here And get in touch so we can spread the word about your plans. BE part of the Collective!
Readers of this blog will know that at Christmas, our friends Act Up! Newham were all set to perform Atos Stories as part of the Council's Newham event. Unfortunately things didn't quite go to plan - at the last minute the Council stopped the performance as they deemed it unsuitable for a festive occasion.
Thankfully, Act Up! Newham haven't let this setback defeat them. This week they will be performing their accessible version of Atos Stories at the E13 People United celebration of Disability and Community Life.
Judging from this sneak preview - it's going to be great.
So if you're in or around E13 on Wednesday, why not pop along...and spread the word!
Today something very important happened. An ex-Atos Doctor came clean about the unethical practices we've all been talking about and the BBC have picked up the story. It's too early yet to say whether this is a turning point in the fight against ESA, but it's certainly an important step. We'd like to thank Dr Greg Wood for not only listening to his conscience and resigning from Atos Healthcare, but making sure his story is heard. And as a result, the BBC has been talking to disabled people all day. For once, the rhetoric of people on benefits = scroungers has been overturned. Hopefully, people will begin to see how disabled people are being victimised by Atos,the DWP and the government.
But of course, some of us have been telling Atos Stories for a while now. We're delighted to announce our play will be premiered on 19th June 2013 between 6 and 8.30pm as part of the Harold Road Disability and Community Life event . We're particularly pleased because this event concludes a season reflecting on the impact of the Paralympics. Since one of our motivations for writing Atos Stories was the scandal that Atos sponsored that event, we can't think of a more fitting place to premiere. If you're in London on the 19th please do try and get along. And if you're not please help us spread the word.
