ATOS and the Paralympics, a marriage of sick proportion

Below I republish a short article I have submitted to our party’s paper the Socialist they will no doubt change it about to fit the paper but I’m posting it here for the unedited piece of my own words. Disabled people should be able to enjoy sport too. I’ve watched closely the news and reports and reaction of the Olympic Games over the last few weeks but now attention Turns to the Paralympics. Disgracefully private vultures ATOS are one of the games main sponsors. Only a government and a system happy to make disabled people pay the price for the failures of a capitalist system can think having a sponsor such as ATOS is ok. The company who are paid and make big profits out of removing disabled people from benefits and finding them fit for work. Having this company as one of the main sponsors is sick in my opinion and rubs those who have been on the raw end of ATOS and their techniques nose’s in it somewhat. Only the other week on a BBC Panorama episode the rigid rules to which ATOS work and apply a system which’s designed against disabled people lead to tremendous strain and stress on the person being assessed. Constant assessing and appeals only makes peoples worries and lives worse with the unknown factor not knowing if they’ll be able to keep their benefits to live or not. In one horrific case one man with a heart condition who struggled to breath was unbelievably found fit for work by ATOS and several weeks later sadly died due to heart failure. ATOS are paid h are given huge contracts by this con-dem government who like the last government see fit to punish the most vunrable in society for the failings of a capitalist system in one of its deepest crisis’s ever. I’m registered blind myself and attend a gym once a week I’d love to go more often and engage in a lot more sports but the costs are astronomical . British Blind Sport to be fair do do a fair bit in promoting blind people taking part in sport and I am really pleased to hear my old college the Royal National college for the bind in Hereford will be hosting the blind football. But this is all very well but for many disabled people the chance to take part in sports on a regular basis or to simply exercise to some extent is becoming increasingly difficult with less and less funding from local government and central government alike during these times of austerity.