The Atos Games began today with a crowd of up to 70 activists gathered for the Opening Ceremony at City Hall in London.
After the Master of Ceremonies opened the proceedings with an impassioned attack on Atos and the ConDem government and the way that their Work Capability Assessments have driven disabled people and those that are seriously ill to despair and worse.
He told of how more than 1000 people have died of their illnesses after being passed ‘fit-for-work’ and others have taken their own lives after their benefits lifeline had been withdrawn from them.
The disgraceful decision to award Atos sponsorship of the Paralympic Games was mocked in the Atos Games medals ceremony where an Atos doctor cut off medals just awarded to Paralympians and took away their freedom pass and mobility allowance.
Disabled People Against Cuts’ Andy rounded off the protest by promising more this week –
“Atos – We’re coming for you!” he declared.
Day 2 will see protests at Atos offices in dozens of towns and cities across the UK.
BREAKING NEWS!
UK Uncut via Twitter: @UKuncut Tara Flood,gold-winning Paralympian, having her medal stripped from her by an Atos assessor,at the #atosgames #DPAC pic.twitter.com/9z2rTam9
See more photographs HERE
Details of local Atos Games protests tomorrow
http://tinychat.com/wia54 if u cant get to any demos – joinme here – its free- its easy just select ‘guest’ and input name
Suggest every British Olympian turn their backs on Cameron when he gets up to speak to show their disgust, would make powerful image.
that wud be great to see kevin. i would be jumpin up and down if i cud lol. pity we cant get the message to them, see if they wud
Too easy for them to edit any crowd demo,better he was seen visibly to be mocked by the people,possibly belted with rotten fruit flour bombs etc.
shoot the bastered and save us 100 k a year and all the holidays he has then says we are lazey..jeff ..
you know what would be great? If some of the British disabled athletes did a black power type salute done by African American Athletes during segregation.
Please can I wish everyone on the front line, a very big thank you from me. I would love to join you but that is not possible. I know you are working for disabled people everywhere and you all deserve a medal for that. Good luck to you all, I will keep my fingers crossed for you to make a great difference on our behalf.
I can’t wait for the Legacy element of the Paralympic Games where the sponsers use games footage to disallow competitors benefits and declare them fit for work. We no longer need phoney faith healers – just have an ATOS assessor at every doctors surgery.