Paralympians join action against Atos corporation

This video from Britain is called Tara Flood on The Green Paper March 2011.

By Will Stone in Britain:

Paralympians join action against Atos

Sunday 26 August 2012

British Paralympians are set to join disabled campaigners today as they step up their fight against heartless welfare privateer and Games sponsor Atos.

Record-breaking swimmer Tara Flood, who has a gold, two silvers and four bronzes to her name, will be among those at a spoof opening ceremony outside London’s City Hall at 6pm this evening where “winners” are stripped of their medals by cruel assessors.

Campaigners want to highlight the sheer hypocrisy of Atos sponsoring the Paralympics while taking government dosh to strip disabled people of their benefits.

UK Uncut activist Tony Smith said: “A lot of Paralympic athletes rely on disability living allowance, which reflects the cost of living in a society that does not adequately cater for disabled people.”

He said Atos is helping the government shunt people onto the more meagre personal independence payment.

This could ruin the chances of future Paralympians, he said.

And Disabled People Against Cuts spokesman Adam Lotun said that wheelchair users are to be hit particularly hard with the repossession of 90,000 vital motability vehicles that they rely on to go out or get to work.

“The government’s agenda is to put disabled people out of sight, out of mind,” said Mr Lotun, a wheelchair user who has already had his motability allowance cut.

“It’s totally immoral and inappropriate that Atos is sponsoring the Paralympic games that will give them a chance to make even more money out of the achievements of disabled people.”

Tonight’s “opening ceremony” kicks off a week of protests ending with a grand finale at Atos head office on Friday.

From Monday 27th to Friday 31st of August, join Disabled People Against Cuts for The Atos Games – five days of action against a company that’s sponsoring the Paralympics but wrecking disabled people’s lives: here.

Paralympic organisers came under fire yesterday for squeezing wheelchair users by making them book Games tickets over premium-rate phone lines: here.

The future of Britain’s Remploy factories and their workers hangs in the balance: here.