Islington Green Party can sympathise with Councillor Watts’ frustration at the Minister of Justice’s complacent response to his criticism of Atos, but it is hard to forget that it was the Labour government in 1998 that gave Atos a seven year contract to harass disabled persons of working age, and renewed the contract for a further seven years in 2005, in the teeth of protests by campaigners for disabled people’s rights.
A Labour government brought in Atos. A Labour government could have terminated Atos’ contract in 2005 but chose not to. Now in opposition, the Labour conference voted to terminate the contract, and Labour councillors protest against Atos.
It is encouraging to see that Labour have reversed their position on Atos, but perhaps an apology to people affected by their appointment might be more appropriate than displays of public letter-tearing?
