‘This intensive research is the definitive detailed proof of how government austerity hasn’t just harmed disabled people, it has killed them. What is shocking is that government ministers knew the brutality of the system was causing such a loss of life and did nothing. John Pring’s exposé of this killer system forms the charge sheet against the policy makers who inflicted this inhumane system on the most vulnerable in our society.’
John McDonnell MP, former shadow chancellor
‘A must read expose of one of Britain’s biggest hidden scandals. Every politician, civil servant and journalist in the country should have this on their bookshelf.’
Dr Frances Ryan, Guardian journalist and author of Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People
‘John Pring’s indefatigable research has revealed how successive Conservative, Labour, and Coalition governments have not only failed to provide the money, help, resources, and understanding that disabled people need, they have gone to great lengths to hide the truth about what they have done. It would be a strong person who could read this disturbing book in a sitting. But it must be read.’
Paul Lewis, freelance financial journalist and presenter of Money Box, BBC Radio 4
‘Like a dark whodunnit, where a Government department is the killer, John Pring’s The Department is a vital must-read book. Written by someone who has played a central role in uncovering how welfare reform kills disabled people, The Department comes out of over a decade of painstaking research and interviews with families whose loved ones have died. Pring heartbreakingly shows how policy signed off in Whitehall can end someone’s life miles away in distance and time. The book is an essential history and a call for action and solidarity right now.’
Dr China Mills, disability justice lead, Healing Justice Ldn
‘No other journalist has done as much over the past 14 years to shed light on the multiple injustices directed at disabled people in the UK as a result of austerity and so-called ‘welfare reform’. John’s book is a ‘must read’ for anyone who seeks the truth.’
Mary O’Hara, author of Austerity Bites: A Journey to the Sharp End of Cuts in the UK
‘An urgent book that tells of the injustice, hostility and violence levelled at disabled people, by government departments responsible for their welfare. The scapegoating and stigma orchestrated by Conservative and Labour governments from the 1990s up to the current austerity reforms is shocking, and Pring’s accounts of those most affected will leave you feeling sad and enraged. This book is a long time coming and will have enormous relevance for years to come, as governments try to enforce more budgetary cuts with the same ideological hostility levelled at disabled people.’
Victoria Cooper, co-editor of The Violence of Austerity