The sister of an ex-forces claimant who died after his benefits were sanctioned is asking for your help to get justice for him.{jcomments on}
David Clapson died in 2013. An inquest found that he died with no food in his stomach and no money to pay for electricity to power his fridge and keep his insulin cool.
David’s JSA had been sanctioned for a month because he missed two meetings. He was a vulnerable man and unwell, but too private and proud to ask for help when his benefits were stopped.
His sister, Gill Thompson, has fought tirelessly to publicise his case and that of other claimants who have suffered and died because of benefits sanctions.
She has already managed to get over 200,000 signatures on a change.org petition which led to an parliamentary select committee inquiry into sanctions. However, the government refused to follow some of the most important recommendations in the report, including investigating the deaths of sanctioned claimants and monitoring what happens to claimants whose benefits are sanctioned.
Gill is now asking people to do two things:
Sign a petition asking David Cameron to implement the select committee findings
Make a donation, if you can afford it, to a fighting fund to try to get an investigation/inquest held into David’s death. The fund has reached almost £9,000 after just one week, with a target of £10,000 to pay legal expenses.
A day of action against sanctions is also being held on Wednesday 9 March, led by Unite the Union and supported by Gill Thompson, DPAC and many others. There will be protests outside Caxton House in London and at many local jobcentres. Find your nearest protest here.
There will also be an online protest between 2.30pm to 4.00pm.
