The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills

Healthcare cuts and unemployment cause a host of societal ills, yet Europe refuses to save its citizens, says Richard Fitzpatrick

BRIAN McArdle worked as a security guard in Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. He was 57 years old when he had a stroke on St Stephen’s Day, 2011. It left him paralysed on his left side, blind in one eye, and unable to speak. He signed up for disability income.

David Cameron, in the 2010 British election, said that hundreds of thousands of Britons were cheating the disability system. He promised to root them out. On taking office, his government hired a French company, Atos, to evaluate disabled people, like Brian McArdle.