Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.4.2
Object Name
badge
Title
'Maximus Murders'
Place
UK
People
Conservative Party, Ian Duncan Smith, Department of Work and Pensions, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), Maximus (company)
Events
Austerity (2010s)
Description
A blue badge with a picture of a bum stamped with the words 'Maximus Murders' in blue and red.
The badge is referring to the business Maximus who are contracted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to conduct disability assessments on people applying for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments to determine if disabled claimants of Employment Support Allowance were too sick to work. Assessments conducted by Maximus staff, which often contradicted the expert opinions of medical professionals involved with claimants cases, often deciding that people with significant care needs were "fit for work" and ineligible for benefits, plunging people into poverty, and sometimes leading to deaths from starvation or suicide. Maximus' decision making and behaviour of staff during assessments were directly named as contributing to the deaths of multiple disabled people in coroners courts during the 2010s. The behaviour of Maximus staff in conducting these assessments is widely criticised by disabled people, and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The badge uses humour as part of its way of communicating their message, as the gluteus maximus is Latin for buttocks/bottom muscles. Political campaigns on very distressing topics sometimes interject humour into their messaging to reach people who would avoid engaging with more graphic or upsetting discussions.
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