(satire?)
Click on the image to enlarge and for a high resolution copy:
Some of his victims:
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With thanks – and apologies – to Joe Wezorek:
‘War Minister’ is meant to be a satirical commentary, informed by the whole project of using the innocent victims of the government’s war on welfare as political propaganda. I’m not making a penny off the image, and never will attempt to do so.
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Photo mosaic created using Andrea Mosaic
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Please feel free to share. And comment.
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The Coalition Government Colouring and Activity Book is now available for download as a PDF and in print:
penniewoodfall said:
Good Work Tom!
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thoughtfullyprepping said:
If only it was on the side of buses to let the world know what this shite has done.
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Pingback: Iain Duncan Smith’s portrait made from photos of people who died for being poor | Alternative News Network
Pingback: This portrait of Iain Duncan Smith’s uses images of those who died in his war on the poor – Pride’s Purge | Vox Political
laurettalottiepearson said:
Breaks my heart!
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thelovelywibblywobblyoldlady said:
Tom, whilst I understand your trepidation about posting this because of the possible effect on the relatives of the deceased, I am sure that they will be grateful to you for highlighting IDS’s persecution of their loved ones. God Bless you X
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laurettalottiepearson said:
It’s absolutely the right thing to do Tom. It certainly brings it home. Ordinary people, could be any one of us.
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lassy said:
I suspect the man doesn’t give a damn ,to him we are just numbers and unimportant ones at that.
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lassy said:
Reblogged this on Will the real reality please stand up!.
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Andrew Longworth-Dames said:
I hope nobody minds because I shared it with my ‘Facebook Friend’ Dodgy Dave the Shouty Prime Minister. He is forever trying to ‘Share the Facts’ I ‘Shared the Outrage’. He had the audacity to rabbit on about christian values in his last post for christmas. I have run out of adjectives to describe this boil on the bum of politics to say nothing of Idiot Does Sums aka Gollum of the DWP. Its no wonder I need blood pressure medication!
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A6er said:
Reblogged this on Britain Isn't Eating and commented:
Such an emotive image.
RIP all those who lost their lives due to this Coalition government, and I pray that those responsible for this ever increasing tragedy,particularly IDS and his other murdering accomplices, are quickly brought to account once the truth comes out.
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aboriginalpress said:
Reblogged this on [Modern Times].
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jaypot2012 said:
Reblogged this on Jay's Journal and commented:
So sad 😦
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overburdenddonkey said:
it’s the truth….and no one should fear to speak it….for auld lang syne…
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AL said:
I hope the families will be comforted to know that someone cares enough to try to raise awareness of the tragedy of those in need being let down by the State. We need to decide before it is too late whether human life intrinsically has value or whether life only has value when it is making money for someone. Meanwhile poor folks and those ill and disabled, will continue to go hungry, cold, ashamed of their poverty. They are being damaged. Mental health services are already struggling to cope. Well meaning therapists are helping their clients look at their ruined lives more positively, GP’s prescribe more medication in place of food and peace of mind.
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bobchewie said:
An idiot that is well overpaid wrote in a newspaper that Iain Drunken Shithouse should be regarded as a ” Hero”
hero of what i cannot say
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bobchewie said:
I do so hope this link is satire if not then this person is disturbed
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nearlydead said:
Reblogged this on nearlydead.
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nearlydead said:
Very appropriate.
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Clive Hayhoe said:
As hard as it may be the likes of IDS must be brought to book. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
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sdbast said:
Reblogged this on sdbast.
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beastrabban said:
Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog and commented:
I’m respectfully reblogging this picture, because I do feel very strongly that this is an effective artistic statement about the way IDS has destroyed the people, whose images have been used in the construction of this portrait. I realise that this could be considered insensitive. One of the commenters over on Mike’s blog certainly believes that this is so. I disagree, as the artist has made it clear that he intends it as a satirical comment and is not attempting to use it to exploit the memory of those people for mere financial gain. He also makes it very plain that publishing it was a difficult decision, and he apologises for the pain it may cause the families of the deceased.
I think that Mr Wezorek has certainly not acted inappropriately in producing the picture. Rather, he has acted as part of the great artistic tradition that uses art as a medium for social comment, and to hold up a mirror to oppression, poverty, tyranny, abuse and corrupt and arbitrary government. In 19th century Russia there were the Wanderers, a school of painters that deliberately sought to shock respectable Russian middle class and aristocratic opinion, by painting the lives of the wretched, ordinary people of the Russian Empire as they were, not as the Tsarist authorities wanted them portrayed. The result is the classic picture, ‘Barge Haulers of the Volga’, showing a line of ragged peasants, all hope beaten out of them by the sheer hardship of their lives, with the rope around them hauling a ship up the great Russian river. It is one of the grand masterpieces of Russian art, and at the same time a terrible social document and indictment of Tsarism and the social system that created and prospered from such human misery.
Similarly, in Western Europe, realist painters and writers like Zola and Courbet also attempted to show the real, hard lives of working people in France and elsewhere, not as great, Romantic supermen, but as they really were. Wezorek’s painting isn’t realist. It’s much more like that the Symbolists. Edward Lucie-Smith, the art historian, in his book, Symbolist Art, published by Phaedon, makes the point that the Symbolists were disgusted by the corruption and stagnation of the modern age. For some this led to snobbery. Others were influenced and practitioners of forms of alternative mysticism. Still others turned to socialism. Their art also deals with issues like poverty. misery, and disease. Some of these images are even now both inspiring and disturbing. I believe that the artist behind this painting has shown himself to be a proper part of this aspect of art, and I do feel that it’s an appropriate way to keep the memory of his victims alive and not let this squalid, miserable excuse for a human being crawl away from their deaths unscathed. J’accuse.
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Nick said:
there are many more faces to go with these tom and they can be found on the face book page
remember the dead
https://www.facebook.com/ribbonsforwelfare?hc_location=stream
and don’t forget this man and be warned the picture is horrendous
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theghirlwiththethorninherside said:
Reblogged this on theghirlwiththethorninherside.
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bobchewie said:
IDS a ” hero ” ? shurely shome mishtake ( to quote pvt EYE)
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bobchewie said:
i have this recollection of a hack writing in torygraph claiming it was ” despicable” .that using the names of dead claimants to get on some kind of ” bandwagon” to attack austerity measures ,
Oh how they try to spin and spin their shit . What are they these govt “hired guns” to shoot down any complaint or concern or panic, surely they should be named and shamed
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Jo-Lo said:
Reblogged this on Today's News Reviewed.
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overburdenddonkey said:
http://eastdunbartonshiressp.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/elaine-c-smith-reads-famous-rat-race.html alien nation jimmy reid… ‘freedom come all ye’, hamish henderson
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Spacemum said:
thank you for highlighting the plight of so many of us who are pushed to the brink by IDS I truly believe that for some of us the only option left to us by him is death. He makes living as a poor, ill and disabled person almost a crime and this needs to be challenged. Your image brings home to people the cost in real lives this man is responsible for. It is not a crime being poor and we should be allowed to live with dignity and respect something which IDS denies us at almost every turn. Thank you so much for the work you have done on this image.
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bobchewie said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10595498/Iain-Duncan-Smith-is-the-unsung-hero-of-the-jobs-recovery.html
Iain Duncan Smith is the unsung hero of the jobs recovery
Maybe unsung but highly cursed ..
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argotina1 said:
Reblogged this on Benefit tales.
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gina mann said:
This is so sad and such a powerful image. What has the world come to when you are penalised for being ill, disabled or poor. Sounds like the middle ages to me!
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scumbag sponging smith said:
Iain duncan smith is a murderer
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Order Of Truth said:
Reblogged this on Order Of Truth.
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Harry said:
I’m guessing that the relatives of all the people pictured here are in full agreement that their deceased family members are being portrayed in this way ?
[And I’m guessing you haven’t read the blogpost to the end. Because if you had, you would know the answer to that question. Next time try reading the entire article before commenting] – TOM
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wakeupbeforeitstoolate said:
Reblogged this on Wake Up Before It's Too Late and commented:
There are no words I can use to describe this – just think of all the families without loved ones this Christmas due to this vile example of a human’s genocidal ‘reforms’.
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sandra bowes-rennox said:
Stalin would be proud of this killer…Smith has so much blood on his hands…but what goes around comes around and he can rot in hell…i don’t wish this scumbag a happy new year or his scumbag partners in this crime against the disabled but he will leave a legacy of utter hate and loathing…BURN IN HELL SMITH…not a picture in oils but a true life study…i’ve never seen such a true image…may all the dead haunt him before he takes his last breath…BAH HUMBUG SMITH.
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lawrencesroberts said:
Reblogged this on idontbelieveitagain and commented:
rebloged on “idontbelieveitagain”
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untynewear said:
Reblogged this on UNEMPLOYED IN TYNE & WEAR.
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amnesiaclinic said:
Reblogged this on amnesiaclinic and commented:
Everything that can be done to keep alive the memory of those who have died under the DWP and in particular IDS needs to be done.
May they all rest in peace.
x
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Chris Tandy said:
Can I buy an A2-size poster print?
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Tom Pride said:
Right click on the image, save it to your computer and have a high-quality print made.
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Carbolic said:
I knew Leanne when she was younger. I didn’t know she’d died as our paths went in completely different directions about 8 years ago. So this was a blow to me to discover the wonderful vivacious kid I’d had sleeping on my sofa on occasions had been driven to such lengths by her illnesses and the system. Such a waste of life.
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Mark Catlin said:
Reblogged this on markcatlin3695's Blog and commented:
Of all the vile members of Parliament, this man is one of the worst.
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overburdenddonkey said:
the WCA is so badly flawed it should be scrapped…
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/disabled-dad-ordered-prove-hes-4897731
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Steve DB said:
IDS = The Angle of Death.
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Mike said:
you MUST enter that for the 2015 Turner Prize!! Absolutely must do it !
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jonjominns said:
Reblogged this on jonjominns's Blog and commented:
This is exactly the thing the government may need to see exactly the damage caused by living on the breadline. This is due to one thing, the government’s sweeping benefit reforms that have left thousands homeless, unable to make ends meet and in some severe cases dying. I know personally of one person who has, and another who nearly took their lives as a direct consequence of this. I applauded you for representing it in such a candid and unique way.
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Alice said:
I cannot convey just how huge an impact your picture has made, it is completely consuming my thoughts, which I guess was one of your intentions. I have bipolar (my being so affected by this is rational and not a manic bipolar reaction) I have recently negotiated the DWP/ATOS ordeal for both PIP and ESA (feel like a useless scrounger) My experiences have caused jaw dropping disbelief at how uncomplicated it was, how I was treated with respect and how my difficulties being in a strange environment were treated as a priority.
Despite the huge relief I felt, it was quickly replaced by anger at yet more inequality. I had fantastic representation and support. I couldn’t have done it myself. I’m lucky but luck shouldn’t come in to it. I feel guilty about my experience. I hope I can be of use to others in 2015, even if it is only in a small way. I am going to hang your picture prominently in my home and share this amongst people I know who will get it. I agree with Turner Prize suggestion. How amazing would that be??? Thank you for sticking your neck out and producing this evocative work
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seachranaidhe1 said:
Reblogged this on seachranaidhe1.
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Sid red said:
Reblogged this on Sid's Blog and commented:
IDS responsible
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