Upcoming changes to benefits
Comments
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Something I remember back from when Labour was last in power a ex cabinet member mentioned everything was decided between Blair, Brown and I cant remember the 3rd person around a kitchen table in one of their homes, and the cabinet meeting was simply everyone else being informed of what had been decided.
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Alot of people have only just been given that increase and the way things are going we will end up losing £20 a month overall compared to Nov 2024-Jan 2025.
To me it looks like there just taking back the higher money they promised and now lied..
And still no one in the media or Scope have been asking why has the government over the last 3 months wanted the rest of the income related ESA moved over to UC ( 500'000 people?) with promises of over £100 extra a month only to be turned around to say you now going to lose over £120 instead???
Something very fishy going on.
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What we know is that Labour cannot bar people with mental disabilities to claim incapacity benefits unless they alter their own 2010 Equalities Act which would have terrible optics.
My view is that although Mental disabilities/illnesses are negatively viewed in the press and media, Labour will look to have such issues scrutinized further, more evidence, more input from medical professionals.
Labour don't like the 18-30 cohort not working or in training aka "Neets", they want them doing something, I agree with that but if you're disabled or incapacitated what can you do?
The view that cuts will incentivise disabled people to look for work is completely ludicrous, like it's a holiday to be disabled. If you can't work, you can't work, it's like asking a Fox to act like a Cat or an Eagle to take up Veganism, it ain't happening.
We're all in the same boat, yes we have varying degrees of disability, some are physically disabled, some are mentally disabled, some are both and I know it's hard not to be insular about this situation but a little tact and compassion goes far.
I don't like this downplaying of depression in the media, I was diagnosed with CPTSD yet depression has similar symptoms, one is trauma based and the other can come in a variety of ways but the end result is often the same. I've lost two people who took their lives due to depression, in 2008 and in 2021 and so when Tony Blair, Mel Stride, Labour minsters and the Media take the mick out of depression it really grates me.
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I just saw this, the dwp exaggerating the benefit claimant figures... doesn't surprise me that they would do that to push their agenda.
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There's a new press release preparing us for announcement of Green Paper:
😪😥
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Work, work, work, work, the government are obsessed with it.
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Just from reading this, it won't work this government are insane
Liz Kendal says 200,000 of those in LCWRA are crying out for work.
But in reality they would love to work but their disablity prevents them from doing so,
They really need to watch what they are saying here.
wasted taxpayers money if this does go ahead!
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I hate their wording. It sounds like they are doing us a favour with benefits cuts. 😡
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I've got a response from my MP Apsana Begum (suspended Labour MP). She's on our side.
I do not agree with the Government making savings by cutting welfare support, and I share the serious concerns of campaigners regarding Government plans to reform disability benefits.
For this reason, in a debate on Parliament on 4th November 2024, I said:
"The commitment to delivering the previously planned savings is more than alarming. The truth is that the way disabled people have been treated by the Department for Work and Pensions since 2010 will go down in history as a terrible and inexcusable crime. There is extensive evidence about the serious harm caused to people subjected to dehumanising assessments and sanctions, including reports of deaths directly related to the social security regime. We need a long-term overhaul of the social security system. It is not fit for purpose. I urge the Government to really look at that in detail going forward.”
I understand that under one option reportedly being considered, the Universal Credit (UC) “limited capability for work or work-related activity” category would be abolished, which would require often severely disabled or ill people to make preparations for work. That could see claimants lose about £5,000 a year.
It has also been widely reported that Ministers intend to scrap the work capability assessment used to approve incapacity benefits and align the system more closely with assessments for personal independence payments (PIP), separate disability benefits that are paid whether or not someone can work.
I am aware that in January 2025, a high court judge found that an official consultation regarding changes to the WCA was ruled unlawful, following a legal challenge by disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) campaigner Ellen Clifford. The high court said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had presented UK-wide incapacity benefit assessment reforms as a way to support disabled people into work without making clear the “primary rationale” of the proposals was cost savings.
The consultation, which was carried out by the previous Government in Autumn 2023, failed to mention that 424,000 disabled people would see their benefits cut, many losing £416 a month, the judge found.
I am conscious that documents released to the court also revealed that internal DWP estimates suggested the reforms to the WCA would push 100,000 highly vulnerable disabled people into absolute poverty.
I do not agree with making welfare savings by cutting welfare support.
I am only too aware that 14 years of austerity has had a brutal impact on the lives of many disabled people. Research by the Trussell Trust suggests that most food bank users now live in households where somebody is disabled.
I would have liked the new Government to use the Autumn Budget 2024 to ensure that our social security system works for everyone when they need it.
It has therefore been clear to me that for many years that the current social security system is not fit for purpose and in many cases actively damaging.
I note the high proportion of Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) decisions that are overturned at tribunal and am all too conscious that each of the many thousands of incorrect decisions about what support a disabled person should be getting causes real suffering to that person and to their family and friends. There is extensive evidence about the serious harm caused to people subjected to dehumanising assessments and sanctions – and that there are reports of deaths directly related to the social security regime. I support the growing calls for a full transparent independent inquiry into these deaths and for all the information to be released to the public accordingly.
I strongly believe that it should be the new Government’s priority to address these wrongs.
It is my view that protecting access to benefits ensures that society maintains a basic standard of living for everyone.
I pay tribute to disabled activists – such as of Z2K, Black Triangle, WOW campaign, disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), and others – who have spent years campaigning for disabled people’s rights.
Thank you again for raising this important issue with me.
Yours sincerely,
Apsana
Office of Apsana Begum MP
Member of Parliament for Poplar and Limehouse11 -
True, i hate when they say it is unfair on those on it! i mean that makes no logic sense.. why can't the goverment leave those on LCWRA alone it is their for a reason.
This won't happened fast, may take years and court cases i feel strongly won't win and will get watered down before any off these become law.
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From Disability news service, John Mcdonald is supporting them
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I’ve read that Ian Duncan Smith has said there’s no way they’ll get this through, George Osborne saying it’s going too far, Rayner and Cooper the deputy PM and Home Secretary respectively disagreeing with the cuts. If they don’t back down on this they’ll not only harm 700,000 disabled people it’ll damage their leadership and honestly I’m wondering whether it’ll split the party and end up in a vote of no confidence. I’m glad at least there is so much opposition and this is before even a green paper has been released, this is Reeves and Kendall and their hatred for the sick vulnerable and disabled and they need to go.
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This will be the start of starmer downfall.
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I agree. People voted for change and he campaigned on that slogan, this wasn’t in the manifesto and in any other job if someone lied to get their position and then did the opposite of what they said they’d do they’d be sacked for fraud. Shouldn’t be any different for people in government
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I wish Corbyn was still the leader of Liebour, I bet he'd sack Freeze Reeves and Killall.
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when you mention ‘he’ you are referring to starmer, not timms right?
The thing is for a huge amount of the population there are limited options on parties available to vote for next GE (I know reform are getting a lot of support as they aren’t the status quo of ToryVsLabour - but once people have regain some common sense they’ll release that’s not the answer either)…………..prehaps we’ll have a situation like France where a new party gets launched and gets into power 1st try (macrons party - though that precedent isn’t the best enforcement either)
Look I’m personal open to both Lib Dem’s and greens increasing their vote share and being part of another coalition
But for me the best thing would be for labour to ‘sort themselves out’ whether by this existing team or a total refresh of the top team and restart (and every option inbetween)
look it’s been years since the PM job was the most powerful position in government- however to the public the buck stops with the pm and they are the ones facing the consequences if things backfire
Starmer probably wasn’t the one behind all this welfare reform stuff and has most likely been advised (or bluntly told) what to endorse and defend - but he’s a smart guy who should know the difference between right and wrong and if something feels ethically wrong he should be pushing back against the relevant ministers and advisers (and remember he does have the power to replace them if they aren’t able to do their jobs without making a big mess of things
And yes on paper starmer is one of the most qualified mp’s to be dealing with world issues
But in terms of issues at home I’ve been deeply disappointed in some of starmers rents quotes on welfare and implied thoughts on vulnerable and disabled (and what they deserve/should contribute)
There is still time for him to change his position and repair damage that is clearly happening every day as this controversy grows (firing Kendall and/or reeves would be a welcome olive branch)
But I don’t know how long that door will remain open to him to do lasting repairs (not just for the disabled community)
it’s fair too early in this 5 year term to even consider starmers position as pm being untenable - but he and his team do need to repair self inflicted damage before this labour first term reaches the midway point in January 2027 (and mps start worrying about their seats in the next ge)
I’m tried my best to be as fair as possible with this post3 -
People are more likely to ‘accept’ freezes over cuts
(And certainly not both at the same time)
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Telegraph reporting Number Ten 'slapped down' Reeves over her comments re Trump this morning. Rarely a sign of harmony in Downing Street.....
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I’m beyond sick of hearing Starmer whinge about “working people”.
“We’re going to fix this country for working people… we’re going to make sure working people have this and that… etc”So… fk all of us non-working people, right? And not just disabled people who aren’t working, but pensioners, full-time carers, stay at home parents… forget all of us! The only people that matter are working people.
And no one ever has called him out on it!10
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