Upcoming changes to benefits
Comments
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what the public are against the cuts ?
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Almost all the comments on X are against even with reform voters
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They wont stand a chance, also noticed that Anas Sarwar is backing the cuts also 😠wish all these MPS had backbone and stood up to starmer!
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Hi. I am in exactly the same situation as you, on ESA & PIP. Terrified of what's to come. Feeling helpless, I just want to know what's going to happen to us all. I'm more than stressed out. X
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According to Elene Clifford, that Fraser Nelson/Dispatches hit piece on disabled people was thought of well in advance during the Tory government and Labour have merely picked up the stick in the game of disabled pinata.
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Facebook also, many calling them to stop calling themselves labour! they are not labour, not even torys. they are the bottom of the lowest!
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oh wow . I read on a link on this forum Labour think by going tough they’ll fight off Tory’s and reform. That would explain why they were against Tory cuts but once reform changed their manifesto to bringing in benefit cuts and are now doing well labour thinks they need to be anti sick and disabled too. If that’s correct makes sense
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At least this shows that…
a) these MPs didn’t immediately back down after the meeting with Starmer last night, and
b) Starmer seems to view them as a credible enough threat that he’s initiating talks with them
ETA: I can’t find the original comment now, but my comment here is in response to this article:
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-03-11/labour-mps-called-in-to-no10-for-talks-benefits-cuts-amid-growing-rebellion
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and Debbie abrams is leading the fight back
She would be my vote to replace starmer if he can’t be talked down from whatever bad advice he’s following right now (she’s actually a central leaning mp, not heavy left and been an mp for 14 years)
What???
Have they really fooled you into thinking they're on our side? First it was Timms now it's Abrahams…
😣
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It needs to be explained to them that, even if they take a few votes from Reform (doubtful anyway), it won't make up for the loss of 200+ seats.
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I’m on legacy esa and pip , migration letter any time plus pip review form . No idea what’s happening. I don’t understand though that I’ve read dwp have been training extra case managers for pip to try and cut down on assessments. I’ve heard of ppl getting pip on paper assessments. Why do that if they plan to change pip ?
I really hope that once they see the backlash they water these reforms down. They were expecting this to be popular. At the end of the day they have to have some voters left .
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The not knowing is worst, wish they would just announce their intentions already.
I'm still support group ESA so not sure if the cuts would apply to that.
I get PIP for mental health issues and autism and mine is up for review near the end of the year, so this is just adding extra worry as Labour don't seem to see mental health problems as a disability anymore.
Life always finds a way to knock you down over and over again 😔
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isn’t disgusting that this isn’t about their beliefs or principles but getting votes. Collateral damage is all we are to them . I read reforms manifesto for a few years ago and it seemed positive , then it changed completely. It’s as though everyone thinks we are vote losers .
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IDS in "The I" this evening:
Benefits are set to be cut for people judged unfit to work but increased for those either in or searching for a job in the Government’s controversial welfare reforms, The i Paper understands.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is looking at raising the basic rate of universal credit for those deemed fit to work, currently between £311.68 and £393.45 a month, while cutting payments to those judged to have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA), which sees awards increased by £416.19 a month.
As a result, someone over the age of 25 could be receiving more than £800 a month with no requirement to look for work, while those seeking employment get less than half the amount.
Ministers are also looking to tighten the eligibility for personal independence payments (PIP) and freeze the benefit so it does not rise with inflation as Chancellor Rachel Reeves seeks £6bn of welfare savings as she scrambles to balance the books ahead of her Spring Statement on 26 March.
But they were warned by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who quit as work and pensions secretary in 2016 over George Osborne’s abandoned plans to crackdown on PIP, that the plans are doomed to fail because they will require primary legislation, meaning they are likely to trigger multiple bruising Labour rebellions in the Commons and Lords.
Labour support
Sir Keir Starmer told Labour MPs at a Monday night meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party that the welfare crackdown is required or taxpayers will be left “funding a spiralling bill [of] £70bn a year by 2030” as he warned of a “wasted generation” of young people not in work, education or training.
A Labour MP who supports the Government’s plans said there was support and understanding across the the party about having to change the way incapacity benefits operate for those who are not working after the number of people receiving disability benefits soared by almost half a million in a year, to 4.8 million as of August.
They backed moves to reform universal credit to reduce the incentive for claimants to remain in the not-fit-for-work category, rather than looking for a job if they can, as well as improving the level of tailored support on offer for those who might need more help to get work.
“If I went on universal credit now I would get about £390 but if I was assessed as having a health issue I would be eligible for £810 – more than double. And you are often totally ruled out of having to look for work,” they said.
IDS warning
But Smith, the former Conservative leader, said the Government would struggle to get separate changes to PIP through Parliament as ministers will need to bring forward a bill which would trigger “big rebellions” in the Commons and Lords.
“That is one of the big downsides of benefits on disability – you can’t do them overnight.
“You have to have votes in the Commons on it, votes in the Lords, and the problem is, once you go down that road it takes ages and if you’re lucky you get it through, but there’s a very good chance it doesn’t come through at the end of the day and that’s your problem.
“So getting money out of PIP by freezing it is going to be a longer process than you think.”
He went on: “Any change to the eligibility criteria has got to go through the House, I know this because we went through it in 2016 and I did say to the government then: you are not going to get it through.”
Smith, who rolled out universal credit as pensions minister, recalls saying: “You will be attacked by everyone for doing it, but you won’t get it through, so it’ll be a wasted effort.”
Budget will hamper back-to-work efforts, IDS claims
Smith also warned that last year’s Autumn Budget would make the Government’s mission to get people back into work more difficult because a cut in the threshold at which national insurance is paid from £9,000 to £5,000 would hit part-time jobs which are “critical for starting the process of getting people back into work”.
At the same time the Government had increased the minimum wage which means businesses are “not going to employ so many people”, so “job opportunities will shrink”.
Smith also argued the Government was effectively scrapping zero-hour contracts in its workers’ rights reforms which are often used by those with mental health problems or caring responsibilities.
“The pressure on that means a lot of those jobs that you start people on, [moving] from welfare, are not going to be available.”
The former cabinet minister also warned that the time it is likely to take to make the changes would allow some claimants to find ways of gaming the system and meeting the new eligibility criteria for PIP.
“The internet makes it very difficult to tighten up disability and sickness benefits because people find ways around the rules.
“If you look an insurance company, they will change their eligibility criteria overnight and don’t have to go through the House of Commons and House of Lords.”
It comes after John McTernan, an ally of Sir Tony Blair who was special adviser to then-social security secretary Harriet Harman when she cut lone-parent benefits in 1997, warned that the Government could be forced to abandon the changes to PIP.
“The one lobby that defeated Tony Blair’s welfare reforms wasn’t lone parents – their cut went through despite a massive rebellion.
“It was disability cuts which were ditched once they were floated. The disability lobby is massive and influential because disability itself is distributed widely across the country.”
Helen Whately, the shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “Labour came into office with no plan to get the welfare bill down, and taxpayers have spent £2.5bn so far waiting for them to come up with one.
“Sickness benefits are forecast to cost £100bn by 2030. We can’t afford that – nor is it right for so many people to be relying on the state. The country needs everyone who can work, to work.
“But instead of tackling this problem, Labour are talking about freezing benefits for disabled people instead. That is no substitute for proper welfare reform and does nothing to get people off benefits into work.
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I am on ESA and PIP.
I live alone and I have to pay rent and I only get single person council tax discount
I had to take ill health retirement 14 years ago and there's no way I could return to paid employment.
I fear I may become homeless and destitute.
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Yes I just looked at reform and it said it will ensure those who can work do work.
But those with severe disabilities or serious long term illness would be exempt from checks
They copied reform on the cuts to foreign aid as well
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They need to be made aware that they will be collateral damage themselves next election if this goes through. This sort of stuff might not affect the Tories too much if they did it. Very different for Labour.
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Same...my crohns and lupus has flared due to the stress, I've had multiple vomiting episodes Over the weekend, it's all so cruel.....
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I got this from Cab Seems everyone is waiting for info….
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Same Here, I don't have your conditions but have severe anxiety, ptsd amongst numerous other health problems. Ive been a wreck since the weekend. Everything flares up with stress. Hope they get taken to court etc. I can't stand much more of this x
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