Upcoming changes to benefits
Comments
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@Maggie37 Here's a copy/paste:
"What’s the point of a Labour MP who votes for something so cruel, tin-eared and short-sighted?
Treating disabled and sick people callously flies in the face of all the party stands for – the government must rethink its plans
Sat 15 Mar 2025 09.30 GMTShare753
Emails are pouring into MPs’ boxes from disabled people and carers, who are truly frightened by the suggestions from government sources and ministers’ speeches that the benefits they rely on are to be cut.
The latest comments to a journalist from someone described as a “government insider” demonstrate starkly what a tin ear some ministers have on this issue. This person accused Labour MPs who are expressing their constituents’ concerns about proposals to cut benefits of “pearl clutching”.
It’s clear that some politicians have learned nothing from the winter fuel payment debacle that is still being raised angrily on the doorstep with Labour canvassers. More importantly, they appear to have learned nothing from the introduction of the work capability assessment for disabled people, associated with nearly 600 suicide deaths in England between 2010 and 2013.
As so many have said, the callousness of this treatment of disabled and sick people is not the Labour way. It prompts the question: why become a Labour MP if you are to vote for a policy that flies in the face of all that Labour has ever stood for?
We’ve heard that there is a moral argument to justify the government’s plans. There is definitely a strong moral argument for providing professional and empathetic support to help people get into work if they are capable of doing so. There is no moral case for propelling even more people into poverty by cutting benefit levels, or denying access to financial support to those who have no alternative.
The lack of understanding and empathy in the government’s policy planning and articulation has been shocking. Report after report has been published by thinktanks and specialist charities, including the Institute for Employment Studies, the Resolution Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to explain the plight of sick and disabled people; how the numbers have risen and the best ways to tackle this issue.
Although people are living longer, they are not necessarily living longer healthy lives. The increase in the retirement age has meant that many simply cannot physically manage to work until their retirement age. The rise in young people claiming benefits for sickness and disability, especially related to mental health conditions, has to be understood in the context of this austerity generation coming on to the books.
Throughout my time as shadow chancellor, I, along with many charities and professional bodies, highlighted the impact the massive cuts in social care were having. They prevented those early interventions to support families and young people by social workers and expert specialists that could identify and tackle emerging problems before they worsened.
We are now reaping the cumulative impact of the austerity measures sown by Tory chancellors. Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, gets all this and appeared to be working to design a system whose underlying principle was supporting sick and disabled people, not penalising them. She recognised that this needs investment in the short term to bring the professional resources together, but that it would pay off in the longer term.
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, obviously gets it because he was putting in place an extra 8,500 mental health workers to address the mental illness challenges we have within our society.
All that meaningful, positive, policy preparation seems to be being ridden over roughshod by the Treasury, whose demand for cuts appears to have risen from the £3bn planned by the Tories to £6bn now. The obsessive and misjudged adherence to out-of-date fiscal rules by the Treasury is knocking this government off course.
Ruling out increased taxes on the wealthiest when groups such as the Patriotic Millionaires are calling for them also appears dogmatic and foolish. And with such an overwhelming majority in the Commons, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have no fear of losing any votes in parliament.
However, many Labour MPs are waking up to the fact that moves such as cutting the winter fuel payment, and now disability benefits, could very easily lose them their seats. Reform UK could exploit the unpopularity of these policies and build a base in their constituencies to springboard into the next election.
There are only a few days left before the publication of the green paper on welfare benefits and just over a week before the spring statement.
There is still time for the Labour cabinet to act like a cabinet, and for its members to stand up to the Treasury to halt the cuts in benefits to the sick and disabled, and to insist on a more flexible interpretation of the fiscal rules and a limited set of tax measures. That would follow Starmer’s guiding principle that the broadest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden."
- John McDonnell is MP for Hayes and Harlington. He was Labour’s shadow chancellor from 2015 to 2020
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Big hug back X
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"Labour" can go on as much as they like about "work sets you free". There are not enough jobs out there. The stats show there are more job seekers than there are jobs. Due to the businesses national insurance rises, no one can afford to hire people.
Where are all these jobs going to come from if they do move us all over to the search group...
Funding has been cut for programmes that help you into work.
Also removing autism from pip when there is only a very small amount of autistic people in work in this country. The national autistic society says there are only 22% of autistic adults in paid work.
I have autism and severe mental health issues. I was working in the nhs, they refused to make reasonable adjustments. I tried, I got union rep and HR involved. My manager still said "it's unfair to other people" I literally asked for two simple things... but whatever I couldn't fight anymore. I tried and tried. I even spoke to the lead in inclusion and disability for my trust. She was as helpful as a toilet brush. In the end I quit while I was off sick again for my mental health and then a month later went into hospital again. I've tried to end my life several times over the years, been in and out of hospital, been sectioned, been in police cars taken to a place of safety.
No workplace has ever been understanding. There's just no point anymore. I've had to go off sick several times in jobs, I've ended up in hospital while still being employed. No employer actually gives a **** about you, I've been treated appallingly.
Where are all the jobs that will employ disabled people let alone make any reasonable adjustments. The whole thing is a load of ****, it isn't about helping us into work, it's about cutting all our money so we don't live.
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that could well be that some people on a pension pay tax after working for 40 or 50 plus years and each year it puts more of them into the paying tax bracket helping the government balance the welfare costs for those that dont or who have never for whatever reason
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Saw this YouTube video this morning from Richard Murphy who has some great points. Because of AI, there will be a huge jobs crisis in the UK, that will affect everyone.
Disabled people have no chance of finding jobs when they're competing with tens of thousands of abled people let go because of AI.
Instead, more abled people will be trapped on UC due to being unable to find work through no fault of their own (and hence also become disabled due to por mental health).
They will be stuck at home living the life of the disabled benefit claimants many of them demonised for years thanks to regurgitating right wing **** in the press, and realise they were lied to, and that being disabled and out of work sucks.
These ableds wont tolerate it, and the right wing narratives that all people on benefits are scroungers and its their fault will be shattered forever thanks to lived expereince.
All the more reason why these plans to murder more disabled people via benefits cuts will never go ahead.
Labour is forcing people into work when AI’s eliminating jobs
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Oh kaliwax my heart broke reading this.
Please know these changes aren't set in stone yet and will probably be watered down and take a long time to come into effect.
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So sorry you've had such awful experiences Fiji.
Sadly a lot of disabled people (incuding autistic people) go self-employed because that's the only way we can get accommodations. Employers won't do them, the laws are toothless and unfit for purpose, so we have to do it ourselves.
UC is **** for self-employment too. It's not designed to help people who cannot fit into the kinds of minimum wage, "unskilled" work employers provide. Nothing for remote wok too. If you're disabled and going down the self employment or remote work paths, you're on your own too.
The best thing UC can do for most disabled people is to just bloody leave us alone. If we can work and want your help, great. If we can't, just bloody give us our money and leave us alone.
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There are some very interesting discussions from our folks in this thread … I have a daft question. Will all these be collectively reach the parliament through Scope—Apologies in advance if this question has been asked previously
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unless you intend to do so in martyr fashion (and I hope everyone on this forum see’s their individual life’s as having value and everyone has the right to survive and have quality of life (might make an exception for the truly evil ppl in the world))
Those in charge of this labour government would find it very convenient to their plans (the more disabled ppl that give up and accept gov proposals as ‘locked in fate’ the easier it will be for the gov to achieve their fully objective)
At the end of the day, in the words of Steve Roger’s - “I don’t like bullies” - and that may be what this green paper represents of its authors
And I still believe in karma (though it’s been overdue for years)
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Thanks so much for this. I saw Liz Kendall as very much a player in all of this but John Mc Donnell lays the blame solely at Reeves door? The BBC verify article yesterday claimed Reeves is literally worshipping at the altar of the OBR.. I’ll email cross party tomorrow methinks.
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About cutting LCRWA "extra":
https://neweconomics.org/2025/03/government-is-concealing-the-true-scale-of-benefit-cuts-for-ill-and-disabled-people
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Well, it took almost 5 years for them to move everyone over from ESA to UC. And of course this comes as no coincidence they are making these steps once everyone has moved over. I don't think everyone will be moved over until the end of this year, so I would assume that the cuts will come into effect from Spring 2026. I hope I'm wrong and it's longer of course.
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I just watched Starmer live press conference re Ukraine. A reporter from Politico threw in a question re PIP, can't remember what is was now sorry but interesting that it's at the forefront of his mind during such a press conference, good on him. Can't remember his name sorry. Starmer just gave his usual stock standard reply which I can't remember that either 🙄 probably because it was not memorable 🤔
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I did some maths, based on the following assumptions, my situation in 4 years time.
TP has eroded on UC so SDP gone.
25% reduction on LCWRA component. (the lowest amount, best case being considered)
Loss of PIP, as I believe my daily living descriptors will no longer be there.
LHA remains frozen.
My rent doesnt increase (I can wish)It is quite a swing, which shows how excessive it all is, I came up with a £360 short fall each month, this is with no subscription services, netflix etc, social tariff broadband, no deliveroo, just eats etc., no new clothes, furniture, or other household stuff, still buying food shopping at a level to avoid malnutrition but no treats. If keep PIP mobility, its not as bad but still a shortfall. So absolute poverty. The memories are coming back of when my sister had to do food shopping for me out of her own pocket.
I itemised all expenses and emailed to my MP, but my MP is involved in the changes and has never replied to a DWP policy related email.
Things like discretionary help with housing costs are not practical, they require you to already be in arrears, which means you as good as evicted already.
I think even keeping the PIP I had before it got increased, and losing TP, so no cuts, I actually would be close to break even. So even what seems like not a huge thing on its own like losing SDP is noticeable. I dont know how people without PIP (just LCWRA) have been managing.
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Yeah timing is important, waiting until its new legislation is too late. I think once its clearer whats happening, if it comes out in the green paper I might be in the nothing to lose category and be prepared to be a plaintiff. If I cant live anymore independently thats it for me.
What we have to bear in mind here is this policy change has cross party support, I also think the house of lords in general support it as well, when things get watered down is usually when there is enough opposition to risk losing a vote. But in this case both Labour and the Tories will be like for like on it. The Tories might possibly oppose the PIP freeze but that would be it. But even if they do remember Labour has a behemoth of a majority and the PIP freeze is like the icing on the cake, it isnt the filling.2 -
We'll just have to wait and see how we will be affected. The devil's in the detail.
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Echr believe we have a right to life didn't stop the UK sticking illegal Do not resuscitate on six out of 10 people with disabilities during a pandemic . Neither did the Equality Act. Despite it needing full consent from the person and families.
This is a mostly fascist state now thanks to those who run MSM.
If they can do that literally kill disabled then anything is possible.
Can never fully relax
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I think the freeze being unfrozen if that satisfies the Labour MP's they have been duped, the LCWRA deduction and the descriptor changes are the nastiest part of the changes. My expectation is that was there to provide a short term benefit for the OBR, as the PIP eligibility changes will take multiple years to filter through, and once the proper cuts via eligibility have progressed enough PIP would be unfrozen.
It feels like when we had the PIP consultation everyone was talking about vouchers (likely only put there as a distraction) instead of all the eligibility proposals.0 -
Thats my assumption as well, if they do it in 2025, then people not yet moved would get TP protection for multiple years. 2026 would save more money.
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Yes that it the issue cross party support doesn't leave many alternatives as one goes and other picks up where they left off.
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