MPs are warning that sweeping cuts to disability benefits could have “catastrophic” consequences for some of the UK’s most vulnerable people. According to claims, as many as 800,000 people are at risk of losing support entirely due to proposals from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with the poorest disabled claimants potentially facing a loss of up to £886 per month.
The MPs constituting the cross-party group on Poverty and Inequality have issued a stark warning that the reforms, from Labour’s ‘Pathways to Work’ green paper, will make an already “dire situation” worse for families grappling with the cost of living.
Green MP Siân Berry, who serves as co-chair of the parliamentary group, said: “Disabled people are already squeezed beyond belief, they’re already living in much deeper poverty [than the general population]… The new proposals will make things much, much worse. The government needs to start from scratch. It’s just a disaster on every front.”
The proposed changes have incited anger across the political and social spectrum, with campaigners, charities, and over 40 Labour MPs urging the government to scrap the contentious reforms, criticising them as “impossible to support”.
In what seemed like an attempt to stop spreading disquiet among Labour backbenchers last week, Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall put forward “non-negotiable” safeguards for those most in vulnerable, including a 13-week transition period for recipients losing their Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
A submission to the APPG’s inquiry reads: “The cuts/changes to eligibility for PIP will decimate my life if they go ahead. It will cost me £8,400 a year. How am I meant to survive?”. Another claimant said: “In short: people will die. It remains to be seen if I’ll be one of them because, if things go ahead as planned, I don’t see a way forward.”
The APPG report has uncovered a prevailing “deep fear” among those reliant on benefits, with numerous accounts of suicidal ideation surfacing. While the government defends its proposals as a means to encourage more people into employment, concerns persist.
However, Ms Berry said: “PIP helps so many stay in work. And they’re talking about restricting it. It doesn’t make sense.” Despite predictions from government-endorsed sources forewarning that the proposed cutbacks could push 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into poverty, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation presents an even grimmer analysis.
It estimates as many as 400,000 might be affected, with children making up a quarter of that projection. The situation for disabled people is already dire, with twice as many likely to experience poverty and over a quarter facing food insecurity, a rate nearly tripling that of non-disabled people.
As well as this, their average monthly costs for essentials such as heating, transportation, and care exceed that of others by over £1,000. The APPG is advocating for a halt to the reforms, recommending an increase in benefit payments to match the actual costs disabled people face.
Ms Berry said: “Many people know the solution, which is to find more money through taxation to restore the social contract, the social safety net that ought to be provided by those with the broadest shoulders. Apart from the people leading this – Liz Kendall, her department, and the prime minister and the chancellor – there must be other cabinet members who are arguing against this. Local councils are going to be left to pick up the pieces. And so I hope Angela Rayner is providing some opposition within cabinet, at the very least.”
While Labour has received criticism for their approach to benefits reductions, both Conservatives and Reform parties have indicated they would implement even more drastic cuts to the welfare budget. This weekend, in the midst of the turmoil, Keir Starmer stood firm on the government’s agenda, emphasising the necessity to progress with the welfare plans.
On his journey to the G7 summit in Canada, the Prime Minister communicated his resolve to see his plans succeed in Parliament, following ministerial cautionary guidance to potentially rebellious MPs about the repercussions of opposing the government.
Addressing the potential for dissent regarding welfare reforms, Starmer said: “We’ve got to reform the welfare system,” in light of speculation that up to 170 MPs might challenge the proposed plans.
