One million people are set to lose their disability payments amid Labour’s cost-cutting crackdown on benefits – causing uproar within the party.
The huge changes to the welfare system, due to be announced next week, are tipped to see only the most severely disabled people qualify for support amid an overhaul of eligibility criteria.
Cuts to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), for those with a long-term condition which causes them to struggle with mobility or every tasks, will account for the bulk of the £5billion savings.
The upheaval will also see payments slashed for many people with mental health conditions, those needing a hearing aid and people who struggle with basic daily processes like eating, washing and dressing themselves.
The changes are expected to affect around one million people – and will be applied both to people claiming disability payments for the first time and existing recipients, as reported by the Times.
Sir Keir Starmer insists benefits cuts are urgently needed as the welfare bill is ‘going through the roof’, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Friday the government must ‘get a grip’ on the system. Ministers say savings will be used to bolster employment support and the basic rate of universal credit.
But Labour MPs have reportedly criticised the move – including deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and energy secretary Ed Miliband, who raised concerns in cabinet.
Even work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall is said to be ‘unhappy with the scale of proposed cuts’, the New Statesman reported earlier this week.
An announcement on the measures had been expected last Wednesday – but has been delayed until next week amid a major operation to win over backbench sceptics. Many have spoken out against cuts to PIPs in particular, which disability charity bosses have called ‘deeply damaging’, ‘devastating’ and ‘a disastrous move’.
One million people are set to lose their disability payments amid Labour ‘s cost-cutting crackdown on benefits – causing uproar within the party. Pictured: File photo
Sir Keir Starmer insists benefits cuts are urgently needed as the welfare bill is ‘going through the roof’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Friday the government must ‘get a grip’ on the system
The reforms also include getting rid of the ‘work capability assessment’ for benefits based on incapacity for work and preparing people with long-term sickness for work.
Ms Kendall is also expected to cut the top rate of benefits for those deemed unfit to work, which currently stands at more than £800 per month – twice the jobseekers’ rate.
But sweeping changes to the eligibility criteria for PIPs, paid out regardless of whether the person is working, will account for the bulk of the changes.
Around 3.2million people claim PIPs – up by more than a million since 2019. Roughly five million people are expected to be claiming them by the end of the decade.
The government has suggested making those changes in particular is not desirable but nevertheless necessary – the cost of PIPs is forecast to increase by £15billion in real terms by 2030.
Ministers are still battling the budget watchdog as they work out how much of the £5billion savings can be used so the government does not need to make any more cuts or raise taxes any further this month.
But it is known that some of the savings will be used to raise the basic rate of universal credit and create a bumper £1billion package of employment support.
This is a ‘moral’ move, the government has said, to facilitate and incentivise people getting into work.
But Labour MPs have criticised the move – including deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (pictured), who raised concerns in cabinet
Even work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall (pictured) is said to be ‘unhappy with the scale of proposed cuts’
PIPs – the major controversy of the package – are currently awarded on a points system, with applicants getting scored based on how difficult they find certain everyday and mobility-related activities.
The number of points they get determines the grant they receive. Amounts range between £1,500 and £9,600 a year.
But from now on, applicants will need to score at least four points on at least one activity to qualify for being considered for a payment. The need for a hearing aid does not meet the threshold.
Those who need help to wash their hair or body below the waist would not qualify for support – but those who need help to wash their upper body would. Needing help going to the toilet would meet the threshold – but those who need reminding to use it would not.
Those who need help cooking a meal would qualify for support – but those who could use a microwave would not. Needing to be reminded to see people face-to-face would not be supported – but needing help to actually have those interactions would.
Applicants who get the four points needed to qualify for being considered would then need to get another four points on top of that to get the lower rate – and another eight to get the higher one.
Making the eligibility criteria more exclusive in this way is also expected to hit those with mental health problems hard, who account for 37 per cent of new PIP awards – up from 28 per cent pre-pandemic.
Mental health problems are thought to be the reason behind a doubling in the number of under-40s claiming disability benefits.
An announcement on the measures was expected on Wednesday – but has been delayed until next week amid a major operation to win over backbench sceptics. Pictured: File photo
While the Conservatives focussed on making it harder for those with mental health problems to get a PIP, Labour is not expected to do this.
But Tom Pollard, head of social policy at thinktank New Economics Foundation, said there is ‘concern’ among ministers that burgeoning PIP numbers are being partly driven by people claiming for ‘less severe mental health conditions and neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and ADHD’.
So, he thought it was ‘likely’ changes to eligibility criteria would ‘target this group’.
Campaign director of disability charity Scope, James Taylor, called the PIP proposal ‘deeply damaging’: ‘Tightening the assessment would be a disastrous move and result in hundreds of thousands more disabled people being pushed into poverty.’
He added that it would ‘have a devastating effect on disabled people’s health, ability to live independently or work’.
Speaking on a visit to Hull earlier this week, Sir Keir said: ‘The welfare system as it’s set up, it can’t be defended on economic terms or moral terms.
‘Economically, the cost is going through the roof. So if we don’t do anything, the cost of welfare is going to go to £70 billion per year. That’s a third of the cost of the NHS.
‘That’s more than the Home Office and our prisons combined. So we’re making choices here.’
Speaking on a visit to Hull earlier this week (pictured), Sir Keir said: ‘The welfare system as it’s set up, it can’t be defended on economic terms or moral terms’
Rachel Reeves said, on a visit to Scotland yesterday morning (pictured), that it was ‘absolutely clear that the current system is not working for anyone’
Rachel Reeves said, on a visit to Scotland yesterday morning, that it was ‘absolutely clear that the current system is not working for anyone’.
She said: ‘It is not working for people who need support, it’s not working to get people into work so that more people can fulfil their potential, and it’s not working for the taxpayer when the bill for welfare is going up by billions of pounds in the next few years.’
She added: ‘So, we do need to get a grip. We need to spend more on national defence, but we need to reform our public services, and we need to reform our broken welfare system.’
But No10 has been ‘shocked’ by the scale of Labour opposition to the proposal to cut disability benefits to save £5bn and get hundreds of thousands of people who can work into jobs.
An announcement on the welfare system reforms was expected on Wednesday – but was delayed until next week to make time to win over sceptics in the party.
Dozens are said to have used private meetings in No10 to lay out their shock at the level of the cuts planned and urge a rethink.
In Hull, the PM said: ‘We’ve set up a system that basically says, “If you try the journey from where you are into work and anything goes wrong, you’ll probably end up in a worse position when you started”. And so understandably, many people say, “Well, I’m a bit scared about making that journey”. Therefore we’re baking in too many people not being able to get into work.’
He denied that the combination of slashing the welfare bill and reducing NHS bureaucracy amounted to a return to the huge cuts of the Coalition government.
Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell (pictured), who now sits as an independent MP after rebelling against the Labour whip, told Times Radio: ‘There are a number of people and I can understand their concerns completely to say, actually, we’re not operating like a Labour government’
His predecessor Ed Balls (pictured) added: ‘Cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work to pay for that – is not going to work’
Rachel Reeves said, on a visit to Scotland yesterday: ‘The bill for welfare is going up by billions of pounds in the next few years’
‘There is no return to austerity. I said that to you before the election, and we’re not going to austerity,’ the PM told Sky News.
But former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who now sits as an independent MP after rebelling against the Labour whip, told Times Radio: ‘There are a number of people and I can understand their concerns completely to say, actually, we’re not operating like a Labour government.
‘And that by introducing cuts in welfare, some people are saying, well, we’re going back to austerity. They say it’s almost like George Osborne all over again.’
His predecessor Ed Balls added: ‘Cutting the benefits of the most vulnerable in our society who can’t work to pay for that – is not going to work. And it’s not a Labour thing to do… It’s not what they’re for.’
Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan warned against a rerun of ‘austerity’ suggesting the government should ‘tax the super-rich’ instead.
He told BBC Newsnight: ‘Cuts to benefits don’t make jobs – they only make more poverty in our society and that’s why I’m very worried about some of the things I’m reading.’
He added: ‘It feels like a rerun of austerity and I’m worried about that.’
‘If we’re going to make poor people poorer, then there’ll be a number of MPs who won’t be able to sign up to that.’
Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan (pictured) warned against a rerun of ‘austerity’ suggesting the government should ‘tax the super-rich’ instead
Energy secretary Ed Miliband (pictured) has expressed his concerns about the move in cabinet
Leader of the commons Lucy Powell (pictured) has joined him in expressing worries over the scheme
Sir Keir has been inviting all Labour MPs into No 10 to explain the ‘future of the welfare system’ in roundtable talks hosted by the Downing Street Policy Unit aimed at heading off a Commons rebellion.
But one former frontbencher told the Mail the meeting was unhelpful and ‘contained no details’.
‘It’s hard to say what the proposals actually are or whether the roundtables will have an effect on them. I’ll have to wait for the detail,’ the MP said.
Ms Angela Rayner, Mr Miliband and leader of the Commons Lucy Powell are said to have expressed their concerns in cabinet about the proposed changes too.
Sir Keir was faced with grumbling at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday night, as he argued that Brits were being incentivised not to work.
Although the government’s huge majority means Sir Keir can force through measures a big rebellion would still be damaging.
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir was told by Labour backbencher Richard Burgon to make the ‘moral’ choice and introduce a wealth tax.
This was instead of ‘making the poor and vulnerable pay’ by cutting benefits for disabled people, the left-wing MP added.
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir was told by Labour backbencher Richard Burgon (pictured) to make the ‘moral’ choice and introduce a wealth tax
Sir Keir replied: ‘The party opposite left a broken welfare system, which locks millions out of work, that is indefensible, in my view, economically and morally’
‘Disabled people in my constituency are frightened,’ Mr Burgon told the PM.
‘And they’re frightened because they’re again hearing politicians use the language of tough choices.
‘They know, from bitter experience, when politicians talk about tough choices it means the easy option of making the poor and vulnerable pay.
‘So instead of cutting benefits for disabled people, wouldn’t the moral thing to do, the courageous thing to do, be to make a real tough choice and introduce a wealth tax on the very wealthiest people in our society?’
Sir Keir replied: ‘The party opposite left a broken welfare system, which locks millions out of work, that is indefensible, in my view, economically and morally.
‘Of course, we need to support people who need support, we need to help those who want to work to get back into work, and I think there’s a moral imperative in that.
‘He talks about a wealth tax, we have raised money – the energy profits levy, taxing non-doms, and air passenger duty on private jets.
‘But this isn’t a bottomless pit, and we must kick-start growth to get the economic stability that we need.’
11-time Paralympic gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson (pictured) has been among those to criticise the upheaval to the benefits system too
Rachael Maskell (pictured), the Labour MP leading a rebellion against cuts to welfare, has also expressed fears about disabled people feeling pressure to end their lives
11-time Paralympic gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson has been among those to criticise the upheaval to the benefits system too.
Mentioning the assisted dying bill currently under scrutiny by a committee of MPs before returning to the Commons for further debate and a vote, she said combining it with the welfare squeeze was ‘extremely worrying’.
Baroness Grey-Thompson, a crossbench peer, told Times Radio: ‘If you are disabled and terminally ill and your benefits are cut, making life intolerable, it’s obvious more people will feel forced down this route to end their lives early.’
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP leading a rebellion against cuts to welfare, also expressed fears about disabled people feeling pressure to end their lives.
She said: ‘I’m deeply concerned about the intersection we have about hearing that the social security is going to be cut for people whilst at the same time we’re talking about legislation.’
Similarly, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, who sits on the committee scrutinising the assisted dying legislation, warned combining it with welfare cuts would create a ‘perfect storm’ for the disabled.
Downing Street on Thursday refused to guarantee that the welfare changes would not adversely affect people who are unable to work because of severe disabilities, in comments likely to add to Labour MPs’ fears.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I think we’ve always been clear that clearly we need a system that protects those who cannot work but we also need to fix the broken welfare system that has put welfare spending on an unsustainable path.’
Similarly, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, who sits on the committee scrutinising the assisted dying legislation, warned combining it with welfare cuts would create a ‘perfect storm’ for the disabled
The sickness and disability bill for working-age adults has already risen by £20bn since the pandemic. Pictured: File photo
Pressed again, the spokesman said: ‘You’ll see the changes shortly, but we will always have a system that protects people who need protecting and we will always have a system that ensures that those who cannot work get the support they need, but I’m not going to get ahead of the reforms that we’re set to bring forward.’
The sickness and disability bill for working-age adults has already risen by £20bn since the pandemic and the Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted that the annual cost is on course to reach £100.7bn by 2029-30, up from £64.7bn in 2023-24.
Sir Keir lashed out at the current ‘indefensible’ welfare system as he was challenged over potential cuts during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
He told MPs: ‘I come from a family that dealt with a disability through my mother and brother over many years.
‘So I do understand the concerns that have been raised… but we inherited a system which is broken.
‘It is indefensible, economically and morally, and we must and we will reform it. We will have clear principles, we will protect those who need protecting.
‘We will also support those who can work, back to work, but Labour is the party of work, we’re also the party of equality and fairness.’
The DWP has described the welfare system as ‘broken’, saying: ‘We have a duty to get the welfare bill on a more sustainable path and we will achieve that through meaningful, principled reforms rather than arbitrary cuts to spending.’
The Department for Work and Pensions and the Treasury have been contacted for comment.
