“Cutting £5 billion from their support betrays the principles of the welfare state, which needs more funding not deep cuts, and the Government has many other options for funding the social security net sustainably without plunging hundreds of thousands into poverty.

“It is clear the Government isn’t listening to Disabled people at all. If it had, it would have heard loud and clear that PIP is not an out of work benefit and in fact principally helps disabled people who are in employment.

“Labour should listen to the growing cries of revulsion within its own party and build a kind and resilient economy by taxing the extreme wealth hoarded in this country and fixing rampant inequality.”

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“The Prime Minister’s statement shows just how much pressure he is now under, from the public, Greens and others in opposition, and many Labour MPs, to demonstrate he has at least some understanding that his Government’s cuts are hurting people.

“To truly right these many wrongs, the Chancellor must try harder, and use her upcoming fiscal decisions to tax extreme wealth fairly. This could not only restore payments in full to the millions of pensioners Labour has betrayed, but also enable her to reconsider other cruel political choices, including £5 billion in cuts to welfare and her refusal to cancel the two-child benefit cap.

“Together, these u-turns would save hundreds of thousands from being pushed into poverty, and Greens will be making the case for this alongside everyone affected until this Government does the right thing.”

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See my submission to Ofcom’s Universal Service Obligation consultation below:

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Read Siân’s letter below.

The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
By Email

Dear Liz,

I am writing with initial questions and concerns following the publication by your department of the Green Paper, Pathways to Work, which I believe will be harmful to Disabled people and those unable to work due to health concerns.

When I asked a question in the House following the publication of the Green Paper, I stressed how vital it is for the voices of Disabled people to be reflected in any proposals for changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and disability benefits. I asked for co-production of any reforms, and cited a powerful letter sent by 25 Disabled people’s groups and charities ahead of your statement, which begged for their views to be reflected in plans to fix the flaws in current welfare policies and processes, not just consultation as an afterthought.

With over 100 groups and charities having now signed this open letter, Ministers need to provide meaningful opportunities to engage for these hugely respected organisations and offer assurances that the Government is willing to amend the Green Paper proposals. An equality impact assessment (EIA) should have been published alongside the Green Paper. I understand it will be published this week and believe it will show significant negative
impacts on many young and Disabled people, as well as those with mental health issues.

Could you set out a clear timeframe for the next steps?

Could you give me concrete details of how and when you will talk with the signatories of the open letter and take steps towards the co-production of any welfare changes?

If the proposals are assessed as harmful to Disabled people, young people and those with mental health issues, could you confirm that the plans will not proceed?

In response to my question, you invited me to write to you with particular issues and concerns and offered a meeting with your ministers. I look forward to that meeting and will respond to the consultation once I have discussed the plans further with constituents and representative groups, but I would also like to provide some initial observations here.

1. Young people

The context for any changes to how young people can claim benefits is very important. Young people have been let down by multiple failures of multiple previous governments, coupled with the legacy of disruption caused by the pandemic.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is often impossible for children and young people to access, with figures from 2022-2023 revealing that 6,300 children waited over two years, with an average wait of more than three years before finally receiving treatment. This must be addressed before your Government makes any moves to remove vital financial support.

I fear that the proposal to delay access to the health element of Universal Credit for those under the age of 22 will be very harmful to vulnerable young adults, preventing them from accessing the support they need to thrive. Could you confirm which organisations representing young people you will be engaging with and that, if the proposals are assessed by the planned consultation to be harmful to under 22’s, the plans will not
proceed?

2. Accessibility and engagement

The failure to publish the Green Paper in an accessible format at the same time as presenting plans to Parliament is concerning. This approach to accessibility is not good enough. Will you firmly commit to publishing any further information about welfare changes in formats that can be accessed by Disabled people from the start?

Will you also set out what further steps you will take to enable and encourage individual Disabled people to respond to the consultation?

3. Increased resources for advocacy and community advice services

After 15 years of local authority austerity, including cost pressures on the third sector exacerbated by recent changes to National Insurance, advocacy support to help people complete benefit applications is becoming harder to access for many people.

A leading advice charity in Brighton and Hove which helps Disabled people to access work and welfare benefits has explained to me that:

“Employment and Advice services are cut to our knees. Year-on-year cuts in funding through local government, cuts in support services through central and local funding, and grant bodies moving away from advice support. This upcoming year we will need to reduce our staff again by half. We are currently only able to open three days a week, but the number of enquiries is higher than when we were open every day.”

Will you confirm that, if and when changes are progressed, advice services will be given additional resources to cope with the likely increased demand for support and independent advice?

4. Divisive and stigmatising language

All people, irrespective of their health and subsequent ability to work, have the right to feel hope, dignity and self-respect. There has been a significant volume of loaded language in the lead up to the publication of the Green Paper which has concerned me greatly.

Ministers have a moral responsibility to not stoke division and tensions in our communities but, in recent weeks the language used has exacerbated stigma and fear. Accusations of people being ‘trapped’ on benefits and the ‘overdiagnosis’ of mental health issues, in my view serve to stigmatise those who struggle to work.

Instead, we should be rebuilding confidence in our social security system. Welfare reform pushed through under a cuts agenda to reduce national spending by £5 billion will not rebuild this confidence.

Going forward, I acknowledge the current work capability assessment (WCA) for Universal Credit and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is not fit for purpose, we do not suggest a do-nothing approach.

There are alternatives and many people have been clear that the Government could and should consider a simple wealth tax to provide the investment in people that is sorely needed. A 2 per cent tax on assets over £10 billion would raise £24 billion a year; a measure supported by 68 per cent of the public.

This popular and fair tax option must be on the table alongside other measures which would increase the income generated from those most able to contribute to the welfare of society, and I hope that you will advocate for it within Cabinet.

I look forward to your response to my questions above and further clarity on the next steps
from your department on these policies.

Yours sincerely,

Siân Berry MP
Green Party, Brighton Pavilion

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“I’ve heard nothing today that reassures me the Government will stop scapegoating and stigmatising those in need, while impoverishing them to the tune of £5 billion. Young and disabled people should have the support and backing of the Government but instead they have been badly let down this month with the active trailing of terrifying plans.  

“It’s clear that these plans were plotted without the input of those whose lives will be most impacted. Disabled people must be listened to before any changes are made, and I hope that Labour backbenchers will join me in being their fiercest defenders and fight off the worst of these plans.  

“The Chancellor must listen as well, to growing calls from Green MPs, the public and even many millionaires for a wealth tax. How can she stoop so low as taking money away from disabled people rather than getting a grip on the obscene wealth being hoarded in this country? This morally indefensible choice will have devastating consequences, and the Government should be ready to answer for it.”

ENDS   

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The post Letter to Labour MPs on proposed cuts to welfare benefits appeared first on Siân Berry MP.

Figures from Scope this week suggested that the proposed changes will push an added 700,000 disabled households into poverty, as Starmer’s claim that “if you can work, you should work” prompting comparisons with the previous Conservative Government’s attitude to welfare. 

In her letter, Siân Berry reminded Labour MPs that those in receipt of health-related benefits already face inordinate hardships, with 50 per cent of people claiming Universal Credit who have limited capability for work are unable to heat their homes or pay their bills, or have low food security.

She wrote: “I know you didn’t campaign for this, and that you stood up at the election for a welfare system based on dignity and respect. Like me, I expect you feel alarmed at the rhetoric coming from the Government that is instead scapegoating disabled people. Pushing people who are in need into deeper poverty will do nothing to address the root issues that lead to welfare claims, namely housing insecurity, poor quality jobs, huge wage inequality and a soaring mental health crisis.”

On Monday, the Green MPs will put forward a motion opposing the cuts, and in her letter Sian Berry urged all Labour MPs to back the motion. [2]

Siân Berry, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: 

“This Government has a clear choice to make. It can continue the Conservative and New Labour legacy of shaming those in need, or it can address the issues that are widening inequality in our country; record high rents, food insecurity, poor-quality jobs and a billionaire class that avoids paying its fair share. 

“Cutting lifeline benefits for disabled people is not what Labour MPs were elected to do. People were promised ‘change’ and instead face cuts that even George Osborne considered a step too far.

“Whatever the Prime Minister may say, there is simply no moral case for pushing more disabled households further into poverty. And I am pleading with my colleagues across the House, who I know want fiercely to protect their constituents, to take a stand against these unnecessary and cruel cuts.”

Ends 

1. Read the full letter to Labour MPs
2. Read the Early Day Motion

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“Failure to implement these changes would be a serious mistake, causing genuine harm to women, families and young people for whom these new recommendations will create much safer sentencing.

“Contrary to reporting, nowhere does the guidance focus primarily on ethnicity. Instead, the guidance, based on strong evidence, helps improve sentencing of women, pregnant people, parents, and young adults, for whom custodial sentences do huge amounts of harm including to their loved ones and wider society.

“Ethnicity and other protected characteristics are mentioned simply so that judges are reminded to consider unconscious bias and that the personal circumstances of offenders may be different than assumed. Bowing to the opposition’s ridiculous accusation of ‘two tier justice’ clearly serves to divide people when we all want to build a genuinely fair and effective justice system.”

ENDS

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“The Labour government is trashing its climate credentials one absurd decision at a time. Only one day after receiving critical advice from its own climate advisors on the need to lower flying demand, ministers continue to support yet more unnecessary expansion for the benefit of wealthy investors.

“Pushing through these damaging plans shows such poor economic judgement. Over 100,000 extra flights a year won’t deliver for our communities. Labour should listen to the public who think airport expansion is the wrong priority. Most of us fly once a year if at all and would rather see cheaper train tickets and more bus routes instead to help with our daily journeys and create jobs where we live, in contrast with frequent flyers leaching money out of the economy.

“The green economy grew by ten per cent last year, and this is where Labour should be investing to deliver high-wage, long-term jobs across the entire country.”

(1) Transport planning: Gatwick Airport – GOV.UK

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See my full submission below.

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