A parliamentary debate is set to take place over the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) controversial cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for chronically ill and disabled people.
However, given the Labour Party government’s recent response to a viral parliamentary petition calling for it to scrap its plans, it’s unlikely this will result in any meaningful changes to its policy agenda. Nor for that matter, is it probable to include any genuine engagement with chronically ill and disabled people’s valid fears. This is not least because while it is ‘a debate’, it doesn’t really constitute a full parliamentary debate in any sense.
Shunted as it is into a separate room outside the House of Commons main chamber, ultimately there won’t be a vote on any of the proposals. So it’s largely just a glorified soapbox for the government to sell its plans to MPs, with some criticism thrown in from the handful with some integrity that oppose it.
DWP PIP cuts: parliamentary debate incoming
In March, DWP boss Liz Kendall finally laid out the government’s sweeping catalogue of plans to ‘reform’ disability and health-related income-based benefits. It set this out in its Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working green paper.
Broadly, this made for a callous combination of catastrophic cuts that will harm chronically ill and disabled claimants.
The paper included a suite of regressive reforms to make it harder for people to claim disability benefits like PIP. As expected, the changes it’s proposing will target certain claimants in particular, namely young, neurodivergent, learning disabled, and those with mental health disorders.
Moreover, disabled people who need help with things like cutting up food, supervision, prompting, or assistance to wash, dress, or monitor their health condition, will no longer be eligible.
Specifically, it’s increasing the number of points a person will need to score in their DWP PIP assessment to access the daily living component of the benefit. This will now require people to score four points or more in a daily living category to claim it.
The government is now consulting on some of these DWP plans until 30 June. You can respond to this here. Scandalously however, it isn’t consulting on many of its most dangerous proposals. Of course, these are the plans that will hit chronically ill and disabled people hardest.
Now, parliament will be having a debate over these plans. Labour Party MP Diane Abbott will be leading it on 7 May at 2.30pm.
Government petition response has already set the tone
The debate also comes after the government gave a atrocious response to a viral petition railing against the DWP PIP and Universal Credit cuts.
Chronically ill and disabled Leicester West resident Abi Broomfield started the petition and it quickly took off. It demands that the Labour Party government stop the cuts it has set out in its Green Paper. In particular, Broomfield has honed in on some of the worst, most damaging proposals. Notably, these are largely cuts that will leave chronically ill and disabled people unable to work worse off. Or, these will otherwise deny people benefit entitlements entirely.
Currently, the petition has over 16,000 signatures. After hitting 10,000, the government issued an insulting response. First, it stated how:
The Government must urgently tackle the spiralling welfare bill, restore trust and fairness in the system, and protect disabled people. Social security reforms will therefore continue as planned.
Following this, it only doubled down on its cruel and scapegoating rhetoric:
Our welfare system is broken, costing almost a third as much as it does to run the NHS in England while leaving people for years on benefits with no offer of support, no hope of a future in work and no opportunity to improve their standard of living. Working-age adults who are in work are three times less likely to be in poverty than those out of work. We need to act to end the inequality that sees disabled people and people with health conditions trapped out of jobs, despite many wanting to work, and ensure our welfare system is there for people who need it, now and long into the future.
You can read the full response here – but needless to say, it’s dismissive and callous continuity Conservative throughout.
So it’s in the wake of this that parliament will be hosting this debate on the DWP PIP cuts. Of course, it’s likely the government will take much the same dismissive tone at this as well.
Broomfield has therefore reached out to Abbott ahead of it offer input and support:
I have reached out to @HackneyAbbott
Team about the petition and to offer any help I canWestminster Hall debate on Personal Independence Payment and disabled people is scheduled for Wednesday 7 May 2025 at 2:30pm. The debate will be led by Diane Abbott https://t.co/02gbkMfwSa
— Chronically Vexed ♿🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ she/they (@ChronicallyVex) April 30, 2025
Warm words at Westminster? Not good enough
Ultimately, it should be a given that parliament gets to debate government plans that will – at minimum – impact upwards of hundreds of thousands of people.
A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that the DWP PIP changes could in fact deny 1.3 million people part of, or all of their PIP entitlement. From the start, it has been evident the Labour government hasn’t been upfront or honest about the true scale of its proposals’ impacts.
However, it’s not likely to start changing that now. While an Westminster debate is welcome, too many of its MPs are more than willing to go along with its atrocious plans. So far, reports suggest murmurings from “dozens” MPs opposed to the proposals. It’s not enough.
The forthcoming debate will be a telling moment. It will serve as an indication of how Labour Party MPs are angling themselves at the vote over these plans in June. Chronically ill and disabled PIP claimants will be watching them closely. And it’s safe to say at this point, warm words won’t cut it.
Featured image via the Canary
