The Labour Party-led Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has leaked to ITV News that it will potentially be cutting around £6bn from people’s benefits. This includes chronically ill and disabled people’s Personal Independence Payments (PIP), as well as the amount they get under Universal Credit. It has horrified people affected, and chronically ill and disabled people are rightly distressed about the news.
Here, disabled artist and Canary reader PK highlights how many chronically ill and disabled people may well be feeling about this latest DWP catastrophe:
DWP: horrific cuts now in the pipeline
The DWP plans, which have prompted outrage from disabled people, and some members of the Labour Party, will impose stricter criteria for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), freeze payments in line with inflation, and alter the calculation of Universal Credit.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has stated that the welfare system is in need of repair, asserting that a shift towards getting more individuals into the workforce is essential. These reforms are characterised by Kendall’s false and dangerous belief that many current claimants are not genuinely unable to work, a sentiment she expressed in a recent interview where she stated that some people are ‘taking the mickey’.
Under the proposed changes, £5 billion is expected to be saved by tightening eligibility for DWP PIP, which is designed to support those with additional costs due to disability. In addition, PIP payments will be frozen next year, meaning they will not increase with inflation, affecting approximately four million chronically ill and disabled people.
Further alterations include increases to the basic rate of Universal Credit for those actively seeking employment or in work, while reducing support for individuals judged unfit for work. This, along with the changes to PIP, are perhaps the most vindictive of Labour’s plans: intentionally targeting the most chronically ill and disabled people.
Featured image via PK
