Disabled people could lose more than £10,000 a year as a result of Sir Keir Starmer’s benefit cuts, a group of MPs has warned.
In a damning report, the all-party group (APPG) on poverty said some claimants who will be made ineligible for personal independence payments (PIP) face losing £886 per month.
As ministers try to slash £5bn from the welfare bill, the group said up to 800,000 face losing their PIP support completely.
Poverty APPG co-chairs Sian Berry and Ruth Lister said: “Disabled people already face unacceptable levels of hardship. These proposals won’t remove barriers to employment – they will add new ones by stripping people of the income they rely on to survive.
“The evidence is clear: these cuts will deepen inequality and force people further into crisis. We urge the government to listen to those most affected and change course immediately.”
A government impact assessment published alongside the reforms warned that some 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, across England, Scotland and Wales could fall into relative poverty after housing costs as a result of the changes.
The proposals have received strong criticism from charities and campaign groups since they were announced by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall in March. Recent research from the Trussell Trust found that around 340,000 more people in disabled households could face hunger and hardship by the end of the decade as a result of the changes.
Under the changes, someone who needs assistance washing below the waist, requires an aid to use the toilet or deal with incontinence, needs assistance dressing their lower body, or needs an aid to to speak or hear would no longer be eligible for PIP.
More than 100 Labour MPs are expected to rebel against the government when the cuts are voted on in the Commons, in what could be the biggest backlash of Sir Keir’s premiership.
They include left-winger Richard Burgon, who told The Independent: “A Labour government should never try to balance the books on the backs of the disabled. But that’s exactly what Labour MPs are being asked to nod through.
“The government needs to learn the lesson of the winter fuel payment cuts debacle – and this time listen and change their position before doing any damage. If they don’t, big numbers of Labour MPs will be voting against these cuts.”
And the APPG’s report will pile pressure on the government to change course, with MPs warning that the proposals could prove “catastrophic”. It highlights that disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled people, with more than half of all people in poverty either being disabled or living in a household with at least one disabled person.
Meanwhile, disabled individuals and families face additional costs not incurred by non-disabled households, including higher spending on food, heating, transport and medical support.
In some cases, these costs can amount to as much as £1,000 extra spending every month, the APPG warned. Its report is based on submissions from individuals claiming PIP as well as experts in the sector.
It has called for the government to scrap its planned changes to PIP, increase benefits paid to those with disabilities, scrap reassessments for those with disabilities, and invest in housing and transport accessibility.
Priya Sahni-Nicholas, executive director of the Equality Trust, said: “Disabled people told us their biggest fear is being forgotten in government priorities. And tragically, this green paper confirms that fear. These proposals are not only unjust but counterproductive. The APPG’s recommendations offer a credible, compassionate alternative rooted in lived experience and basic human dignity.”
