I need PIP – Labour’s benefits cuts would destroy my independence ...Middle East

Disabled people are being unfairly targeted to “bear the brunt” of Labour’s welfare cuts, benefit claimants have said.

“I am extremely worried [about cuts and restrictions],” said Bal Deol, a 31-year-old wheelchair user with mitochondrial DNA disease. “PIP is supposed to assist disabled people to become more independent.

“Disabled people are being treated as scapegoats – it always feels like new governments target us first,” said Deol, who is from Stoke. “It’s always us who normally bear the brunt of fiscal cuts before other people do.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is set to unveil plans to cut the top rate of incapacity benefit and make it harder to qualify for personal independence payments (PIP) on Tuesday.

Around one million disabled people are estimated to be hit by the changes, which are aimed at cutting the benefits bill by up to £6bn a year and getting more people into work.

But campaigners are warning that Labour’s reforms could backfire by forcing some disabled people already in jobs out of work and into poverty.

square BENEFITS Explained

One million to have benefits cut - where reductions will fall from PIP to UC

Ms Deol told The i Paper that she relies on the £737 she receives a month from PIP.

The PhD student said PIP helps pay for specialist equipment and allows her to live an “independent life” at Staffordshire University – including getting to hospital appointments and meeting friends.

Ms Deol’s degenerative condition affects her whole body, including her speech and her muscles.

She is losing the ability to speak and uses communicator devices which “speak” using her voice as it was in 2021.

Kendall, Sir Keir Starmer and other Labour ministers have argued that benefit reforms are vital to get more people into work, including those with disabilities.

But disability charities have accused the Government of conflating PIP with out of work benefits like universal credit, pointing out that the personal independence payments help many people remain in work and at university.

Ms Deol said PIP should not be restricted as part of Labour’s “Get Britain Working” push, and appealed to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reconsider the plans put forward by Kendall’s department.

“It’s absolutely wrong [to conflate PIP with out of work benefits],” she said. “Please Chancellor Rachel Reeves – do not conflate the two, it will destroy my independence.”

Kendall acknowledged that almost 20 per cent of people who receive PIP are in work during an interview with the Sunday Times.

However, the Work and Pensions Secretary said the number of PIP claimants was set to “more than double this decade”. She also argued that it was important to help more disabled find work.

The number of PIP claimants is expected to rise from 2.7 million to 4.2 million by 2029-30, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), taking the bill from £18bn to £34bn.

The Government is expected to announce plans to make between £5bn and £6bn in annual welfare savings, with the bulk expected to come from tightening access to PIP.

Ministers will also offer a “right to try guarantee” so people who are disabled and long-term sick can attempt to start a job with being financially penalised if it does not work out.

Amid a growing backlash from Labour backbenchers, ministers are considering whether dropping a proposal to freeze PIP so payments don’t rise in line with inflation next year, according to reports.

But a major squeeze on eligibility is still set to go ahead. Kendall suggested new restrictions on PIP would be aimed at cutting the number of claimants with mental health conditions and learning difficulties.

The current system sees PIP applicants awarded points based on a series of daily activities, taking into account a person’s abilities and how much help they need.

A “standard” rate is awarded if an applicant scores between eight and 11 points. They get the “enhanced” rate with 12 points or more.

Applicants could soon be required to get at least four points on at least one kind of activity to get PIP, according to reports.

It would mean relying on microwaves to make meals would not be enough to meet the new threshold. Nor would needing assistance to wash the body below the waist.

Carol Vickers – who has Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), severe osteoarthritis and ADHD – said the looming changes were “terrifying”.

The 47-year-old from Leeds is already in work as operations manager. She gets the standard rate of PIP to help with her daily needs, receiving a little over £300 a month.

“The rhetoric about getting disabled people into work is infuriating,” she said. “I’m working and so are millions of other disabled people.”

Ms Vickers added: “PIP is one of the big things that keeps me and so many others in work, and they’re threatening to cut that or take it away. It may force some people out of work.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said the welfare system needs reforms “so it is fairer on the taxpayer, helps long-term sick and disabled people who can work to find employment, whilst ensuring it provides support for those who need it most”.

“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 spokesperson added that the forthcoming proposals would “unlock work to help us reach our ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate”.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I need PIP – Labour’s benefits cuts would destroy my independence )

Also on site :

• PHOTO COLLECTION: Menendez Brothers
• Thumbprint on cigarette carton leads to arrest in 1977 death of young woman
• Andor Season 2 MVP Elizabeth Dulau Talks Kleya’s ‘Entirely Conflicted’ Final Mission, and Her Series-Ending Fate