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Devastating testimonies are rising from those who will be most affected by the government’s plan to slash vital support for sick and disabled people.
What follows below are not theoretical projections or political talking points.
These are real people, already hanging on by a thread, now staring into the abyss of destitution.
While ministers boast about free school meals or fuel support, many are seeing these distractions for what they truly are: political bargaining chips to keep backbenchers in line while they push through cuts that will end lives.
Here are the unfiltered voices of people living at the sharp end of Britain’s welfare state, as told to Vox Political — people who have done nothing wrong except need help in a system increasingly designed to abandon them.
“I’ll end up homeless. I’d have to go to prison to live.”
“PIP cuts could really b*ll*cks me. I’ll lose everything except my mobility component. That’ll make me lose LCWRA, then I lose my base Universal Credit too. Since I can’t attend Work Activity meetings or apply for jobs, I’ll get sanctioned. I’ll end up with nothing. I’d have to go to prison just to survive. It would need to be wheelchair accessible though.”
This isn’t hyperbole. It’s the reality facing thousands if the proposed changes to disability assessments and PIP go ahead.
People with complex conditions, already under immense stress, are being told their basic support may be ripped away.
“We’ll starve behind closed doors – again.”
“Sadly the majority will be starving behind closed doors. Like last time. Left in shame and destitution as being ‘unworthy’ and unaffordable.”
The cruelty of the cuts isn’t just in the loss of income – it’s in the isolation and the shame that follows.
Many disabled people don’t protest or march – they suffer silently, out of sight, exactly where this government wants them.
“There is no cooking. I only eat five days a week.”
“I have osteoarthritis, a pacemaker, type 2 diabetes, epilepsy, COPD, mobility problems, and toilet issues. I have to change myself twice a day. I live in temporary accommodation and have for six years. There’s no cooking facilities, so I live on takeaways and sandwiches. I eat five days a week. These cuts are so f***ing evil.”
This is the daily reality for one man — and it is about to get worse. The safety net is not just frayed, it’s being torched. And yet the government pretends there is no alternative.
“They’re pitting us against each other.”
“We’re spending billions on weapons while they make disabled people and children suffer. Why not cut MP salaries instead?”
Many feel the framing of this issue is deliberate.
Offer support to hungry children, but at the cost of abandoning the disabled.
Say we must choose.
Say it’s a tough decision.
But why is it always the most vulnerable who are asked to pay?
“We did it before – and it worked.”
“They have a bank. They can ask it for a loan. War can be paid for. So can the NHS and welfare. But they don’t want to reintroduce Keynesian economics. They won’t raise capital gains tax to match income tax – even though that alone could fund all of this. It would only affect landlords and investors.”
The argument that “we can’t afford it” is a lie.
The real reason is political: they choose not to support the people who need it, because it doesn’t serve the interests of their donors or media backers.
The money exists.
What’s lacking is the will.
This is a warning, not a whinge
These stories aren’t just tragic. They are urgent. If the cuts to PIP and the Universal Credit health element go ahead, people will die — in isolation, in shame, and in pain.
That is not alarmism.
That is the lived experience of disabled people, today, in the UK.
Speak out.
Share this.
Make sure these voices aren’t buried with the policies designed to erase them.
#NoMoreDeathsFromCuts
#StopTheWelfareCuts
#DisabilityJustice
#KeynesNotCuts
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Left to die: disabled voices on the brutal cost of benefit cuts
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Devastating testimonies are rising from those who will be most affected by the government’s plan to slash vital support for sick and disabled people.
What follows below are not theoretical projections or political talking points.
These are real people, already hanging on by a thread, now staring into the abyss of destitution.
While ministers boast about free school meals or fuel support, many are seeing these distractions for what they truly are: political bargaining chips to keep backbenchers in line while they push through cuts that will end lives.
Here are the unfiltered voices of people living at the sharp end of Britain’s welfare state, as told to Vox Political — people who have done nothing wrong except need help in a system increasingly designed to abandon them.
“I’ll end up homeless. I’d have to go to prison to live.”
This isn’t hyperbole. It’s the reality facing thousands if the proposed changes to disability assessments and PIP go ahead.
People with complex conditions, already under immense stress, are being told their basic support may be ripped away.
“We’ll starve behind closed doors – again.”
The cruelty of the cuts isn’t just in the loss of income – it’s in the isolation and the shame that follows.
Many disabled people don’t protest or march – they suffer silently, out of sight, exactly where this government wants them.
“There is no cooking. I only eat five days a week.”
This is the daily reality for one man — and it is about to get worse. The safety net is not just frayed, it’s being torched. And yet the government pretends there is no alternative.
“They’re pitting us against each other.”
Many feel the framing of this issue is deliberate.
Offer support to hungry children, but at the cost of abandoning the disabled.
Say we must choose.
Say it’s a tough decision.
But why is it always the most vulnerable who are asked to pay?
“We did it before – and it worked.”
The argument that “we can’t afford it” is a lie.
The real reason is political: they choose not to support the people who need it, because it doesn’t serve the interests of their donors or media backers.
The money exists.
What’s lacking is the will.
This is a warning, not a whinge
These stories aren’t just tragic. They are urgent. If the cuts to PIP and the Universal Credit health element go ahead, people will die — in isolation, in shame, and in pain.
That is not alarmism.
That is the lived experience of disabled people, today, in the UK.
Speak out.
Share this.
Make sure these voices aren’t buried with the policies designed to erase them.
Share this post:
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