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Where is the backlash from disabled people against the government’s plan to impoverish them?
Why are they lying down and surrendering?
We’ve known about this since February. Now it’s June.
And yet, a parliamentary petition to stop the devastating reforms to disability benefits has just 8,571 signatures.
Where is everybody?
Five books are gone – 45 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
The bare facts
The Labour government plans to slash £4.8 billion from disability benefits — mainly Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — by the end of the current Parliament in 2029.
This is not about fraud, or fairness, or “better targeting”.
It’s about taking money from disabled people to fund tax cuts and meet debt targets.
The government’s own Green Paper, “Pathways to Work”, makes this clear:
-
Ministers want to stop many people qualifying for PIP altogether, especially those with “milder” mental health conditions.
-
They propose replacing human assessments with digital tools.
-
They want to use a single assessment to determine both PIP and access to other benefits like Universal Credit.
- Universal Credit claimants will face harsher conditionality, with proposals to fold assessments into a single “functioning test” based on PIP.
-
And, crucially: they want to move disabled people into the workforce – whether or not work is appropriate, available, or accessible.
- All of this has been dressed up as “supporting people into work,” while being nothing more than a return to austerity via stealth.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
This has been going on for four months
Let’s be clear: this didn’t come out of nowhere. The Labour government has been laying the groundwork for this assault since February.
🔹 February 7
Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said publicly that some disabled people were “taking the mickey.” It was a dog-whistle — and a warning.
🔹 Early March
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, made it official: she would target disability and sickness benefits to find her £5 billion in “savings.”
🔹 March 18
The government published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, setting out the policy proposals in black and white.
🔹 March 26
In her Spring Statement to Parliament, Reeves confirmed that PIP would be “reformed” — and that the daily living component could be frozen or cut. These are not minor tweaks. These are sweeping changes that will harm hundreds of thousands of people.
🔹 April 28
Veteran campaigner Rick Burgess launched a petition calling for the Green Paper to be scrapped and replaced with a genuine, co-produced National Disability Strategy.
🔹 June 12
Still fewer than 9,000 people have signed. The threat remains unanswered.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Where is the outrage?
We’ve fought and won awareness battles before — over WCA deaths, over Atos, over UN reports calling Tory policies “grave violations” of rights.
Where are the protests?
Where are the trending hashtags?
Where are the disabled people, carers, allies, charities, trade unions, MPs — everyone — raising hell about this?
We’ve been here before. We’ve seen what benefit cuts do.
People die.
We saw it under Cameron.
We fought it under May.
While they were in office (between 2011 and 2019), 100,000 sick and disabled people died due to loss of benefits.
And now it’s coming again — from a Labour government no less — and still, the silence is deafening.
Are people too exhausted to fight again?
Do they believe Labour wouldn’t really go through with it?
Is the silence the result of deliberate framing — of benefit claimants as fakers and scroungers once more?
Yes, people are tired.
Yes, people are demoralised.
But that’s what they are counting on.
This is not about support – it’s coercion
They say they want to “help disabled people into work.”
But they’re doing it by removing the financial lifeline that allows people to survive long enough to even consider employment.
They’re offering no increase in support.
Just pressure.
Just cuts.
Just surveillance and punishment.
This is not a disability strategy.
It is an austerity blueprint.
This petition is a line in the sand
Campaigner Rick Burgess, a long-time voice for justice on disability issues, launched his petition to tell the government:
-
Abandon the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
-
Create a genuine National Disability Strategy with Disabled People’s Organisations.
-
Protect disabled people’s income from further shocks.
It has received just over 8,500 signatures so far.
That’s not good enough.
If we can’t get this to 100,000 — to force a debate — then the government will see that silence as permission.
Five books are gone – 45 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
SIGN THE PETITION
Abandon DWP Pathways to Work Green Paper & Create a National Disability Strategy
We need 100,000 signatures.
We have 8,571.
Be one of the next 100. Then tell five people to do the same.
Labour declared war. It’s time to fight back. Or die.
Share this post:
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Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
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7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Labour declared war – why are disabled people surrendering without a fight?
Share this post:
Where is the backlash from disabled people against the government’s plan to impoverish them?
Why are they lying down and surrendering?
We’ve known about this since February. Now it’s June.
And yet, a parliamentary petition to stop the devastating reforms to disability benefits has just 8,571 signatures.
Where is everybody?
Five books are gone – 45 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
The bare facts
The Labour government plans to slash £4.8 billion from disability benefits — mainly Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — by the end of the current Parliament in 2029.
This is not about fraud, or fairness, or “better targeting”.
It’s about taking money from disabled people to fund tax cuts and meet debt targets.
The government’s own Green Paper, “Pathways to Work”, makes this clear:
Ministers want to stop many people qualifying for PIP altogether, especially those with “milder” mental health conditions.
They propose replacing human assessments with digital tools.
They want to use a single assessment to determine both PIP and access to other benefits like Universal Credit.
And, crucially: they want to move disabled people into the workforce – whether or not work is appropriate, available, or accessible.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
This has been going on for four months
Let’s be clear: this didn’t come out of nowhere. The Labour government has been laying the groundwork for this assault since February.
🔹 February 7
Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said publicly that some disabled people were “taking the mickey.” It was a dog-whistle — and a warning.
🔹 Early March
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, made it official: she would target disability and sickness benefits to find her £5 billion in “savings.”
🔹 March 18
The government published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, setting out the policy proposals in black and white.
🔹 March 26
In her Spring Statement to Parliament, Reeves confirmed that PIP would be “reformed” — and that the daily living component could be frozen or cut. These are not minor tweaks. These are sweeping changes that will harm hundreds of thousands of people.
🔹 April 28
Veteran campaigner Rick Burgess launched a petition calling for the Green Paper to be scrapped and replaced with a genuine, co-produced National Disability Strategy.
🔹 June 12
Still fewer than 9,000 people have signed. The threat remains unanswered.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Where is the outrage?
We’ve fought and won awareness battles before — over WCA deaths, over Atos, over UN reports calling Tory policies “grave violations” of rights.
Where are the protests?
Where are the trending hashtags?
Where are the disabled people, carers, allies, charities, trade unions, MPs — everyone — raising hell about this?
We’ve been here before. We’ve seen what benefit cuts do.
People die.
We saw it under Cameron.
We fought it under May.
While they were in office (between 2011 and 2019), 100,000 sick and disabled people died due to loss of benefits.
And now it’s coming again — from a Labour government no less — and still, the silence is deafening.
Are people too exhausted to fight again?
Do they believe Labour wouldn’t really go through with it?
Is the silence the result of deliberate framing — of benefit claimants as fakers and scroungers once more?
Yes, people are tired.
Yes, people are demoralised.
But that’s what they are counting on.
This is not about support – it’s coercion
They say they want to “help disabled people into work.”
But they’re doing it by removing the financial lifeline that allows people to survive long enough to even consider employment.
They’re offering no increase in support.
Just pressure.
Just cuts.
Just surveillance and punishment.
This is not a disability strategy.
It is an austerity blueprint.
This petition is a line in the sand
Campaigner Rick Burgess, a long-time voice for justice on disability issues, launched his petition to tell the government:
Abandon the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
Create a genuine National Disability Strategy with Disabled People’s Organisations.
Protect disabled people’s income from further shocks.
It has received just over 8,500 signatures so far.
That’s not good enough.
If we can’t get this to 100,000 — to force a debate — then the government will see that silence as permission.
Five books are gone – 45 to go!
Just click on the image, make your donation
and provide your details!
SIGN THE PETITION
Abandon DWP Pathways to Work Green Paper & Create a National Disability Strategy
We need 100,000 signatures.
We have 8,571.
Be one of the next 100. Then tell five people to do the same.
Labour declared war. It’s time to fight back. Or die.
Share this post:
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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