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Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall seems to think she can save her plan to impoverish hundreds of thousands of disabled people by lying to her fellow Labour MPs.

Labour backbenchers are rising up in protest against the plan to cut £5 billion in payments of disability benefit the Personal Independence Payment, and the disability element of Universal Credit, that will take as much as £10,300 from some household incomes.

They are rightly warning that the cuts – to be inflicted without any impact assessment (because running one would delay imposition beyond a self-imposed deadline – and we’ll examine that below) – will strain the health service, cause poverty, and lead to many suicides.

It will also harm the economy because people who rely on benefits spend all of their money, while those who don’t may hoard theirs in bank accounts.

Kendall’s offer to her fellow MPs is truly pathetic: a three-month delay before cuts are imposed on those who are affected.

Oh, and she seems to have listened to concerns raised about Carers’ Allowance, receipt of which is dependent on another person receiving disability benefits, because that will be extended as well. Be still, my beating heart!

It will still be cut off at the end of the 13 weeks, compounding the hardship.

This isn’t a protection—it’s a cruel, symbolic gesture that does nothing to ease the devastating impact on some of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

Labour MPs opposing these reforms have rightly called this out.

“Poverty delayed is still poverty,” said Neil Duncan-Jordan.

Ian Byrne described the idea that people magically recover after 14 weeks as “an absolute nonsense.”

Rachael Maskell summed it up best: Kendall’s tweaks “will not change the material facts nor my intention to vote against.”

This isn’t about protecting the vulnerable; it’s about pushing through cuts the government insists on for ideological reasons, masked behind the rhetoric of ‘reform’ and ‘sustainability’.

The government’s own figures admit the package could push 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty.

More than three million families stand to lose out.

Kendall’s so-called “non-negotiable” protections are little more than window dressing, designed to deflect criticism and stave off rebellion within Labour ranks.

She must think her fellow MPs are mentally disabled, if she thinks that is going to work.

Her “protections” do nothing to address the core injustice: the government is slashing essential support for disabled people and the sick under the guise of fiscal responsibility.

The truth is clear: delaying suffering is not a safeguard.

If Kendall truly wants to stand for social justice, she must scrap these cuts outright—not compound them with hollow promises and token delays.

The disabled and sick deserve real protection, not the cruel game-playing that Liz Kendall and her government are peddling.

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