Share this post:
It’s happening.
At least 80 Labour MPs [UPDATE 12.15pm, June 24: more than 123 Labour MPs are now part of this] have defied Sir Keir Starmer’s line and signed a “reasoned amendment” to kill the government’s planned disability cuts bill — officially known as the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.
The reasons put forward for killing the Bill include the number of people the plans are expected to push into relative poverty, a lack of consultation, and an inadequate impact assessment of the consequences on the jobs market and on people’s health.
This rebellion could be enough to defeat the entire bill in Parliament — and it couldn’t come soon enough.
Why? Because while ministers like Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves talk about “fairness” and “social justice”, the real impact of these so-called reforms is already known:
🔴 3.2 million families worse off
🔴 £1,720 a year average losses (some running up to £10,300)
🔴 250,000 more people in poverty — including 50,000 children
🔴 370,000 current PIP claimants cut off entirely
🔴 430,000 future claimants to get less than they need
And all of it done without meaningful consultation, without proper impact analysis, and without moral justification.
The four-point rule: bureaucracy as a weapon
One of the most damaging elements of this bill is the so-called “four-point rule”, which will deny Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to people who don’t score at least four points in a single activity — regardless of how serious their combined difficulties may be.
People who need help dressing, washing, using the toilet, preparing food — people who might currently get the highest rate of PIP — will be told they no longer qualify.
Why? Because their needs are spread across categories instead of clustered neatly into one.
This isn’t welfare reform – it’s an administrative trick designed to exclude people on paper — while claiming the system is being “modernised”.
Citizens Advice has warned that 1.3 million current PIP claimants are at risk under this rule – nearly half of all those receiving daily living support.
Work? Many already do. Others simply can’t.
Ministers keep repeating that these cuts will be offset by “investment in employment support”.
But they fail to mention:
-
PIP is not a work-related benefit — it exists to cover the additional costs of living with a disability.
-
One in four people on PIP are already in work, using its financial support to stay employed.
-
Many of those who aren’t working are severely ill or disabled, and pushing them harder will not create jobs — it will create hardship.
As the Pathways to Poverty report makes clear, the assumption that lost benefits can simply be replaced by wages is a fantasy for many claimants.
In many cases, even full-time work would leave them worse off than they are now.
Starmer’s position: silence and sabotage
Let’s be blunt: if only 80 Labour MPs have signed the amendment so far, it likely means Starmer and Reeves have persuaded or bullied the rest into submission.
But we also know from reports that direct calls from the Labour leadership have hardened opposition – where it exists – rather than softened it.
MPs know what this bill will do — they’ve seen the grief in their inboxes since the winter fuel payments U-turn.
The leadership may be betting that the rebellion will lose steam.
Let’s prove them wrong.
This can still be stopped – but only if we act now
If Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle selects the “reasoned amendment” — and if a majority of MPs vote for it — the bill will be thrown out before it can move forward.
That means the next few days are crucial.
Here’s what you can do – right now
🔴 Email your MP now — especially if they haven’t signed the amendment.
Make it clear you expect them to stand with the 3.2 million people this bill will harm.
👉 Use: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/
🔴 Amplify the facts.
Share this article, share Pathways to Poverty, and challenge the lies about “sustainability” and “fairness”.
This is about cruelty — masked as reform.
🔴 Call on Labour’s front bench to pull back.
Tag @RachelReevesMP, @Keir_Starmer, @leicesterliz and @DWPgovuk on social media.
Let them know this bill has no mandate.
No one voted for this.
There was no mention of cutting support for disabled people in Labour’s election campaign.
Yet here we are, with a Labour government doing the Tories’ dirty work under a different name.
If the backbench rebels hold the line — and if we help stiffen the spines of the rest — we can win this fight.
But if we stay silent, 3.2 million families will pay the price.
Share this post:
Labour MPs are rebelling against disability cuts – let’s make sure they win
Share this post:
It’s happening.
At least 80 Labour MPs [UPDATE 12.15pm, June 24: more than 123 Labour MPs are now part of this] have defied Sir Keir Starmer’s line and signed a “reasoned amendment” to kill the government’s planned disability cuts bill — officially known as the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.
The reasons put forward for killing the Bill include the number of people the plans are expected to push into relative poverty, a lack of consultation, and an inadequate impact assessment of the consequences on the jobs market and on people’s health.
This rebellion could be enough to defeat the entire bill in Parliament — and it couldn’t come soon enough.
Why? Because while ministers like Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves talk about “fairness” and “social justice”, the real impact of these so-called reforms is already known:
🔴 3.2 million families worse off
🔴 £1,720 a year average losses (some running up to £10,300)
🔴 250,000 more people in poverty — including 50,000 children
🔴 370,000 current PIP claimants cut off entirely
🔴 430,000 future claimants to get less than they need
And all of it done without meaningful consultation, without proper impact analysis, and without moral justification.
The four-point rule: bureaucracy as a weapon
One of the most damaging elements of this bill is the so-called “four-point rule”, which will deny Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to people who don’t score at least four points in a single activity — regardless of how serious their combined difficulties may be.
People who need help dressing, washing, using the toilet, preparing food — people who might currently get the highest rate of PIP — will be told they no longer qualify.
Why? Because their needs are spread across categories instead of clustered neatly into one.
This isn’t welfare reform – it’s an administrative trick designed to exclude people on paper — while claiming the system is being “modernised”.
Citizens Advice has warned that 1.3 million current PIP claimants are at risk under this rule – nearly half of all those receiving daily living support.
Work? Many already do. Others simply can’t.
Ministers keep repeating that these cuts will be offset by “investment in employment support”.
But they fail to mention:
PIP is not a work-related benefit — it exists to cover the additional costs of living with a disability.
One in four people on PIP are already in work, using its financial support to stay employed.
Many of those who aren’t working are severely ill or disabled, and pushing them harder will not create jobs — it will create hardship.
As the Pathways to Poverty report makes clear, the assumption that lost benefits can simply be replaced by wages is a fantasy for many claimants.
In many cases, even full-time work would leave them worse off than they are now.
Starmer’s position: silence and sabotage
Let’s be blunt: if only 80 Labour MPs have signed the amendment so far, it likely means Starmer and Reeves have persuaded or bullied the rest into submission.
But we also know from reports that direct calls from the Labour leadership have hardened opposition – where it exists – rather than softened it.
MPs know what this bill will do — they’ve seen the grief in their inboxes since the winter fuel payments U-turn.
The leadership may be betting that the rebellion will lose steam.
Let’s prove them wrong.
This can still be stopped – but only if we act now
If Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle selects the “reasoned amendment” — and if a majority of MPs vote for it — the bill will be thrown out before it can move forward.
That means the next few days are crucial.
Here’s what you can do – right now
🔴 Email your MP now — especially if they haven’t signed the amendment.
Make it clear you expect them to stand with the 3.2 million people this bill will harm.
👉 Use: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/
🔴 Amplify the facts.
Share this article, share Pathways to Poverty, and challenge the lies about “sustainability” and “fairness”.
This is about cruelty — masked as reform.
🔴 Call on Labour’s front bench to pull back.
Tag @RachelReevesMP, @Keir_Starmer, @leicesterliz and @DWPgovuk on social media.
Let them know this bill has no mandate.
No one voted for this.
There was no mention of cutting support for disabled people in Labour’s election campaign.
Yet here we are, with a Labour government doing the Tories’ dirty work under a different name.
If the backbench rebels hold the line — and if we help stiffen the spines of the rest — we can win this fight.
But if we stay silent, 3.2 million families will pay the price.
Share this post:
you might also like
Let’s start the New Year with some hopeful news
More mistakes in the script? Correcting Cameron’s New Year speech
Osborne wants a ‘year of hard truths’. Here’s one: He’s HIDING the truth