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At least 50,000 newly sick and disabled people are to be pushed into poverty by the Labour government’s planned ‘reforms’ to Universal Credit.
Parliament’s own Work and Pensions Committee has now confirmed what disability campaigners and welfare experts have been warning for months. The government has shrugged.
It is not a worst-case scenario, by the way – it is the government’s own projection.
And this is before it implements its delayed – but not cancelled – cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — a move that could strip hundreds of thousands more of essential support.
The Commons’ Work and Pensions Select Committee, chaired by Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, has formally recognised that the government’s remaining welfare reforms — even after some of the most controversial plans were delayed — will cause significant, lasting harm.
This is not partisan criticism from the opposition.
It is a warning from within Labour itself — from an MP with a track record of advocating for disabled people and welfare claimants.
Abrahams and the cross-party committee she leads have laid out the consequences clearly: people will be made poorer, and the policies are being implemented without the necessary infrastructure, evidence, or safeguards in place.
A calculated betrayal
Despite the government’s earlier U-turn on some of its welfare plans — including pausing proposed changes to PIP and reversing a freeze on the incapacity element of Universal Credit for existing claimants — it is pressing ahead with a massive cut in support for future claimants.
Starting next year, anyone who newly claims Universal Credit because of a health condition or disability, but who is not deemed to have “severe or terminal” conditions, will see their monthly support slashed from £423.27 to just £217.26.
That’s a loss of more than £200 per month — in many cases, their primary or only source of income.
The government’s own modelling shows this will plunge at least 50,000 people into poverty by 2030.
But rather than pause and reconsider, ministers are choosing to move forward — eyes wide open.
That is intentional harm.
The PIP cuts are not cancelled — just delayed
Much of the media attention has focused on the government’s apparent decision to drop changes to PIP eligibility, which would have seen up to 800,000 people lose out by the end of the decade.
But this is not a victory.
The government has not dropped these plans.
It has delayed them.
And the distinction is crucial.
Ministers have tied the timing of the changes to the conclusion of an upcoming PIP eligibility review.
But they have not tied the content of the changes to the outcome of that review.
In other words: the cuts are still coming.
The review is just a procedural step along the way — not a safeguard.
This is policy by stealth.
The government is softening the ground, hoping the public forgets the scale of what was proposed before it returns to implement the cuts under the cover of ‘consultation’ – if not ‘review outcomes.’
The Department for Work and Pensions says it will “co-produce” the review with disabled people — but what does that mean when the eventual policy decisions are already sketched out?
“Co-production” in name only means very little when the reality is pre-determined.
Austerity in disguise
The government claims these reforms will “rebalance” incentives within Universal Credit, suggesting that the current system discourages people from working.
But this is a false premise.
There is no evidence that cutting financial support makes it easier for disabled or ill people to work.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Removing income from people with fluctuating or limiting health conditions undermines their ability to access treatment, housing stability, or training — all of which are necessary to make employment possible.
And let’s not forget: the reforms were originally designed to deliver £5 billion a year in savings by 2030.
So this was never about improving outcomes.
It is about cutting costs – no more than that – even if those cuts come at the direct expense of people who cannot afford to lose a penny.
Keir Starmer has now even admitted that the government “didn’t get the process right.”
But this focuses on how the policy was rolled out — not what the policy is.
If the policy causes avoidable harm, what does it matter how well the process is run?
A well-managed injustice is still an injustice.
Targeting the most vulnerable: future claimants
What makes this so pernicious is that the people who will be hurt first — and worst — are those who have not yet fallen ill or become disabled.
These are future claimants, whose lives may change suddenly through accident, illness, or long-term deterioration.
They are not yet visible in the system.
They don’t appear in statistics.
But they are real people who currently have no idea that they will one day find themselves unable to work — and when they do, they will find the support they should have been able to expect has been cut in half.
How can this possibly be justified?
If anything, future claimants are even more vulnerable — facing the shock and upheaval of a newly diagnosed condition, the disruption of losing employment, the mental and emotional toll of navigating the benefits system.
To offer them less, not more, support at that point is morally indefensible.
Young people left behind
As if that weren’t enough, the government is also removing incapacity benefits altogether from 18- to 22-year-olds.
The rationale is that young people should not be “trapped in inactivity” before their working lives begin.
What kind of logic is this?
If someone is too sick or disabled to work, age is irrelevant.
Denying them financial support will not enable them to work — it will trap them in poverty and worsen their health.
The committee rightly condemned this as unjustifiable – but it’s still going to happen.
What must be demanded
The Work and Pensions Committee has recommended that the planned cuts be paused until their full impact on poverty, health outcomes, and employment can be understood.
This is the absolute minimum the government should do.
But more than that, we must demand:
-
A full and independent impact assessment of the current proposals.
-
A guarantee that PIP changes will not be implemented without clear, evidence-based justification — and that the review will be genuinely co-produced and respected.
-
A commitment that no person with a legitimate health condition will be made poorer as a result of falling ill.
This is a moment for moral clarity
We cannot let these changes be softened through spin or buried in technocratic language.
These are not reforms.
This is not “modernisation.”
This is not “making work pay.”
This is the systematic dismantling of the social safety net — delivered with full knowledge of the human cost.
The government knows.
Its MPs know.
The committees know.
We know.
And so we must speak plainly: if Labour proceeds with these reforms, knowing the suffering they will cause, then it will have no credibility left when it comes to social justice, fairness, or compassion.
We will not be gaslit into silence.
We will not accept vague reassurances while cuts go ahead behind closed doors.
And we will not stand by while the lives of sick and disabled people are treated as budget line items.
This fight is not over.
The truth is out in the open now — and we must not let it be ignored.
Share this post:
Confirmed: Labour is pushing 50,000 disabled people into poverty – and that’s just the start
Share this post:
At least 50,000 newly sick and disabled people are to be pushed into poverty by the Labour government’s planned ‘reforms’ to Universal Credit.
Parliament’s own Work and Pensions Committee has now confirmed what disability campaigners and welfare experts have been warning for months. The government has shrugged.
It is not a worst-case scenario, by the way – it is the government’s own projection.
And this is before it implements its delayed – but not cancelled – cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — a move that could strip hundreds of thousands more of essential support.
The Commons’ Work and Pensions Select Committee, chaired by Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, has formally recognised that the government’s remaining welfare reforms — even after some of the most controversial plans were delayed — will cause significant, lasting harm.
This is not partisan criticism from the opposition.
It is a warning from within Labour itself — from an MP with a track record of advocating for disabled people and welfare claimants.
Abrahams and the cross-party committee she leads have laid out the consequences clearly: people will be made poorer, and the policies are being implemented without the necessary infrastructure, evidence, or safeguards in place.
A calculated betrayal
Despite the government’s earlier U-turn on some of its welfare plans — including pausing proposed changes to PIP and reversing a freeze on the incapacity element of Universal Credit for existing claimants — it is pressing ahead with a massive cut in support for future claimants.
Starting next year, anyone who newly claims Universal Credit because of a health condition or disability, but who is not deemed to have “severe or terminal” conditions, will see their monthly support slashed from £423.27 to just £217.26.
That’s a loss of more than £200 per month — in many cases, their primary or only source of income.
The government’s own modelling shows this will plunge at least 50,000 people into poverty by 2030.
But rather than pause and reconsider, ministers are choosing to move forward — eyes wide open.
That is intentional harm.
The PIP cuts are not cancelled — just delayed
Much of the media attention has focused on the government’s apparent decision to drop changes to PIP eligibility, which would have seen up to 800,000 people lose out by the end of the decade.
But this is not a victory.
The government has not dropped these plans.
It has delayed them.
And the distinction is crucial.
Ministers have tied the timing of the changes to the conclusion of an upcoming PIP eligibility review.
But they have not tied the content of the changes to the outcome of that review.
In other words: the cuts are still coming.
The review is just a procedural step along the way — not a safeguard.
This is policy by stealth.
The government is softening the ground, hoping the public forgets the scale of what was proposed before it returns to implement the cuts under the cover of ‘consultation’ – if not ‘review outcomes.’
The Department for Work and Pensions says it will “co-produce” the review with disabled people — but what does that mean when the eventual policy decisions are already sketched out?
“Co-production” in name only means very little when the reality is pre-determined.
Austerity in disguise
The government claims these reforms will “rebalance” incentives within Universal Credit, suggesting that the current system discourages people from working.
But this is a false premise.
There is no evidence that cutting financial support makes it easier for disabled or ill people to work.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Removing income from people with fluctuating or limiting health conditions undermines their ability to access treatment, housing stability, or training — all of which are necessary to make employment possible.
And let’s not forget: the reforms were originally designed to deliver £5 billion a year in savings by 2030.
So this was never about improving outcomes.
It is about cutting costs – no more than that – even if those cuts come at the direct expense of people who cannot afford to lose a penny.
Keir Starmer has now even admitted that the government “didn’t get the process right.”
But this focuses on how the policy was rolled out — not what the policy is.
If the policy causes avoidable harm, what does it matter how well the process is run?
A well-managed injustice is still an injustice.
Targeting the most vulnerable: future claimants
What makes this so pernicious is that the people who will be hurt first — and worst — are those who have not yet fallen ill or become disabled.
These are future claimants, whose lives may change suddenly through accident, illness, or long-term deterioration.
They are not yet visible in the system.
They don’t appear in statistics.
But they are real people who currently have no idea that they will one day find themselves unable to work — and when they do, they will find the support they should have been able to expect has been cut in half.
How can this possibly be justified?
If anything, future claimants are even more vulnerable — facing the shock and upheaval of a newly diagnosed condition, the disruption of losing employment, the mental and emotional toll of navigating the benefits system.
To offer them less, not more, support at that point is morally indefensible.
Young people left behind
As if that weren’t enough, the government is also removing incapacity benefits altogether from 18- to 22-year-olds.
The rationale is that young people should not be “trapped in inactivity” before their working lives begin.
What kind of logic is this?
If someone is too sick or disabled to work, age is irrelevant.
Denying them financial support will not enable them to work — it will trap them in poverty and worsen their health.
The committee rightly condemned this as unjustifiable – but it’s still going to happen.
What must be demanded
The Work and Pensions Committee has recommended that the planned cuts be paused until their full impact on poverty, health outcomes, and employment can be understood.
This is the absolute minimum the government should do.
But more than that, we must demand:
A full and independent impact assessment of the current proposals.
A guarantee that PIP changes will not be implemented without clear, evidence-based justification — and that the review will be genuinely co-produced and respected.
A commitment that no person with a legitimate health condition will be made poorer as a result of falling ill.
This is a moment for moral clarity
We cannot let these changes be softened through spin or buried in technocratic language.
These are not reforms.
This is not “modernisation.”
This is not “making work pay.”
This is the systematic dismantling of the social safety net — delivered with full knowledge of the human cost.
The government knows.
Its MPs know.
The committees know.
We know.
And so we must speak plainly: if Labour proceeds with these reforms, knowing the suffering they will cause, then it will have no credibility left when it comes to social justice, fairness, or compassion.
We will not be gaslit into silence.
We will not accept vague reassurances while cuts go ahead behind closed doors.
And we will not stand by while the lives of sick and disabled people are treated as budget line items.
This fight is not over.
The truth is out in the open now — and we must not let it be ignored.
Share this post:
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