The government claims disability organisations support its welfare reform agenda and say disabled people are protected from cuts. These 2 myths need debunking.
Neil Coyle is the director of policy and campaigns at Disability Rights UK and a Labour councillor and Deputy Cabinet Member for Welfare in Southwark
The prime minister has claimed disability organisations support his government’s welfare reform agenda – and the DWP Minister for Disabled People has suggested disabled people are protected from cuts.
These two myths need debunking.
Firstly, many disability organisations do support welfare reform which delivers improvements in the way benefits are delivered or which cut the bureaucracy involved. Some aspects of current reforms deserve support – for example the taper in Universal Credit which allows people to keep more of their earned income when starting work.
But there is no disability organisation supporting the total package of government reform because the combined effect is catastrophic.
Just a quick recap on some headline figures:
• 100,000 disabled children to lose under Universal Credit;
• 600,000 disabled people 16-64 years of age to lose Disability Living Allowance (DLA); and
• 300,000 disabled people to be cut off from all out of work support after just 365 days despite 75% receiving regular NHS treatment.
So it’s no surprise the most representative group – the Disability Benefits Consortium (almost 60 national disability, advice and welfare-focused organisations) – doesn’t support the government agenda. Nor is it a surprise the prime minister can’t name any relevant, representative organisation which does. If there was such an organisation ministers would name it.
Secondly, DWP minister Esther McVey suggests disabled people are protected from the cuts. Saying this may make the minister feel better about making drastic reductions in support but it is somewhat undermined by the statistics above.
Usually, ministers suggest disabled people ‘with the highest needs’ are protected but here’s two points showing how even this is inaccurate:
• The government has confirmed that the Independent Living Fund (ILF) will close in 2015 – the ILF supports 19,000 disabled people with the highest care needs to live independently; and
• Under the abolition of DLA and introduction of the restrictive Personal Independence Payment, 430,000 disabled people with the highest mobility support needs lose out.
Ministers must come clean about the lack of support for the cuts it is imposing on disabled people. Sadly, we are about to witness a vast rise in poverty and social exclusion for disabled people, and, with an NHS and councils also facing a significant squeeze, the ability of the state to proffer alternative assistance is reduced. With charities also facing a tough financial climate and unable to fill the gap, the future is far from bright for disabled people in the UK.
But the government is refusing to assess the impact fully – as requested by Disability Rights UK, carers’ organisations, the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Labour and an e-petition. The reason appears to be ministers are in denial.
60 Responses to “The government is in denial over the impact of cuts on disabled people”
Newsbot9
No, which is why you need to run away before they catch you.
Keep on trying to point to a minor issue rather than your corporatist theft. You HAVE to end the NHS, end pensions, kill kill murder kill kill to ensure your money keeps flowing, leech.
Newsbot9
That’s right, keep making excuses for your spending people’s money, politician and bankster, and losing it with your gambling, then having others pay, socialist.
And no, you haven’t paid a penny, keep lying, tax evader. You’re the morally bankrupt murder, frothing away in a moral panic, trying to create a class war so even more will die. Get out of this country and go home!
You owe every penny you’ve stolen back, first.
LB
1. My policy would be to cut debt. Pure and simple.
The reason is that unless debt is cut, the poor will be decimated by uncontrolled cuts.
So how to achieve this?
1. You have to cut whole swathes of the state. e.g. Lets start with the house of lords. It’s not democratic. 600 million saved over each parliamentary term.
2. Wars – lets stop those.
3. Nuclear – lets stop those too.
4. Subsidies. All subsidies to go.
5. Benefits – capped at min wage. No one should be paid more than the agreed poverty line on benefits, bar contributory benefits
6. Tax cuts. No tax if you earn less than min wage.
7. DBI. Vince Cable’s department. 21 billion a year, and they haven’t got a clue as to whether or not the have created a single job.
21 billion. How about reducing to zero the tax on employing people? Business rates too, starting with non for small businesses on employing more people off benefits.
8. Disability benefits. No extra payments bar the cost of extra needs, which are met in full. No arguments.
9. Everyone gets a bill from the state. Shows how much tax they paid, and shows how much debt they have to pay off, run up by the state.
Just point 9 would be sufficient.
However, no doubt you’re still in favour of the state stealing people’s money and spending it on your wages and pensions,
LB
I do not evade tax.
You’ve getting quite desperate in your arguments. Put some numbers up as to how much the state is in debt.
LB
2,700 per Lord, per day. The cost to us.
Why are you defending Lords at the expense of the poor?