Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants have condemned Reform UK's proposals to drastically reduce disability payments, ban non-UK citizens from claiming benefits, and introduce compulsory workfare for long-term unemployed people as a 'lifeline' under threat.
On Monday, Reform published plans that would axe PIP, restrict working-age benefits to UK citizens only, and require thousands of long-term unemployed individuals to undertake 20 hours a week of unpaid workfare. The proposals are projected to save approximately £50 billion annually, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
Claimants describe the impact of proposed cuts
Sonia Maud, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2011, told The Independent: 'I'd give anything to be able to do what I did before, but unfortunately my body's no longer able to do what I did.' She added: 'I couldn't get a proper full-time job because of the MS because it affects my cognition, it affects my energy levels. Employers just wouldn't employ me, basically. I'd give up the PIP to be able to be the person I was five years ago.'
Steven Morris, 43, who is deafblind, told The Independent: 'Welfare benefits are a lifeline for disabled people. They enable us to participate in society, see people that we love, and also to seek and stay in work.'
MS Society and IFS respond to Reform proposals
Charlotte Gill, Head of Campaigns at the MS Society, said: 'Scrapping PIP is an unthinkably dangerous proposal, which could push more disabled people into poverty and worsen their health – in turn increasing pressure on the NHS, social care and other public services.'
Tom Waters, an Associate Director at the IFS, provided analysis of the financial implications. He said: 'Reform UK plan to save around £50 billion a year, almost entirely from a working-age benefits bill that, in 2030–31, is forecast to be a little over £200 billion. As well as a smaller benefit system, the Reform UK proposals represent a substantially different vision of what the benefit system should be doing.'
Waters added: 'Non-UK citizens would largely become ineligible for working-age benefits. How much this saves would depend on how many of this group became citizens in response. Savings could be large if a Reform government followed through on making it hard for anyone who has previously claimed benefits to become a citizen. Removing benefits from non-UK citizens would mean large overnight cuts to claimants’ incomes and imply significant increases in hardship – some of this group get most or all of their income from benefits at present.'
Current data on non-UK citizens claiming benefits
According to the IFS, there are currently around 1.3 million non-UK citizens who claim Universal Credit, of which 650,000 are not in employment. The Reform proposals would make these individuals largely ineligible for working-age benefits, potentially leading to immediate financial hardship for hundreds of thousands of people.
