Reform has announced plans to scrap Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for nearly three million working-age claimants, with a policy document due to be published this week. The party estimates that 2.89 million people would have their disability payments removed or modified under the proposals.
Reform's £20bn DWP cuts and £21bn foreign national savings
Robert Jenrick, Reform's finance spokesperson, will detail the plans for £20bn of DWP cuts to disability benefits overall, as well as an additional £21bn from stopping payments to foreign nationals. The proposals are part of a broader crackdown on welfare spending.
Abdi Mohamed, head of policy at disability equality charity Scope, criticised the plans, stating that the party's proposals “should be about creating opportunities, not pushing disabled people into poverty and calling it compassion.”
Charities warn of poverty and isolation risks
Mohamed emphasised that “life costs a huge amount more when you’re disabled, and PIP goes towards covering those costs, whether or not you’re in work. It’s not an unemployment benefit.” He added that “young disabled people are facing a multitude of barriers getting into work, but slashing billions in financial support for disabled people won’t fix that.”
Jackie O’Sullivan, from learning disability charity Mencap, said: “We don’t have the detail of these proposals yet, but any government that chooses to make drastic cuts to PIP risks plunging hundreds of thousands of disabled people into poverty and isolation. Cuts of this scale would be devastating and make efforts to try and help disabled people into work unlikely to succeed.”
Labour MP Rachael Maskell defends PIP's role
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP who led the campaign against previous disability benefit cuts under Keir Starmer, said: “When PIP helps people go to work, play a role in our society and simply live, threatening to remove PIP demonstrates that Reform do not want disabled people to play a full role in our society.”
Maskell added that “Labour is working with disabled people through the Timms review to optimise the impact of PIP to ensure both taxpayers and disabled people get real value out of the system.” She concluded: “Instead of making it harder for disabled people, who already experience significant financial deprivation, they should spend time learning of the benefit it brings.”
