benefits

DWP wants to reform benefits to cut costs, not help disabled people into work, court hears

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-benefit-reforms-disabled-people-judicial-review/

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall speaking in parliament. Image: House of Commons/ Flickr

The High Court has heard a legal challenge against a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plan to reform disability benefits under the guise of helping people into employment

“We are determined to have a welfare system that encourages and supports people into work, while providing a vital safety net for those who need it most.”

So began the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) consultation into changing disability benefit assessment rules – changes that are predicted to cut the financial support given to around 450,000 disabled people by 2029, but which the consultation presented entirely as helping them. 

But contrary to this rose tinting, internal DWP documents revealed at a High Court hearing last week suggest the proposals were at least as much about the Tories’ determination to cut benefits spending as they were about helping disabled people into work.

In fact, DWP officials warned that evidence was needed to justify their line that the measures were about supporting disabled people rather than saving money, while the government rushed the consultation through in time for the savings to be counted in last year’s Autumn Statement.

DWP officials were also aware of the potential mental health impact of cutting benefits to some claimants who would be affected by the measures.

And while an official impact assessment into the plans has still not been published, the court disclosures suggest up to 100,000 disabled people could be pushed into absolute poverty by the changes – although the exact basis of this figure is uncertain. 

The revelations came as a result of a judicial review into the legality of the consultation that was heard last week. The case has been brought by disability campaigner Ellen Clifford, a member of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). 

And while the consultation took place under the last government, the current Labour government has not dropped the planned cuts – and has fought the judicial review at every step. 

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Read the rest of a detailed report at https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/dwp-benefit-reforms-disabled-people-judicial-review/

Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.

Continue ReadingDWP wants to reform benefits to cut costs, not help disabled people into work, court hears

Song lampooning Keir Starmer over winter fuel cuts hits number one

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Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24798711.song-lampooning-keir-starmer-winter-fuel-cuts-hits-number-one

A PARODY song lampooning Keir Starmer’s Labour Government for its cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment has hit number one in the UK charts.

The song Freezing This Christmas – by the artist “Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers” – hit the top of the Official Big Top 40 chart on December 15.

The song uses the tune of the 1974 Mud classic Lonely This Christmas, which also topped the charts at number one when it was first released.

The parody version goes: “It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm. It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas.”

The song then uses a clip of Starmer saying: “She told me that she doesn’t get out of bed till midday because she doesn’t want to turn the heating on.”

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https://www.thenational.scot/news/24798711.song-lampooning-keir-starmer-winter-fuel-cuts-hits-number-one

Continue ReadingSong lampooning Keir Starmer over winter fuel cuts hits number one

Activists ask why a Labour government is ‘gleefully’ backing Tory plans to tighten work capability assessment

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https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/activists-ask-why-a-labour-government-is-gleefully-backing-tory-plans-to-tighten-work-capability-assessment/

[dizzy: That’s Labour Socialist MP John McDonnell wearing the red tie.]

Disabled activists have questioned why a Labour-run department was in the high court this week defending cuts proposed by the last government which would cause “human suffering” among hundreds of thousands of claimants of out-of-work disability benefits.

They spoke during a vigil outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday (pictured) as disabled activist Ellen Clifford and her lawyers from Public Law Project were preparing to challenge the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over a “rushed and disingenuous” consultation on plans to tighten the work capability assessment (WCA).

The plans were announced in the 2023 autumn budget, and would see more than 400,000 disabled people losing out on £416 a month by 2028-29, with many also facing strict new conditions and the risk of benefit sanctions that could see them lose even more money.

Clifford says the changes would be “cataclysmic for Deaf and disabled people in the UK and would push many into destitution”.

Labour’s work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, has promised to make the savings promised by the Conservatives, who pledged to cut spending by £2.8 billion in the four years to 2028-29 by tightening the WCA.

Kendall said the government would make these savings by “bringing forward our own proposals”, but she has yet to rule out the WCA changes.

Tracey Lazard, chief executive of Inclusion London, told Tuesday’s vigil that it was “incomprehensible that the new Labour government is picking up these plans and seemingly running ahead with them in glee”.

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https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/activists-ask-why-a-labour-government-is-gleefully-backing-tory-plans-to-tighten-work-capability-assessment/

Keir Starmer confirms that he's proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Keir Starmer confirms that he’s proud to be a red Tory continuing austerity and targeting poor and disabled scum.
Continue ReadingActivists ask why a Labour government is ‘gleefully’ backing Tory plans to tighten work capability assessment

Scottish budget vows to scrap two-child benefits cap

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/scottish-budget-vows-to-scrap-two-child-benefits-cap

Finance Secretary Shona Robison during a visit to Logan Energy Limited in Edinburgh ahead of the publication of the Scottish Budget, December 4, 2024

SCOTTISH Finance Secretary Shona Robison announced that the two-child cap on benefits will be scrapped in Scotland as she pledged record spending for both the NHS and councils in next year’s Budget today.

The moved to scrap the cap would lift 15,000 children out of poverty, Ms Robison said.

She told MSPs as she outlined her draft Budget plans in Holyrood: “Be in no doubt that the cap will be scrapped.”

Ms Robison slammed the UK Labour government’s inaction on a “pernicious” policy considered to be a key driver of child poverty by organisations such as the Poverty Alliance.

She challenged the UK government to work with them and share the necessary information to “build a system” to mitigate it “as early as we can in 2026.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/scottish-budget-vows-to-scrap-two-child-benefits-cap

Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Continue ReadingScottish budget vows to scrap two-child benefits cap

Labour welfare ‘reforms’ are a cruel, destructive move

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-welfare-reforms-cruel-destructive-move Many articles from Morning Star today

WELFARE AUSTERITY: (L to R) Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall; Keir Starmer

DIANE ABBOTT MP condemns the government’s vicious attack on benefits that callously denies the pandemic’s impact on the working class while pushing vulnerable people into unsuitable work through punitive measures

THERE is now overwhelming evidence that the government is reimposing austerity measures. This is true in relation to income tax, public spending after next year, higher energy bills, bus fares and other prices determined by government.

But perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of austerity has been the planned cuts to the welfare bill.

Yet Keir Starmer, Liz Kendall and a host of other ministers have done their best to dispel any complacency on this issue. People who are on welfare, for whatever reason, are in the government’s firing line.

Their attack has two prongs. The first is that there is a blanket assertion that the welfare bill is “too high” and the second is that they will crack down on benefit fraud. Deliberately or otherwise, it is clear that these two issues are closely connected.

Promising “radical reforms to get Britain working,” in a recent article, Starmer went on to say, “In the coming months, Mail on Sunday readers will see even more sweeping changes. Because make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-welfare-reforms-cruel-destructive-move Many articles from Morning Star today

Continue ReadingLabour welfare ‘reforms’ are a cruel, destructive move