Disability benefits cuts 'would be an attack on disabled people' says Harrogate MP

Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said, if the forecast cuts to the welfare budget in the chancellor's forthcoming Spring Statement did go ahead, they would amount to a “outright attack on disabled people”.

"The news that Kier Starmer and his government may be planning to slash welfare spending by billions is deeply concerning,” said the Lib Dem MP.

"With 3.6 million people relying on disability benefits nationally, any cut would have a devastating impact on millions of lives."

The health and disability-related benefits bill is now £65 billion a year and projected to increase to £100bn over the next four years, with research suggesting rising levels of mental ill health are behind the figures.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s statement on the economy on March 26 is expected to include restrictions on eligibility for the Personal Independent Payment (PIP) - which provides help with extra living costs to those with a long-term physical or mental health condition - and cuts to incapacity benefits for people unable to work and receiving Universal Credit.

But Harrogate’s Lib Dem MP says such cuts would not only be cruel but illogical.

"PIP exists for a reason - to cover the extra costs of disability, whether someone is working or not,” said Mr Gordon.

"Cutting it isn’t just cruel, it completely misunderstands its purpose.

"It’s as if the Government thinks slashing benefits will somehow erase the costs of disability.

"Disabled people already face higher living costs and many are struggling in poverty.

"This isn’t just badly thought-out but an outright attack on disabled people.

On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer said the current welfare system was "the worst of all worlds", discouraging people from working while producing a "spiralling bill".

The Prime Minister warned the system was “unsustainable, indefensible and unfair” and said the Government could not "shrug its shoulders and look away".

Some reforms have already been announced, including plans to use 1,000 work coaches to help the long-term unemployed into work.