Around 300,000 disabled and sick Scots to 'lose £500' under Labour welfare cuts
EXCLUSIVE: The charity Trussell has laid bare the impact of the proposed cuts on disabled people
Hundreds of thousands of disabled and ill Scots face losing £500 a year under the Labour Government's welfare cuts.
Anti-poverty charity Trussell also says new claimants are in line for a £3,000 a year hit if the controversial changes are pushed through by MPs.
More than 120 Labour MPs are threatening to scupper the Government's welfare bill and plans to slash £5bn from disability and sickness benefits.
The rebels are alarmed at forecasts showing that 50,000 children could be plunged into poverty if the bill becomes law.
A key element of the package is freezing the rate of the health element of Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance payments until 2030.
In a briefing to parliamentarians, Trussell estimated that there are nearly 300,000 people receiving these payments in Scotland: "All would stand to be affected by the freeze which by 2029/30 amounts to [a] real terms cut of £500 per year.'
Labour Ministers also want to cut the health part of UC for people claiming it for the first time.
The Trussell briefing stated: 'Nine in ten new recipients to UC health in Scotland from April 2026 will experience a cut of £3,000 per year by 2029/30.'
They previously cited analysis by WPI Economics which said the welfare reforms will push 15,000 people in disabled households in Scotland into severe hardship by 2030.
In the briefing, Trussell urged MPs to vote for an amendment which would effectively kill the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment bill.
As reported by the Record, ten Scottish Labour MPs have backed the amendment which criticises the lack of a 'formal consultation' with disabled people and warns of the impact on poverty levels.
The wording also hits out at the Government for not publishing an 'assessment' of the impact of these reforms on 'health or care needs'.
The Scottish Labour sceptics are Richard Baker, Scott Arthur, Euan Stainbank, Brian Leishman, Lilian Jones, Tracy Gilbert and Elaine Stewart. Kirsteen Sullivan, Patricia Ferguson and Maureen Burke have also backed the amendment.
SNP MSP Collette Stevenson said: 'This analysis delivers a damning verdict on the Labour Party's planned cuts to disability benefits which will hit the most vulnerable in our society hardest. With over 100 Labour MPs now confirming that they will join the SNP in voting against the cuts if Labour press ahead with them next week, it is imperative that Keir Starmer does yet another U-turn and scraps his plans immediately.
'To press ahead with the cuts would have a devastating impact on families across Scotland, pushing thousands of more people into poverty, and people would never forgive Keir Starmer.'
Speaking to LBC, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Bill would not be pulled in the face of the mounting rebellion:
'There'll be a vote on Tuesday, we're going to make sure we reform the welfare system.'
Sir Keir said the current system 'traps people in a position where they can't get into work'.
'In fact, it's counterproductive, it works against them getting into work. So we have to reform it, and that is a Labour argument, it's a progressive argument.'
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham added his voice to the senior figures calling on the Government to reconsider.
He told BBC Newsnight: 'When the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) delivers its collective wisdom in such numbers, it is invariably right. And it is right on this. I would say to the Government, listen to the PLP.'
His comments came after his London counterpart, Sir Sadiq Khan, said that ministers 'must urgently think again' about the plans.
The bill also plans to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment, the main disability payment in England, which could affect funding for Holyrood.
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