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Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'The Government is taking money away from the most vulnerable people'
Angie Williams' daughter Vincent suffers from cystic fibrosis, autism and scoliosis and says she'll be able to afford to live if her PIP payment is taken away Vulnerable people who are claiming PIP have accused the government of targeting society's most vulnerable by stopping benefits as part of the new Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. This is despite Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) confirmation that benefit claimants affected by proposed changes to PIP will have their payments protected for a 13 week transitional period. Existing claimants affected by changes to the PIP daily living component, including those who lose their eligibility to Carers' Allowance and the carers' element of Universal Credit, who will receive the additional protection, feel it is nowhere near enough. Vincent Williams , from Hartlepool has cystic fibrosis, autism and scoliosis and is a history student at Nottingham University. Her mum Angie also has multiple health conditions, including cancer, and her dad is retired. Vincent, 20, says: 'PIP is my lifeline. If it's taken away I'll have no income except student finance – I won't be able to buy groceries and other basic essentials. I won't be able to afford to live. 'I've been applying for summer jobs – I have the relevant experience ,but I'm not even getting a response. The government says they want people on PIP in work, but how are they going to facilitate this? 'Businesses are less willing to hire people with medical problems. I had a job in 2023 and I told them about my medical issues when they hired me. But on the days when I was ill and needed to go to hospital there was no understanding. They made it clear I was 'inconvenient' and the workplace was not supportive. 'The changes to the point scoring system will affect me as I don't score four in any category – yet my chest problems affect me to the point that some days I can't breathe at all. 'I am really upset with the Government. People voted for change and voted for a party they thought would be different, but what Labour is doing is going against their own party values.' Vincent's mum Angie Williams, 56, says: 'Vincent has been looking for work but when people find out about her cystic fibrosis and autism they are not interested. 'There is a lot of discrimination. She is going into her third year and wants to do teaching but who will take her on? Keir Starmer has no idea. How is Vincent supposed to live if PIP is taken off her? The Government is taking money away from the most vulnerable people and I think there will be suicides.'' A new 13-week transitional period before payments are stopped has been revealed as part of the new Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, released today. The additional protection will apply to existing claimants affected by changes to the PIP daily living component, including those who their lose eligibility to Carers Allowance and the carer's element of Universal Credit. The DWP says this transitional cover is more than three times the length of protection provided from the switch to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP. DLA used to be the main disability benefit in the UK until it was largely replaced by PIP. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall first announced proposals to change PIP in the House of Commons in March this year, as part of wider measures to reduce the benefits bill by billions of pounds. Today Ms Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, published the government's universal credit and personal independence payment bill, claiming it represents 'a new social contract' and that it will bring claimants 'peace of mind') She also claimed the three-month transitional payment for people who are losing Pip is 'one of the most generous' transitional payments ever offered as part of a benefit change.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
‘I'm a mum of two disabled teenagers - brutal PIP cuts make our life impossible'
Mum Nicola Holmes says that if Personal Independence Payments (PIP) are removed under a Labour shake-up, it is an assault on families like theirs, and it will push them further into poverty Former actor and beauty therapist Nicola Holmes , 55, lives in Tewkesbury with husband Wayne, an electrician, and their two children Ethan, 18, who has autism, Down's syndrome and severe anxiety, and Ella, 16, who has PDA (pathological demand avoidance) anxiety and is situationally mute. Vulnerable people, like Nicola and her family, who are claiming PIP have accused the government of targeting society's most vulnerable by stopping benefits as part of the new Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. This is despite Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) confirmation that benefit claimants affected by proposed changes to PIP will have their payments protected for a 13 week transitional period. Existing claimants affected by changes to the PIP daily living component, including those who lose their eligibility to Carers' Allowance and the carers' element of Universal Credit, who will receive the additional protection, feel it is nowhere near enough. Mum Nicola says the cuts will push families like hers deeper into poverty. The family relies on husband Wayne's income as self-employed electrician, PIP for Ethan, universal credit and carers' allowance. Reacting to today's benefits announcements, she tells The Mirror: 'This Is not reform. This is collapse. As a mum of two disabled teenagers, both autistic, and one who also has Down's syndrom, I feel completely abandoned by a system that was supposed to protect us. READ MORE: 'I'm having panic attacks over PIP shake-up - I don't know how ministers sleep at night' 'It almost feels too late for them now, as if the bureaucracy is simply determined to age them out of the system, rather than ever step up and support them properly. 'I can't work, not out of choice, but because I am caring full-time for two incredible, vulnerable human beings in the total absence of meaningful provision. I also have a chronic health condition, brought on by the relentless stress of caring. The system has failed my young people again and again, and in doing so, has failed me and my husband as their parents. As a family, we have been left behind. 'Now, the government plans to make brutal cuts to Universal Credit and PIP. Making the process even more nefarious and complex. 'Disability should not be scored by numbers. Lifelong conditions should be accepted as just that and not be needed to be reassessed. Disabled people should not have to prove their worth in society. 'It's a direct assault on families like mine…families already surviving on the bare minimum. We are constantly exhausted, financially drained, emotionally spent. These cuts won't just make life harder. They will make it impossible. 'PIP and carers' allowance are intrinsically linked. Removing them from thousands will have a violent domino effect of astronomical proportions. Carers allowance is not meant to be a wage and yet it is included as earnings and therefore taxed as one. The Government makes out people are getting something for nothing – but carers provide the equivalent of a second NHS. 'This will be catastrophic. Instead of rebuilding the foundations, the government is accelerating collapse by targeting those of us who were already barely hanging on. 'We're not seeing reform, we're watching the systematic removal of care and responsibility from governance. Social safety nets have become traps. Services have become mazes. 'It feels like the lives of disabled people, and those of us who care for them, simply don't matter anymore. We're seen as burdens to be managed or costs to be cut, rather than human beings with potential, rights, and futures worth investing in. 'This is very serious.'
