12 hours ago
100 charities challenge Scottish Labour MPs to oppose UK welfare cuts
Charities including The Poverty Alliance, Carers Scotland, and Glasgow Disability Alliance have written a joint letter to Scottish Secretary Ian Murray, and all of Scotland's MPs, urging them to vote against the planned welfare cuts.
The Labour Government's Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill aims to cut back disability benefit payments by around £5 billion per year. The SNP have made clear that their MPs will be opposing the changes.
In the letter, the charities highlight that an estimated 400,000 people will be pushed into poverty if the changes to Personal Independence Payments (Pip) and Universal Credit go ahead.
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They also warned MPs that the proposed cuts will mean 'destitution and misery' for many sick and disabled people, along with others in their households, including children and unpaid carers.
'This is a question about the kind of society we want to be,' the letter reads.
'Scotland is a country that believes in justice and compassion, and people want our governments to make decisions which align with those values.
'We urge ministers to drop these proposals. We urge Scottish MPs to vote against these cuts, sending a strong, positive message to disabled people and carers in Scotland that this Government will build a country free from poverty, not one that forces people into deeper poverty and destitution.'
MPs are expected to get their first chance to vote on the cuts in the Commons on July 1.
However, more than 130 Labour MPs' signatures have appeared on a reasoned amendment explaining why they cannot support the Labour Government's proposals to slash welfare spending.
If passed, which it could with support from opposition parties, the amendment would block the bill from progressing to its second reading when it returns to the Commons and would hand Keir Starmer his first major defeat of his time as Prime Minister.
The amendment notes that the UK Government's 'own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of [the bill], including 50,000 children'.
Peter Kelly, chief executive of The Poverty Alliance, said the UK Government's plans to press ahead with the bill would mean more disabled people living in poverty, relying on food banks, and being pushed into destitution.
He said: 'People are desperate for the UK Government to deliver a just and compassionate society – but these proposals will deliver the opposite.
'If enacted, these cuts will mean more disabled people living in poverty, relying on foodbanks, and pushed into destitution. That's not the change people voted for at the last general election.'
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has supported the UK Government's plans to cut welfare despite unease among his group. At the time of writing, 11 Scottish Labour MPs had signed the rebel amendment.
Starmer said on Wednesday morning: 'We're pressing on with a vote on this because we need to bring about reform.'
(Image: PA)
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner clarified that a vote would be going ahead, despite reports that the UK Government was planning to delay it due to the scale of the rebellion.
Fiona Collie of Carers Scotland said an estimated 50,000 unpaid carers across the UK stand to lose carers' benefits as a direct result of the changes.
She said: 'We need a government that will reduce the poverty that unpaid carers face. If these cuts go ahead, even more of them will be pushed into crisis – leaving people struggling to afford food, heating, and other essentials.
'We estimate that around 150,000 unpaid carers across the UK stands to lose carers' benefits as a direct result of these changes. That's completely wrong - and any MP who votes to inflict that kind of deliberate harm on people in their constituency will have to justify themselves to electors.'
In a survey last year, 71% of Glasgow Disability Alliance members said they didn't have enough money to manage the cost of their needs, 68% couldn't afford utilities, and 58% couldn't manage the costs of food and essential groceries.
Tressa Burke of the Glasgow Disability Alliance added that the cuts will undermine disabled people's human rights and leave them facing even greater inequality and discrimination.
She said: 'It is shameful to try to balance the nation's books on the backs of disabled people. We have around 6000 members who have already suffered the worst impacts of the cost-of-living crisis, and more than a decade of austerity and social security cuts.
'These plans will cause untold harm to many disabled people and push them into destitution. It will undermine their human rights and leave them facing even greater inequality and discrimination.
'If MPs in Scotland support these heartless cuts, it will be a bleak day indeed. They will absolutely not get people into work, and will act as a reason to fall out of work too, where PIP has been topping up low-paid work.'
A UK Government spokesperson said: 'We are determined to create a welfare system – backed by dedicated employment support we are investing in now – that will help people into work and out of poverty in all parts of the country.
'We will never compromise on protecting people who need our support, and our reforms will mean the social security system will always be there for those who will never be able to work.
'We are working with devolved administrations to ensure their views are at the heart of what we do, which is why we held Green Paper consultation events in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.'
Scottish Labour has been approached for comment.
