“These attacks on the welfare state mark a dangerous new precedent, and are a serious departure from the politics of the Labour Party that led to the founding of the NHS.”
Keep Our NHS Public is shocked and outraged by the government’s plan to cut disability benefits by up to £5bn.
These cuts could affect more than a million disabled people across the UK. Disabled people are already more likely to live in poverty than people without a disability and these cuts will only make things worse. Many will lose thousands of pounds a year, including some of the most deprived people in our society, with those already in low-income households expected to suffer most. This includes people who need support with eating, washing, dressing, and using the toilet, many of whom could now have their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) cut or even denied.
It is difficult to imagine the scale of suffering Labour’s cuts will inflict on disabled people, in terms of both physical and mental well-being. It is impossible to imagine that ministers are unaware of the cruelty they are imposing on those most in need.
Labour has justified the cuts by arguing that they will help disabled and sick people back into the workplace. This is a thinly veiled attempt, straight out of the Conservatives’ playbook, to vilify disabled people for not working, even though many of them do. At the same time, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, taking on the role of a health care professional argues that mental health illnesses are ‘overdiagnosed’, adding further insult to people suffering from mental health conditions.
Labour’s latest cuts to disability benefits will also have serious consequences for the NHS. The health service will be put under even more strain, while the social care system is ill-equipped to help the huge numbers of people who will lose out on vital and life-changing benefits.
Labour’s manifesto promised a break from the Conservative status quo. Instead, Labour has failed to give the NHS the funding injection needed to end the crisis and is feeding the growth of the parasitical private sector. But it’s not just disability benefits or the NHS that are under attack. Winter fuel payments to elderly people have been cut and the two-child benefit cap maintained, while giving even more funding to Thames Water, and committing to increasing military spending.
These attacks on the welfare state mark a dangerous new precedent, and are a serious departure from the politics of the Labour Party that led to the founding of the NHS.
Meanwhile, an investigation by EveryDoctor has revealed that MPs have taken £2.7million from private health companies since 2023 alone. Lord Darzi, whose recent report revealed the true depth of the NHS crisis, has also been exposed as having shares in private healthcare. Wes Streeting has received more donations than any other MP, with estimates he accepted £175k from donors linked to private health care
Keep Our NHS Public welcomed the departure of the Conservatives, and we continue to reach out to those Labour MPs and others who have fought to defend the welfare state and our NHS, but we also recognise that the current Labour leadership is intent on following a path that will lead to the collapse of the NHS (certainly as a properly funded, publicly accountable and publicly provided service). These policies are now causing unspeakable distress and suffering.
This is why we must hold the government to account, continue fighting for the restoration of the NHS based on its founding principles, and demand the government back down on the cruel attack on disabled people now.
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- This article was originally published by Keep Our NHS Public on 21st March 2025.
