“Cuts to support for disabled people aren’t just wrong but completely unnecessary. A 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million would raise £24 billion.”
Richard Burgon MP
By Ben Hayes
The announcement of a further £5 billion in cuts to disability support has caused great distress and fear amongst disabled people across the country. After over a decade of cuts and the scapegoating of disabled people through the Tories’ “scrounger” rhetoric, the cuts have been labelled a betrayal of disabled people by a Labour Government elected on the promise of change.
In response to the announcement of these cuts, Richard Burgon MP launched a petition calling for a wealth tax, not cuts to disability support, which has now hit over 50,000 signatures. The petition will be presented in Parliament ahead of any vote on the disability cuts, in an effort to convince as many MPs as possible to vote against them.
Advocating for a wealth tax as an alternative to the cuts, Richard has said that “a Labour Government should not punish the poorest and most vulnerable. Cuts to support for disabled people aren’t just wrong but completely unnecessary. A 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million would raise £24 billion.”
Over 50,000 people have now backed my call to tax wealth, not cut disability support!
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) April 22, 2025
I'll be presenting this petition in Parliament as part of our campaign to get as many MPs as possible to vote down these cuts.
You can add your support here 👇https://t.co/oIoPVajtVR pic.twitter.com/wCuplG2kCb
The call for wealth taxes has reached an all-time high with numerous MPs calling for wealth taxes in Parliament, unions supporting the call and polling showing people across Britain overwhelmingly would prefer the very richest to pay more in tax, rather than see cuts to public spending.
The proposed cuts have drawn criticism from the charity and NGO sector, and Labour activists, with Disability Labour, the socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party, firmly coming out against the measures. Someone who needs help to wash themselves, feed themselves and clothe themselves could still not qualify for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) under the new system.
If the cuts go ahead, at least 800,000 people are expected to lose PIP, but this is likely to be a large underestimation. A static estimate predicts 1.5 million people would lose eligibility but the OBR has presented the lower figure by factoring in behavioural responses such as appeals.
Richard Burgon has previously warned the Government that if they don’t drop these cuts, then they will face “the mother of all rebellions”.
The number of people who lose PIP under the new system in some constituencies is higher than the majority of some Labour MPs. The pressure is mounting on MPs to make clear to their disabled constituents that they will not be voting for the cuts, if they don’t, there will likely be consequences at the ballot box.
- You can sign Richard Burgon MP’s petition calling for a wealth tax, not disability cuts here.
- Richard Burgon is the MP for Leeds East, the Secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs and a regular contributor to Labour Outlook. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
