“Let me be clear: I will vote against these PIP cuts.”
Steve Witherden MP was amongst the speakers at the recent Halt Disability Benefit Cuts Now! online rally organised by Arise: A Festival of Left Ideas and the Trade Union Coordinating Group- you can read an edited version of his remarks below.
It’s a real honour to be here today, standing alongside comrades as a representative for Wales.
Let’s be clear: Wales already has the highest poverty rates among disabled people in the UK. And now, the government’s Pathways to Work Green Paper poses a further and significant threat to:
- Over 275,000 Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients in Wales,
- And around 110,000 people on Universal Credit.
These proposals will hit Wales particularly hard. But this isn’t just about individual hardship. The knock-on effects will put additional strain on:
- Local authorities,
- Health boards,
- And our vital charitable organisations.
The Welsh economy is projected to lose an estimated £470 million every year as a result.
Before becoming an MP, I spent over 20 years as a teacher, in 4 different border local authorities. I saw first-hand the impact of deep poverty on children’s lives. These proposed cuts risk pushing even more children deeper into that cycle.
We have a preventive duty. We must invest in social security – to lift children out of poverty, not plunge them further into it.
Let me be clear: I will vote against these PIP cuts.
The government must:
- Abandon current plans to withdraw disability-related benefits.
- Genuinely involve disabled people in the design and delivery of any future reforms.
- Provide transparency on how these changes will affect Wales – especially given our devolved responsibilities.
- And reform the system so it actually supports disabled people and those living with long-term health conditions.
These proposals will only deepen hardship and entrench inequality – in Wales and across the UK.
What we need – urgently – is a welfare system that supports people when they need it most, Not one that punishes them or drives them into further poverty and destitution.
Yes, the voices in Parliament speaking out on these issues may be few – but this event is a testament – they are loud, clear, and mighty.
- You can watch back the Halt Disability Benefit Cuts Now! rally in full here.
- Steve Witherden is the MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr. You can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X and Bluesky.
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