‘Disastrous’ cuts bill that leaves legacy of distrust and distress ‘must be dropped’

Disabled activists have called on the government to scrap its “dangerous” and “disastrous” disability benefits bill, despite forcing ministers into last-minute changes that scrapped all their planned cuts to personal independence payment (PIP).

Chaotic events in parliament on Tuesday, and three months of activism since the publication of the Pathways to Work green paper, have left disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) appalled, shocked, and struggling to trust the government.

Their activism, together with the efforts of a small group of backbench MPs, forced ministers into a series of U-turns and concessions on the universal credit and personal independence payment bill.

The lack of trust in the government, and in the minister for social security and disability, Sir Stephen Timms, now creates a significant barrier as he begins a year-long review of personal independence payment (PIP), including an examination of its eligibility criteria and assessment process. 

A chaotic few hours in parliament on Tuesday led eventually to ministers withdrawing all their proposed cuts to PIP, at least until the end of the review next autumn.

The bill passed its second reading by 335 to 260 votes, and it will return to the Commons on Wednesday (9 July) for its committee stage, with significant cuts to the health element for most new claimants of universal credit from next April remaining in the legislation.

Disabled people’s organisations were united yesterday (Wednesday) in their call for the “sham of a bill” to be dropped, with many expressing distrust in the government.

And there was little celebration that their successful activism – led by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and other grassroots groups such as Taking the PIP – had forced the government into gutting its bill.

DPAC described the bill as a “complete and utter mess”.

Paula Peters, a member of DPAC’s national steering group, said the process had done nothing but “cause more anxiety and more distress for disabled people”. 

She told Disability News Service (DNS) that she did not trust Sir Stephen as he had “shown time and again he doesn’t listen to charities, DPOs or disabled people”.

And she pointed to the concerns – expressed also by some MPs – that the government will merely introduce a new series of cuts to PIP at the end of the review, through a parliamentary mechanism that means they will not need to be approved by MPs.

Svetlana Kotova, director of campaigns and justice at Inclusion London, was also distrustful of the government’s motives.

She said: “The social security system needs reform, but not like this. 

“It is clear that this was never about reform, it was about balancing the books at the expense of disabled people.

“Removing PIP cuts from the bill is a positive step, but there is no guarantee the government will be open to true co-production; more likely, they will want us to engage in ‘co-producing cuts’.

“The bill still includes deeply harmful cuts to universal credit. 

“The government should admit they made a mistake, drop this harmful bill and go back to the drawing board.”

National Survivor User Network (NSUN) said the decision to gut the bill was “the direct result of tireless campaigning by disabled people and their organisations in recent weeks”. 

But it said that the chaotic and confusing way it was passed showed “callous disdain for the lives of disabled people”, while the bill “should have been withdrawn in its entirety”.

An NSUN spokesperson said: “It is vital that co-production through the Timms review meaningfully involves disabled people, putting power in the hands of those whose lives will be most impacted. 

“We have seen the violence of the government’s rubber-stamp consultations so far and demand genuine co-production rather than inadequate and tokenistic consultation on an already-decided course of action.”

And it said the refusal to remove the cuts to the health element of universal credit for most new claimants from the bill showed the government “remains willing to attack disabled people” and was “a shameful attempt to divide the disabled community and stifle solidarity”. 

The NSUN spokesperson added: “We will continue to organise with DPO allies, push for the rights-based reform which our deadly social security system needs, and ensure there are electoral consequences for those who go after disabled people in this way.”

Disability Rights UK (DR UK) said disabled people would be “enormously relieved” that the PIP cuts had been dropped from the bill, although “serious concerns” remained about the cuts to the health element of universal credit for most new claimants, which would make hundreds of thousands of the poorest people in the country even poorer.

A DR UK spokesperson said: “We’ve known all along that the public, disabled people and our organisations have found this bill to be unjust and unfair. 

“Yet the government has used every tool in its arsenal, every procedural trick, to push this dangerous bill through.”

DR UK said the government’s “floundering and chaos” was “a direct result of the steadfast work of disabled campaigners and our allies, who have made it clear that this bill is unworkable. 

“Despite attempts to silence us, through our collective campaigning, we made them drop billions of pounds worth of cuts, and we will continue to resist this disastrous bill.”

Rick Burgess, campaigns lead at Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People, said Tuesday’s events had demonstrated the “arrogance and disrespect” of the government, and he also called for the bill to be scrapped.

He said the bill still contained cuts to the health element of universal credit, and it imposed “extremely restrictive” criteria on those who will be offered some protection through the “severe conditions criteria”.

He said disabled people would seek to stop these elements of the bill through amendments.

Burgess added: “The PIP review must be to a specified standard of coproduction agreed with our organisations and be subject to statutory public consultation. 

“Given our experience to date, however, we have low confidence in the government. 

“However, it must also be said, while we lost the vote, we won a victory in gutting the bill and exposing the utter shambles of Starmer’s administration.”

The grassroots, user-led mental health group Recovery in the Bin (RITB) delivered a bleak assessment last night of the impact of the government’s actions.

An RITB spokesperson told DNS: “The whole sequence of events from the announcements, to constant vilification in the media, and from ministers, especially Kendall and Timms, has caused such distress that Labour have ended any hope of support. 

“They are loathed and despised, and we have no trust whatsoever in them not to attack us.”

AJ Le Brun, a disabled activist with DPAC Cardiff and Valleys, said the bill had been “rushed through” with no thought for disabled people. 

She said: “The changes and promises made in the final hours before the vote may have soothed the consciences of some MPs, but we see through these shaky promises.

“The changes to universal credit will push more of us into poverty, when we are already struggling with the rising costs of aids and support needed to live with dignity. 

“I do not trust Stephen Timms and his department to conduct a fair PIP review. 

“They have shown us they are not listening to disabled people by only providing one face-to-face consultation for Wales, and holding the vote the day after the consultation formally closed.

“What confidence can we have that this review will be any better?”

Because of the number of changes to the original bill, DNS asked DWP to confirm exactly what the bill would now do.

Here is the list provided by the department (edited for clarity by DNS):

• The bill will make changes to universal credit (UC) from April 2026

• It will not bring forward any changes to the PIP eligibility criteria

From April 2026:

• The standard allowance of UC will rise above inflation in each of the next four years 

• The health element of UC for new claimants will be reduced to £50 per week

• Existing claimants of the health element and those new health element claimants meeting the severe conditions criteria (SCC) or considered under the special rules for end of life (SREL) will see their UC standard allowance combined with the UC health element rise in line with inflation in the next four years

• People in the SCC group will be exempt from future UC reassessments

Credit for this article goes to John Pring with the Disability News Service