Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People Debate
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Adnan Hussain
Main Page: Adnan Hussain (Independent - Blackburn)Department Debates - View all Adnan Hussain's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People
Adnan Hussain Excerpts(1 day, 12 hours ago)
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Ms Abbott
It is indeed a political choice. I would prefer my Government to introduce a wealth tax or some taxation system that asks the very wealthy to pay a little more than take money away from the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society. But the Government refuse to accept that there is anything wrong with cutting benefits for the disabled. Instead, they say that there has been a “communication problem”. Some of us have tried explaining to Downing Street that they could employ the best communicators in the world, but these welfare cuts will be impossible to sell to the public and will undermine Labour’s position in communities.
Mr Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) (Ind)
I recently met many furious constituents outraged both by the cuts already made and by those still to come. Nearly 10,000 people in Blackburn rely on PIP. I join the right hon. Member in condemning these cold-hearted and cruel cuts that leave people fearing that they cannot even heat their homes or eat.
Ms Abbott
I entirely agree, and I would add that if Ministers think that the recent local election results were bad, they should wait until next year’s council elections in Scotland, Wales, big city conurbations such as Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, and every single London borough.
There are people in No. 10 who believe that we did not go far enough. A nameless No. 10 adviser said:
“We didn’t go big enough the first time round…It’s a fairness issue”.
Another nameless Government source said:
“We should’ve done it all in one hit—we didn’t go far enough.”
I wonder how many poor or disabled people those people have ever met or known.
The Government should drop the cuts to the winter fuel payment and review the personal independence payment. They should consult the disabled and organisations that work with them, and genuinely improve and reform it.