Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People
Debate between Kirsty Blackman and Diane Abbott(1 day, 12 hours ago)
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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.
Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)
It is really important that the Government work on co-production so that disabled people are involved in the decision-making processes. On the interaction with the Scottish Government, the UK Government have said that they are cancelling work capability assessments and are relying on the PIP assessment to make the decisions. In Scotland, we do not have PIP assessments; we have adult disability payment assessments. Will the right hon. Lady join me in encouraging the Minister to set out clear plans before the welfare Bill comes to Parliament? Otherwise, we will be taking a decision about something with no idea about its impact.
Ms Abbott
We undoubtedly need more information before we can meaningfully vote on these proposals.
Some of us are old enough to remember Mrs Thatcher and her poll tax, which was her undoing. It is not too late to drop the winter fuel tax and the cuts to PIP. I plead with my Government to do so.