AIBU to think that this is not what Labour promised ?

[Rosscameasdoody]

There is an article in the online news service regarding the consultation on proposed changes to disability benefits - link is below. The consultation is being called a sham because the main proposal likely to pay for 85% of the projected savings - namely the cut to PIP requiring 4 points minimum in any one daily living category - is not up for discussion in the consultation document. In addition half of the proposals for other benefits likely to affect the disabled aren’t up for discussion either.

There are various organisations including Disability Rights UK and Amnesty International lobbying the government to comply with the law on consultation. The Tory proposals were thrown out as illegal and Labour severely criticised them for the way in which the consultation was designed. Now it seems Labour are following suit and not presenting an honest consultation - so much for working with disabled people and giving them a voice.

I would urge anyone on any sickness or disability benefits to look at the link below and then contact Disability Rights UK or any other disability organisation or charity they belong to, to ask what they are doing about this. Labour promised a full root and branch reform to PIP, to make it fairer and more transparent. They promised to consult fully and that changes would be based on full consultation with disabled people and taking their opinion into account. Am I being unreasonable to think that this is not that ?

https://apple.news/AOwMH_xQ4Rt-60MVbDqK9LQ

You're being unreasonable to expect Starmer to give a toss. He's meant to be a human rights lawyer but doesn't seem to respect human rights.

I don’t think he does. That’s the point. Labour appear to be wolves in sheep’s clothing. I’m hoping that if there’s enough support the consultation will be thrown out in the same was as the Tory proposals were. To be honest I’m not sure Starmer is any more on top of this than anyone else in government. From the rhetoric before the spring statement no-one - including the minister for work and pensions - seems to know the difference between out of work sickness benefits and those designed for supporting the extra cost of disability. Hard to know if it’s deliberate or not.

I am absolutely disgusted at the way this government has behaved over the disability welfare reforms. They were the first ones to start screaming if the conservatives dared to suggest that there should be a welfare overhaul,yet here they are doing far worse. And I'm also totally pissed off with certain sectors of the media saying that the 'vast majority' of the public are in favour of the reforms. Plus certain radio presenters (the one on LBC in the morning,I think you know who I mean) buying people's stories about disabled people getting free Motobility cars,and being entitled to one because they wet the bed! People like him are just fanning the flames of hatred towards disabled people. All I can say is,all these people that would like to see sick and disabled people struggling to survive on a pittance because they've lost their PIP,let's just hope nothing ever happens to you to put you in a position to have to rely on 'hand outs' (not my words!).

The rhetoric on Motability is the thing that worries me the most. It’s not a perfect system, and it’s been hijacked by banks and other financial organisations for their own benefit, but that’s not the fault of disabled people. There have been several very worrying newspaper articles deliberately giving the impression that the scheme is too easy to access and that the cars are provided as well as the mobility allowance. Some of the opinion expressed on MN is, shall we say, less than helpful, too.

You’re surprised that labour and starmer in particular didn’t keep their promises??

im only surprised that you’re surprised. They are the worst of the worst and this country will be in a lot worse state when they exit office in a very long 4 more years.

I'm not going to say I told you so but some of us saw this coming from when he became leader and reneged on his promises. He purged the left and doesn't broke dissent.

We've got a very right wing Labour party in government. His views on war crimes should have been a clue to where this was heading.

I’m not surprised as much as depressed to be honest. What was promised was a root and branch reform of the assessment process to make it fairer and more transparent. What we’ve ended up with is just another arbitrary cut without even a nod to proper support. Just more cost cutting.

People are getting exactly what they voted for. They wanted the tories out at any cost, and now they’re discovering the cost they don’t like it. They’re whining just like Brexit voters who realised their mistake.

Really surprised at the judgemental tone of some posts, and the assumption that I voted for this shower of shit. Disabled people are screwed whichever way they vote. Tory - be absolutely certain you will lose your benefits, so much like a turkey voting for christmas. Labour - find out the hard way that they say one thing while in opposition and quite another in government.

I've always been a Labour supporter, but they seem to drift rightward with every new leader, apart from Corbyn.

I'd have to think very hard before I voted Labour now, and I'm thankful that I live in a Lib/Con marginal, and have always tactically voted Liberal.

So who do you think people should have voted for? We had a right to expect that Labour would promote fairness and protect the rights of vulnerable people. It's shocking and awful that they've decided to put the boot in instead. Nobody is "whining"; we're expressing a sense of loss and betrayal from a government that promised to place the greatest burden on those with the broadest shoulders and instead metaphorically (and literally in some cases) are kicking the crutches out from under sick and disabled people.
Personally I've made an appointment to see my Labour MP so that he can hear from a disabled person about the impact of these brutal cuts. I urge others to do the same where possible.

It always surprises me that people believe the promises political parties make during election campaigns.

History tells us that as soon as they get into No. 10, they break their promises on the grounds that circumstances have changed, things are worse than they thought (despite having access to them previously), it is the previous incumbent's fault because (insert excuse here), blah, blah, blah.

Call me a cynic, but they are all as bad as each other.

This. Anyone disabled here should be lobbying their MP and asking awkward questions. And contacting appropriate disability charities and organisations to find out what they’re doing about it.

It all went pear shaped with Blair and has moved ever rightwards since.

IMO we have the far right and people voting Reform because we don't have any left wing alternative or any representation for the working class.

This government doesn't even bother to hide their disdain for the working class or those living in deprivation. They're pushing the most vulnerable into destitution and have the right wing press waving pom poms.

To everyone on this post saying we got what we voted for,the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of people who voted Labour (myself included) in the last general election,did not expect just another version of a Tory government! I think people can be forgiven for thinking that a Labour government would not be going after pensioners, and sick and disabled people with such gusto.

Is there a way to complain about a consultation? Its dishonest to say you are having a consultation on disability benefit reform and then leave out the most contentious problem.

Exactly. Because the government is trying to deny disabled people a voice. We need to show them that we don't need their permission to be heard.

Go to your MP and voice your concern as a complaint. There’s also a petition online.

And if you can, contact unions as well. My union, along with many others, is opposed to the way disability is being targetted by Labour. Many people with disabilities do work and may be in a union, but even if not, the way that this is being presented, as a "helping hand to move people into work" without any real support or structure for doing so will impact on unions and the workplaces they are in. For example - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c705nxgqvv8o

Benefits aren't actually a human right though.
We give them to be compassionate. People are just so used to them now that they are seen as a basic right.

I didn't say that benefits were a human right.

Actually they're pragmatic rather than compassionate. There's no place for compassion within a welfare state. It's bad for societies to have people destitute, homeless and starving. Causes all sorts of problems.
Some would argue it is a basic human right to have enough to eat, to have a roof over your head and to be warm. Those who think/are persuaded to think it's just an act of largesse that can rightly be removed at any point sadly seem to be in the ascendency currently. Stupid really. Disability can happen to anyone.

I am genuinely saddened that a labour government is doing this.

Stuff your compassion. Don't turn this into yet another benefits/ disabled bashing thread. The UN found that the UK ‘has failed to take all appropriate measures to address grave and systematic violations of the human rights of persons with disabilities and has failed to eliminate the root causes of inequality and discrimination’. https://www.equity.org.uk/news/2024/equity-shares-evidence-with-the-united-nations-on-the-uks-treatment-of-disabled-people-damning-report-published#:~:text=The%20UN%20have%20now%20published,causes%20of%20inequality%20and%20discrimination'.
Disability entitlements are a human right which go some way to addressing systematic inequality in society. If people are faking it, then prove it, report it, and deal with it. But you don't address inequality by making the baseline that people with disabilities should not be supported because some people may fake it.

Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.