Meeting of the Parliament 23 April 2025
The heart of the issue is about political choices, with social security being a human right. I will touch on that later.
The DWP’s analysis has shown that its welfare reform agenda will push another 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children. The Labour Government has been criticised for its announcement on welfare reform and the lack of detail.
It is disappointing that the UK Government failed to engage with the Scottish Government in advance of its announcement, and the results could be disastrous. The Westminster Government seems to have glossed over the fact that Scotland, thankfully, has some powers over social security, so there are practical issues relating to how Scottish disability benefits will tie into the UK Government’s universal credit system. As well as that, Scotland’s budget could be reduced if we get yet more Westminster cuts.
Glasgow Disability Alliance is completely against the proposals and has said that the
“attacks on disabled people are many, are brutal and are multi-faceted”.
In an excellent but hard-hitting briefing, it sets out the severe consequences for disabled people’s household finances and states that it will be
“extremely difficult for the Scottish Government to fully mitigate these changes”.
On a practical level, Glasgow Disability Alliance mentions that the UK Government’s green paper fails to set out how disabled people in receipt of the Scottish adult disability payment will qualify for the health element of universal credit. It estimates that Scotland’s budget could be cut by £1 billion per year, and it warns that the DWP might try to claw back money from Social Security Scotland if Scottish disability benefits remain better than those that are on offer south of the border.
Marie Curie has called for clarity from the UK Government on whether terminally ill people who claim universal credit will be required to take part in any work-related activity or otherwise be at risk of sanctions. I do not have time to mention other stakeholders, but it is clear that the Labour Government’s proposed welfare reforms are ill thought out, both in terms of practicality and in terms of being abhorrent.
The UK Government should not make those cuts. Keir Starmer, Liz Kendall and Anas Sarwar should listen to disabled people’s organisations and poverty groups and think again. By taking those decisions, the Labour Government has chosen to box itself in with its Tory austerity rules. Instead of reviewing PIP assessments and reintroducing mandatory reassessments, the UK Government should follow the Scottish Government’s lead and treat disabled people with respect. With the Labour UK Government showing no signs of changing course, the need for Scotland to become an independent country is more urgent than ever, so that we have the full powers that are needed to tackle poverty and create a fairer and more equal Scotland.
15:43