Celebrities call for rethink of ‘shameful’ UK Government welfare cuts

A host of celebrities including Succession star Brian Cox and veteran actor and presenter Sir Stephen Fry have called on the UK Government to U-turn on controversial welfare cuts.
With experts estimating that around a million people in England and Wales will lose their disability benefits as part of the overhaul, the changes have been branded “shameful” and are said to have left those likely to be affected fearful for the future.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the current system is “morally and economically indefensible”, with the Government estimating its measures will save more than £5 billion a year by the end of the decade.
Pip
Changes to eligibility for the main disability benefit, the personal independence payment (Pip), are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings.
The Resolution Foundation think tank has said the tightening of Pip eligibility would mean between 800,000 and 1.2 million people losing support of between £4,200 and £6,300 per year by the end of the decade.
Sir Stephen said cuts should not be targeted at “the most vulnerable and overlooked of all our population” and told the Government: “It’s not too late to rethink this.”
Comedian Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy, said the cuts will “only deepen the hardship” disabled people are already facing.
She said: “Disabled people are scared of what the future holds if there’s cuts to disability payments, as they are already not enough to cover life’s essentials.”
‘Brutal’
Cox, who has spoken out about his own experience of the “brutal reality” of childhood poverty, said the Government’s plan regarding cuts “makes no sense and will have a lasting impact on the lives of so many people already finding it difficult to afford life’s essentials”.
Others who joined the call for a rethink included actor Stanley Tucci, who is based in London and has worked with food bank charity Trussell.
He criticised the Government’s plan as “wrong”, saying “the reality of these cuts will be parents in disabled families having to skip meals so that they can feed their children”.
Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Dame Arlene Phillips said the social security system “should be rooted in justice and compassion” and said cutting disability benefits “is shameful”.
While the Government’s announcements made earlier this week included an above-inflation rise in the standard allowance for universal credit (UC) by 2029, it also plans to cut the rate paid out for the UC health element for new claimants from next year.
‘Hardship’
Trussell said around three quarters of the people referred to one of its food banks live in a household where someone is disabled and warned the measures will have a “significant impact on people who are already facing hunger and hardship”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Our reforms will build a social security system that’s fairer, more sustainable and fit for the future – so it can always be there for those with the greatest needs to live with the dignity and support they deserve.
“Helping people into good work is at the heart of our approach to tackling poverty and inequality, but the broken social security system we inherited is failing people who can and have the potential to work, as well as the people it’s meant to be there for.
“That’s why we’re introducing a new premium and ending reassessments for those who will never be able to work to improve the safety net for them, while delivering a £1 billion employment support package to break down barriers for disabled people into work. We’re also rebalancing Universal Credit payment levels so the benefit’s main rate rises above inflation for the first time in a boost for working families.”
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Cowardly government picking first on pensioners, now the disabled. Who will they choose next…. maybe they can get money out of homeless people, food banks or what about taxing charitable organisations like Children In Need……people who are unable to fight back!!!!
To correct Keir Starmer, the proposed welfare cuts are ‘morally indefensible’ and we should be providing much improved benefits (and incomes and pensions) for all. The treatment of people on low incomes in the ‘UK’ – whether working or not – is appalling. We must not allow children to go to bed hungry! As for ‘economically indefensible’, that is nonsense. The economic illiteracy demonstrated on a daily basis by both Starmer and Rachel from Accounts supports a model which does not work for most people and should be abandoned forthwith. The notion that economic growth (problematic in itself) can or… Read more »
If the country cares for its grandparents, its aging and challenged parents, its siblings who have ‘issues’, children being denied a leg-up and all the other sadistic and mean tactics Mr and Mrs Bumble employ and stand-up and say stop or we will remove our labour, and then whole country will become a ‘Heathrow’…
Clark of the Cinque Ports, think of your international reputation…(how much has that cost us already ?)
Clark warns Putin…Heathrow has day off…have they found Putin’s other agents yet ?
If working wages were more attractive perhaps it would incentivise those claiming unnecessarily to change their priorities. Housing money should go straight to landlords, a social rate for council tax, gas, water, electric, basic tv, internet and rent shouls be created. Basic needs covered and money does not go to claimants but directly to pay the bills. Vouchers for food and clothing purchases takes away the responsibilities to manage a budget and also prevents benefit money being spent on non-essential items like cigarettes, vapes, alcohol, takeaways, pets etc. There should be the right to work up to 10 hours a… Read more »