Our response to the chaotic vote on the welfare reform bill
Our movement has forced a huge climbdown from the government - but devastating Universal Credit cuts have been passed, and future changes may still cause harm.
In a dramatic late intervention, the government committed to removing Clause 5 from the bill, which would mean that the current legislation will no longer make any changes to the PIP eligibility criteria - and that any changes to this will only be implemented after the government has undertaken the “Timms” review of the PIP process.
In the wake of this chaotic announcement, despite opposition parties and a number of Labour MPs still voting against the bill, it was passed in Parliament and will proceed to the next legislative stage. This includes devastating cuts to the Universal Credit health element for new claimants, which will slash a vital form of support for disabled people.
The climbdown on PIP eligibility changes is significant, but there are still many reasons to be sceptical. Firstly, this commitment was made verbally, at the 11th hour, in an utterly chaotic sitting of Parliament where MPs were voicing confusion about what was being promised. This is a totally inappropriate way to handle a vote on life or death support for disabled people. The right thing to do would have been to pull the bill as a whole. Now, as the bill progresses to the next stage, it’s vital that the government is held to account on its words and that the concession is enshrined onto paper.
But more fundamentally, while this concession delays the worst parts of the plan, it does not definitively defeat them. It puts them on hold, and risks giving false reassurances. We know how governments work, and we know how these kinds of “reviews” get shaped.
This makes it all the more important to ensure that disabled people’s voices are given real weight and power in this forthcoming review. We - alongside all our allies in the disability rights movement - will be fighting tooth and nail to ensure that this is the case. So far, the government’s language of “co-production” has been tokenistic and hollow. They must understand that we will now be mobilising in great numbers to ensure the review delivers a fairer, more compassionate, and more equitable benefits system than the one we have now - not less as the government had planned.
It’s also deeply worrying that the government hasn't committed to any changes resulting from the PIP review being introduced via primary legislation. This means that there is no guarantee that MPs will be given a vote on the changes, and the government may seek to force them through by other means. This would be shameful, undemocratic and unforgivable.
If the review results in the government bringing back these cruel PIP cuts in another form, our movement will stop them in their tracks just as we have done tonight. PIP is a vital lifeline, and making it harder to access in any way is going to cost lives - that is the simple truth the Timms review must acknowledge.
We still have a long way to go in this fight. The disabled community has achieved a significant climbdown today, but some damaging cuts have been voted through and there will likely be more to come in the future. But this rebellion marks the biggest public challenge yet to the Labour government’s political agenda, and the multiple concessions we’ve seen over the past week categorically would not have happened without the tidal wave of campaigning led by disabled people and disability rights groups.
We’ve been in the streets. We’ve been in the media. We’ve written to ministers. We’ve confronted MPs. We’ve reached millions of people with our message. Mad Youth Organise Patient Leaders have shared their stories across the country, putting their trauma on the line to expose the truth: PIP is not a luxury, it is a lifeline.
We’ve shown what collective resistance and solidarity looks like. When disabled people unite, organise, and fight, we are a force to be reckoned with. Our work is not done - and no matter what form further welfare cuts take in the months and years to come, we will be ready to resist.