We can all agree on the basics of a good life, so reads our editorial in the latest digital edition of Community Living, an edition that went to press just before the Commons debated the controversial welfare bill – proposing deep cuts to personal independence payments.
The government backed down at the last minute in the face of mass protest, including that from within its own ranks. The welfare bill (its official title is the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill) went through in a watered-down version, passing with a majority of 75 – 335 votes to 260.
Labour has said that Pip changes won’t happen until after November next year, after a review by welfare minister Stephen Timms to be conducted with disability groups. So people currently claiming Pip and the health element of universal credit will still get their benefits.
But the cuts to Pip have merely been delayed rather than dropped. And the cut to universal credit for new claimants remains. And this is alongside the latest threats to support for children with special educational needs and disabilities
Our welfare writer Charlie Callanan unpicks the original plans for benefits while columnist Mary O’Hara contrasts the brutal cuts in the USA with what’s happening here in the UK – under a Labour government. How different it all felt a year ago when Labour was voted in.
Reporting and analysis of the plans continued across the news media as we went to press – as did the protests from campaigning charities. My Life My Choice said that by letting any form of the bill pass, the government will “continue to fail disabled people”. James Taylor, executive director at Scope, said the bill would still “strip thousands of pounds in support” from universal credit claimants in the future. Disability Rights UK said the bill is “unworkable and must be scrapped”.
In the latest edition of our digital quarterly, you can read about the impact of good support and about those who continue to fight for the rights of people with learning disabilities and their families – work that’s vital as the welfare bill passes through parliament.
