North East Balamory star calls on PM to reverse ‘cruel’ cuts
Kim Tserkezie, who played Penny Pocket in the popular CBeebies show, shared her support for the petition on Instagram by writing “Signed!”
She joins other well-known actors, including Cherylee Houston, Rosie Jones, and Liz Carr, in backing the campaign.
The petition is an open letter to Keir Starmer, pleading with him to oppose the government’s plan to reduce eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the health component of Universal Credit.
Signatories argue that the proposed changes are a matter of “survival” and “basic human rights.”
They say that if these proposals are implemented, 700,000 families already facing poverty will experience additional hardship.
“This is not reform; it is cruelty by policy,” the letter reads.
Campaigners warn that the changes will “strip financial support from those who need it most,” exacerbate social exclusion, and “increase disability-related deaths.”
The letter also highlights the impact on unpaid carers who rely on PIP for income, stating that they will be left without support, leaving local councils overwhelmed and unable to cope.
“We have already endured a decade of austerity, disproportionate pandemic losses, and life-costing cuts,” the letter says.
“We, the undersigned, will not stand by while our community is sacrificed for the illusion of savings.”
The government’s proposals, outlined in a green paper earlier this year, would reduce the eligibility criteria for PIP, a non-means-tested benefit designed to cover the extra costs of disability, affecting an estimated one million people.
The sickness-related element of Universal Credit is also set to be cut, with MPs scheduled to vote on this in the autumn.
Official figures suggest 3.2 million people could lose an average of £1,720 a year as a result.
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Sir Keir Starmer is said to be considering “tweaks” to welfare cuts planned by his Government.
Reports the Prime Minister is seeking to soften the blow of the cuts come as he faces the growing threat of a backbench rebellion over the package of measures, which ministers hope will save the public purse £5 billion a year.
Benefit claimants could be given longer “transitional periods” to seek out other benefits if they lose out as a result of the reforms, according to the Times.