North East MPs slam ‘unfair’ revised welfare reform bill
Sir Keir Starmer was last week locked in crisis talks over the controversial reforms after 130 MPs signed an amendment that would stop the legislation from being passed.
The original proposal restricted eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limited the sickness-related element of universal credit.
Eight North East Labour MPs signed the amendment last week, including Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy and Easington MP Grahame Morris.
But the Government U-turned in the face of a backbench rebellion, meaning people who currently receive the personal independence payment (Pip) will continue to do so.
Ahead of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill’s second reading on Tuesday, which will be the first opportunity for MPs to support or reject it, several North East MPs have stood their ground, branding it “unfair”.
Ms Foy said: “They will create a two-tier system of social security.
“If you fell ill earlier this year, you have the support you always had. But woe betide those people who will fall ill later this year, or next year.
“How can we be asked to vote for a system that, rather than penalising everyone for being ill, has now been tweaked to only penalise people based on when they got ill.
“This isn’t a level playing field. The scale of ill health in the North is 50 per cent higher than it is in the South. The North East has a higher rate of people living with a disability than any other region.
“And the ‘Ageing in the North’ Report recently published by the Northern Health Science Alliance and Health Equity North suggests that in the South, people leaving the jobs market later in life overwhelmingly retire.
“In the North, they leave due to ill health.
“The impact that these changes to PIP will have on individuals of any and every age, communities and the economy in the North East are huge. Regardless of the concessions that the Government is proposing, I cannot support this Bill.”
Meanwhile, Mr Morris, who said he welcomed the changes, confirmed it was not enough, he will still be voting against the bill on Tuesday.
He said: “I welcome the Government’s concessions to the Welfare Reform Bill – a result of tireless campaigning by disabled people, trade unions, and Labour colleagues. These changes will offer some protection for existing claimants.
“However, they do not go far enough. A two-tier system is being created, where disabled people are treated differently depending on the date of their claim rather than the nature of their health condition. This is simply unjust.
“The Bill still represents a significant attack on our social security system. It will deepen poverty in the most deprived parts of the country – including areas like mine, with high levels of deprivation and a legacy of industrial disease.
“I was not elected to make my constituents poorer or to make life harder for those living with illness and disability. I will be voting against this Bill.”
Several other MPs in the region are expected to still vote against the bill tomorrow, including Emma Lewell, Labour MP for South Shields.
Proposals ‘could push 150,000 more people into poverty by 2030’
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told MPs on Monday that the U-turn on welfare cuts will cost taxpayers around £2.5 billion by 2030.
While the revised package will be confirmed by the Office for Budget Responsibility at the budget in the autumn, her statement suggested the measures would save less than half the £4.8 billion the Government had expected from its initial proposals.
Responding to claims this would create a “two-tier” benefits system, Ms Kendall said: “I would say to the House, including members opposite, that our benefits system often protects existing claimants from new rates or new rules, because lives have been built around that support, and it’s often very hard for people to adjust.”
Earlier, modelling from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) suggested the government’s proposals would push 150,000 more people into poverty by 2030.
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The figure is down from the 250,000 extra people estimated to have been facing relative poverty after housing costs under the original proposals.
Modelling published by the DWP said the estimate does not include any “potential positive impact” from extra funding and measures to support people with disabilities and long-term health conditions into work.
Speaking in the Commons on Monday afternoon, Ms Kendall insisted that changes to her proposals on Pip and universal credit would “ensure no existing claimants are put into poverty”.