The government recently announced plans to make some of the biggest cuts to disability benefits on record.
It’s no exaggeration to say that these benefits keep people alive, and it is predicted that these changes could see up to 1.2 million people losing support of between £4,200 and £6,300 a year over the coming years.
They claim they are doing this to reduce spending - saving £5billion - and to ‘help’ people back into work. But at the same time, £14billion of public money goes straight to the pockets of private landlords via housing benefit every year, due to sky high rents and a lack of social homes.
Instead of targeting people who are ill or disabled, if the government really wants to reduce spending it should:
- Fix our broken housing system - a key driver of ill health. Investment in council housing, improving standards in poor quality, damp and cold homes, and introducing rent controls to get a grip of spiralling costs.
- Replace the unfair council tax with a wealth tax, and reform how this is collected so people struggling to pay are not pushed further into debt.
- Invest in proper support services and social care, and invest in the NHS to cut waiting times - a key barrier to people getting back to work.
We won’t stand by and watch this happen. There are already cracks starting to show - and if enough of us make our voices heard, the government won’t be able to ignore us.
Click the link below to let your MP know that these cuts are unacceptable, and demand that they express their opposition to Liz Kendall and vote against these cuts.