By Linda Burnip

​Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) are issuing an urgent warning to all disabled people, their families, and carers following the announcement of Labour’s latest attacks against us in the Autumn Budget proposals. We condemn this Budget as a brutal and cynical attack that prioritises cost-cutting over the lives and well-being of disabled people .

​The Government claims these changes will help people into work and ‘rebalance’ the welfare system. DPAC utterly rejects this narrative. These are austerity cuts by another name, specifically designed to push disabled people deeper into poverty and despair. This is not reform but politically motivated cuts.

In the UK to date there has been no consultation with any Disabled Peoples’ Organisations from the devolved nations. This in itself is unacceptable this is victimisation.

​The assault on PIP (Personal Independence Payments) already proposed in the Spring statement has led to a delay in implementing those planned cuts following  protests to highlight the concerns raised about their impact on the lives of disabled people. There will now be a working group headed by MP Stephen Timms to look into these planned cuts, supposedly including disabled people in the co-production. However, in spite of the impact that will be felt throughout the UK, to date there has been no consultation with any Disabled Peoples’ Organisations from the devolved nations. This in itself is unacceptable: this is victimisation.

​​​Also from the Spring statement, there are plans to halve the health element payable for many disabled people in Universal Credit when from April 2026, the additional monthly payment currently given to people in the LCWRA (Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity) group (around £432 per month) will be cut by approximately half for new claimants, falling to around £217 a month. This reduced rate will then be frozen.

Further, it is planned that the current Work Capability Assessment (WCA) will be scrapped and receiving the Daily Living Component of PIP will be the main test for getting the LCWRA element. So if you lose both PIP and LCWRA through one assessment you might lose £10,000 a year in total through the introduction of this two-tier system. For those of you working, this may seem a large amount of money for someone to get when they are unable to work but research shows that being disabled can cost over £1,000 a month extra in essential costs –  and let’s be honest: most disabled people would much prefer to not be disabled and able to work again.

Finally, cuts put forward in the budget will strip away independence from disabled people who rely on Motability vehicles with essential adaptations. For many disabled people, mobility support is what makes employment, education and community life possible. It’s not a luxury, it’s a lifeline.

As there’s been a lot of recent garbage in the right wing press about Motability vehicles, here are some facts about entitlement to a vehicle and no – Helen Whateley talked nonsense when she said if you have acne you can get one.

Disabled people already pay for the Motability scheme. Ony people who are eligible for the enhanced rate of the mobility component of Personal Independent Payment (PIP) can join the scheme, and by doing so they lose their PIP mobility payment, exchanging it for a lease on a vehicle adapted to their mobility needs. Changes to VAT exemptions or insurance taxes could cost the economy far more in lost productivity and increased reliance on health and social care. In addition, a large percentage of Motability scheme customers pay an advance payment for their vehicle, on top of the money from their PIP award, which can be over £20,000 for a drive-from-wheelchair vehicle.

Some 66% of people who are eligible for the Motability scheme already do not join it, with the most frequently cited reason being that they cannot afford it. Removing the exemptions would make this problem worse, because it could add £3,000 to the cost of even the cheapest Motability vehicles — at a time when the median household income of a Motability customer is just £18,500, roughly half the UK average.

Furthermore, the main reason people opt for larger vehicles is that they need an automatic vehicle large enough to also allow a wheelchair and/or other essential equipment to be carried in the vehicle. The upfront payment they have to make for such a vehicle is never returned to them at the end of the lease. The scheme is also supported by four of the largest banks, so while it is a registered charity, we all know that those banks are unlikely to continue to be involved in anything that doesn’t make a profit for them.

Join the Fight: DPAC and other disabled people’s organisations are coordinating a national fightback. Follow our channels, join local action groups, and be ready to protest. A massive popular movement is the only thing that will force a reversal of these cruel policies.

​We have beaten back attacks before, and we can do it again. These cuts are a political choice, and the human cost will be catastrophic. We will not be scapegoats for the Government’s failed economic policies.

​We will stand together. We will fight for our lives. We demand full welfare support, not cuts, destitution and warfare!

And now, just a word on the topic of the scrapping of the two child limit in Universal Credit which has led to a barrage of hate in the usual rags about how much more some women will now get. That too is a myth, since the benefit cap introduced in 2014 still remains in place – so how much any claimant can get for living costs and rent, regardless of how many children they have, remains severely limited.

Linda Burnip is co-founder of Disabled People Against Cuts.

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