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Starmer has fallen into the trap of many politicians before him: scapegoating disabled people in an attempt to gain support from the right-wing in Britain through benefit cuts. Today at PMQs he called the current benefits system “indefensible, economically and morally”. The Labour government is proposing cuts of £5-6bn, with the recycled justification that the welfare system is encouraging unemployment and laziness.
The actual cuts will mainly come from Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which is not linked to employment status. Eligibility will be tightened, and some payments are expected to be frozen. This fails to fit Starmer’s narrative of laziness and poor work ethic, given that the PIP received by many disabled people is exactly what allows them to work, by supporting the financing of accessibility equipment and adjustments at work.
It is an ironic echo of Norman Tebbit’s 1981 speech where he declared that his unemployed father simply “got on his bike and looked for work”. It follows the usual pattern of dodging accountability, by mischaracterising unemployment as an individual lack of work ethic, rather than a systemic issue that has been poorly addressed by successive governments. It also ignores the reality that PIP has nothing to do with unemployment rates at all. The discourse Starmer is validating suggests that in some ridiculous way the crucial financial support systems for disabled people are encouraging people to… become disabled? It is as far-fetched as it is cruel.
What Starmer fails to understand is that there is no option for disabled people except the limited financial support the government provides. His own MP, Nadia Whittome, detailed her experience of receiving disability benefit for her PTSD and ADHD. “I can’t look my constituents in the eyes, I can’t look my mum in the eyes, and support this,” she said. Recently at PMQs, Starmer declined to confirm when asked that disability benefits for those who can’t work wouldn’t be cut.
Starmer appears to have miscalculated, however. Many within the Labour party are unhappy with his proposals, with insiders claiming that No.10 officials seemed taken aback by the level of backlash received. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith also pointed out that the Chancellor’s recent national insurance changes mean employers are less likely to be advertising part time jobs, meaning it will be harder to obtain part time work.
As Nadia Whittome said yesterday, “You cannot incentivise people out of sickness.” It is time the government realises this obvious fact and puts an end to the endless criticism of disabled people.
Edited by Ruby Fry
Parliament and Big Ben by Marcin Nowak, 2017 // Unsplash Content License
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