Ms Diane Abbott

Ms Diane Abbott

Labour — Hackney North and Stoke Newington

Speaking in the House of Commons on 7 May 2025

Debate

Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People

Contribution

I entirely agree, and I would add that if Ministers think that the recent local election results were bad, they should wait until next year’s council elections in Scotland, Wales, big city conurbations such as Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, and every single London borough. There are people in No. 10 who believe that we did not go far enough. A nameless No. 10 adviser said: “We didn’t go big enough the first time round…It’s a fairness issue”. Another nameless Government source said: “We should’ve done it all in one hit—we didn’t go far enough.” I wonder how many poor or disabled people those people have ever met or known. The Government should drop the cuts to the winter fuel payment and review the personal independence payment. They should consult the disabled and organisations that work with them, and genuinely improve and reform it.

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