Proposed cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and disability benefits have stirred anxiety among the disabled community in Salford as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to give her Spring Statement tomorrow (March 26).
The Government is currently considering changes to disability benefits, including cuts. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is attempting to balance the budget by saving £5 billion by 2030, affecting the benefits disabled and long-term sick people receive.
The disabled community in Salford are concerned by these proposals and worry for their future.
Tracy Smith is the manager at Scoota Mart in Salford Precinct. If the cuts were to happen, her business would be affected greatly because a lot of her customers are on PIP and receive welfare benefits.
Zoe Lister lives in Eccles and has been on PIP for severe mental health issues for a while. However, since suffering from a spinal cord injury that has impacted her mobility last year, she has been declined the mobility part of PIP. This is despite her requirements for a walking stick and ankle orthotic to walk.
Due to her disability, Zoe must pay for several different things, from hospital parking to medical equipment and her car because she is unable to use public transport.
She said: “Living with a disability makes life more expensive in general. Cuts to PIP would mean I would struggle to pay for these things.”
Zoe and several others feel the Government’s attitude towards these issues have been unfair and “disgusting”.
“It’s not just benefit cuts, although this is a huge issue. It’s the impact that these views have on the opinions people hold towards disabled people and put already vulnerable people at further risk.
“I work full time. I am studying part time for a degree. I help others wherever I am able – what more do I need to do to be seen as a worthwhile person?”
Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey has aired her views on the proposals via her social media.
would restrict the support so many disabled people & their families desperately need.
Read my full statement below 👇 pic.twitter.com/mnVZ16tHZi
— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) March 21, 2025
While she welcomes the “sensible reforms” the Government has laid out, like non-compulsory employment support, she is “deeply concerned” by the £5 billion cut to the benefits system.
She said: “I strongly oppose any cuts that would restrict the support so many disabled people desperately need and indeed any measures that would place further strain on the living standards of disabled people and their families.”
Long-Bailey has written a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions urging her to reconsider these plans to restrict support.
She added: “No one should be forced into financial hardship, and everyone should be able to live with dignity and independence, whether they are able to work or not.”
She shared the alternative options to save money, including higher taxes on the extremely wealthy as opposed to taking from those already in poverty stricken situations.
She has also encouraged people to voice their opinions in the consultation of the Green Paper which can be accessed here until June 30 2025.
Councillor John Warmisham recently resigned from the Labour Party due to to what he called their “immoral” decisions about the welfare cuts.
He said: “Cutting the welfare benefits to the disabled, the sick, the poor, and the vulnerable, whilst committing billions of pounds to arms and supporting wars is immoral.”
While the people of Salford have shared concerns over these cuts, their officials have demonstrated that they have their support and how they plan to oppose these proposals.
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