David Maples, Brighton and Crawley Socialist Party

Since 2010, life has become more difficult for disabled people. Then Tory chancellor George Osborne saw us as an easy target and, in announcing £4 billion of benefit cuts, claimed: “A welfare cheat” was “no different to a mugger who robs you in the street.”

Now with a Labour government in power, we are in the frontline of the quest for ‘savings’, again. The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, a committee of the rich and powerful, has identified us as poor and weak. That is a big mistake.

Right-wing journalist Isabel Oakeshott, Talk TV’s International Editor, believes we are parasites “who frankly can’t be bothered to get out of bed and get themselves out… to… any kind of job and prefer to just sit on the sofa and order their Deliveroo and drive their Motability free vehicle and take everything the state can offer.”

When capitalist establishment politicians make us a target, there is an inevitable rise in disability hate crimes. 

Disabled people died in disproportionate numbers during the Covid-19 pandemic, six in ten of all deaths were disabled people. Disabled activism has reduced because of the continuing impact of the pandemic, but the cost-of-living crisis and strike wave have demonstrated that trade unions are key for defending living standards. The RMT victory in keeping rail ticket offices open also showed the role trade unions can play in defending the services we need.

The Socialist Party disability caucus met on 19 January. We are campaigning for the motion below, which provides a programme for a more supportive benefits system and a call for action by unions, to be discussed at trade union conferences this year.

Model motion: Oppose disability benefit cuts

This conference opposes all the cuts to the welfare system and recognises: 

• The failings and unpopularity of Work Capability and Personal Independence Payment assessments
• The failings of the private sector involvement in welfare delivery
• The cuts to the Disability Employment Adviser role
• Backlogs and inadequate resources to deliver Access to Work
• The need to improve support for disabled claimants
• The biggest category for DWP losing tribunals is Disability discrimination

This conference notes the new Labour government’s intent to continue the Tory attacks on the social security system and their threats of attacks on disability benefits in 2025. The Tory plans predicted nearly half a million disabled claimants would face lower benefits or increased conditionality to save £3bn by 2028-29.

This conference recognises that trade unions are the largest democratic organisations of disabled people and instructs the National Executive Committee to-

• Work with democratic disabled people’s organisations and other trade unions to promote demands for a social security system that meets the needs of disabled people 
• Campaign for assessments to be taken out of the hands of fat cat providers and returned to public sector delivery in the DWP with a complete overhaul of the system to support claimants
• Oppose the Government plans to merge the PIP and working age assessments which are based on cost cutting, reducing benefits to individuals and a harsher benefit regime for disabled people
• Campaign for an end to the target driven regime within the DWP which damages the quality of services to the public
• Put the emphasis on getting a quality decision right at the outset to reduce the need for claimants to go through the hardship and time consuming process of disputing and appealing decisions 

Conference further instructs the National Executive Committee to call for the TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee to organise a demonstration and lobby of Parliament in support of these demands.