Disabled women suffer in forced move to Universal Credit

An open letter from WinVisible, highlighting problems with the forced move to Universal Credit, including risk of destitution for some claimants, was sent in to the Work and Pensions Committee. They are MPs from different parties whose task is to scrutinise the DWP. The Chair of the Committee is Debbie Abrahams MP.

Our letter features the experiences of six disabled women in various situations. Some are disabled mums. Four are women of colour, who face added racism and disbelief in the benefits system. (We also call for abolition of the “No Recourse to Public Funds” rule, which denies benefits and healthcare to disabled/non-disabled asylum seekers and some other immigrant people.)

Read the Disability News Service report here.

It looks like the Committee will accept our letter as evidence in their “Safeguarding vulnerable claimants” inquiry. So hopefully they will publish the full letter with anonymous details of each woman’s case, on the Parliament website later.

One of the six women, Ms A, says:

 “Each time there’s a change like the DLA to PIP, there’s invariably a cut back.  This affects not only the physical health of the unwell person because they can no longer get whatever they need to manage their health better but also their mental health, with all the worry of meeting basic needs.”

“In fact, I know of a young person who has MS, is able to work only a few hours each day, pays her taxes and NI credits.  She feels she cannot deal with the stress of applying for UC or PIP, because that in itself could make her condition worse.  There are days when she has gone without meals and it’s heartbreaking knowing the effect lack of nutrition has on MS.”

The High Court ruling in Ellen Clifford’s case (16 January) that the DWP unlawfully hid benefit cuts in their consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment, is an important victory for the disability movement and a warning to the Labour government not to go ahead with similar plans. 

The money is there to fund the benefits we need and free high-quality care and support by people of our choice, to end zero-hour contracts and exploitation of unwaged family carers.  But Keir Starmer prioritises military spending — pledging a £75b increase and visiting the RAF in Cyprus who were doing surveillance for bombing hospitals in Gaza.  Life and wellbeing must be prioritised, not war and environmental destruction.