Benefit cap: our comment to Disability News Service

Disability News Service reported:

‘Disabled people’s organisations have branded Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s latest proposals to slash spending on disabled people’s support as “nonsense”, “harmful”, and a recipe for hardship and poverty.

In their latest assault on social security spending, the Conservatives misleadingly claimed the benefit cap allows some households to claim “unlimited benefits” if they include someone who receives certain disability benefits.’

Our group comment:

‘Claire Glasman, from the disabled women’s organisation WinVisible, said the benefit cap already hits women who are unable to escape it through part-time waged work, those fleeing domestic violence, as well as disabled mothers, mothers of disabled children, and other disabled people who are refused PIP and the health element of universal credit [benefits which allow exemption from the total benefit cap].

She said: “We deserve disability benefits and a care income for caring work.”

And she said the government should cap high rents by “unscrupulous landlords” rather than punishing families living in poverty.

Glasman said: “The Tories, Reform and current Labour government, all attack benefits and immigrant and disabled people.

“A traumatised refugee woman rape survivor in our group has been wrongly cut off while renewing her right to stay.”

And she said WinVisible fears that tens of thousands of ESA claimants have been cut off and left destitute in the forced migration to universal credit.

She added: “It is the UK government’s military spending which is spiralling, not benefits – in 2025-26 it was predicted to be £62.2 billion, and is likely higher.

“We’re determined to defend all our benefit rights and demand: welfare not warfare, invest in caring not killing.”

Meanwhile, the Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG) has written to the government to call for the “urgent implementation” of a national energy social tariff to protect households that include disabled members.’

Read the full article with everyone’s responses here.

Facts: single parent families, overwhelmingly single mothers, are nearly 70% of those affected by the total benefit cap. Many will be capped and lose money, despite abolition of the two-child limit for Universal Credit child element. The cap makes larger families and the children in them, poorer. High rents set by landlords often push the total amount of benefits over the limit.