Dear WinVisible, “I’m writing to ask for your help, as a disabled survivor of extreme, life threatening and sadistically violent childhood abuse that lasted from my birth until I ran away at 16. I have not and will never recover from this or the Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that is the result, so I’m in receipt of ESA and PIP; but I’m living in a constant state of fear and renewed trauma every single day owing to the Government’s behaviour in deliberately whipping up a hate campaign against disabled people. On the one hand, they are … Read more
On Wednesday 12 February, DWP manager* Neil Couling was questioned by MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee, about payments to sick and disabled former ESA claimants who had to claim Universal Credit early because of moving borough, and so lost their severe disability premiums. Watch the session here, this comes up at around 10am. He replied that around 57,000 claimants are due payouts from the DWP. We say these payments — which people have been kept waiting for, for 6 years — are very late! Court cases to challenge these losses started in 2018, … Read more
Together with Big Brother Watch and a coalition of concerned organisations and human rights groups, we oppose the powers in Labour’s Fraud Bill for computers to monitor the bank accounts of all claimants getting certain benefits, to stop people’s benefits and recover money. Being poor is not a crime! On Monday 3 February, some of us met at Parliament after Big Brother Watch handed in their petition to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It was the second reading of the Bill, opposed by some MPs. A successful campaign against the plan last year … Read more
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” … Read more
On 16 January, the High Court ruled in favour of Ellen Clifford, that the DWP had acted unlawfully in their 2023 consultation on tightening the Work Capability Assessment, by saying the intention was helping people into waged work, and hiding sweeping benefit cuts. Read the whole judgement here. We supported Ellen’s court case which was heard in December 2024. The ruling is a victory for the disability movement and a warning to the Labour government not to go ahead with similar plans. We are defending our benefit rights and protections like the “Substantial risk to … Read more
On Tuesday 10 December, we joined many organisations at the Royal Courts of Justice. Disabled People Against Cuts held a vigil in support of Ellen Clifford’s court case — challenging the DWP and its consultation in 2023 on tightening the Work Capability Assessment and the “Substantial risk to health” regulation. The government put it forward as helping people into waged work, with no mention of the impact on us of benefit cuts. More info about the court case here. If the changes in the consultation go ahead, more than 400,000 people would lose £416 a … Read more
Women in our group and the community have been in touch about the move from ESA to Universal Credit (UC). We want to share what we found out — what you can do to keep your benefit income, what rights you have, and some helpful tips. Contact us if you would like to add useful info from your own experience. Through our casework, we found out that the government is planning to stop ESA payments on 31 March, and is expecting ESA claimants to have started their UC claim before then, even for people who … Read more
On 18 July, WinVisible women took part in #DisabledPeopleDemand – a celebration of disabled people’s creativity and our demands for the new government, organised by Disabled People Against Cuts, with Recovery In The Bin, Bromley & Croydon Unite Community, Disability and Migrant Network (DAMN) and the Trans Safety Network. Labour’s insulting attacks on sick and disabled people, mothers and family carers they call “economically inactive” are a threat to our lives and livelihoods. Those of us seeking asylum are denied benefits and healthcare, and face destitution, detention and deportation, though the Rwanda plan is scrapped. … Read more
Ms X, a disabled single mum and survivor of domestic violence, tells how she secured over £5,000 backdated PIP which the DWP owed for her social support needs “mixing with people” – taking action from info about a legal case she read about online. She could pay off energy bills and other debts hanging over her. This restored money to her which she had lost years before, when her DLA was ended — she was forced to apply for PIP instead, and suffered a cut in rates. Ms X writes: My PIP and MM Supreme … Read more
We support the Disability and Migration Network statement against the Rwanda Bill and condemn the scapegoating of people seeking asylum and disabled claimants, together with Global Women Against Deportations groups. Sharing from Disability Rights UK: The Safety of Rwanda Bill has passed its remaining parliamentary stages. This follows a long fight from campaigners to challenge the bill, including the Supreme Court ruling that the policy is unlawful and the House of Lords delaying and amending the bill many times. The Disability and Migration Network, a network made up of disability and migrants rights organisations – including Disability Rights UK, Disabled People … Read more