Campaigners urge all Northants MPs to vote against welfare cuts
Campaigners from across Northamptonshire urge all local MPs to vote against the proposed cuts to disability benefits. Crips Against Cuts Northants sprung into action just days after the government announced the cuts. Since then, disabled people, carers, trade unionists, and concerned locals across the county have attended protests, signed petitions and voiced their anger at the welfare attacks.
Campaigners have met with several local MPs to discuss the cuts. So far, Corby and East Northamptonshire MP Lee Barron is the only politician in the region who has pledged to vote against them.
Government data shows that in the UK, nearly half of all households living in poverty include someone with a disability. Under the Pathways to Work Green Paper, over 1.3 million people stand to lose their benefits. The charity Scope estimates that the cuts will push a further 700,000 households into poverty. The cuts are also unpopular among the wider public. A poll by More in Common showed that only 21% of Britons support the cuts.
A 2023-2024 investigation by the Department for Work and Pensions found that the PIP fraud rate was 0.0%. Furthermore, the PIP overpayment rate (where the rate of pay was higher than what was needed) was only 0.4%, and the underpayment rate was also 0.4%.
Trade unionists from the region have given their support for the campaign, including the following Unite branches: Community Northants, Retired Members Northants and Northants Central.
Statement from a local activist: “We call on all Northants MPs to commit to vote against the disability benefit cuts in all forms on 1st July. Abstaining from the vote or asking for the government to make the cuts less severe is not enough. Millions of people have already been pushed into dire poverty by wave after wave of brutal cuts. We need urgent action to prevent causing further damage to some of the most vulnerable members of society.”
Crips Against Cuts Northants video: www.instagram.com/p/DLII7jNoCws/
Local petition to vote against disability benefit cuts: www.change.org/p/northants-mps-vote-against-the-disability-benefits-cuts