#WelfareNotWarfare
Call protests now over the parliamentary recess 8-22 April.
While lavishing money on the military the Labour government is continuing to pursue its attack on support for Deaf and disabled people announced in Rachel Reeves’ Spring statement.
We are calling for DPAC groups and supporters to call local protests across the country to demand the damaging cuts to social security for Deaf and Disabled people are stopped.
We want MPs to commit now to vote against these cuts which will drive people into poverty.
Local protests are a chance to reach Deaf and Disabled people who are worried about the cuts and isolated – we need to turn fear into anger and action.
We can raise awareness of the true scale and impact of these vicious cuts and build the solidarity in our communities needed to defeat them.
- The scale of cuts is over £9bn – a majority of people are against the cuts based on the earlier figures which underestimated this by almost half.
- Changes to PIP (Personal Independence Payments) alone will hit 1.5million Deaf and disabled people.
- The attempt to rush these cuts through means that the Labour government is expecting MPs to vote the attacks through without being fully informed as to the impact.
- Despite all the lies about how these cuts will get people into work there has been no assessment of employment outcomes from the proposed cuts – the first vote is expected Summer but these figures from the OBR (Office for Budgetary Responsibility) are not due to be published until October 2025.
- Employment impacts will be negligible. A lack of suitable employment will prevent people moving into work while many will be forced out of jobs by the impact of the cuts both personally and on the wider economy.
- The cuts will cause destitution, add huge additional pressures to local authorities, our NHS and mental health support services. They will take a significant amount out of the economy as disabled people’s spending power is reduced.
- There has been no assessment of impacts of the abolition of the WCA (Work Capability Assessment) combined with the PIP cuts as government failed to provide enough detail to the OBR before the Spring Statement.
- No costings have been made for the increased number of appeals predicted by the OBR – this is awaiting assessment by the Ministry of Justice.
What we are calling for:
Local protests over parliamentary recess 8-22 April 2025.
Where possible target MPs strategically. See our list here: https://dpac.uk.net/2025/04/mps-who-support-disability-benefit-cuts/
Many MPs no longer operate public offices or surgeries – where this is the case could you protest at local Constituency Labour Party meetings, Town Halls or local events where MPs will be attending. Even if the MP isn’t in attendance it makes the point but please do be aware that we want Labour Party members onside so we are protesting the position their MP has taken and not protesting against them.
As always, we encourage the use of creativity to make protests inclusive and attention grabbing.
Make sure there are options for people to take part and be involved even if they can’t attend in person. National DPAC is about to produce this online engagement toolkit but local groups should look to produce your own options for members.
If you are protesting outside an MP’s office please follow these guidelines: https://dpac.uk.net/2025/04/guidelines-for-protesting-specific-mps/. We want to make our point but do not prevent people who need to see their MP for help with benefits appeals, asylum applications or other urgent needs from doing so.
Where May Day rallies, Stop the War and We Demand Change events are being organised in your area reach out now to organisers to request someone from your DPAC group can speak to raise the fight against benefit cuts – an attack on the whole working class.
If you have an MP who has come out against the cuts do something to positively acknowledge this – letters to the local press on why they are right to reject the cuts can help our message reach a wider audience. You can find a list here: https://labourlist.org/2025/04/spring-statement-welfare-reforms-liz-kendall-rachel-reeves-labour-rebels/
And keep up the letter writing and most importantly every DPAC member should try to arrange a face to face meeting with your MP. These do make a difference even if the MP doesn’t appear to be listening and/or just trots out the party line. Make them give up their time for you. Make them see how many people this matters to and how it will impact their majorities if they follow Starmer, Reeves and Kendall in their performative cruelty.
Resources
Norfolk DPAC has created a resource deposit with template materials that local groups can share and use. Link coming soon!
I managed to get my Labour MP to meet me for an hour, after a long period of emailing him and posting on his Facebook page. He wasn’t aware of the double risk of the four points pip proposal along with the targeting of the group of people who fall under the substantial risk category in wca. I took a friend who made notes and watched his body language and she thought he was listening to me and learning but who knows! He is going to speak with Liz Kendall about this double whammy (and other points) and get back to me.
I think it is worth pushing for a meeting with our MPs, not all of them are up to speed on the impacts and fine detail that only lived experience of the disability benefits system affords.