- End Discriminatory Universal Credit Cuts to Disabled People
Posted by Gerard
on July 5, 2025, 11:20 pm
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"Dear [MP’s Name], The Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) in the Universal Credit and PIP Bill is a crisis, slashing vital support for hundreds of thousands of disabled people. I urge your urgent action before the Third Reading on 9 July 2025. From April 2026, the SCC will cut the health element for new claimants from £97 per week to just £50—a loss of £2,444 a year. Only those with a terminal illness (under 12 months to live) or severe, lifelong conditions will keep the higher rate, protected from inflation. Existing claimants have transitional protection, but new claimants face a cruel divide. The SCC’s discriminatory rules will exclude eight in nine current support group claimants, despite disabling barriers. To qualify for the full £97-a-week health element, claimants must: Meet the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity criteria, proving significant disability. Have a constant, unchanging impairment, excluding fluctuating conditions like Parkinson’s (tremors, stiffness), MS (unpredictable fatigue, mobility issues), or bipolar disorder (severe mood swings). Have a lifelong condition with no recovery prospect, ruling out severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or depression, as clinicians avoid “lifelong” labels to preserve hope or due to uncertain outcomes. Hold an NHS diagnosis, dismissing private or international diagnoses despite 6–8 year NHS wait lists for autism and ADHD. This forces poorer communities to pay £1,000–£2,000 for private care out of desperation. These heartless rules will push 150,000 more claimants into poverty by 2030, with relentless reassessments adding stress. They betray neurodivergent people, who are stuck on waiting lists or priced out. I urge you to: ✅ Vote NO on this discriminatory bill. ✅ Support the following amendments (all tabled on 4 July 2025): Amendment 14 (Burgon et al.): Scrap SCC cuts entirely. Amendment 2(a) (Burgon et al.): Retain £423.27 per month for all claimants. Amendments 32 and 35 (Blackman): Include fluctuating conditions like MS and Parkinson’s. Amendments 33 and 34 (Blackman): Allow private and international diagnoses. New Clause NC4 (Creasy et al.): Ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. No one deserves abandonment. Please confirm your stance. Yours sincerely, [Your Name] [Your Address + Postcode] [Your Email]": https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQaTeG8h-BoRgpV-WoIIWIAyPzlda8ajdlJRP_sWBBWtpimQF46X5wkYwFJFoJUt9cBUvgnm26YeR8u/pub |
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