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DWP is facing an online ‘rebellion’ over its cuts to PIP and Universal Credit

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing an online “rebellion” over its cuts to both Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit. It comes in the form of a virtual protest on Saturday 7 June. This will be happening alongside a physical one in London. And the organiser of the virtual demo says that her and her friends are doing it because house-or bed-bound people ‘deserve to have their voices heard, too’.

The callous DWP

Pressure is mounting on the government and the DWP over their planned cuts to chronically ill and disabled people’s benefits.

DWP boss Liz Kendall laid out in March to ‘reform’, that is – cut – chronically ill and disabled people’s benefits. It set this out in its Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working green paper.

Notably, the paper included a suite of regressive reforms to make it harder for people to claim disability benefits like Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The changes it’s proposing target neurodivergent, learning disabled, and those with mental health disorders. Moreover, disabled people who need help with things like cutting up food, supervision, prompting, or assistance to wash, dress, or monitor their health condition, will no longer be eligible.

And revelations from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has also shown that the changes will disproportionately hit PIP claimants over 50 as well. Specifically, the criteria goalpost shifts will deny 1.09 million (nearly 70% of those who could lose out) the Daily Living component of PIP. Part of this cohort is obviously also people Labour is already hammering with the Winter Fuel Payment cuts.

Labour lies: time to call it out

Overall, Labour and the DWP have already lied about the number of people its Green Paper plans will affect. Research keeps exposing the devastating scale of the governments planned cuts. While its impact assessment calculated 370,000 current claimants, and 420,000 future ones would lose their DWP PIP entitlement, it’s likely to be much higher than this.

Another FOI made by a member of the public unearthed that around 209,000 people getting enhanced rate DWP PIP Daily Living will lose it. On top of this, around 1.1 million people getting the standard rate will lose it.

In total then, nearly 1.4 million people could, on reassessment, lose their Daily Living element of DWP PIP. However, as the Canary’s Steve Topple previously noted, this doesn’t tell us how many could lose their full PIP altogether. This is because the data does not show how many of these people get standard or enhanced Mobility Element of DWP PIP.

Nonetheless, it’s evident that the plans will be enormously detrimental for chronically ill and disabled people. And in early June, parliament is expected to vote on these plans.

Protest in London – but also online

It’s why the People’s Assembly ‘No To Austerity 2.0’ demo for Welfare not Warfare will bring together a wave of opposition. Together, they’ll call out the Labour’s cuts to disability benefits, Winter Fuel Payments, and proposed cuts to public services to fund increased arms spending. On 7 June, the People’s Assembly and its supporters will be uniting to demand Welfare not Warfare and No To Austerity 2.0:

However, this is an in-person march that’s not accessible to house-or bed-bound chronically ill and disabled people.

So, Disability Rebellion has organised a virtual protest against the DWP to coincide with the London one:

The group’s co-founder Atalanta told the Canary:

As a disabled person, I’ve spent years watching government after government punch down on people like me. Trapped in my bed and home for over a decade, I could only watch as cruel policies stripped away our dignity, rights, and support. I couldn’t march in the streets. I couldn’t shout my rage. I felt silenced, invisible – furious with nowhere for that rage to go. I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt like that.

Disability Rebellion was born from that fury.

When the proposed benefit reforms was released, I knew we needed a way to fight back – a way for disabled people to be heard even if we couldn’t be physically present at protests. From there, we grew into an online campaigning group. And that’s our power: we create space for disabled voices in a world that too often ignores us.

Real-world protests are often inaccessible—but our voices deserve to be heard, too. This is why we started doing online protests: to give everyone a voice, even if you’re bedridden and housebound. We don’t want to leave anyone behind.

Ignoring house-and bed-bound people (much like the DWP)

Notably, while these DWP cuts have called for concerted boots and wheels on the ground action, it shouldn’t mean bed-bound and house-bound disabled people are left out of forging the fight back.

In fact, chronically ill and disabled people at home are arguably some of the voices most needed. Notably, it’s this demographic who are more likely to be among those unable to work.

Of course, it’s also the case that DWP cuts will hit them the hardest. The government has justified these plans through hostility to those who can’t work. All the while, ‘disability confident’ work-from-home part-time positions are shamefully sparse, to virtually non-existent.

Yet to many campaign groups, people who cannot attend protests in person are often forgotten about. Moreover, as Atlanta told the Canary:

People have told me online protest doesn’t matter. But I’ve seen the opposite. Even single tweet can open eyes. Online actions can trigger actions on the streets. DR is growing stronger by the day and we’re constantly learning new ways we can utilise social media to build our movement and contribute to driving change.

Social media gives us direct access to MPs who are finally listening – some even standing up for us because of what we’ve said. John McDonnell and Richard Burgon are members of DR now.

The growing rebellion among Labour MPs? I believe the combined efforts of activists online is fuelling it.

So we are not powerless. We are fighting. And Disability Rebellion will keep fighting – online (and wherever our members want to take this) alongside other activists and movements.

“We’re not done”

Therefore, 7 June is a vital moment for people who cannot physically protest. So, from 12pm onwards get involved by posting about disability rights and the DWP cuts on X, Instagram, and other platforms. Use the hashtags #WelfareNotWarfare #TakingThePIP #StopTheCuts #TaxTheRich #DisabilityRebellion.

As Atlanta summed up:

Together, we are pushing to make all protest accessible, and we’re proud to work with any movements that share that goal. For example, we’re excited about the Taking The PIP campaign – the energy around it is electric and celebrity involvement will help amplify the voices of disabled people.

We believe in unity and in shaking things up until we are seen and heard.

This is just the beginning. We’re not done. Not even close.

Featured image via the Canary

By Steve Topple

This post was originally published on Canary.