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Disabled people are finished with Labour after that sham of a DWP welfare bill

After the government gutted their Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) welfare ‘reform’ bill to get it through Parliament, disabled people are left to pick up the pieces. In spite of Labour’s huge majority, the bill only passed by 75 votes. That’s in spite of Keir Starmer’s embarrassing U-turns. In one such instance, DWP minister Stephen Timms had his PIP changes shelved until after a review into the system. As the Guardian reported:

This capped the most tumultuous 24 hours of Keir Starmer’s premiership: one that has underlined how badly damaged the prime minister has been by his first year in power and which could define the rest of his time in Downing Street.

All this chaos comes after disabled activists and organisations have been begging MPs to listen to the reality of being disabled.

DWP climbdown

Now, as the bill passes its latest reading disabled campaigners are left to sit in the fear and anger of a farcical process. John McDonnell had scathing words for Starmer:

He’s got his bill to pass, but he’s done so with a significant number of Labour MPs angrily refusing to support it. Many of those dragooned through the voting lobby to back the bill did so full of resentment, and aware they may face a scale of opposition in their constituencies that could cost them their seats.

With his authority damaged by poor judgment, absence of leadership and a sheer lack of understanding of what the Labour party exists for, Starmer will stumble on weakened and directionless.

Journalist Taj Ali branded the bill “cruelty dressed up as reform”:

Journalist Frances Ryan made it clear that the concessions, such as they were, came because of pressure from disabled people:

Disability activist Karrie Higgins pointed out the difference in the impact of this bill:

Adam Fare got to the heart of things:

Saul Staniforth noted the abhorrent irony of Kim Leadbeater leading the assisted suicide bill, only to make it harder for disabled people to live via the DWP welfare bill:

Katie, a person living with ME, summed up how many of us are feeling:

Cruelty is the point

This Labour government has supported Israel’s genocide in Palestine and pushed through DWP cuts for the most vulnerable people in society. Starmer is just days away from completing his first year as prime minister and in that year his actions have been nothing short of a disgrace.

Labour voters are accustomed to holding their noses and voting for the option that will do the least damage. That’s not going to cut it anymore – because while we stand in voting booths across those countries, the Palestinians Starmer refuses to describe as experiencing a genocide, and the disabled people whose lives will be made immeasurably worse by these cuts will be with us.

It’s true that the past few days have shaken Starmer’s leadership. Many Labour MPs have rebelled against their own leadership. But, when Labour are the ones doing the work of the DWP they’re no longer a party that any of us should ever vote for again.

Disabled people have been pleading for their lives over the past few months. But, for Starmer that hasn’t changed his policies one bit. It was only political pressure that forced these U-turns, rather than any basic compassion. This is a man more interested in the optics of power, rather than people. Disabled activists have repeatedly, and at great physical and emotional cost, explained how many of us are already barely managing to exist. This bill will make it that much harder for disabled people to exist.

There’s some things you just can’t hold your nose over.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maryam Jameela

This post was originally published on Canary.