Demonising disabled people is not a moral duty
As the government unveils its benefit reforms, including tightening who receives the PIP (Personal Independent Payment), disabled journalist Charli Clement says there will be unintended consequences
No matter how many times the word ‘work’ was said in Liz Kendall’s Tuesday speech, the reality of disabled people does not, and cannot, simply centre on employment. Slashing benefits does nothing to change that.
Under the rule of the Conservatives, I felt under threat - like my life was lesser and I could be seen as “not disabled enough” any moment. But, even after all of that, I’ve never felt as dehumanised as I do now, under Labour’s current rhetoric and reforms.
Neurodivergent people and people with mental health issues seem to be the focus of the moment: scapegoating those who have fallen into crisis and are attempting to get what they need from a state that doesn’t care, whilst also ignoring the diversity across disabled people and benefits claimants in the UK.
You cannot push disabled people into work whilst simultaneously denying many people’s Access to Work funding, remote and hybrid jobs are non-existent, and corporations find ways around discrimination law. Any noise around work and disability is a distraction - a way to demonise us as too lazy to put in the same graft as the average person, where we lounge on piles of money we did not work for.
It is clear what representatives across the House believe about disabled people, with Esther McVey mentioning “sickfluencers” and “top of the range cars”: it’s these lies and exaggerations which continue to vilify some of the poorest and most vulnerable. Currently, 870,000 children live in families who receive PIP, with 290,000 of these children already in poverty - most are not living the lavish lifestyle they want to believe we are.
An additional worry about having PIP taken away is an unintended consequence - the amount of accessibility schemes and supports that only accept being a recipient of PIP or another benefit as evidence of disability, from theatres and concerts to extremely necessary schemes like railcards. Where disabled people are already locked out of so many aspects of society, there is a significant danger here of increasing that and leaving us behind.
How can we be demonised for seeking a formal diagnosis and claiming benefits when these are the only things that society sees as proper ‘evidence’ needed in order to get access to reasonable adjustments or medical care?
Many of the new policy ideas fundamentally ignore the reality of disability and navigating a discriminatory society. Changing eligibility for the health element of Universal Credit until young people reach the age of 22 will place significant pressure on them and their families, with extra costs. Disability does not disappear at the turn of adulthood, and many will be less likely to be able to go to university or work without PIP to soak up the additional costs faced (of an average additional £1,010 a month).
Similarly, the change to needing a score of four in a category (as well as an overall score) will have horrific consequences for many disabled people, especially those with dynamic disabilities or a variety of needs across categories. A score of 4 is a higher bar than many will understand, and means many with significant daily living challenges and needs will no longer be able to receive desperately needed benefits.
You cannot cut benefits and push disabled people into work without - at bare minimum - overhauling and properly funding the NHS so we get the healthcare we need, and funding social care so we have accessible homes, care, and provision of daily living aids (which would be even more crucial for work). For many, it is PIP that mops up these costs: if you take it away, are you going to provide everything we currently pay for ourselves?
It feels futile to shout about how much we want to work, the way that so many of the reasons we cannot are also down to the government, or about how utterly impossible getting PIP already is. No one wants to listen to the realities of those who are bedbound or housebound, either. They know all this: they just don’t want to have to acknowledge their role and responsibilities in it.
There is simply no doubt that this will cause significant poverty and death: the question is, how far will it go, and do they care at all?
About the author: Charli Clement is an award-winning writer and speaker discussing disability, neurodivergence and queerness. They have bylines in outlets including the Independent, Digital Spy, and VICE, and are the author of their first book, All Tangled Up in Autism & Chronic Illness. Charli also works on autism, human rights and the psychiatric system, and in their free time, they are normally found at the cinema.
At The Lead we believe it’s crucial there’s an independent voice beyond the mainstream headlines, as well as Charli’s writing we’ve also heard from Rachel Charlton-Dailey on the fear and anxiety ahead of the benefit reforms and from Will Elisabeth Cuthbert on how a system leaves many disabled people to form mutual aid groups to find their way through a broken system. You can support our writing by considering upgrading to a paid subscription, or subscribing, to support independent, insightful journalism, on people, place and policy beyond the mainstream.
 | A guest post by
|