KATE OSBORNE: 'I will always stand up for the most vulnerable'

​In the end after many compromises and changes what we were asked to vote on wasn’t written down, wasn’t clear and would still have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of people. As I made clear in previous comments I will not be part of it.

I signed a reasoned amendment that was backed by many MPs and 138 organisations that provide support for deaf and disabled people and voted against the Bill.

I believe there is a lot wrong with the current benefits system, it is in desperate need of reform, it doesn’t work and is punitive in areas. It needs a thorough overhaul, we need a social security system that is in place to give people support when they need it. We need a system that has been thought out and consulted on, a system that works when people need it.

People living with disabilities currently face extra costs on average of £1,091 a month, we should not be taking more money away from the most vulnerable in society.

The proposals we heard this week initially would have taken more than £6 billion out of the system and lead to over 400,000 new PIP claimants losing £4,500 on average.

I was proud to be part of a pushback from hundreds of Labour MPs that told the Government the proposals were wrong, thanks to our work the Government was forced into a dramatic climb down and made concessions.

Whilst I am pleased that the Government listened and removed the suggested changes to PIP, removed the need for four points in every section and agreed to protect existing claimants (those concessions alone will have made many in Jarrow and Gateshead East breathe a sigh of relief), it still removes billions of essential financial support for new sick and disabled people.

It means disabled people being assessed using three different criteria.

People with fluctuating conditions face uncertainty, not knowing which scheme they would be assessed under.

It would lead to two people with the same disability being treated very differently, with one eligible for support and one receiving nothing.

Even if all of the concessions are implemented, 150,000 disabled people will be pushed into poverty.

Over 700,000 new UC health claimants will lose £3,000 on average.

The domestic violence charity Refuge and the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) have said the cuts to vital funding for daily living costs for disabled people – which will impact all new claimants – will make it difficult for those at risk to flee abusive relationships.

The last Tory Government destroyed the social security system, disabled people paid the price for that with their lives, 14 years of brutal cuts to welfare and a grotesquely inept handling of the Covid crisis and the cost of living crisis have all impacted on people with disabilities more than any other group in society.

In the week that is the anniversary of one year of our Labour Government, I am proud of the work we have done in so many areas, from workers receiving an uplift in rights at work, to GB Energy and more.

But, a Labour Government should be fixing the mess the Tories caused, what they must do now is pause this Bill and spend the summer talking to groups and organisations that support deaf and disabled people to ensure we have a safety net and security system that works.

I am pleased that both your MPs Emma Lewell and I were amongst the 49 Labour MPs that voted against this Bill.

It’s clear that the Government got this wrong but even the concessions don’t go far enough that’s why I will keep pushing and that’s why it’s important to have a backbench Labour MP that can force the Government to scrap the changes.

My politics as they always have been, are rooted in the Labour and Trade Union movement, from my decades representing people at work, to representing people as a Local Councillor to now representing people in Parliament I will always put people first and if that means publicly disagreeing with the Government then so be it.

I will always stand up for the most vulnerable, for fairness, equality and our rights.

I refused to vote for this and if the Government insists on pushing the Bill to a Third Reading (in just six days’ time!) I won’t vote for it then either.