Kelly Stuart 03/07/2025 Joe's SoapboxNews

I was very disappointed with the result of the Welfare Reform Green paper vote on the 1^st July.

Most MPs voted in favour of the reforms.

Only six Welsh MPs voted against the cuts.

I watched the debate from 12:30 until the final vote at 19:30.

MP’s spoke with passion and emotion about how unfair the proposals are.

It was encouraging to see so many MPs on the side of disabled people.

However, most of those who attended the House of Commons debate ahead of the vote were against the cuts.

This sounded like more MP’s were against the cuts than there actually were.

The Labour party made ‘concessions’ to the Bill proposals before the vote took place.

Concessions mean changes.

It seems the changes persuaded many MPs to change their mind and vote in favour of the Bill.

The health related element of Universal Credit will now increase with inflation.

And won’t be cut as previously proposed.

This is a positive.

The Government promised they would look again at the PIP points criteria.

This means the points you need to score to get PIP.

They have said that current PIP recipients will not lose their PIP as a result of the new changes.

Only new claimants from November 2026 will be affected.

There are two problems with this:

1) It is not clear whether disabled people will be classed as new claimants when their PIP is reviewed. If this happens then our members may be safe from cuts now but may be affected by the cuts in the future.

2) Even if the changes only affect new claimants, it will mean inequality for disabled people. It would mean that two people with the same needs would get different amounts of money. This will be unfair on younger people. People who may be AWPF members in the future.

3) The Bill has been passed the second reading in the House of Commons before the Government has looked at the consultation responses. This is not co-production.It means the voices of disabled people have not been heard. This means the Government intend to go ahead with their proposals without understanding how they affect disabled people.

The changes Government have proposed are not clear. They don’t have much detail.

The Bill has been passed through parliament very quickly.

This has made it difficult for disabled people to express their concerns in time.

MP’s have not been given much information to make such an important vote.

A vote that will affect the wellbeing of so many disabled people.

There will now be a review of PIP.

This review is called the ‘Timms’ review. It is named after Stephen Timms, the Minister for Social Security and Disability.

They have promised to include disabled people in this review.

It is important that our members voice is heard in this review.

All Wales People First are meeting with other disabled people’s organisations soon to see what actions we can take.

I will make sure these options are presented to our National Council.

So, they can decide what action All Wales People First should take.

In the meantime, the fight isn’t over.

There has been strong criticism of the UK Government about the way they have handled the reform proposals. This has highlighted injustices to the general public.

This gives us some hope.

All Wales People First will update its members about how we intend to respond to this situation, as soon as the National Council has made its decision.

Victory for Self-Advocacy!