Celebrities call for rethink of ‘shameful’ Government welfare cuts

A host of celebrities including Succession star Brian Cox and veteran actor and presenter Sir Stephen Fry have called on the Government to U-turn on controversial welfare cuts.

With experts estimating that around a million people in England and Wales will lose their disability benefits as part of the overhaul, the changes have been branded “shameful” and are said to have left those likely to be affected fearful for the future.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the current system is “morally and economically indefensible”, with the Government estimating its measures will save more than £5 billion a year by the end of the decade.

Changes to eligibility for the main disability benefit, the personal independence payment (Pip), are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings.

The Resolution Foundation think tank has said the tightening of Pip eligibility would mean between 800,000 and 1.2 million people losing support of between £4,200 and £6,300 per year by the end of the decade.

Sir Stephen said cuts should not be targeted at “the most vulnerable and overlooked of all our population” and told the Government: “It’s not too late to rethink this.”

Comedian Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy, said the cuts will “only deepen the hardship” disabled people are already facing.

She said: “Disabled people are scared of what the future holds if there’s cuts to disability payments, as they are already not enough to cover life’s essentials.”

Cox, who has spoken out about his own experience of the “brutal reality” of childhood poverty, said the Government’s plan regarding cuts “makes no sense and will have a lasting impact on the lives of so many people already finding it difficult to afford life’s essentials”.

Others who joined the call for a rethink included actor Stanley Tucci, who is based in London and has worked with food bank charity Trussell.

He criticised the Government’s plan as “wrong”, saying “the reality of these cuts will be parents in disabled families having to skip meals so that they can feed their children”.

Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Dame Arlene Phillips said the social security system “should be rooted in justice and compassion” and said cutting disability benefits “is shameful”.

While the Government’s announcements made earlier this week included an above-inflation rise in the standard allowance for universal credit (UC) by 2029, it also plans to cut the rate paid out for the UC health element for new claimants from next year.

Trussell said around three quarters of the people referred to one of its food banks live in a household where someone is disabled and warned the measures will have a “significant impact on people who are already facing hunger and hardship”.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “Our reforms will build a social security system that’s fairer, more sustainable and fit for the future – so it can always be there for those with the greatest needs to live with the dignity and support they deserve.

“Helping people into good work is at the heart of our approach to tackling poverty and inequality, but the broken social security system we inherited is failing people who can and have the potential to work, as well as the people it’s meant to be there for.

“That’s why we’re introducing a new premium and ending reassessments for those who will never be able to work to improve the safety net for them, while delivering a £1 billion employment support package to break down barriers for disabled people into work. We’re also rebalancing Universal Credit payment levels so the benefit’s main rate rises above inflation for the first time in a boost for working families.”