Tory cuts to ESA for the disabled are "morally bankrupt"
Gavin Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has welcomed the UK Government’s latest embarrassing defeat at the hands of the House of Lords – stating that the government would be utterly “callous” and “morally bankrupt” to not drop the 30 per cent cuts to Employment Support Allowance for the disabled and ill.
The House of Lords were considering the UK Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill and voted to reject the government’s proposals to cut ESA for claimants in the work related activity group. The SNP group at Westminster has stated that the government should be looking at ways to support disabled and ill people instead of slashing their incomes.
The Renfrewshire MP is welcoming today’s news of the Lords’ block on ESA cuts as nearly 900 of his constituents were set to lose £30 per week if the proposals in the Welfare reform and Work Bill was passed un-amended. However, the UK Government may overturn it the Lords’ rejection in the House of Commons at a later date.
Gavin Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:
“The UK Government’s proposed cuts would see 900 of my disabled or ill constituents losing £30 per week – a staggering reduction of almost 30 per cent – from their budgets. The House of Lords have now rejected this proposal.
“However, the UK Government may attempt to overturn the Lords’ rejection at a later date via a vote by MPs in the House of Commons. The Tories must do the right thing and commit to dropping this cruel provision in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill when it does return to the Commons.
“If the Tories attempt to bulldoze this provision of the Bill through parliament – a provision that essentially picks £1,500 per year from the pockets of the very people who we should be providing more support to, not less – then it is beyond all doubt that the government is utterly callous and is certainly morally bankrupt.”
