WEST Belfast MP Paul Maskey has described the planned benefits cuts to be announced later today by the British Labour Government as “an attack on the most vulnerable in our society".
Mr Maskey accused the government of “shamefully pursuing a Tory agenda in which those with significant physical or mental health condition or disability will face significant cuts to their welfare payments and to their standard of living.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce cuts to the PIP (Personal Independence Payment) scheme during Wednesday's spring statement.
PIP provides support for people who have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability or difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or just getting around because of their condition.
Ahead of today's statement, Mr Maskey said: "Labour plans to strip £5 billion annually from PIP within the next five years. In the meantime, they intend making it harder to claim PIP and to introduce more frequent reassessments for those already receiving it.
"The eligibility benchmarks will be more rigorously enforced from next year making it harder to qualify for the daily living component of PIP.
"The system also makes it very difficult for people on PIP to retain it as they are forced through callous bureaucratic reassessments which are designed to force people off PIP."
Mr Maskey said that more people in West Belfast will be impacted by today's British government announcement because it has higher levels of economic disadvantage.
“Time after time we see London governments take decisions that are not in the interest of the people of the North. British government interests are not our interests," said Mr Maskey.
"This major threat to the standard of living of tens of thousands of citizens and families in the North highlights the advantages that would accrue from ending the union with Britain and having control over our own affairs in a new united Ireland.
"The Executive parties have a responsibility to face the Labour government with a single united position demanding the additional funding needed to mitigate against these cuts.”
