I’ve spent the last few days digging through the details of the new welfare bill, and I can’t pretend to be anything but furious. If you’re disabled, chronically ill, or unable to work, this bill isn’t just a policy tweak—it’s a deliberate move to make life even tougher for people who's lives are already hard enough.

What’s Actually Changing?

For the next four years, the main disability benefits—Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA), Limited Capability for Work (LCW), and key parts of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)—are being frozen. No increases, no adjustments for inflation. As the cost of living continues to climb, the support people rely on will stay stuck at the same level. In practice, that means less money in real terms, year after year. And let's be clear, today's benefits aren't what you'd call generous.

For example, a single man (using myself as factual example), unable to work, claiming ESA and UC receives less than £180 a week. And out of that, has to pay rent, utilities etc. I defy anyone to live "comfortably" on that. There is help with prescriptions etc, and council tax but thats about it. Hardly an easy life is it? I'm "fortunate" in as much as I also receive PIP, but a good chunk of it goes to normal living expenses, instead of the things I really need.

The bill also introduces a new “severe conditions criteria” for the higher rate of support. Only those with the most clear-cut, lifelong diagnoses will qualify. If your condition is complex, fluctuating, or doesn’t fit neatly into their categories, you’re likely to lose out. It’s a blunt instrument, and it’s going to hit a lot of people who already struggle to get by.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is also being tightened up. The new rules make it harder to qualify, especially if your difficulties are spread across different areas of daily life rather than concentrated in one. It feels like the system is being redesigned to catch people out, not to help them.

NOTE This has changed - The "concessions" have removed references to PIP for the time being, when the fully revised bill is released, I will update here, but I feel it needs to remain for the time being to illustrate the full scope and intentions of the governments plans

There’s a small concession: people with the most severe, lifelong conditions might face fewer reassessments. But let’s be honest, that’s the bare minimum, and it won’t help the majority.

The Scale of the Issue: Who’s Affected?

It’s easy for politicians to talk about “reform” in the abstract, but let’s be clear about the numbers. This isn’t a small group—millions of people are affected.

• Nearly 7 million people in Great Britain are entitled to receive a disability benefit as of early 2024, up from 3.9 million in 2002, and the number is still rising [source].
• As of August 2024, 3.5 million people are claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and 1.3 million are claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA) (excluding Scotland). That’s a total of 4.8 million people receiving either PIP or DLA under DWP policy ownership [source].
• 1.5 million people are on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) [source].
• In total, 9.9 million working-age people are claiming some form of DWP benefit, and a huge proportion of these are health or disability related [source].

Real people

That’s not just numbers on a spreadsheet. That’s millions of real people—friends, neighbours, family—who rely on this support to get by. Any freeze, cut, or tightening of eligibility isn’t just a policy change. It’s a direct hit to the financial security and daily lives of millions, not to mention their families and carers.

Who Really Benefits?

This bill isn’t about supporting people or making the system fairer. It’s about cutting costs, plain and simple. There’s nothing here that makes life easier for disabled people—just more barriers, more stress, and less financial security.

It’s frustrating to watch the debate around this bill get lost in empty slogans about “fiscal responsibility,” while the actual consequences for real people are brushed aside. The online noise and political point-scoring just make it harder to cut through with the truth of what’s happening. This bill is just the latest example of a system that’s lost sight of the people it’s supposed to protect.

What Can We Do?

If you’re affected by this, or you care about someone who is, don’t let this pass quietly. Share your experiences, challenge the spin, and make your voice heard. We deserve better than this. If you want to read the bill in full, you can find it here. If you want to make a difference, email your MP, and add YOUR voice to be heard on social media. Use the hashtag #TakingThePip

Finally, please, if you're not disabled, long term sick, or a carer, and you think this isn't your fight, think again. YOU could become disabled,long term sick, or a carer, yourself, in the blink of an eye. Don't let this legislation remove YOUR safety net either.