Disabled celebrities call for axing of 'cruel' benefit cuts

More than 100 of the UK's highest-profile disabled people, including Liz Carr, Rosie Jones, Ruth Madeley and Cherylee Houston, have called on the prime minister to abandon "inhumane and catastrophic plans to cut disability benefits".

- Frances Ryan

In an open letter to Keir Starmer before a planned Commons vote next month, they argue that the government's plan to reduce eligibility to personal independence payment (Pip) and the health component of universal credit is a matter of "survival" and "basic human rights".

"If these plans go ahead, 700,000 families already living in poverty will face further devastation," they write. "This is not reform; it is cruelty by policy."

The signatories warn Starmer the changes will "strip financial support from those who need it most", deepen social exclusion and "increase disability-related deaths".

Citing the way Pip is linked to a loved one's eligibility for carer's allowance, the letter says thousands of unpaid carers will lose income as well as "overwhelm local councils", which often rely on disabled people's Pips for social care.

"We have already endured a decade of austerity, disproportionate pandemic losses, and life-costing cuts," the letter says of disabled people in the UK. "We, the undersigned, will not stand by while our community is sacrificed for the illusion of savings." They add: "For us, Pip is not a benefit - it is access to life."