Liberal Democrats Why we opposed the Government’s welfare bill



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Dear John,

This week, the Government held a vote on a welfare bill which threatened to
cause immense damage to some of the most vulnerable in our society.

It would have made things harder for unpaid carers, harder for disabled
people who rely on support to stay in work, and harder for those whose
disabilities mean they may never be able to work.

That’s why we voted against the Bill on Tuesday.



Watch my speech opposing the Bill ➜ <[link removed]>




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Rushed legislation is poor legislation.

It should not have taken a major rebellion for the Government to realise that
these cuts would cause immense damage to some of the most vulnerable and risk
creating a false economy by actually forcing some people out of work.

To appease their own backbenches, the Government was willing to create a
two-tier system, with new Personal Independent Payment (PIP) claimants unable
to access the same support as those currently receiving it - only scrapping
these plans at the final moment.

PIP allows people to do the simple activities we all take for granted and
stay in work. Cutting it will push more people into poverty and out of
employment.

Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose any system where some disabled
people are more equal than others.

It’s clear that the welfare bill is too high, but if the Government was
serious about cutting welfare spending it would get serious about fixing health
and social care, to tackle chronic ill-health at its root.

Carers have been ignored by the Government throughout this whole debacle.
Their voices must now be heard loud and clear. Ministers must ensure that this
review listens carefully to both carers’ charities to understand the impact
these changes will have, on family carers.

The scale of this week’s rebellion shows that the Government is just not
listening, and not delivering on the change that people are crying out for.

It is time for the Government to take their fingers out of their ears and
realise it is time to change course.They must scrap this flawed legislation, go
back to the drawing board, and work cross-party to fairly reduce the need for
high welfare spending, by getting more people into work and fixing our broken
health and care systems.

And when it comes to balancing the books, rather than cutting support for
disabled people, ministers should be asking the social media giants, the big
banks and the big online gambling companies to pay their fair share of tax.

Please forward this email to your friends and family so they can see why we’re
opposing this Bill and standing up for carers and disabled people.





Steve Darling MP
Work and Pensions Spokesperson
Liberal Democrats


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Published and promoted by Mike Dixon on behalf of the Liberal Democrats
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