27 May 2025, 17:20

By Hannah Hunt

Last week, I took the early train down to London from Brighton to confront Liz Kendall face-to-face ahead of yet another speech defending the sweeping cuts to disability benefits.

As someone who has received PIP since I was 17, I thought the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions would at least hear me out, as I tried to explain how damaging removing this support would be for so many disabled people like me. Instead, she walked past me without a word.

As I watched the livestream of her speech, it was my turn to be lost for words. She described a reality I did not recognise - one where Personal Independence Payments (PIP) are a barrier to people accessing work. Perhaps if Liz had taken even thirty seconds to listen to me, she would have learned that PIP is the sole reason many disabled people like me can work.

Let me explain. Contrary to much of what has been said, PIP is not an out-of-work benefit. Instead, it is an ‘independence payment’, a small amount of money that enables disabled people to access the basics they need to live. PIP is what allows me to lead an independent and fulfilling life. Using welfare cuts as an ‘incentive’ to get people into work is dangerous. It creates the idea that disabled people like me must earn our value in society through productivity. Disabled people's lives are valuable, regardless of whether or not we can work.

At the age of 16 I was sectioned due to........

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