Labour Must Reject 2-Tier Disability System

Starmer’s Cuts Will Punish Young & Newly Disabled

Labour MPs have been urged to stand firm by their conscience and reject Keir Starmer’s disability cuts bill.

The SNP have warned that “if these Labour Party cuts go ahead, they will embed discrimination into the Westminster welfare system – creating an unfair two-tier system of disability support that will punish younger disabled people and anyone who becomes sick, injured or disabled in future”.

Kirsty Blackman MP said “so-called ‘concessions’ have created a dog’s dinner of a system that makes no sense and punishes those who are young or newly disabled. They are blatantly discriminatory, of questionable legality, and will see disabled people with the exact same needs treated differently just because of when they were born or became sick, injured or disabled.“

The SNP Work & Pensions spokesperson said Labour MPs now thinking of voting for the bill “must explain how they can possibly justify a system that will discriminate against their own constituents – and will treat some disabled people worse than others simply to save Keir Starmer an embarrassing defeat in parliament.“

Anas Sarwar backs £5 BILLION in disability cuts – even as 1 in 3 Scottish Labour MPs rebel.

Labour’s “reform” means slashing support for disabled people who can’t work.

In Scotland, the SNP are delivering social security with dignity, fairness and respect. pic.twitter.com/qJjwCkl54l

— Graeme Dey (@GraemeDeyMSP) June 25, 2025

It comes amid a backlash against the discriminatory proposals from disability campaigners. Disability Rights UK warned the newly proposed cuts to disability and sickness benefits will create “a two-tiered” system.

Speaking on Times Radio, Mikey Erhardt warned that “the idea that you will be less in need, or less deserving of support depending on when the condition that necessitates that support, is something you just have to reject out and out“. And disability advocate Lucy Webster tweeted that “creating a two-tier [personal independence payments] and [universal credit] system where new claimants get less than existing ones is a political concession, but not a moral one. Not good enough.“

The SNP Scottish Government has confirmed it will not follow Keir Starmer’s discriminatory two-tier system. Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, tweeted “A two tier system cannot be a fair system. That’s what disabled people would have told the Labour Govt if they had actually asked them rather than making a backroom late night deal with their own MPs. And this half U-turn still does not scrap the 4+ points rule which will prevent support for 100,000s with diffuse disabilities in the future. @scotgov will not follow Labour’s lead on any of these changes.“

Meanwhile, Labour MP Nadia Whittome told the BBC Today programme: “There will still be £3bn worth of cuts which will push people into poverty. Even these revised proposals are nowhere near good enough“, adding that they are “not well thought through” and confirming that “if the government doesn’t pull the bill, doesn’t consult properly with disabled people and come back to MPs with a serious proposal that protects the dignity of disabled people, then I will vote against, and I will be far from the only one.”

Starmer has lost control of his party over his brutal welfare plans.

Labour like to talk about "fairness", but Starmer's tweaked cuts package disproportionately hurts young disabled people.

✂️ They must think again, and abandon this cuts agenda for good. pic.twitter.com/Q9Kg8EuY1m

— Angus South (@AngusSouthSNP) June 27, 2025

Stephen Flynn MP, who had personal experience of a disability after developing avascular necrosis as a teenager, warned the proposed cuts would have prevented people in a similar situation from getting the support they need. The SNP Westminster Leader warned “I was a perfectly fit and healthy kid when I collapsed at school before spending eighteen years on crutches, to think that a child in the same position now would be treated differently than I was, simply to save the Prime Minister’s reputation, is disgusting. If these rebels truly care about the cause in the way that they suggest, then they will tell the Prime Minister to think again, again.”