Is Labour unleashing PACE trial 2.0 with the DWP?

After Labour Party chancellor Rachel Reeves’ recent announcements relating to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), chronically ill and disabled people have literally been taken back in time. But instead of being described as having “yuppie flu”, or everything being ‘all in our heads’, now it’s “work-limiting conditions”.

Labour’s PACE trial on steroids at the DWP

As part of Labour’s new DWP reforms announced by Liz Kendall and Rachel Reeves, the government will be making huge changes – cuts, to you and me – to our benefit system. Clearly John Lewis was bored after Christmas.

Changes include moving the goal posts for the current entitlements that disabled and chronically ill people receive. But now, Labour are also changing the language used to describe us.

Disabled and chronically ill people are now the “economically inactive” with “work-limiting conditions”.

Wow. So, I’m clearly cured. Hi ho, Hi Ho…🙄😒

Only last week the Canary’s Rachel Charlton-Dailey predicted that not only are these DWP cuts coming but that we are being distracted from them. And of course, the Canary was right, again:

we warned you and people said to stop scaremongering and speculating pic.twitter.com/8rMJvHBNGK

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) January 25, 2025

Reeves’ full announcement will be on Wednesday 29 January 2025.

It’s not just invisible disabilities, you know

Labour forcing work on disabled and chronically ill people who would currently have Limited Capability for Work or Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) is not only cruel, it’s completely unrealistic and unsustainable economically. Why? Because these jobs literally don’t exist – either accessible jobs or jobs from home.

So, disabled and chronically ill people will potentially be forced to look for non-existent work, regardless of the impact on their health. But it’s OK! Because if we can’t work or we get too sick we now have assisted suicide as an option.

Just last week the Assisted Dying Bill committee refused to hear the evidence of disabled and chronically ill people who were against Assisted Dying. For a full review, check out our Hannah Sharland’s article on Kim Leadbeater here ✊

Speaking of Leadbeater, in the past few days she’s accused disabled and chronically ill people who are against assisted suicide as being ‘abusive’ and ‘nasty’.

Obviously it is not a competition. But maybe she needs to experience living with impairments or invisible disabilities and going to medical professionals or the DWP, using a disability travel card, disabled toilets, or an adaptation or aid – and still being accused of faking it. Or simply experience the anxiety of receiving yet another envelope from the DWP about changes to benefits. This has quite literally been deadly for some.

Right on trend

Thanks to repeated mainstream media attacks on disabled and chronically ill people – like Channel 4’s Dispatches (I’ve not heard back from Ofcom BTW) – the public’s perception has changed towards us yet again:

If anyone's wondering what to say to Ofcom about tonight's #Dispatches, this was my response to them…👇😡✊️ pic.twitter.com/blIMr3QCNi

— Nicola Jeffery (@NicolaCJeffery) December 2, 2024

We are no longer disabled and chronically ill people that need the rights we deserve. Nor are all of us ‘scroungers’ or cheating the system. We are instead seen as an “economic issue”, a nail in the foot of Starmer’s plan for growth.

Disabled and chronically ill people are again the “militant activists” (‘abusive and nasty’) once described by the psychiatrists behind the original part-DWP-funded PACE trial, for trying to fight for their rights and entitlements.

Why? Because both in the past and again now, instead of diagnosing, treating, and supporting disabled and chronically ill people properly (as it’s far too expensive), we have been completely thrown under the NHS bus; not just by Labour but by every single organisation, campaign group, and left-wing activist – because they didn’t want to either accommodate our needs or honestly because it doesn’t really affect them or matter to them.

Were we literally just a trend to these people? 🤔

But going back further, in an increasingly right-wing world just remember two things.

Firstly, disability doesn’t discriminate – and on a second darker note, first they came for the disabled.

If you are finding the news about benefits distressing, please listen to this advice from Dr Jay Watts:

Twitter will be full of benefits-related content in the coming weeks. What matters most to me and us is your safety.

Pls consider protecting your feed: Settings > Privacy > Mute & Block > Muted Words, Add: ‘PIP’, ‘Universal Credit’, ‘benefits’, ‘DWP’, ‘disabilities’, ‘work’.

Jx

— Dr Jay Watts (@Shrink_at_Large) January 25, 2025

Featured image via the Canary