The organiser of a petition to oust Labour MP Stephen Timms as the minister for disabled people has spoken out about why he is unfit to represent chronically ill and disabled communities after a run-in with the dual social security minister himself. In particular, long-time myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) campaigner Sally Callow made the personal observation that Timms’ language was not “fitting” for his role. This was after attending a meeting in which the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister was present.
In short, the encounter with Timms made clear to her precisely why he’s not the champion that chronically ill and disabled people need, or have asked for. If Timms’ recent outrageous comments over Personal Independence Payment (PIP) weren’t enough, now Callow – who IS a champion for the community – has spelled out why people need to join her in demanding a new and separate minister for disabled people.
Stephen Timms petition: a separate minister for disabled people needed
Callow is founder of campaign social enterprise ME Foggy Dog and accredited ME training organisation the Stripy Lightbulb CIC. A prolific campaigner, through her organisations, Callow has been advocating for the ME community for more than a decade.
Standing up for people living with ME, she has publicly spoken out against the DWP’s suite of callous welfare cuts.
So now, she has now set up a petition that throws a spotlight on DWP minister Stephen Timms’ role in pushing these cuts.
This calls for:
the removal of Stephen Timms MP from his role as Minister for Social Security and Disability and demand the creation of a dedicated Minister for Disabled People role.
As the petition aptly sets out, the government outlines that a minister for disabled people should:
represent the interests of disabled people, and champion disability inclusion and accessibility across each government department.
Of course, this is exactly what the DWP minister has NOT been doing.
Cruel and obtuse answers around the DWP benefit cuts
In April, he openly undermined any pretense he is acting in the interests of chronically ill and disabled people.
Specifically, Timms responded with a particularly callous reply to a written question from MP for Leeds East Richard Burgon. This concerned the regressive PIP reforms. In particular, the government is increasing the number of points a person will need to score in their DWP PIP assessment to access the daily living component of the benefit. In effect, this will deny PIP to many disabled people who need help with things like cutting up food, supervision, prompting, or assistance to wash, dress, or monitor their health condition. As the Canary’s Maryam Jameela wrote, Timms’ response boiled down to him saying:
that of the various needs Burgon listed in his question, it is the Labour party’s belief that they could be considered “low-level functional needs.” That includes cutting up food, washing your hair and body, and using the toilet.
This was a cruel, and arguably obtuse answer. Given Timms is meant to advocate for disabled people in his role, his ignorant response is all the more appalling. What it demonstrated irrefutably is that the DWP minister either doesn’t understand the needs and lives of chronically ill and disabled people, or he simply doesn’t care.
Considering the minister previously lambasted Conservative governments over similar such cuts, it’s likely this is the latter. His role as minister for disabled people has been subsumed by his own interests in maintaining a position in Starmer’s Cabinet.
Since Callow launched it in mid-April, the petition has taken off, garnering more than 7,500 signatures.
A ‘DWP spokesperson rather than the empathetic representative of disabled people’
Now, Callow has seen firsthand how this glaring conflict of interest operates in practice. And she has argued it only cements the case for her petition further.
Through the Stripy Lightbulb CIC, Callow attended a meeting with other organisations on Tuesday 6 May. The Minister of State for Social Security and Disability Stephen Timms briefly joined to field questions about the government’s Green Paper.
However, Callow said after the meeting that Timms’ answers to the questions throughout his showed how he wasn’t there in his capacity as minister for disabled people. Instead, she felt he had prioritised his role as a spokesperson for the DWP:
Stephen Timms MP has just attended the same meeting as me.
The language he used was fitting in his role as Minister for Social Security but NOT Minister for Disabled People.
Without trying he made the case for 👇https://t.co/xjGMT8TPnQ #pwME #MEcfs #Disability
— ME Foggy Dog (@MEFoggyDog) May 6, 2025
Nope because I don’t want it to sound more divisive than it actually was.
To put it simply- he was a entirely a DWP spokesperson rather than the empathetic representative of disabled people.
— ME Foggy Dog (@MEFoggyDog) May 6, 2025
To put simply, Timms was being a good government lapdog in classic politician’s PR-speak. But he wasn’t being a good minister for disabled people.
Diluting the minister for disabled people role
Ultimately, the case the petition makes is one that was clear to disability rights campaigners from the start.
Attaching the role to the DWP social security minister was always going to be a disaster. In effect, it dilutes the remit, and renders it ostensibly a toothless position. The Canary’s own Rachel Charlton-Dailey was among those voicing this concern at his dual appointment:
Stephen Timms has been appointed minister of Social Security and disability
Mixed feelings about this
On one hand Timms was chair of the safeguarding vulnerable people committee.
On the other there’s no minister just for disabled people anymore.
— Rachel Charlton-Dailey (@RachelCDailey) July 12, 2024
Moreover, as the petition vitally notes:
Disability issues permeate various government sectors, including health, the DWP, and social services. A minister with exclusive focus and authority is crucial to drive the necessary transformational changes.
As such, it argues that:
The absence of a Minister for Disabled People undermines the representation and prioritisation of disability issues across all government departments.
The petition stipulates that Timms can remain the social security minister. However, he is clearly no champion for inclusion and accessibility for disabled people.
Not a single representative for chronically ill and disabled people in government or the DWP
Callow told the Canary:
The conflict of interest with Stephen Timms MP’s dual role has been made glaringly obvious in recent days when attending disability organisation meetings relating to proposed welfare cuts. He has a dual role but the language he used was entirely leaning towards his DWP ‘social security’ position. He parroted DWP official rhetoric as if he was oblivious that all of those organisations were actively fighting against the proposed welfare cuts.
Unfortunately, as a ME/disability rights campaigner, I do not feel there is a single person sitting in the government right now that I could comfortably and confidently contact in the knowledge they would support and represent my communities (ME and disabled).
Not a single minister is in a position to offer dedicated representation and support to 16 million disabled people. We need real allies, not ministers who parrot government propaganda. We deserve better than this.
Callow is right. As it stands, chronically ill and disabled people have no official representative in the government or DWP fighting in their corner.
That’s shameful at any time, but right as Labour rips into our communities rights? That should be a lasting stain on the conscience of this ableist government. However, it’s also not any surprise from the neoliberal Starmerites who have refused to enshrine the UN rights of disabled people into law.
Where accountability is concerned, this Labour government has shown time and again that its focus is to evade it, rather than to listen to the valid fears of chronically ill and disabled communities.
You can sign the petition demanding a dedicated minister for disabled people here.
Featured image via the Canary
