Rachel Charlton-Dailey looks at ‘Taking The PIP’ – a new campaign around Labour’s cuts to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) support for chronically ill and disabled people
I’ve been horrendously busy this week, as after weeks of organising a campaign I’ve been working hard to pull together to take a stand against disability benefits cuts finally launched on Tuesday 27 May.
Taking The PIP is a national campaign which is headed up by some of the most well-known disabled people in the UK. To launch the campaign a letter was sent to the prime minister demanding that the inhumane DWP PIP and Universal Credit benefits cuts, which would destroy the lives of disabled people, are scrapped.
The letter was signed by over 100 disabled people from the worlds of TV, film, sport, media, the arts, and DDPOs. Signatories include Jack Thorne, Liz Carr, Francesca Martinez, Ruth Madeley, and Lee Ridley.
As we said in the letter:
If these plans go ahead, 700,000 families already living in poverty will face further devastation. Over 3.2 million disabled people and their families will be affected. This is not reform; it is cruelty by policy.
The campaign was organised by a small core team of us who have worked our socks off around the clock for the last few weeks, despite all being multiply disabled. It includes myself and actors and campaigners Cherylee Houston, Lisa Hamilton, and Natalie Amber.
DWP PIP and Universal Credit cuts: we’re angry, and so should everyone be
We started the campaign because we were all so angry and crushed by what the government want to do to our community.
Whilst I’m loathed to ever call myself a celebrity and I’m certainly not in the same calibre as many on this list, I’d be foolish not to acknowledge that I do have a significant following and want to use that as always to hold the government to account. You all know how close to my heart this issue is by now and I would never put my name behind a campaign that was all mouth and no trousers.
I’ve had the huge honour these last few weeks to work with these incredibly passionate, driven, hilarious, angry, kind souls. Our daily Zooms have been filled with anger but also compassion and a drive to make a fucking difference in a world that wants disabled people hidden and silent.
It’s worth pointing out that the campaign is fighting for a U-turn of ALL the benefits cuts proposals.
Whilst it’s called Taking the PIP, we aren’t just focusing on the changes to DWP PIP. We know how catastrophic cuts to Universal Credit, ESA, and Access to Work would be and would never want to contribute to the “worthy disabled who works vs layabout” narrative. ALL disabled people who need benefits deserve to have them. The name was chosen cos we all thought it was funny, in a juvenile way.
We’re not reinventing the wheel
Whilst the letter launched the campaign, it’s not about a bunch of people in the public eye trying to speak over others and act like we reinvented the wheel.
Taking The PIP by no means wants to act like there isn’t already incredible work happening to fight back against the government, but we also know that we’re lucky to have our platforms and want to use them to raise public awareness of what disabled people are facing via DWP PIP, Universal Credit, and other cuts.
The truth of the matter is none of us want to be doing this. It shouldn’t take famous people for the public to take notice of how horrific these cuts could be.
Jack Thorne said:
I don’t think people are truly aware of the damage these PIP cuts could do. We desperately need people’s attention on this issue. I hope this campaign will cause people to look up and take notice
The fact of the matter is that whilst disabled people and their families are struggling, many non-disabled people won’t know as much about the reality of the situation.
They aren’t hearing about how disabled people will struggle to pay their bills, feed their families, keep a roof over their head and ultimately will die if these DWP PIP, Universal Credit, Access to Work, and other cuts go ahead.
And make no mistake: this is massively down to how much bullshit is willfully being spread by the media and government about lazy scroungers taking the taxpayer for a ride.
DWP PIP and Universal Credit cuts will decimate lives
Cherylee Houston told me:
The stark reality is this is going to decimate lives, people are telling me they’re terrified about what will happen as they won’t be able to afford their bills and food, let alone the additional costs that come with disability.
Someone told me they wouldn’t be able to afford their incontinence pads since the number they were given a day has been cut to three, let alone food or to get their wheelchair repaired. The disability cuts are a brutal attack on the most vulnerable in our society and this threat needs to be halted immediately.
And whilst we might all have a public profile that doesn’t mean the DWP PIP and other cuts wont affect us.
I can only work more relaxed hours to accommodate my ever-changing disabilities because PIP is there to help cover my bills. Some of us who rely on Access to Work would be forced to give up the careers we love due to the horrendous cuts – such as Jess Thom. We want to raise awareness of just how much the “getting Britain working” story is just that – fictitious, because these cuts will only make it harder for disabled people to work.
Beyond the letter, we want to keep this momentum up via social media. We’re asking disabled people to use the hashtag #TakingThePIP to share their experiences and what the cuts to DWP PIP and Universal Credit would mean to them, share their anger, and ultimately show that we are fighting back.
Fight back
Whilst this is going to be a long fight, people need to take action now, as we’re only a few weeks away from the Commons debate. That’s why we’re massively encouraging people to sign existing petitions as well as taking the fight to MPs.
We’ve made it super-easy for you to write to your MP and ask them to oppose these DWP PIP and Universal Credit cuts with our write to your MP tool. If you’re unsure on how your MP feels about the cuts, Mad Youth Organise has created a tool to see if your MP opposes the cuts or not.
In my opinion, a big reason that the government can propose these cuts is that they’ve worked with the media to turn the public against us for decades now. The media narrative is that these DWP PIP and Universal Credit cuts are a good thing because they save money and will get disabled people back into work.
We need to turn the narrative back around, and shine a harsh light on the brutality of these cuts. But most importantly we want the many disabled people who feel that they don’t have a voice to know that we and many other disabled peoples organisations and campaigners are fighting for them.
Featured image via the Canary
