Fresh benefits rebellion brews as PIP whistleblowers expose ‘superficial’ quotas ...Middle East

Sir Keir Starmer faces another huge rebellion if the Government makes a fresh attempt to cut disability benefits, Labour MPs have warned.

One MP said it would be the “straw that breaks the back of the Starmer leadership” after last year’s revolt forced No 10 to abandon a plan to cut the welfare bill by £5bn.

Backbenchers are alarmed at recent comments by ministers refusing to rule out a new push to reduce Government spending on personal independence payments (PIP).

It comes as former benefit assessors revealed to The i Paper the “ridiculous and superficial” process used to decide on disabled people’s PIP claims.

Disability campaigners called for an overhaul to make the system “more humane” – but warned against any move to restrict PIP eligibility to reduce the benefits bill.

Labour’s disability minister Stephen Timms is set to start a review of PIP this month. He has promised to “co-produce” reforms with disabled people’s organisations, and will reach conclusions in autumn 2026.

However, Timms raised eyebrows among Labour MPs and charities this week when he suggested that PIP could be changed to encourage more people into work.

Asked if PIP should have the goal of getting people into work, Timms told the Financial Times: “I think there is a case for that, yes.”

Unlike universal credit, PIP is not a work-related benefit. Worth up to around £800 a month, it is aimed at paying for the extra costs of living with a disability, whether someone is in work or not.

Labour MPs are also worried by recent comments by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, who took over from Liz Kendall in September.

Asked by MPs in November if he could rule out future PIP cuts, McFadden said he was “not ruling anything out”. The cabinet minister also refused to rule out fresh benefit cuts when speaking to the BBC in December.

Fresh cuts would provoke ‘massive resistance’

One Labour MP told The i Paper there would be another big rebellion if the Timms Review was used to restrict PIP eligibility or impose any form of work conditionality.

“I suspect that the Government will look again at cutting benefits,” they said. “Pat McFadden has said as much. If there’s cuts to those most in need, I would anticipate a further rebellion.”

Labour MP John McDonnell said he was worried about the idea of work conditionality. Any fresh attempt to cut or restrict PIP would be “a U-turn on a U-turn and risks provoking massive resistance in the Labour party”.

“Picking another internal fight on this issue could be the straw that breaks the back of the Starmer leadership, and at the same time undermine the future prospects of any leadership challengers backing this policy,” added the former shadow chancellor.

Four Labour MPs were suspended after last year’s welfare rebellion: Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, Rachael Maskell and Chris Hinchliff. They all had the whip restored in November.

“If the Timms Review is a proxy for revisiting cuts to disability benefits then the Government can guarantee it will face another rebellion, as big as last time,” Duncan-Jordan, MP for Poole, told The i Paper.

Leishman, MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, also made clear he was prepared to rebel again. “I didn’t join the Labour Party to cut welfare to the people that need our help”.

Maskell, MP for York Central said the Government “will be in a worse place than they were last summer” if there was another go at benefit cuts. She still hopes the Government “wouldn’t want to go there”.

Rise in mental health claims for PIP

The number of people claiming PIP is to increase from 3.6 million to 5.4 million by 2031, according to Government forecasts. Spending on PIP is set to rise from £29bn this year to £41bn by 2031.

Ministers have expressed particular concerns with the rise in PIP claims for mental health conditions. Recent analysis showed that 633,000 people are claiming it for anxiety and mood disorders – up 44,000 since the general election.

Matt Ryder, a former official at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), wants the assessment criteria “tightened up” to reduce the number with mental health conditions getting the PIP mobility payment – aimed at helping people get around.

“I don’t think a mental health condition shouldn’t qualify as readily [as a physical condition] for a mobility payment,” said Ryder, who was in charge of the DWP’s Motability policy. The PIP mobility payment grants access to the car scheme.

However, former PIP assessors have spoken out about the difficulties claimants face to qualify for the benefit – revealing the pressure they are under to try to reduce the number of awards.

PIP assessors ‘under pressure to reduce awards’

Former PIP assessor James Merrell, who worked for a DWP contractor from 2023 to 2024, said the process felt “rushed, superficial, and driven by quotas”.

He had to do three assessments a day. Merrell also said he was pressured from internal auditors and managers to find way to downgrade points.

PIP claimants who score eight points in a series of questions about how they function get the lower rate of the benefit. Those with 12 points or more get the higher rate. Separate payments are given for daily living and mobility.

“Reports could come back for revision 15 or 20 times, and the expectation each time was that you had to reduce [points],” said the ex-assessor. “The pressure was to reduce [points] or not give an award.”

Merrell, a qualified nurse who now advises people on their PIP claims, is also against the Government’s push to increase face-to-face PIP assessments and reduce the number carried out by phone or video.

In-person interviews can be “ridiculous”, said the former assessor – arguing that they offer only “a snapshot” on a particular day that fails to capture fluctuating conditions. “There needs to be far greater weight on medical evidence,” Merrell added.

Wheelchair users denied benefits because ‘they had full use of arms’

The ramifications of the Timms Review go wider that PIP alone.

The Government has plans to abolish the work capability assessment (WCA) used to decide on health-related universal credit claims. It means the PIP assessment will be the sole gateway for health-related benefits.

Former assessor Michael – not his real name – carried out WCAs for a DWP contract company called Maximus in 2022.

He lasted just under six months before quitting. He struggled with a “very stressful” target of completing six tests a day, and got frustrated that he had “no autonomy” to use his common sense.

Michael, a qualified doctor, said the rigid criteria meant disabled people with serious physical conditions could struggle to score the 15 points needed to qualify for the health element of universal credit.

Even wheelchair users could struggle to score points for mobility “because they had full use of their arms”, he said.

Michael said a better assessment system should be “less tick box-y” and involve more time to get medical evidence.

But he also believes the criteria could be tightened to prevent so many people with depression and anxiety from qualifying. “Going to work is actually better for the large majority of mentally unwell people to give them purpose and identity.”

PIP claimants have told The i Paper they fear that the Government could make a fresh effort at cuts. Amelia Peckham, 39-year-old from Yorkshire who is partially paralysed, said she does not think “there is a single disabled person in the country who trusts the Government”.

Disability charities warned ministers not to use the Timms Review to restrict PIP. “The Government needs to honour its commitment to not use the review as justification to cut PIP”, said Ross Barrett, policy manager at the MS Society.

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Julia Modern, Inclusion London’ senior policy manager, said disabled people’s organisations were “watching closely” to make sure the Timms Review “protects PIP as promised”.

A spokesperson for the Government said disabled people and their representatives would be “at the heart of making sure PIP is fit and fair for the future”.

They added: “Since PIP was introduced over a decade ago, there have been shifting trends in long-term health conditions and disability, plus changes in wider society and the workplace. Despite these shifts, PIP has never been fully reviewed until now.”

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