Has Labour declared war on welfare?

The party was traditionally seen as a friend of the dispossessed, the downtrodden and the disabled, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to reduce the benefits bill by almost £5 billion pounds through changes revealed in her spring statement as well as previously announced adjustments to eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment.

Official estimates forecast that, as a result, more than 3 million families will lose an average of £1700 a year by 2030

Another 3.8 million families will gain from changes to the system but only by an average of £420 a year

The government says it will provide an additional £1billion to support people with health conditions into work.

Adrian Goldberg discusses the cuts with disabled activist Ellen Clifford, author of The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe and Anna Landre, a wheelchair user who helped shape reform of the disability benefits system in her native USA.

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg.

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