ALBA Condemns Disability Benefit Cuts: "Targeting the Most Vulnerable As a Political Choice"

The Alba party has condemned the Labour Governments cuts to disability benefits following the passage of their welfare bill. Speaking today (Wednesday) The Alba Party Director of Operations Corri Wilson said:

"This bill is an attack on some of the most vulnerable people in our society. That’s true whether it affects 800,000 people or 80,000. It is morally indefensible."

A former DWP employee of 20 years, Wilson said the new measures echo the worst of what drove her to leave the Department in the first place:

“I left the DWP because of the increasingly draconian measures that punished people simply for needing help. This bill continues that trend – forcing disabled people through humiliating and unnecessary hoops in the name of so-called reform.”

Wilson also criticised the government's continued use of benefit fraud narratives to justify cuts:

“Benefit fraud accounts for a tiny fraction of overall government spending – yet this myth is constantly weaponised to justify dismantling the welfare state. If there are issues with individual cases, then deal with them individually. Punishing an entire population relying on support is not only lazy policy, it’s cruel.”

She went on to challenge the government’s spending priorities:

“We always seem to find billions at the drop of a hat for foreign wars, nuclear weapons systems, and bank bailouts – but when it comes to supporting disabled people, suddenly the money runs out. That’s not economics. That’s a political choice.”

Wilson called on MPs to reject the narrative that austerity for the vulnerable is inevitable, and instead push for a fairer, compassionate welfare system grounded in dignity, not suspicion.