‘What was the point?’ Starmer grilled on real-life impacts of disability benefits cuts

'What was the point?' Starmer grilled on real-life impacts of disability benefits cuts Source: Reuters

Transcript

00:00A lady came to see me recently who needed help. She had a disability. It meant that

00:05her children have to help her cut up her food. They have to help her wash beneath the waste.

00:10They have to supervise her as she goes to the toilet. Under the Tory welfare system,

00:15we were able to get that lady on PIP. Under the Prime Minister's new proposed system,

00:19she will get zero—nothing. After 14 years of the Tory Government and many of us wanting

00:25to see the back of them, can the Prime Minister answer one question? What was the point if

00:29Labour are going to do this?

00:31I have lived with the impact of disability in our family through my mother and brother

00:44all my life. I do understand the human impact of this, but the current system is morally

00:50and economically indefensible, and we are right to reform it. Nobody should be defending

00:56the broken status quo. We are proceeding on three principles. If you can work, you

01:03should work. If you need help to work, the state should help you, not hinder you. If

01:09you can never work, you must be supported and protected. They are the right principles,

01:15but we cannot leave the current system as it is.