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I am in despair that this is the line of the current Labour Government now, and as a disabled person I am being made to feel less than human. I am a life-long Labour supporter (and member when I could afford it, but I don't feel your party are looking after the communities that they used to. Liz Kendall appears to have no empathy and understanding of how disability affects people and the threats to remove much-needed benefits is incredibly frightening.

I fear that I will not have enough to live on, when already myself, and most of the rest of the disabled community are living BELOW the poverty line. My heating only comes on in one room only during if it falls below 10 degrees C, in this room, the rest go unheated. The winters feel very long and hard, and I cannot wait for the Spring and Summer to arrive. I am good at budgeting and eat simply but cannot cook due to illness. Losing or lowering my modest income will not help me to get into work, by being beaten by a stick in this way. I wish so much I could work, but it exacerbates my conditions when I do anything physical or mental, and there is no routine to the good hours or days I do get if I am lucky. No job will allow for so few hours and complete flexibility. I would be off sick for many weeks at a time, my health will deteriorate to being bedbound again very quickly. DLA or PIP does not affect work, as you must know, in fact those who can, need this to cover access e.g. taxis when public transport is impossible, that is what it is for, to make up the gaps that you and able-bodied people take for granted. For someone not able to work it helps to pay bills to charge my electric wheelchair, for taxis to get to the supermarket, to buy higher-cost pre-prepared food etc. I wish it was enough to cover 1:1 support, but it doesnt anymore. We need money to care for ourselves, as best we can. Therefore to frame the threatened cuts as enabling disabled people to get into work is ridiculous, it does the opposite.

I can understand the Labour stance on farmers/Inheritance Tax and even the Winter Fuel Allowance for wealthier pensioners being removed, when there is little money to go round and the books need to be balanced. I do not understand the logic of these cuts and the effects they will have on disabled people. There is no sense to it, it is cruel.

Mr Reynolds, please can you justify why this is OK? There is next to zero Benefit Fraud in this group, people simply need this money to survive on. Cuts will not make people suddenly cured and healthy and able to work. What about those who have money, with several millionaires speaking out to say they would happily pay more tax? What about the tax-avoidant ultra-wealthy? The billions lost to Tory contracts in the pandemic? Expenses for MPs who already have a high salary? The royal family have successful businesses and don't need benefit handouts from us.

Why target the poorest, make them even poorer. We have the 3rd lowest welfare support in Europe, and the most difficult system to navigate. It needs to be made easier not harder to qualify. You might target those with mental health or neurodivergent conditions, thinking the 'most vulnerable' awill qualify, but this has never been the case since assessments go to companies like Atos who work to targets and write lies about applicants. I fear my reassessments. Besides do you know how crippling ND and MH conditons are, meaning people can't go out alone etc?

As for the increase in numbers of disabled in recent times: this is possibly due to the little issue of a pandemic we had. Not people choosing to be ill and disabled, or choose a work-less existence. The pandemic has disabled many people either with long covid/ME or the fall-out of isolation during the pandemic on their mental health. Not to mention the erosion of health, social and community services through austerity cuts over the years, which leave people in permanent ill health. Poverty causes ill health too, and the cost of living crisis is still real. But you know all of this. The root causes of poverty and ill health need to be addressed for the long term, starting with young children (Surestart was an example of this). Youth services, education, health and community centres all need investment, so that people have the best chance in life. That needs to come first before changes to the benefits system.

I hope you can reply with any justification you have for raising a relatively paltry amount of money in this cruel way, but this is an essential lifeline to may vulnerable people. I hope too that you will vote against any such changes and support those in your local community who need this support. I hope you will speak up for us when in your cabinet meetings. Benefits are already impossibly stressful and difficult to get, and making this even harder will leave people like me having to live on nothing. This is what leads people to suicide and you will have blood on your hands if this goes ahead. It could be your 'Poll Tax' moment and the end of any support for your party.

We've been here before

She was a very junior nurse ,and hell bent on denying me a fair assessment,  I could hardly breathe whole way along. She wrote I'd a "dry cough" trying to lessen my chest problems, really? Well guess what? GERD gives you a dry cough so she shot herself in the foot. Good luck on her getting puo for her shot foot then.😆

The link she sent to retrieve the recording was faulty, another tactic they use, so my sis phoned not me a CD copy. Plus it was recorded on an old mobile by my sister too. She said my sister never really spoke, she was busy scribbling notes and writing me prompts,  my brain fog was mad that day.so if she'd spoken she'd have been told to shut up, as others have I've been told,Dammed if you do dammed if you don't. Anyhoo.... the report like the two before was basically a nonsense,  I did an MR and won it back. Wish that'd just left me on

 indefinite dla. And now we've to face this upcoming storm. It's diabolical. 

 I'm on alot of meds including morphine. I also suffer with bad fatigue so I can't function. I can barely do the basics for myself. I can't see anyone employing me with days of for illness, appointments & sleeping on the job I would be (not) a great asset.

Like some others, I am now retired but, often read the site's news and forums to keep up, as I know quite a few people who get benefits that are discussed on B&W. And I'm very worried for those I know will be impacted, if the legislation is passed. I always pass on the site address and encourage people to use a reputable, truthful site for information.

They should tax the rich and leave disabled people the f*** alone.

They do not need to cut benefits. They are choosing to do this.