MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Alasdair Allan, has urged the UK Labour Government to halt their plans to make £5 billion of cuts per year to the income of disabled people across the UK by 2030.

Whilst the recently announced cuts to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) apply to England and Wales only, this slashing of benefits spending will also have the effect of significantly cutting the figure the UK Treasury gives to the Scottish Government to account for similar benefits now provided by Holyrood.

Alasdair Allan commented:

“This news is understandably already causing alarm among many disabled people and has the potential to have a significant impact for many in Scotland who are unable to work due to a physical or mental health problem. The confirmed changes to eligibility criteria for support will have devastating consequences for many of those who currently rely on this assistance. At the end of the day, Liz Kendall is slashing support for some of the UK’s most vulnerable people in order to save the UK Government money.

“The Scottish Government is beginning to replace PIP and Disability Living Allowance with the devolved Adult Disability Payments (ADP), aiming to treat applicants with far more dignity than the UK system. However, as we have learnt after 14 years of Tory austerity, cuts in Westminster have a direct impact on spending here in Scotland.

“Once again, the Scottish Government must wait to find out what the exact cut will be to our budget, and what the implications are.

“Sadly, Labour have long since abandoned their principles as a party founded to protect those unable to work, but I would urge Labour MPs to push the Secretary of State to scrap this attempt to take away the vital income of hundreds of thousands of disabled people across the UK.”