Green MPs write to Labour colleagues to urge benefit cuts opposition

Every Labour MP has been sent a letter by Green MPs ahead of an announcement next week urging them to rebel against plans to slash around £6billion from the welfare bill

Dear Colleagues,  

Ahead of the upcoming Spring Statement and Green Paper on welfare, I am writing to urge you to oppose strongly and vote against any proposed cuts to welfare benefits, which are rumoured to be as deep as £6 billion.

Along with my Green colleagues, I am gravely concerned about the catastrophic impact any such cuts would have on millions of disabled people.

It is not news to you that those in receipt of health-related benefits already face inordinate hardships, with 50 per cent of people claiming Universal Credit who have limited capability for work unable to heat their homes, pay their bills or have low food security.[1]

Scope told us recently that proceeding with cuts rumoured to be set out in the forthcoming Green Paper on welfare reform, will push an added 700,000 disabled households into poverty.[2]

I am certain that your inbox, like mine, is filled with emails from constituents telling you how terrified and anxious they feel about how to make ends meet should their support payments be ripped away. There is no moral case for making these cuts.

The years of damaging austerity inflicted upon public services and welfare provision by the previous Conservative Government has already brought our communities to breaking point.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called on the UK Government to take “corrective measures” to address the immense negative impact of welfare cuts introduced by successive Conservative Governments since 2010.[3] But even George Osborne, at the height of austerity, ruled out freezing inflation-linked rises to PIP payments; a change the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is rumoured to be introducing.

I know you didn’t campaign for this, and that you stood up at the election for a welfare system based on dignity and respect.

Like me, I expect you feel alarmed at the rhetoric coming from the Government that is instead scapegoating disabled people. Pushing people who are in need into deeper poverty will do nothing to address the root issues that lead to welfare claims, namely housing insecurity, poor quality jobs, huge wage inequality and a soaring mental health crisis.

[1] https://www.jrf.org.uk/news/factsheet-health-related-benefit-cuts

[2] https://www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/open-letter-to-the-chancellor-the-cost-of-cuts-to-disability-benefits

[3]https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=E%2FC.12%2FGBR%2FCO%2F7&Lang=en

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Green leaders urge Labour backbenchers to vote down benefit cuts


/ by Green Party

Green co-leaders Adrian Ramsay MP and Carla Denyer MP appeal to Labour backbenchers to think again on supporting looming benefits cuts:

“Experts at Scope suggest that 700,000 disabled households will be pushed into poverty by the government’s planned changes to welfare.

“This is an unconscionable choice for any government to make. And it is a choice. We could and should be choosing to tax the very wealthiest a small amount more instead.

“Sadly, though, this Labour government has a growing track record here. They’ve chosen to place extra hardships on those already struggling – from cutting winter fuel payments to pensioners to refusing to reverse the two-child benefit cap, keeping 540,000 children in poverty.

“We don’t think for a second this is what most Labour MPs came into politics for.

“We know many will feel incredibly uncomfortable at the moment. But feeling uncomfortable isn’t enough.

“We need these Labour MPs to have a moral backbone and vote for what they genuinely believe in to prevent these cruel, unnecessary policies from being enacted.”

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Green leaders urge Labour backbenchers to vote down benefit cuts


/ by Green Party

Green co-leaders Adrian Ramsay MP and Carla Denyer MP appeal to Labour backbenchers to think again on supporting looming benefits cuts:

“Experts at Scope suggest that 700,000 disabled households will be pushed into poverty by the government’s planned changes to welfare.

“This is an unconscionable choice for any government to make. And it is a choice. We could and should be choosing to tax the very wealthiest a small amount more instead.

“Sadly, though, this Labour government has a growing track record here. They’ve chosen to place extra hardships on those already struggling – from cutting winter fuel payments to pensioners to refusing to reverse the two-child benefit cap, keeping 540,000 children in poverty.

“We don’t think for a second this is what most Labour MPs came into politics for.

“We know many will feel incredibly uncomfortable at the moment. But feeling uncomfortable isn’t enough.

“We need these Labour MPs to have a moral backbone and vote for what they genuinely believe in to prevent these cruel, unnecessary policies from being enacted.”

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Green leaders urge Labour backbenchers to vote down benefit cuts


/ by Green Party

Green co-leaders Adrian Ramsay MP and Carla Denyer MP appeal to Labour backbenchers to think again on supporting looming benefits cuts:

“Experts at Scope suggest that 700,000 disabled households will be pushed into poverty by the government’s planned changes to welfare.

“This is an unconscionable choice for any government to make. And it is a choice. We could and should be choosing to tax the very wealthiest a small amount more instead.

“Sadly, though, this Labour government has a growing track record here. They’ve chosen to place extra hardships on those already struggling – from cutting winter fuel payments to pensioners to refusing to reverse the two-child benefit cap, keeping 540,000 children in poverty.

“We don’t think for a second this is what most Labour MPs came into politics for.

“We know many will feel incredibly uncomfortable at the moment. But feeling uncomfortable isn’t enough.

“We need these Labour MPs to have a moral backbone and vote for what they genuinely believe in to prevent these cruel, unnecessary policies from being enacted.”

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‘Zane’s Law’ needed to tackle toxic sites

Green MP Sian Berry urged the government to bring forward Zane’s Law to protect people from contaminated land after new research showed that out of 13,093 potentially toxic sites that councils have identified as high risk, only 1,465 have been inspected (1). 

Zane’s Law, named after seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola who died when Hydrogen Cyanide was carried by floodwater from a contaminated landfill site into his home in 2014, was previously brought forward as a Private Members Bill by former Green MP Caroline Lucas (2). 

Now Sian Berry, who won the Brighton Pavilion seat held by Lucas, said: “People will be harmed unless UK regulations on contaminated land are changed, as this new research shows. 

“Our current laws are dangerously inadequate, especially given climate breakdown, rising sea levels, increased rainfall, and flooding that will continue to disturb this contaminated land.”

Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter added:  

“The fact that half of Welsh Councils are unable or unwilling to give figures for potential toxic sites, while of those identified the vast majority remain uninspected is a shocking indictment of a lack of leadership at every level of government.  

“Communities across Wales have for too long suffered the toxic legacies of polluting industries. This contaminated land crisis demands urgent legislation at a UK government level for the safety of our communities and future generations.” 

Sian Berry added: 

“Zane’s Law would align the UK with global best practice for the protection of communities from hazardous land. It would reinstate legislative provisions removed by the Conservative government from the 1990 Environment Protection Act and ensure the UK adheres to the Universal Right to a Healthy Environment, endorsed by the UN in July 2022.” 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

  1. Toxic town impact as most high-risk contaminated sites unchecked – BBC News 
  1. Landfill’s Toxic Legacy – Byline Times 

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