Reader’s letter: Enough is enough – we reject planned welfare cuts

On Saturday 5th April, activists and their disabled allies in Portsmouth will be rallying outside the Guildhall to say ‘enough is enough’ and reject the government’s planned welfare cuts, as well as the proposed changes to assessment for disabled people to access work exemption benefits, which are set to negatively affect up to 1.2 million people.

Organised by Crips Against Cuts, a grassroots, disabled-led pressure group, the Portsmouth protest will form part of a national network of protests held across the country, joining London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, and others.

Of the 14.9 million people in poverty in the UK in 2021-2022, 4.7 million of them were disabled, with 3.2 million disabled working-age adults, according to Disability Rights UK. The disability charity Scope has already found through its analysis that, on average, disabled households need an additional £1,010 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households, due to the higher costs of living with a disability. This has led the charity to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, along with other organisations, to express opposition to the proposed cuts to PIP claims while urging the Government to reconsider the proposals for reform contained within the green paper that was published on the 18th March 2025.

A representative of Portsmouth Crips Against Cuts says: ‘These cuts will be punitive and devastating for some of the UK’s most vulnerable disabled and Deaf people. Cutting welfare will punish those unable to work and fail to improve access to the workplace, instead plunging people into further poverty, exacerbating a growing mental health crisis, and worsening inequality, inaccessibility and a lack of support for disabled people in this country. We call on everyone who cares about a fair, just and equitable system of welfare to join us outside Portsmouth Guild Hall at 2pm on Saturday 5th April.’

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