Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Disabled activist in court to challenge benefit assessment reforms
Department for Work & Pensions in Westminster, London

DISABLED activist Ellen Clifford began her legal challenge against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) today over the government’s “disingenuous” consultation on tightening the Work Capability Assessment.

Ms Clifford, represented by lawyers from Public Law Project, appeared at the High Court in London for the first of a two-day hearing to argue that the consultation was unlawful as it did not properly explain the conditions of the proposed changes.

The challenge also argues that the primary motive behind the consultation, which ran for eight weeks in 2023, was to reduce spending on disability benefits rather than to get more people into work.

Disability rights campaigners affected by the proposed changes also held a vigil outside the Royal Courts of Justice today.

Ahead of the hearing, Ms Clifford said: “More than 400,000 people will be worse off by £416 a month if the changes proposed in this consultation go ahead.

“And then there is the risk that people will lose even more money if they are sanctioned for not being able to comply with conditions they will now need to fulfil in order to receive their benefits.

“To be blunt, this would be cataclysmic for deaf and disabled people in the UK and would push many into destitution.”

Ms Clifford said that despite the government’s commitment to put “the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all” they do and to “fully consult” on Work Capability Assessment reforms, “they have not answered important questions about what will happen to those 400,000 people who stand to be affected if these dangerous proposals are brought in.

“This [challenge] is a necessary first step in deaf and disabled people working towards a system that prioritises our lives, rather than cuts or savings,” she added.

“Going forwards, we hope there is real co-production in designing a social security system that is a benefit to society and which prevents rather than causes harm.”

The action has been supported by various groups, including the PCS union which represents DWP workers, Disabled People Against Cuts, and Unite’s Cut Sanctions Not Incomes campaign.

PCS national president Martin Cavanagh said that any changes “must be properly consulted on,” adding: “Our members want to help people, not punish them.”

The challenge continues on Wednesday.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
People take part in a demonstration at Trafalgar Square in London in support of Palestine Action,  June 23, 2025
Britain / 23 June 2025
23 June 2025

Home Secretary Cooper confirms plans to ban the group and claims its peaceful activists ‘meet the legal threshold under the Terrorism Act 2000’

President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington
Iran-Israel War / 18 June 2025
18 June 2025

US president says his nation might join forces with Israel in attacking Iran

California Highway Patrol officers arrest two men after a dispersal order during a protest, June 14, 2025, in Los Angeles
United States / 18 June 2025
18 June 2025
Similar stories
Ellen Clifford (right) outside the High Court with her solic
Features / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025
EMMA COTTON explains the significance of a recent win at the High Court for a disability rights campaigner against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions over a ‘misleading’ and ‘unfair’ consultation on social security cuts 
John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington speaks at
Britain / 13 December 2024
13 December 2024