
MORE than two dozen MPs have backed an amendment to scrap the major remaining cut in the government’s disability cuts Bill and prevent the creation of a “two-tier” welfare system.
The legislation proposes to reduce the universal credit health element for new claimants from £97 per week to just £50 per week — a cut from £423.27 to £217.26 per month.
Estimates say this change would hit over 750,000 low-income sick and disabled individuals hard, with an average annual loss of £3,000 per person.
Labour MP for Leeds East Richard Burgon tabled the amendment on Thursday to prevent this cut from going ahead.
He said: “This cruel and unnecessary halving of the universal credit health element will see £2 billion per year slashed from vital support that sick and disabled people rely on.
“The government needs to scrap this proposal. There should be no two-tier system for disability support.”

The government’s retreat on PIP still leaves 150,000 new universal credit claimants facing halved benefits from April 2026, creating a discriminatory two-tier welfare system that campaigners must continue fighting, writes DR DYLAN MURPHY