Sheffield Labour Party members call anti-benefits cuts protest

The new group, Sheffield Labour Against Benefits Cuts, has called for a welfare demonstration at 2pm on May 17 outside Sheffield City Hall in opposition to cuts.

Group supporter Coun Minesh Parekh, who represents Crookes and Crospool ward on Sheffield City Council, said: “I hope the government will listen to the public and reconsider its plans for the cuts.”

Publicity for the protest said it is “for a government U-turn on welfare cuts” and “for a wealth tax to fund public services”.

There has been a growing rebellion of Labour MPs against the cuts. Last week 42 MPs stated that the proposals had ‘caused a huge amount of anxiety and concern among disabled people and their families’. Signatories to the letter include Sheffield Central MP Abtisam Mohamed and Sheffield Hallam’s Olivia Blake, with Ms Blake stating that she would ‘not be able to vote for the Green Paper in its current form.’

Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts has also tabled a Parliamentary Early Day Motion on benefit reform and Personal Independence Payment. It has been signed by 15 MPs including Abtisam Mohamed.

Sanctions

The motion states: “That this House welcomes proposals which have the objective of ensuring more young people are supported into work; wishes to ensure that the people with the most severe disabilities continue to get Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and other support; and, to ensure this happens, requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to fully consult on all changes to PIP eligibly criteria before such measures are put before Parliament for a vote.”

Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Marie Tidball told Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall in the Commons: “PIP is designed as an in-work benefit to enable people to live independently because research shows that supportive, incentive-based approaches massively outperform cuts or sanctions in getting disabled people into sustainable employment”.

She has called a consultation meeting in High Green next Thursday, May 22, at 6pm. Register here by Monday for a place: https://www.marietidball.com/campaigns/rsvp-pip-consultation

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough MP Gill Furniss has emailed residents to say that she fears the “proposals will have a significant impact on some of the most vulnerable members” of her constituency. She said that she has written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer to inform him that unless there are significant changes to the proposals she would be “unable to support them when they are brought before Parliament”.

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Coun Parekh wrote for the LabourList website following the council elections. He said: “We were unlikely to receive a fair hearing from the right-wing press, but with the donations scandal many voters’ first glimpse of the new government in action – followed swiftly by unforced errors like cuts to winter fuel allowance or lifting the £2 bus cap – it is no surprise that some feel let down.

“That the government is still pursuing its benefits cuts – which have already led to a cross-factional rebellion while risking material hardship to the poorest – shows a party that is privileging fiscal rules over its missions. A government hard-wired towards kickstarting economic growth would not risk billions in potential productivity and tax revenues by forcing people into poverty.”

He said that Reform UK’s success was not about migration, but “a symptom of decades of disempowerment and the Right’s attempt to capitalise on that”.

“The answer to that is not “to be bullish” about migration, wasting our historic majority by tabling anti-migrant legislation, all the while facilitating continued Reform’s relevance by ensuring political discourse remains squarely focused on their favourite topic of conversation.”