Both David Cameron and the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith have announced swingeing cuts to PIP (Personal Independence Payment) that will see severely disabled people’s disability allowances cut, and their Motability vehicles – in some cases their only lifeline for independence – taken away from them.
Both MPs also previously voted through crippling cuts to ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) that will see disabled people in the WRAG (Work-Related Activity Group) lose £30 a week of their already paltry allowance, bringing them in line with Job Seeker’s Allowance.
The Tories’ bill to cut ESA was eventually forced through after The Lords rejected the motion twice on the grounds that cutting financial support to some of the most vulnerable people in society would make their illnesses worse, and push already financially-vulnerable people into increasing poverty.
The Tories argued that stripping disabled people of financial security will help them find work quicker, and after attaching a ‘financial privilege’ label to the bill, they finally managed to force it through The Lords, despite vociferous criticism.
Both David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith continuously voted for the ESA bill, against the advice of 60 disability charities who condemned the cuts to ESA as highly damaging and ‘a step backwards” for disabled people.
Disability charities have also have called the announced cuts to PIP as ‘devastating’. There is absolutely no doubt that both these measures will do significant harm to an already extremely disadvantaged and financially-insecure section of society.
Despite the obvious harm to disabled people these cuts will cause, both David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith remain Patrons for Motability – a charity that helps disabled people regain their independence by providing them with specially adapted vehicles to suit people’s specialised needs.
A petition calling for the removal of both Tory MPs as Patrons from this disability charity has already gained just short of 10,000 signatures, and we need your help to make sure both Conservative MPs are stripped of their roles within Motability.
Sign the Petition on the Change.org website by clicking this link.
The petition is calling on Declan Mahoney – the CEO of Motability, and Mike Betts – the Executive Director and Committee of Motability Operations Group PLC, to remove both David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith as Patrons for the charity.
The Andover MS society has already removed Conservative MP Kit Malthouse from his position as Patron. James Cleverly, the Tory MP for Braintree has also been told to resign as a Patron for Advocacy for All – a Sidcup based charity helping disadvantaged people.
You can support the petition to remove David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith from their positions as patrons for Motability by signing it and sharing this article with your friends and family.
You can also support disabled people by viewing the DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts) website and sharing information on whether your local MP voted for the cuts, and if they have an affiliation to a disability charity.
A petition on the government website calling for the ESA cuts to be reversed is nearing 100,000 signatures – the amount needed to secure a debate. You can also support this extremely worthy cause by signing the petition and sharing it with your friends and family on social media.
