Hastings trade unions' protest against Government's welfare cuts

The protest was held last Thursday (April 10) outside All Saints Hall in All Saints Street where Hastings and Rye MP, Helena Dollimore was holding a coffee morning for constituents.

The demonstration was organised by Hastings & District Trades Union Council.

It came after the organisation, which groups together all the trade unions in town, launched a petition last month in protest at the proposed cuts.

The petition has attracted hundreds of signatures.

On March 26 the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, confirmed that welfare benefits will be cut by £4.8bn.

She said the Universal Credit Health element will be cut by 50 per cent and then frozen for new claimants.

But she said the Universal Credit standard allowance will increase from £92 per week in the financial year 2025/26 to £106 per week by 2029/30.

The Government has also introduced stricter eligibility criteria for those claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

PIP is a welfare benefit that is intended to help working-aged people 16 and over with the extra costs of living with a health condition or a disability.

Kev Towner, disability officer for Hastings & District TUC and disability rights activist, said: “I am in the process of applying for PIP myself and hopefully as a new applicant I will get it but it is a worry.

“I think thousands of disabled people will be put in a very difficult position financially. It's bizarre because the PIP is supposed to help people be more independent so that they can work.”

He branded the proposed cuts ‘disgusting’.

When the petition was launched last month, Simon Hester, chair of Hastings and District Trades Union Council, called on Ms Dollimore to ‘join the other Labour Party MP rebels and vote against the proposal to cut disability benefits’.

In response, Ms Dollimore said: “We have implemented the first ever above-inflation rise to Universal Credit, and introduced an additional premium for people with severe life-long conditions who will never work to give them financial security. 

“Those with a severe life-long disability will also no longer face distressing benefit reassessments, as they currently do.

“These reforms are about protecting the most vulnerable and supporting more people back into work. The welfare system will continue to support people with severe health conditions or disabilities, whilst ensuring that people who can work and want to work will be able to do so without losing their benefits.

“After years of mismanagement, the welfare system is in desperate need of reform. We need to stop people being written off by a broken system and ensure that our welfare state is financially sustainable to keep providing for those who need it the most.”

The petition can be found at www.change.org/p/petition-to-helena-dollimore-mp-stop-the-cuts-to-disability-benefits.