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  • 7/1/2025
Disabled Labour MP breaks down in tears over party's welfare cuts Source: Reuters

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00:00When the Conservative government looked like an outlier in appearing to pursue a strategy
00:04centering on herd immunity, I felt raw, hot fear. Thinking of my toddler and what might happen if
00:13I called coronavirus meant I sobbed deeply. After 10 years of austerity, I knew then that disabled
00:21people would pay an enormous price, and they did. Almost 60% of COVID-related deaths were
00:29disabled people in that first wave. I vowed then that I would do all I could to create
00:36a country which treats disabled people with dignity and respect. The social security system
00:44was broken by the Conservative legacy of austerity and their monumental mishandling of the COVID
00:52pandemic. I am now one of the only visible physically disabled members of Parliament.
00:58I am proud that our manifesto committed to championing the rights of disabled people,
01:03and the principle of working with disabled people to ensure our views and voices are at
01:09the heart of all we do. My communities nurtured me growing up, and they taught me the values
01:16of fairness, equality, community. So it is with a heavy, broken heart that I will be voting
01:23against this bill today. As a matter of conscience, I need my constituents to know I cannot support
01:31the proposed changes to PIP as currently drafted on the face of the bill before us today. Since
01:37April, I have been engaging relentlessly with the government at the very highest level to change
01:43their proposals as set out in this bill, making it clear I could not support the proposals on PIP.

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