SCOTTISH Labour Leader Anas Sarwar has been urged to “change the habit of a lifetime” and oppose Keir Starmer’s proposal of a “two-tier disability system”.
The call comes from the SNP ahead of a vote on Labour’s Disability Cuts Bill on Tuesday at Westminster, with significant opposition against the welfare cuts still intact despite a deal being reached between the Prime Minister and some Labour MPs.
In a late-night climbdown on Friday, the UK Government offered Labour rebels a series of concessions in an effort to head off Starmer’s first major Commons defeat since coming to power.
Some 126 Labour backbenchers had signed an amendment that would halt the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in its tracks.
However, it is believed the concessions on offer, which include protecting personal independence payments (Pip) for all existing claimants, will be enough to win over a majority.
Sarwar, who has consistently backed Starmer’s disability cuts, is yet to indicate how he will instruct Scottish Labour MPs to vote.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn (below) said it was already clear that the late-night deal was “designed to save the skin of the Prime Minister” and that it will end up “punishing those who are young or newly disabled”.
He has now called on Sarwar not to do his “usual and ride to the rescue of Starmer” but to stand firm against the proposed welfare changes.
Flynn said: “The details of the deal reveal a Labour Party policy that will be blatantly discriminatory, of questionable legality, and will see disabled people with the exact same needs treated differently just because of when they were born or became sick, injured or disabled.
“In the next 48 hours Anas Sarwar has a choice – he can do his usual and ride to the rescue of Keir Starmer or he can change the habit of a lifetime and choose to stand firm against this two-tier disability system.”
The UK Government’s original package had restricted eligibility for Pip, the main disability payment in England, and cut the health-related element of Universal Credit, saying this would save around £5 billion a year by 2030.
Now, the changes to Pip eligibility will be implemented in November 2026 and apply to new claimants only while all existing recipients of the health element of Universal Credit will have their incomes protected in real terms.
Flynn said that the vote on the UK Government’s welfare reform will come down to a test of fairness and of values as he claimed that if Scottish Labour MPs “truly care”, they would vote against it.
He said: “The choice is his – and people in Scotland will be watching to see how he instructs his Scottish Labour MPs to vote on Tuesday.
“This is a test of fairness and a test of values – how can any MP vote for a system that means if you have an accident that causes a disability, develop a disability over time or if you have a child with a disability, you will receive less support than those who have come before you?"
Flynn added: “If Scottish Labour MPs who last week rebelled against Keir Starmer truly care about the cause in the way that they suggest, then they will join the SNP in voting against this legislation and they will tell the Prime Minister to think again, again.”
The SNP MP for Aberdeen South's comments come after Disability Rights UK warned the newly proposed cuts to disability and sickness benefits will create “a two-tiered" system.
Speaking on Times Radio earlier this week, campaigner at Disability Rights UK Mikey Erhardt said: “The idea that you will be less in need, or less deserving of support, depending on the when of the condition that necessitates that support, is something you just have to reject out and out.”
Meanwhile, Ian Greaves, who edits the Disability Rights Handbook containing in-depth information on the social security system across the UK, said Labour’s “very small” concessions on welfare reforms will still leave the system “woefully inadequate”.
Greaves told The National he was expecting much more significant changes to be proposed and was surprised MPs like Meg Hillier – whose amendment against the cuts was signed by almost 130 Labour MPs – are now suggesting the changes are a “real breakthrough” and a “good step forward”.
He added: “These are not concessions of any significance.
“Fundamentally it is not fair and it is immoral to reduce the health-related support in Universal Credit by 50%. Already people with disabilities on Universal Credit are struggling to pay for their basic needs.”
The Scottish Government confirmed that it will not follow Starmer's two-tier system, with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville saying: “A two-tier system cannot be a fair system.
“That’s what disabled people would have told the Labour Government if they had actually asked them rather than making a backroom late-night deal with their own MPs.
“And this half U-turn still does not scrap the 4+ points rule which will prevent support for hundreds of thousands with diffuse disabilities in the future. The Scottish Government will not follow Labour’s lead on any of these changes.”
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “With 240,000 children in Scotland living in poverty, record numbers of homeless young people, rising sexual crime and the NHS on its knees, Stephen Flynn should hang his head in shame over what the SNP have done to Scotland.
“With the SNP now reviewing the application of their own Adult Disability Payment benefit, the hypocrisy that they have displayed over the current welfare bill has been exposed for all to see.
“Stephen Flynn should get his own house in order and apologise to the Scots being failed every day by his knackered and incompetent party.”
