A LABOUR minister has been accused of being either “wholly ignorant” about her party’s benefits cuts or “dishonest” with the public after a bizarre claim about welfare claimants.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast that her constituents feared “coming off PIP and into work” because they worried about losing access to Personal Independence Payments if employment did not work out for them.
But critics have pointed out that PIP is not related to a person’s employment status, suggesting that she was either not across the detail of the benefits system or was attempting to “deliberately mislead” the public.
PIP is given to people to help with the added costs of living with a disability and claimants do not have to update the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of changes in their employment status.
Interviewed about the cuts – which are expected to push 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into poverty – Nandy said: “Lots of my constituents worry about coming off PIP and into work because it’s so […] hard to go through a reassessment process, very gruelling process, in order to get back on to it.
“So one of the reforms that we're introducing is that you can try work, without risking losing your benefits, and go back on to PIP if it doesn't work out without any kind of reassessment.”
Lisa Nandy is either lying or has grossly misunderstood what her constitutents are saying here. PIP is NOT an out-of-work benefits. 1 in 5 people on PIP are in work. Noone on PIP WOULD EVER say this. Full stop. I will be complaining to the PCC. pic.twitter.com/EpBJpVNEDC
— Dr Jay Watts (@Shrink_at_Large) June 20, 2025
Kirsty Blackman, the SNP’s DWP spokesperson, told The National: “There are only two explanations here – either a Labour Cabinet member is wholly ignorant of the current system and the cuts to disability her government is planning or Lisa Nandy is in fact trying to deliberately mislead the public on the consequences of Keir Starmer's cuts.
“Either way, it is evidence of just how desperate and detached the Labour Party have become and either way it won't wash with the public who can see these cruel cuts for what they are – an attack on the day-to-day lives of disabled people.”
The cuts, which are expected to save around £5 billion from the £326bn total cost of the social security system, are expected to result in a substantial rebellion from Labour MPs when they go to a vote early next month.
Government whip Vicky Foxcroft quit on Thursday evening saying she was not prepared to persuade others to vote for them – or back them herself.
Others in the UK Government are reportedly on resignation watch.
Blackman added: “With even Labour's own whips resigning because they won't vote to make disabled people poorer, the real question is if Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour MPs are going to stay true to form and support their Prime Minister no matter the cost.”
Greens MSP Maggie Chapman (above) said: “Labour MPs need to be able to explain to constituents what different benefits actually are. Lisa Nandy should know that PIP is not an out-of-work benefit – the clue is in the name. So, either she is being extremely dishonest, or she doesn’t understand the basics of what PIP is.
“People rely on PIP to get by in their day to day lives – to help with essentials like getting washed and dressed, managing medicines, eating and drinking, and mobility. Labour want to cut that support for 1.3 million people, throwing lives into turmoil and pushing many into poverty.”
The proposed cuts include making it harder to claim PIP, in a bid to stop an estimated 400,000 people from claiming, while around 800,000 new claimants will get lower incapacity top-ups of £50 per week, down from the present £97 per week.
Labour were approached for comment.
