The United States and Great Britain have shared “a special relationship” for many years and have worked as allies for even longer. The two countries obviously have many similarities and right now both countries have conservatives in charge of their governments. Because there are many similarities between the two countries right now, it is important to pay attention to a recent development where Great Britain is threatening to deny disability benefits to vulnerable people.
The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Theresa May took measures to deny disability benefits to 160,000 people and informed the country’s Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) the day changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) were being introduced without any advanced notice.
The SSAC is set to consider the new PIP regulations at a meeting next week, but the measure is creating a huge backlash, from even some members of the prime minister’s own party. In a recent story published in the Independent, a member of Great Britain’s minority party, the Labour Party, sharply criticized the Conservative Party’s move to limit disability benefits. “This is a shameful decision that will affect people with dementia, those suffering cognitive disorders due to stroke, military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and those with schizophrenia,” the opposition party member said.
The new initiative from May and the Conservative Party is a result of a tribunal ruling that PIP should cover such conditions as epilepsy, diabetes and dementia.
One of the alarming aspects to this story is the fact that May and the Conservative Party decided to bypass a decision to allow the SSAC to consider the measure, which is something that is routinely done on similar changes to the system.
At least one anonymous member of the prime minister’s own party warned of a backlash for the decision to deny disability benefits and urged the prime minister to “honor” the verdict delivered by the tribunal.
