Will Starmer Face Court Justice Sooner Than We Thought?

Right, so the fallout of the £5billion worth of cuts dressed up as reforms to social security, but which in reality are targeting disabled people disproportionately continues and it could yet land Keir Starmer in court potentially a lot sooner than we all thought, as would you believe it but these proposals might just have fallen afoul of the Equality Act! Well indeed and so they ought to have done. There is falling afoul of the law though, and there is being held to account for it when you are the government though, the two don’t always go hand in hand and yet in this instance, we might actually see that happen.
You see, as a result of these proposals not at all looking like they are a fair and the DWP not at all looking like it is adhering to the legally binding public sector equality duty that all government departments must adhere to, ie producing an impact assessment for their proposals which still have not been published, if they even exist, Starmer & Co have attracted the attention of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, the EHRC over these proposals and isn’t there a delicious irony, that the former human rights barrister might now be taken to court by the EHRC? He really has fallen a very long way.
Right, so the Labour Party of Keir Starmer, no longer a Labour Party except in name as that is, is in an absolute boatload of bother over their obscene proposed attacks on disability benefits which are still dominating people’s thoughts and even the mainstream news agenda, especially the right wing press, who lets be honest, couldn’t care less and would be cheering all of this if coming from the Tories or Reform, but its Labour and it doesn’t matter how right wing Labour now is, they will keep on printing stuff against them. It shows these rags really can hold power to account, but only when it suits their own bias.
The proposed cuts to disability benefits, spearheaded by Chancer of a Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, have sparked outrage amongst the public and now raised serious legal and ethical questions being confronted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the EHRC. These cuts are blatantly seen to be disproportionately targeting disabled people and young disabled people particularly, appear to be in violation the Equality Act 2010 and is ignoring the public sector equality duty that all government departments must adhere to alongside that. The EHRC is now launching an investigation into the proposed cuts, citing concerns over their compliance with the Equality Act. This development is particularly ironic given Starmer’s background as a human rights barrister is it not, but given all his support for Israel despite their actions in Gaza lets face it, it isn’t any kind of a surprise to see human rights not factoring very highly in political decisions he has sign off on.
The Equality Act 2010 is a cornerstone of anti-discrimination law in the UK. It protects individuals from discrimination based on several characteristics, including disability. Section 15 of the Act explicitly prohibits discrimination arising from disability, stating that a person must not be treated unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of their disability, unless such treatment can be justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Additionally, the Act imposes a public sector equality duty on all government departments, requiring them to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different groups.
The proposed cuts to disability benefits therefore, appears to contravene these provisions. By reducing financial support for disabled people, the government is effectively treating them unfavourably because of their disability. The cuts will disproportionately affect young disabled people, who are already among the most vulnerable in society by raising the health and disability component of Universal Credit from 18 to 22, because apparently disability doesn’t exist for those under 22. The Resolution Foundation has warned that these cuts will push many disabled people further into poverty, exacerbating existing inequalities inflicted upon them by the Tories before.
The public sector equality duty requires the government to consider the impact of it’s policies with regards to equality, an impact assessment basically, and this is being violated with Liz Kendall’s refusal to pubish such an assessment, assuming one has been done, before Rachel Reeves gives her Spring Statement. There’s another crooked reason for that too, which I’ll come onto in a second.
The EHRC’s decision to investigate the proposed cuts is a damning indictment of the Labour government’s approach. We’re all appalled, little surprise they are too. Responsible for overseeing the enforcement of the Equality Act, the EHRC has expressed serious concerns about the potential discriminatory impact of these cuts.
The lack of transparency surrounding the cuts, justifying their concerns no end at that, further compounding the issue. Labour’s failure to publish those impact assessments before Rachel Reeves gives her Spring Statement underlines the crookedness going on here though.
You see, The Office for Budget Responsibility, the OBR, as anyone who watches the budget or the Spring Statement knws they give a forecast for how the government is doing, and usually the Chancellor of the day makes much of this as a sign they are doing things right, that their plans are working. The problem is, by delaying the impact assessments, the OBR forecast will factor in the full impact of the cuts, even if they are forced by the courts or by parliament refusing to pass it, to later water these plans down, so the forecast will be artificially optimistic shall we say. Labour might only be 8 months into government but this intentional lack of transparency is not new for Starmer’s lot; Reeves previously refused to publish impact assessments for cuts to the winter fuel allowance, which later revealed that 7 in 10 disabled pensioners would lose their entitlement. Why does she hate the disabled so much? It's a pattern of behaviour that suggests a deliberate attempt to avoid scrutiny and push through harmful policies under the radar, or under the guise of being economically responsible, even when they are as depraved and mendacious as this is.
One of the most alarming aspects of these reforms isn’t even the cuts but the so-called reforms. The changes to PIP eligibility criteria will make it harder for people to access the support they need, pushing many more into financial hardship, especially those who use this additional money to cover the additional costs that having a disability brings with it, not helping more people into work, but driving them out of it and into further poverty due to the cuts coming alongside. This is particularly concerning given the already high levels of poverty and unemployment among disabled people. The cuts will exacerbate these inequalities, leaving many without the means to live independently or participate fully in society.
The Labour government and the Department for Work and Pensions have also attempted to mislead the media and the public into supporting the cuts. The DWP has issued press releases that downplay the impact of the cuts and present them as necessary reforms, a bit of a hard sell when Starmer has increased defence spending and sent billions to Ukraine, and whilst Rachel Reeves has watered down tax impacts on non doms and refuses point blank to consider a wealth tax on the super rich. Disability News Service has exposed the DWP’s misleading press releases, highlighting the government’s attempts to manipulate public opinion. Here’s an excerpt exposing all:
‘The press release was published five days before Kendall launched her reforms of the disability benefits system.
DWP stated that the number of disabled people on universal credit who were “too sick to look for work” had risen by 383 per cent since the start of the pandemic, from 363,000 to 1.8 million.
But it only managed to reach that striking calculation by ignoring those who had been found not fit for work and were still receiving employment and support allowance (ESA) in 2019-20 (of which there were nearly two million).
The only reference to ESA was in a “further information” note at the bottom of the press release, which admitted that an increase “was anticipated for reasons including people moving from legacy benefits [which include ESA] onto Universal Credit”.’
A huge, misleading stat peddled as Labour continued to mete out Tory benefit reforms then.
These cuts, without any impact assessment yet seen, scaring the hell out of thousands of people, will push many disabled people into poverty or further poverty, leaving them without the means to meet their basic needs. The changes to PIP eligibility criteria will make it harder for disabled people to access the support they need, forcing many to rely on food banks and other forms of charitable assistance.
The Labour government’s proposed cuts to disability benefits are to my mind a clear violation of the Equality Act and a betrayal of their supposed commitment to social justice. The cuts will disproportionately affect disabled people and young disabled people especially, pushing many into poverty and undermining their prospects for the future. The EHRC’s investigation into the cuts is a damning indictment in and of itself, never mind what they end up finding, of the government’s approach ignoring equality and human rights for what they think is the ever popular move of bashing people on benefits, ignoring the why’s and wherefores.
Its time those vicious narratives were challenged more widely in public and governments were told in no uncertain terms that this behaviour is no longer going to be a vote winner for them, demanding that the government upholds its legal and moral obligations to disabled people instead of inflicting more misery on those with enough to deal with.
The Equality Act is a vital tool for protecting the rights of disabled people, and it must be defended against any attempts to undermine it. The Labour government’s proposed cuts to disability benefits are not only morally indefensible but legally precarious along with it and so they damn well should be.
It is no wonder Labour is seeing a mass exodus of members across the country, but in the lead up to local elections a little over a month away, they are losing elected officials in their droves and on one council have lost 6 in almost the same number of weeks! Get all the details of that story in this video recommendation here as your suggested next watch. Please do also hit like, share and subscribe, so as to ensure you don’t miss out on all new daily content as well as supporting the channel at the same time which is very much appreciated and I will hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.