Lewisham campaigners protest disability benefit cuts, while Greenwich councillor Anning leaves Labour
Lewisham Save Our NHS were outside parliament to protest Labour's cuts. In Greenwich, Cllr Anning said she can no longer support a party that "takes vital funds from the disabled."
Lewisham NHS campaigners were in Westminster on 26th March, as the chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her spring statement. The government's planned benefits cuts will hit people with disabilities hardest.
Tony O'Sullivan is a retired paediatrician who worked with disabled children in Lewisham, and was director of Children and Young People's Services at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.
"It is deeply disappointing to see the Labour government's decision to target disabled people who rely on PIP payments to guarantee their ability to live as independently as possible. Carers too will be affected if disabled people lose their mobility payment entitlement," O'Sullivan said.
"Over a million people's lives will be impacted including their ability to work and social and family life. Local councils like Lewisham have already lost over 50% of government funding and are in no place to fill the gaps."
O'Sullivan is co-chair of the campaigning organisation Keep Our NHS Public and part of Lewisham Save Our NHS. He pointed to the "chilling" political choice the government has made, protecting "the accumulation of wealth of millionaires" while making deep cuts to disability benefits.
Greenwich councillor Majella Anning resigned from the Labour Party, saying: "I cannot support a party which accepts gifts from millionaires only to enact policies that take away vital funds from the disabled."
Anning now sits as an Independent councillor for Greenwich Creekside.
"An estimated 1 million people will lose their Personal Independence Allowance as a result of a more rigid eligibility system, a benefit that actually helps keep many in their jobs," she said. "Tighter rules will mean 150,000 carers losing their carer’s allowance.
"It didn’t have to be this way... there are more progressive alternatives. Foremost among these is raising a wealth tax on the richest 1% in our society."
Anning cited research from the University of Greenwich on a progressive wealth tax, designed to raise revenue from the top 1%.
She added: "I refuse to support a party that balances the books on the backs of the poor. I will continue to support my residents .. advocating for the interests of the poorest and most vulnerable in our community."
