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Funnily enough the current highest rate of tax in the UK is on those on Universal Credit who by some good forturne are capable of some work. This is then taxed at 55p in the pound. Anyone who does not see this as another form of tax needs to consider why Universal Credit is there in the first place. Nobody would be doing overtime of any kind if they earned less than half of that overtime. But UC clamants are either forced into doing some work just to make ends meet or for some health reason it is better for them to undertake some work. But the effect is the same that their UC is 'taxed' according to that need to also underake work. 55%, if applied to the top earners, or companies, would have seen any government removed.

 I live on my own and I get pip it’s a lifeline for me very worried about the potential changes coming down the line in the future and I get reassessed in 2027 so my question is if you go to theses assessments from 2026 and the health assessor thinks your fit enough to work will you lose your pip?

If the wealthiest were properly taxed there'd be enough to redistribute and none of this would need to happen. As it stands the richest are let off the hook. Amazon pay next to nothing. Corporation tax should be a minimum 25% but is a trifling 19%. The 45% rate on the wealthiest brings in diddly squat. It should be 65%. The poor and vulnerable are being targeted to deflect attention from those who can afford to pay their taxes and still live in luxury. 

James h I hate to disappoint you but Labour will not be your salvation on this one, they may tinker around the edges and make some minor changes but they too have the ambition to get the disabled back into the work place, the bottom line is all of them have run out of money and we are where they are going to save it rightly or wrongly.

they have done this all wrong and just rushed it without thinking properly the serious damage this will cause?this is what should of happened instead in my view

There seems to be no provision for people who have been ‘medically retired’. This will be an unholy mess for those in receipt of pensions. 

As a claimant of decades on esa I think we as a country might be entering the darkest phase since the 1930s.  The level of national debt and the inexorable growth of an ageing population cannot sustain state support as we know it even at the inadequate levels it is.  What we can hope for and lobby for is our MPs to preserve a realistic safety net from mandated activity that could cause harm.  There is tremendous potential harm and some is already being done because the anxiety is already contagious on this

I'm disabled on higher rates of PIP. My son doesn't live at home anymore but he has had Fibromyalgia for the past few years and claims UC with a health part in in. 

Can anyone confirm if this going to be UK wide or just England please.

If we all committed suicide at the same time they would be cracking open the champagne that their policies have been a resounding success. 

What is due to happen if you are on contributory ESA in the support group please? I receive high level PIP for both cotegories too. All the info seems to be about Universal Credit. Are they abolishing ESA on grounds of NI contributions and making it all means-tested?

The DWP have only one overriding objective despite all they say. It is to restrict paying out benefits. They follow an ABC mantra. Accept nothing, believe nothing, and challenge everything. You can fight them only by using the law and the advice of experts. 

I'm totally confused by it all. I get PIP. Low rate for daily living,high rate mobility. I also receive Universal credit, LCWRA. . My health isn't good, mobilitys gone plus I have a problem with incontinence

I had a health assessment done through uc but they failed me even tho. My health has changed since it was done over a year ago. And I don't know wot to do next. Not even heard from pip that was bout the same time. 

When I started claiming ESA in 2010 I was a total newcomer to the benefits system and naively believed that I would be treated fairly and be listened to. I had no idea that there were two types of ESA (the Support Group and the Work Group); I was in the WRAG.  The first time I saw the work coach (or whatever she was called then) she took one look at me and couldn't believe I wasn't in the SG. She was the one to query it with the DWP who eventually transferred me to SG. Looking back, I realise now how lucky I was that she was on the boil. Given that so many of the people doing the assessments for PIP seem to be hopelessly out of their depth with the medical and mental health conditions they are supposed to be evaluating, is there ANY realistic chance that a work coach will get it right?    

What is the mechanism by which the government can abolish the WCA? Will MPs have a say on that? If so, is it worth lobbying them?

Hitting 66 on 27/03/2023 means I can  stick two fingers up to WCA and what replaces it. I really fear for those who will face the new regime. God bless you all.

I'm screwed. I'm one of the ones on esa without pip and under the substantial risk rule. I'll probably be dead this time next year then.

My son doesn't claim PIP and is in the ESA support group. He made a claim for PIP at the same time as he was being transferred from Incapacity Benefit. His claim for both was refused and his letter from PIP said that they had refused his claim on the grounds of his IB being refused. I am a  disabled pensioner and I claim Housing Benefit so I contacted the benefits office because I couldn't afford to pay the extra rent that I would incur because of my sons situation. A lovely man told me to make an appointment for my son to see the Councils welfare rights advisor and with her help my son was placed in the ESA support group. However, he was so traumatised by it all that he refuses to try and claim PIP again. I don't know what will happen to him when the new system starts.

I’d point out to the Work Coach that making ANY decision on my health & welfare is misconduct & misrepresentation  and is fraudulent and that I WILL sue them individually….