I have joined over 100 MPs to sign an amendment which, if passed, would halt the Government’s planned social security cuts.

The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill has not had a formal consultation with disabled people. It has not been co-produced by them or their carers. MPs are being asked to vote next week on a bill without having seen full impact assessments. The Government’s own initial impact assessment estimates these changes would push 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children.

The Government must pause and rethink.

The text of the amendment says:

“That this House, whilst noting the need for the reform of the social security system, and agreeing with the Government’s principles for providing support to people into work and protecting people who cannot work, declines to give a Second Reading to the Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill because its provisions have not been subject to a formal consultation with disabled people, or co-produced with them, or their carers; because the Office for Budget Responsibility is not due to publish its analysis of the employment impact of these reforms until the autumn of 2025; because the majority of the additional employment support funding will not be in place until the end of the decade; because the Government’s own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of these provisions, including 50,000 children; because the Government has not published an assessment of the impact of these reforms on health or care needs; because the Government is still awaiting the findings of the Minister for Social Security and Disability’s review into the assessment for Personal Independence Payment and Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent review into the role of employers and government in boosting the employment of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.”