Sir Ed Davey: Disabled people and carers will be 'kept awake' by benefits shake-up
19 March 2025, 18:11
Disabled people and carers will be kept "awake at night" with worry over losing their benefits, Sir Ed Davey has told LBC.
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The Liberal Democrat leader revealed that he and others are hugely worried about losing access to cash as a result of the government's welfare crackdown.
DWP boss Liz Kendall yesterday announced a string of reforms which may see hundreds of thousands of Brits lose thousands of pounds a year, as a result of tightening up the criteria.
She said the ballooning welfare budget has become unsustainable - and it's predicted to hit nearly £100bn a year by the end of the decade.
Sir Ed said that he "sincerely hoped" that the cuts wouldn't impact his 17-year-old son John.
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John has a neurological condition, which means he can't walk and has only limited speech.
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He needs round the clock care from Sir Ed, and his wife, Emily.
Sir Ed said that the "lack of clarity causes a lot of fear out there".
Ministers have said they'll reveal an impact assessment of who will be affected, in next week's budget.
Labour MPs have said people will die as a result of the crackdown, and that it's "not Labour" to be pushing ahead with the plans.
Sir Ed told LBC: "Because my son's severely disabled. I sincerely hope he will be [continuing to get PIP] because he's never going to be offered to work.
"He needs 24/7 care. And if the government were to hit those sort of people who would never be able to work, that would be appalling.
"And the Prime Minister said he's not going to, so we'll see.
"What I'm worried about with these proposals is the lack of detail. And that uncertainty and lack of clarity causes a lot of fear out there.
"And there'll be disabled people and carers like myself who will be worried if they're going to be hit and if they're already struggling to make ends meet, that will keep people awake at night."
He said that he was waiting for the "details" of the new proposals to come forward, but warned that if he forces people who can't work off benefits, "they'll just be in poverty".
And he did acknowledged that "there is a case for welfare reform" and those who can should be "helped back into work".
The Lib Dem boss - who today called for the government to bring forward an emergency budget and cancel the planned tax rises - said he was "worried" by plans to curb benefits for young people under the age of 22.
He added: "There could be some people who are just unable to work in that category, just can't work for whatever reason.
"And if their benefits are taken away, they're just going to be poverty. That's wrong.
"But we'll look at the detail. We want to see welfare reform. We want to see people back into work. That's good for them, it's good for the economy and it cuts the welfare bill.
"So there is a path forward here. But on some of the things I've heard from the government, I think Liberal Democrats will just have to oppose them because they'd be wrong."
