DWP PIP changes have not been officially scrapped as yet

Parliament voted on the Labour Party government’s so-called Welfare Bill on Tuesday 1 July. Predictably, the bill passed. In fairness, Labour only got it through by 75 votes – which, given its majority, is a huge embarrassment for it. It seemed to go through partly because most MPs don’t care about chronically ill and disabled people. But it also passed partly because of government amendments to it, which seemed to calm some Labour MPs. However, in a storm during the debate the government announced it was scrapping all the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) changes entirely:

UPDATE: In a major u-turn, Keir Starmer has now scrapped the entire PIP section of the welfare bill.

The Timms review will report back in autumn 2026 and, as it is being conducted with disability groups, is highly unlikely to opt for four-point eligibility criteria.

This…

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) July 1, 2025

Yet in reality, this is not the case – despite the corporate media reporting it as such.

DWP PIP: no, Labour has no scrapped the changes

As the Telegraph reported:

Changes to the eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) have been removed from the legislation pending a review, in another concession to backbenchers.

Under the proposals, claimants would have needed to score a minimum of four points – which measure how hard they find it to perform tasks unaided – in at least one daily activity to qualify for Pip from November 2026.

Currently they need to score eight points to qualify – but these can be spread over several tasks.

Sir Stephen Timms, the disability minister, had been set publish a report at around the same time as the change was due to come into effect, prompting warnings that the reforms would “put the cart before the horse”.

But in a dramatic intervention in the Commons on the eve of the crunch welfare vote, Sir Stephen confirmed the findings of his review would come out before any changes to the Pip system were made.

It is no longer certain that the proposed change, which had sparked fury from Labour MPs, will ever be introduced.

Sir Stephen told MPs: “Others across the House during this debate have raised concerns that the changes to Pip are coming ahead of the conclusions of the review of the assessment that I will be leading.

“We’ve heard those concerns and that is why I can announce that we are going to remove the Clause Five from the Bill at committee, that we will move straight to the wider review, sometimes referred to as the Timms Review and only make changes to Pip eligibility activity and descriptors following that review.”

However, even though Timms announced this policy change on the hoof during the debate, some MPs were quick to point out that technically, nothing had changed:

Whatever promises of changes have been made to MPs, two things remain:

1) When MPs vote tonight, the 4-point PIP rule is still in the Bill

2) Over 700,000 low-paid sick & disabled new claimants will lose their UC health payments – £3,000 on average.

That's £2 BILLION of cuts.

— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) July 1, 2025

That is, the actual Bill that has been laid before parliament still has the DWP PIP changes in it. So, this gives Keir Starmer’s government room to bring back these cuts if it wants to. Even the Tories were pointing this out during the debate. Shadow DWP minister Helen Whatley called on the Speaker to intervene on this very issue.

However, the government has not budged and the Bill in its current form it still now going to the next stage in parliament.

What happens to DWP PIP next?

So, what exactly will happen with the DWP PIP changes?

Well, there is nothing stopping the government reintroducing the changes. There is also nothing stopping the report Timms mentioned (the so-called Timms Review) from recommending the four-point rule.

Moreover, it is currently unclear what disabled people will be involved in the Timms Review. If it is charities such as MIND and Scope, then opposition to government changes will be weak – as these charities often fail to properly represent disabled people. MIND, for example, has historically had paid contracts with the DWP.

So, DWP PIP claimants are still none the wiser as to whether they will see the government cut their benefits or not – regardless of what the media and politicians are saying.

Moreover, Apsana Begum MP summed up the real issue anyway:

The Bill that MPs are voting on if passed will mean that:

750,000 low-paid sick & disabled new claimants will lose their Universal Credit health payments — a loss of £3,000 on average.

This is still £2bn of cuts!

I will still be voting against the Disability Benefit Cuts Bill.

— Apsana Begum MP (@ApsanaBegumMP) July 1, 2025

The deserving and undeserving crips

The focus in recent weeks from both campaigners and MPs has very much been on DWP PIP cuts in the government’s Bill. Of course, this is an easy target to focus on for MPs looking to improve their reputation and win over disabled people.

Celebrity voices speaking out about DWP PIP cuts sums up the issue. Claimants of this benefit are the more acceptable face of disabled people reliant on the DWP. They often work. They’re often not working class. And they’re the kind of disabled people MPs can openly support. They’re the inspirational disabled people TV likes to show us.

In reality, the people hardest hit by the government’s Welfare Bill will not be the celebrity DWP PIP claimants. It’s going to be the chronically ill Universal Credit claimants, and those living with mental health issues, who will see their Health Element either frozen or cut – when they’ve already suffered years of cuts previously, and already do not have enough to live on.

However, these people are not the striving disabled people the media has been showing us. These are the scroungers that are costing hard-working tax payers too much. Therefore, who cares if they get hammered – as long as the deserving DWP PIP claimants don’t?

This tactic worked, as only 49 Labour MPs ended up rebelling against the government and voting for the Bill – a number that is half of what it was just days ago.

But fear not. There’s always the Assisted Dying Act if it all gets too much for chronically ill Universal Credit claimants.

Labour climbdowns over DWP PIP are not a win for anyone – not when so many people will still be irreparably damaged by the rest of the government’s malicious Bill. Spineless MPs don’t care about this, of course – because it is ultimately not them who is going to suffer.

Featured image via the Canary