The Lancashire city where every Labour councillor is against the government's benefit changes

Plus: Drivers ‘self-declaring’ as fit to drive likely to cause further deaths, warns coroner

Hello and welcome to the mid-week edition of The Lancashire Lead,

It’s easy to think because a government announcement happened a few weeks back then the impact of it is all done and dusted - but when it comes to the proposed shake-up to disability benefits and the wider Universal Credit changes that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Benefit reforms announced earlier this year are causing huge fault-lines within Labour, with the anger from MPs on their own benches growing (as we’ve covered previously in The Lancashire Lead) and those on the frontline - Labour councillors recently knocking doors in the local elections and receiving emails from concerned residents, charities and organisations in their patches is the true litmus test of any change. Not some polling done by a remote consultancy firm.

It perhaps shouldn’t be surprising that Preston’s left-of-centre city council (home to The Preston Model) has come out all guns letter-writing over the reforms to PIP and Universal Credit cuts, they are not ideologically aligned with the centrist, or even centre-right approach, being increasingly taken by Starmer’s Labour in office. But the letter will come from a place of care and concern for some of the most vulnerable in society. And Preston, like many of Lancashire’s towns and cities, has large areas of some of the most deprived communities in the country. They may end up bearing the brunt of the consequences of what the government chooses to do on welfare reforms.

Elsewhere in this edition, Jamie Lopez reports from Clitheroe after a coroner raised concerns about elderly people ‘self-declaring’ to be able to drive. It follows the death of a woman after her best friend had a seizure while driving and crashed.

And we have our Recommended Reads keeping you updated on the must-reads in Lancashire news and beyond.

A city against the government’s disability and benefit cuts

Preston Labour currently holds a majority in Preston Town Hall

The entirety of Preston City Council’s Labour group has called on the government to reverse its planned changes to PIP and Universal Credit (UC).

The group of 28 councillors describe the plans as “the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity” and warned campaigners had not worked hard ahead of the General Election so a Labour Government would “make the poorest, including disabled people pay for the economic situation inherited from the Conservative Government.”

In an open letter, the councillors cited DWP figures showing 700,000 people already living in poverty would be affected by disability cuts along with between 250,000 and 400,000 people at risk of being pushed into poverty. They also highlight a forecast average loss of £4,500 per year to disabled people in addition to people losing out on Carer’s Allowance or care element of UC.

The call for a rethink focuses on the capability for work-related activity element of UC being frozen and the stricter eligibility criteria for PIP payments and follows similar calls from Preston MP Mark Hendrick.

The letter states: “The proposals are the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity. Last year we campaigned tirelessly for a Labour Government, but we did not campaign for a Labour Government to make the poorest, including disabled people pay for the economic situation inherited from the Conservative Government.

“We believe taxation should be raised on the most well off in this country, and from businesses who do not pay their fair share of taxes, to raise the required funding. It is notable there is a growing debate about the merits of a wealth tax to deal with the dire economic circumstances the Labour Government inherited from the Tories. This is supported by the new Usdaw General Secretary Joanne Thomas alongside many others in the Labour Party. We add our name to this number.”

The government has repeatedly stood by its planned reforms, arguing it will help people back into work and that change is needed. When asked previously, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "There's no return to austerity. I said that during the election and we're not going to austerity. I ran a public service [as Director of Public Prosecutions] during the years of austerity and I saw what was done in the particular case.

“Part of the problem we've got with our public services is what was done with them a decade or so ago, so we're not going down that route."

The disability cuts is a topic we’ve covered frequently in the national edition of The Lead, from Rachael Charlton-Dailey’s writing about the concerns within the disabled community at what is proposed (describing genuine fear as the most common reaction) and Charli Clement on the increasing demonisation by Labour of disabled people.

And The Lead Untangles, which aims to go beyond the headlines each Friday and keep you informed on big changes coming both in the UK and elsewhere, also untangled the facts about the PIP changes and welfare cuts.

Plus we saw powerful writing by Cieran Brown who described the 18 years he spent on benefits (before returning to work) and his view from being inside the system.

Help ensure we can keep a close eye on what the government proposes when it comes to welfare reforms - and keep sharing the views and experiences of those it will affect the most by becoming a paid subscriber to The Lead

Recommended reading this week

🛏️ A Lancashire-based property developer is set to transform a former Victorian Hotel in Morecambe into 14 apartments and is planning to build an additional six residences on the same site. Gayle at the Lancaster Guardian has the latest as always.

🌍 An East Lancashire MP has said the UK’s deal with the European Union (EU) is a “step in the right direction” following the first meeting of the partners since Brexit. The response from Sarah Smith and other business leaders here.

🏠 More than 20 people have stood in solidarity outside a house in the Broadgate area of Preston to halt an eviction. Miguel said he was facing eviction because he was unable to work due to anxiety and depression – and he had difficulty obtaining a copy of his rental agreement from the landlord. Blog Preston have the story.

📚And a special report from our National edition digs into the the reasons, the numbers and stories about inequality and what’s really disabling the nation? Blackpool regularly ranks as one of the most challenged places on those topics, so Hannah Shewan Stevens writing and her search for what can actually be done is essential reading.

Drivers ‘self-declaring’ as fit to drive likely to cause further deaths, warns coroner

By Jamie Lopez

The scene of the incident in January 2023

There is no reliable data on the number of drivers diagnosed with dementia, a coroner has warned.