Previous update, June 24:

Luke Myer MP sets out his position ahead of the Second Reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.

Luke Myer MP said:

“Back in March, I welcomed the Government’s decision to look again at how our welfare system works – particularly its commitment to supporting people who can’t work, fixing the broken assessment process, and improving employment support for those who want to find a job. I stand by those principles today. I believe in a system that protects those who are too unwell to work, empowers those who want to work with the right support, and restores dignity for people long failed by a system that has left too many trapped and blamed instead of helped.

But when the detail of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill was finally published, it became clear that the legislation does not yet meet the promises the Government itself made. That’s why I’ve supported an amendment declining to give the Bill a Second Reading – asking the Government to go back and get it right.

The Government says it wants to co-produce changes with disabled people and carers, but this Bill has not been through meaningful consultation with those most affected. It presses ahead before the Government’s own reviews into disability employment and assessment have reported, and before we’ve seen the analysis of how many people it might push into poverty.

I want a welfare system that is based on evidence, compassion, and trust, rather than short-term savings or political headlines. That’s why I am calling on the Government to go back to the drawing board, work with disabled people and those with lived experience, and bring forward a plan that is genuinely fair, properly funded, and delivers on the ambition we were promised.

I still believe that changing the system matters — but how we do it matters just as much.”