Powys MP says he'll vote against party on benefit cuts
Powys' Labour MP is set to vote against the Government's proposed cuts to disability benefits, calling them a 'fresh round of austerity on vulnerable people'.
Steve Witherden, the MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, says he will be voting against his party's planned cuts to disability benefits, saying he fears the cuts "will hit Wales particularly hard'.
As part of a Green paper published by the government in March 2025, plans were announced to reform both Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and the health benefit component of Universal Credit.
According to the Department of Work and Pensions, as many as 370,000 current PIP recipients would no longer receive the support.
Mr Witherden said the plans lack a Welsh-specific impact assessment, citing the fact that Wales has 275,000 PIP recipients and more than 7,000 in Mr Witherden's constituency, adding that he would vote against the reforms as 'many constituents' could lose support.
He said: 'I was a secondary school teacher for 20 years and I spent most of those as a trade union rep, fighting for good jobs. I know that from an honest day's work comes pride and dignity.
'This is true for disabled people as much as anyone else. It is also true that the benefits system helps those who can't work go about their lives with dignity too.
'Changes to Personal Independence Payments will make many of my constituents suddenly ineligible for support and face threats to their financial security. This will not make it easier for them to find and stay in work.
'With an older and poorer population, where one in seven working age people receive PIP, the cuts will hit Wales particularly hard.
'I became a Labour MP to stand up for my constituents. When given the opportunity, I will be voting against the Green Paper, a fresh round of austerity on vulnerable people.'
The Powys MP has previously criticised the Labour government's proposed cost-cutting measures, saying in March 2025 that he felt the proposed changes to welfare in the Chancellor's Spring Statement were a form of ' even deeper austerity ', adding that they would 'strip benefits from our most vulnerable' and lead to 'more suffering'.
He also called for taxes on extreme wealth as an alternative to the cost-cutting measures.
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