Demonstrating yet again that the party has zero idea of what it’s doing, Reform UK has threatened to scrap Personal Independence Payments (PIP):
NEW: Reform UK has pledged to scrap PIP and the health element of Universal Credit for working-age adults
Only people with severe disabilities would receive cash payments to save £50bn a year on benefits
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) August 15, 2026
Big changes
Reform’s plan would see PIP being replaced with a new system called a ‘Health Security Allowance’. While Reform is promising to maintain some form of a safety net, it’s clear many claimants will lose out, because Reform says the move will save £50bn a year.
This won’t save any money because those who lose their PIP or UC health element will end up requiring more support from health services. It’s simply shifting the cost elsewhere. Don’t fall for their gimmicks or vilification of the disabled. https://t.co/j02iFV1ahd
— Callum (@callum_nowacki) August 15, 2026
Interestingly, Reform is planning to realise savings in part by shifting costs on to businesses. As the BBC reported:
Reform’s plans include making companies pay for any employees off sick for the first two years. Businesses with more than five employees would have to take out insurance to cover the cost.
Reform says this is modelled on the Dutch system and would incentivise employers to make adaptions and encourage people back to work to reduce their insurance premiums.
The party says they would cut the National Insurance contributions (NICs) paid by employers to offset the cost of this measure, insisting the change would be cost neutral for businesses.
Usually, policy proposals benefit one of two groups:
- The rich minority.
- The non-rich majority.
By proposing to abolish PIP while simultaneously shunting other costs on to businesses, Reform seems to have designed a policy which will be hated by everyone. Obviously, there are many Britons who don’t own their own business of claim PIP, but bear in mind there are:
In other words, most Britons will know a PIP claimant or a business owner. And through word of mouth, they’re going to hear very bad things about this policy.
Forcing businesses to pay more might not be the worse idea, but it’s certainly a strange move for a party that sells itself as being pig-headedly pro-business.
Reform VS Reform voters
It’s important to understand that some of the people with a negative opinion about benefit claimants are benefit claimants themselves. These people have bought into the lie that there are a handful of deserving claimants (themselves and their friends) and millions of undeserving. This phenomenon is why UK political parties can bash benefit claimants while still winning votes from them.
What Reform is proposing is striking, because they’re proposing to completely scrap a commonly claimed benefit. Do they not understand the panic this is going to cause among their voters? It seems like they should given the following:
It’s fascinating how keen Reform UK are to attack the disabled when working age people claiming PIP are more likely to vote for them than any other political party. https://t.co/cKdUgcQxy2
— thelefttake (@thelefttake) August 15, 2026
Strange that they didn't announce this before Thursdays vote, 18% of the population of Clacton receive PIP,one of the highest in the country.
Reform, tax cuts for their rich mates and crypto billionaires paid for by the most vulnerable in society https://t.co/4YNssGBFyl— Yorkshire Victor Meldrew+his dog (@TheMeldrew) August 15, 2026
There’s something else to bear in mind too, as this person highlighted:
Going from 5% to 15% unemployment to own the libs https://t.co/4VyZalmcGW
— Wontwo Badsoup (@wontwobadsoup) August 15, 2026
A person can claim PIP while working. This situation means people with various illnesses and disabilities can work part-time or take lower-paid jobs – a situation which is beneficial to the economy and also ensures people can afford their rent. If PIP is eliminated, many of these people will not be able to afford this balance. In such a situation, it will inevitably make more sense for many to not work at all. And this will possibly mean unemployment increases.
Unworkable
Reform UK now has to convince its:
- PIP-claiming voters they have nothing to fear.
- Business owning voters they also have nothing to fear.
We honestly don’t think they’ll be able to pull this off, because voters clearly should be worried. Reform will likely have the entire establishment media backing them, though, so we’ll see what happens.
Featured image via Steffan Rosseau
By Willem Moore
