A FORMER Scottish Labour MSP has resigned from the party after 35 years following the UK Government’s swingeing cuts to disability benefits.
On Tuesday, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said that the Labour Government would cut Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by £5 billion per year by 2030, leading to widespread condemnation from charities.
Neil Findlay, who represented Labour at Holyrood for a decade until 2021, said in a furious letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he was “betraying Labour's proud history and lay[ing] waste to any claim of moral principle”.
Resigning his membership, Findlay said: “I can no longer remain a member [of] a party that lied to the British people at the last election and with regularity betrays the people who voted for it.
MY RESIGNATION FROM THE LABOUR PARTY Having spent 35 years in the Labour Party yesterday’s disgusting attack on the sick and disabled was the last straw - this is my letter to @Keir_Starmer 👇 https://t.co/xmFAOZkMIp pic.twitter.com/5LiwkSCL1x
— Neil Findlay (@Neilsocialist) March 19, 2025
“A party that gave assurances to the voters that ‘change’ was coming but failed to tell them that the ‘change’ it meant was to impoverish pensioners through cuts to their winter fuel allowance, betray WASPI women by refusing to compensate them for the states’ failure, punish defenceless children by maintaining the horrific two child cap, abandon the Grangemouth workers and now attack the long term sick and disabled by slashing social security payments (I refuse to call them benefits or welfare).
“All of this to fund increased spending on the UK's war machine – weapons that will be used to kill and injure innocent men, women and children in far off lands.”
He added: “As political leaders like you, Mr Starmer, and your colleague Wes Streeting seek to stigmatise those with a mental illness and take money from those suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis or heart disease, you accept hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of freebies; financial donations, clothing, glasses and tickets to football matches and pop concerts.
“Tell me who is really milking the system? Of course it's one rule for you and another rule for the poor, the sick and disabled.”
Findlay said Starmer was threatening “the very existence” of the Labour Party, adding: “MPs who continue to support your agenda are turkeys voting for Christmas.
“In solidarity with the individuals and families who will be affected by these vindictive and brutal policies and for my own sanity, dignity and self respect I can no longer remain a member of the Labour party.”
On Wednesday, Starmer defended the cuts to disability, saying the rising sickness and disability benefits bill is “devastating” for the public finances and has “wreaked a terrible human cost”.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour urged to oppose 'devastating' UK Government benefits cuts
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to be affected by the changes to PIP eligibility, which are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings the Government hopes to make.
Writing in The Times newspaper, Starmer pointed to the 2.8 million working age people out of work due to long-term sickness, claiming this was a “damning indictment of the Conservative record” on welfare.
The Prime Minister added: “The result is devastating for the public finances. By 2030 we are projected to spend £70 billion a year on working-age incapacity and disability benefits alone.
“But more importantly it has wreaked a terrible human cost. Young people shut out of the labour market at a formative age. People with complex long-term conditions, written off by a single assessment.
“People who want to return to work, yet can’t access the support they need. All this is happening at scale and it is indefensible.”
