Sheena McMullen

These are big changes from Govt to protect existing disabled claimants from cuts - Govt has been listening. But new claimants from April 2026 still face deep hardship from cuts, which should be opposed. Over 400,000 new PIP & 700,000 new UC-health claimants will be £'000s worse off in 2029 1/2

Text from OBR document: Labour supply impact of Spring Statement welfare and employment support measures: We have not made a comprehensive assessment of the labour supply impacts of those elements of the Green Paper that we have incorporated into the fiscal forecast. The individual measures’ labour market impacts are complex to assess and would have interacting effects. The Government did not provide us with a comprehensive and robust analysis of these potential effects, and we were not, in the very limited time available, able to develop our own analysis of their net impact on labour supply. In addition, some of the wider Green Paper reforms set out above, which are not included in the fiscal forecast, could also have labour market implications. We will make a full assessment of the Green Paper policies’ effects ahead of our next forecast

The OBR has not yet been able to forecast any employment gain from the cuts/changes to incapacity & disability benefits

MPs are being asked to support around £6.5bn of cuts & increased conditionality for ill & disabled people without any clear assessment of what it will achieve

Confirmation of chunky cuts to SG and NI Executive budgets because of PIP cuts.

Big choices for those Ministers as to whether to copy the cruel choices of UKG.

The Chancellor said today that she would not do anything to put household finances in danger

Yet the government’s own assessment shows their cuts to health related benefits risk pushing 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children 📢

Their assessment also found... 1/3

www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets...

Approx 29,000 children experiencing poverty currently in NI are in households where either a parent or child have a disability, legitimately limiting work as a route out of poverty for their household. PIP = lifeline for many in times of high costs & limited support services

‘Absolute fear’: UK’s planned benefit cuts alarm vulnerable people in Northern Ireland Labour’s proposed ‘shake-up’ of the welfare system raises the prospect of people with disabilities losing supports for their personal independence

bit.ly/4hLq64K

‘I can’t sleep, I’m so scared’: disabled people face benefit cuts domino effect Three people tell how knock-on impact of losing Pip on carer’s allowance and other benefits will affect their families

‘I can’t sleep, I’m so scared’: disabled people face benefit cuts domino effect www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Data from PHA showed that those with a disability consistently disadvantaged across all measures, for e.g. being able to engage w/indicators associated w/5 steps to wellbeing & more likely to have experienced mental ill-health.❌cuts to #DisabilityBenefits
www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/mental-...

Our welfare system is morally indefensible - but not like Keir Starmer thinks The Prime Minister reportedly told his MPs yesterday that the UK welfare system is morally indefensible.

Our welfare system is morally indefensible - but not like Kier Starmer thinks

www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/view...

This morning's Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed an unexpected slight fall in CPI inflation to 2.5%.

This is welcome news for the government, but it also serves as a reminder of their recent commitment to raising real living standards for all. 🧵 (1/4)

Struggling with the decision not to allow Bangor Academy to go through an integration process.

Integrated education here is conscious and intentional, in ethos, values and recruitment. When a school says ‘we wanna get better at this, would you help us’, I don’t think the right answer is no.

FactCheckNI is disappointed to learn of Meta’s decision to end its partnership with fact checking organisations in the US. FactCheckNI is particularly concerned with accusations of bias and censorship against fact checkers. Like other organisations on the programme, we exist to improve public debate and work under the fundamental principles of impartiality, transparency and accuracy. Equating facts with opinions undermines public confidence, increases apathy, and reduces participation in democratic processes. Neither misinformation or disinformation add anything positive to public debates and discussions – their effect is entirely corrosive.

📢 Our full statement on Meta’s decision to end support for US fact checkers on their fact checking programme is available here: factcheckni.org/articles/new...

"The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill is a major step forward for children, and we will be working with MPs across Parliament over the next few months to see where it can be strengthened even further." the Children's Charities Coalition. Logos of Action for Children, Barnardo's, NCB, NSPCC, and The Children's Society.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, discussed in Parliament today, contains welcome child protection and safeguarding measures. We'll keep working to strengthen the Bill even further. Read the Children's Charities Coalition's statement: tinyurl.com/ycwbzwdm

The worry about Meta's announcement isn't even that they are going to do all the things they've said; it's that other platforms - YouTube? TikTok? - could be emboldened to follow suit.

The X weirdness happened in a Musk vacuum; with Zuckerberg now using similar language, the others may join.

Just in from mammoth interview session to two bits of news. One that a DV perp got locked up because of something I did and that a vulnerable constituent had a a massive wrongful debt written off after our intervention. This is why I came to politics, this is why I'll just keep cracking on.

Going to give this a go. Not a fan Elon.