Whilst welcoming this move, I can’t avoid thinking about the context. In my view, opposition to ‘benefit cuts’ can fit into the paternalism that sections of the Left have shown historically towards disabled people. Clearly, as I’ve stated elsewhere, it is right to oppose the plans of Kendall and Reeves; however I believe it will be an inadequate response if these plans are not situated within the wider context of disabled people’s denial of full participation in society.
The importance of so called ‘disability benefits’ lies with the fact disabled people encounter a myriad of disabling barriers, each with its own financial cost. In our current system issues around experiencing ill health and social consequences of impairment reality are conflated. This is why I call benefit assessment processes ‘body fascist’ – they are oppressively judgmental.
Many disabled people live in poverty, but this is not solely caused by having to live on benefits or having impairments. Our social exclusions restrict work and housing opportunities, impact on our daily living costs – transport, diets, fuel, equipment, etc. The attacks on the Welfare State by New Labour exposed its lies and hypocrisy because on one hand it was calling disabled people lazy benefit cheats whilst on the other, promising them ‘equality’ (sic) by 2025!
The current planned ‘benefit reforms’ need to be situated within the context of both the impact upon indivdual lives and the collective impact of the ideological war being conducted by the neoliberals and far right. How disability is framed, who is and who isn’t judged to be ‘disabled’ is part and parcel of this wider agenda. Women and trans people are also being subjected to the ideological war.
The UK state is not unitary from the point of taxation. There is significant fiscal devolution – council tax and its equivalent is devolved to all four polities, and property sales taxes devolved in Cymru and Scotland. Scotland has significant influence over income tax rates and bands, but the ability to create new taxes is largely controlled by Westminster though a Tourist tax has been approved. Interestingly, Corporation Tax was devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Tories (largely to encourage it to match the very low rates in the 26 county Republic of Ireland state). However VAT, National Insurance and many other taxes are UK-wide (not just “Britain”) and controlled by Westminster.
The STUC has identified measures https://www.stuc.org.uk/news/news/stuc-launch-tax-proposals-to-save-scotlands-public-services/ under current devolution arrangements that could be used to tax wealth more by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Greens have in the last few days introduced an exemplary measure into the housing bill at Holyrood to remove the exemption on the monarch’s properties being taxed in Scotland (he owns 80), a symbolic gesture but not politically insignificant, and have proposed a new council tax band for mansions. The Scottish Socialist Party has long proposed removing the regressive council tax and replacing it with a redistributive Scottish Service Tax.
This is all in advance of the devolved Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026. Polls tell us voters in Cymru strongly support the extension of the fiscal powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament to Senedd Cymru, as a minimal demand, and also elect a new Senedd on a new PR system in May 2026.
The campaign for a wealth tax will therefore have a totally different character and demands in the different parts of “Britain” (which has not been a fiscal or economic unit for 225 years by the way). There are no Anglo-centric “one size fits all” fiscal solutions, even within the current form of the UK state.