Reform UK Proposes £50bn Welfare Overhaul and Abolition of PIP

Reform UK has announced plans to overhaul the welfare system to save approximately £50 billion, a move that would affect nearly three million people. The proposal includes the abolition of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for working age people and the removal of health related payments from Universal Credit. These would be replaced by a Health Security Allowance for the most severe and high risk cases, while other claimants would receive support through council run programs to cover verifiable additional costs. Robert Jenrick, the party's treasury spokesperson, stated that the current system is a perversion of compassion and that the changes would target areas where growth in claims has been most explosive, particularly regarding mental health and behavioral conditions. The plan also requires companies with more than five employees to take out insurance to cover sick pay for the first two years, a measure modeled on the Dutch system intended to incentivize employers to return staff to work. To offset this cost, Reform proposes cutting National Insurance contributions for employers. The party also intends to spend an extra £1.85 billion annually on interventions such as physiotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Labour has dismissed the plan as fantasy economics built on stripping support from disabled people. The Conservatives called the policy half baked and suggested it was an attempt to distract from a £5 million gift received by Nigel Farage. While center leaning coverage focused on the specific structural changes and the Dutch model, center left leaning coverage emphasized the impact on the gravely ill and the party's critique of the current epidemic of disability claims.