The Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington, Gideon Amos, is backing the party’s amendment to the Government’s controversial Welfare Bill to protect carers at risk of losing support from the planned cuts to spending.
The Government’s own estimates say that 150,000 unpaid carers would lose Carers’ Allowance as a result of the proposed cuts contained in the legislation.
Mr Amos says the cut would be a “double whammy” for these households, as carers would lose their Carers’ Allowance as soon as the loved one they care for loses their Personal Independence Payments due to the reforms.
The MP met with unpaid family carers in Comeytrowe, Taunton, recently at a support group organised by the Community Council for Somerset.
He said that "many people are struggling to look after two or more family members who need help and care in a daily basis and barely managing to get by.
“Far from cutting this support, the government should be widening access to Carers’ Allowance. That would be the right thing to do for families here in Taunton and Wellington, but it would also be better for the economy.
“Unpaid family carers save the NHS and our government billions of pounds in all the free care and support they are giving to their loved ones.
“Disabled people too will lose out in this top-down decision by government to cut £5 billion from their benefits.
“We should instead focus on helping people back to work and back to health and judge our success by the amount saved in benefits paid. The government have got this the wrong way round and must be forced to change".
Mr Amos added: “After the Conservatives made a mess of government so completely, it's disappointing to see the new government wanting to cut disability benefits in this way.
“I and my LibDem colleagues will fiercely protect carers and use our amendment to defeat these proposals. I hope MPs from across the House will do likewise".
If passed, the Liberal Democrat amendment would stop the bill from becoming law in order to protect thousands of unpaid carers and their loved ones, including in Taunton and Wellington, falling victim to these cuts.
