On 26th November 2025, the Government released its Autumn Budget, a yearly statement outlining plans for spending and taxes in the year ahead.
Earlier this year the Government tried to deliver a catastrophic blow to Disabled people, proposing dramatic cuts to social security in a bid to reach their own financial targets. Thanks to the tireless activism of the Disabled people’s movement, the Government was forced to walk back many of these proposed cuts.
Overall, this is a middle of the road budget. It could be worse, but it could also be much, much better. Instead of announcing more large-scale welfare cuts for Disabled people, this budget begins a slower process. It is a death by a thousand cuts.
Via a series of small changes, the Government is exposing Disabled people to lower incomes and more barriers to the support we deserve. For example:
- Freezing income tax thresholds means that those who earn the least will find their incomes creeping into taxable brackets.
- Increasing the quantity of face-to-face work capability assessments means that more people will be subjected to dehumanising and traumatising (re)assessments.
- Giving fewer tax breaks to the Motability scheme means that fewer Disabled people will be able to apply for support they are entitled to.
There are, however, a few wins in the budget:
- The two child benefit cap will be scrapped, pulling many children out of poverty.
- Award review periods will be extended for PIP, meaning that some claimants will be reassessed less frequently.
- Both PIP and Universal Credit will rise with inflation.
- There will be some small changes to mitigate the cost of living crisis, including a reduction in household energy bills and a one-year-freeze on regulated rail fares and prescription charges.
In her speech announcing the budget, Rachel Reeves (the Chancellor, who is responsible for government budgeting), repeated many of the tired and misguided stories the Government is using to try to cut welfare for Disabled people. She repeated, again, that the amount spent on welfare is too high and that Disabled people are being “failed” by a system that supposedly forces us out of work and onto benefits. We are not simply failed by the welfare system. We are failed by broken public services, constant misinformation about our lives, and by governments who fail to point the finger inwards when thinking about why so many of us are struggling and unwell.
NSUN will continue to fight this dangerous rhetoric. We will continue to work for a rights-based, just, and equitable world – especially for those who are Disabled and/or live with mental ill-health, distress, or trauma.
Learn more about the autumn budget: