Accessibility and inclusion consultant Dr Shani Dhanda told The Division Bell how disabled people are discussing assisted dying amidst PIP eligibility cuts
Tightening the eligibility for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) is making disabled people consider assisted dying, according to a top accessibility and inclusion campaigner..
“Do you know how many disabled people are contacting me at the moment saying: ‘I don’t know what to do – I want to end my life?’” Dr Shani Dhanda told Political Editor Lizzy Buchan on The Division Bell.
After Work and Payments secretary Liz Kendall’s announcement on March 18 that the bulk of the savings will come from changing PIP eligibility, Dr Dhanda revealed disabled people are already feeling panicked and upset by what these cuts will mean for their future.
“We’ve got to talk about how this is against the backdrop of the assisted dying bill. So many disabled people are already in poverty and destitution and they can’t see any way out because the opportunities aren’t there.”
In November 2024, 330 MPs voted in support of a proposal to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. There are currently 23 MPs on the committee scrutinising the proposal, but once it returns to the House of Commons and the Lords it could become law.
While the timing of these proposals might appear unconnected, Dr. Dhanda points out the devastating real-world impact of the two.
“The reality for people will be, do I just fall into poverty or am I such a burden on society and on my family that I choose this option to end my life? A lot of disabled people are calling this modern-day eugenics.”
Dr Shani Dhanda criticises Pip benefit cuts
Dr Dhanda said that Labour’s decision to tighten PIP eligibility is not going to encourage disabled people to work, because the issue is not a lack of motivation but a lack of accessibility.
PIP payments help cover the extra costs associated with living with a long-term illness of disability. Dr Dhanda emphasised that: “Do people not realize that without basic access, people will never be able to get into work?”
“If this really is a conversation about getting people into work, there are certain things that we have to all be able to do to be functional, to be presentable, to be clean, you know, to have our healthcare needs met, our medical needs met. This is not about perks.”
Through her work with the pan-disability charity Scope, Dr Dhanda helped over one million people get employment support advice to get into work over three years in a partnership with Virgin Media. “No one can tell me disabled people don’t want to work.”
In regards to disabled people reaching out about a desire to end their lives over these changes, Dr Dhanda confessed: “I too have felt that massive sense of hopelessness, especially at a young age, when I was trying to get into work and I couldn’t get into work.”
“When I first tried to enter the workforce at 16, I had to remove any mention of my disability and it wasn’t until I did that that I got offered an interview and that was after applying for over 100 entry-level jobs that didn’t need any experience or qualification.”
Dr Dhanda has since consulted with organisations including Google , Target , LinkedIn and ITV . She said:”If I didn’t make the decisions then to create my own opportunities. I don’t know what I’d be doing now. And that is really scary.”
To hear more from Dr Shani Dhanda, Lizzy Buchan and Christian Calgie watch the new episode of The Division Bell on Youtube, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.