Protesters, including Liz Carr (above, right), said Labour were letting down the most vulnerable in society

AN actor has said that the disabled community is living in “fear” as she joined dozens of protesters outside the Town Hall on Saturday to oppose Labour’s benefit cuts.

Liz Carr, known for her role as Clarissa in Silent Witness, was among those speaking out against Labour’s plan to cut personal indepen­dence payment (PIP) to disabled people.

She said: “I’m an Islington resident who feels strongly that I want my MP, who is Emily Thornberry, and also my Labour council to know that there is huge opposition to the proposed benefit cuts that are being discussed and hopefully don’t go through.

“The fear that exists in my disability community is so great that it felt important to be here at this protest today.”

The Labour government argue that the cuts, which will affect around 800,000 according to the Office for Budget Res­ponsibility, will encourage people back to work.

Ms Carr said: “They’re being really disingenuous They’re making it quite complicated, and actually a lot of the benefits will impact on disabled people who are in work. This is not about disabled people who can’t work.”

She added: “I have social care support as a disabled person to employ personal assistants, I get PIP money because I need support to get to work, for example. Those extra costs, access to work, that’s a support for those of us in employment. All of those things are being threatened.”

The actor told the Tribune how the language used by the Labour Party was making disabled people feel like a “burden”.

She said: “What I’m seeing happening more than ever is this creation of the deserving and the undeserving poor, and it devastates me that we are seeing that under a Labour government.

“I think it’s very useful in the media to use words like ‘scroungers’ and ‘handouts’.

“These are not ‘handouts’, these are entitlements that people have as an acknowledgement of the extra costs that are incurred as a result of being a disabled person, because we live in an inaccessible society, or because we do have extra needs or requirements. I would not be doing the job that I do if it wasn’t for extra supports.”

Protesters spoke of how Labour was letting down the most vulnerable in society and called for Emily Thornberry – who in 2023 assured constituents that a Labour government would create a “supportive and compassionate welfare system” that “is designed to support disabled people not just to survive, but thrive” – to speak out against the cuts.

Asked what her message to government is, Ms Carr said: “Tax the rich, don’t be so afraid, you’re just so ‘let’s please the people who keep you in power’. Who are you really there for? If you’re there for ambition and for your own individualism, which I think you are, then fine.

“But not every MP is I think. I think there are some brilliant MPs, some brilliant Labour MPs as well. Do the job for which you were originally elected to do. And that is to look after you constituents, all of them – rich and poor, disabled and non-disabled – and stop scapegoating disabled people and putting them in poverty, and at risk.”

Islington South MP Emily Thornberry said: “We need a welfare system that supports people back into work, helps those who can’t work and is financially sustainable. Unfortun­ately, our current system it’s not achieving any of this.

“The welfare system needs major reform, but any changes would need to be fair.

“I have listened to the concerns of many of my constituents and will be sharing these with the minister.”