I doubt the government understands what disabled people need in order to work (Starmer decries ‘worst of all worlds’ benefits system ahead of deep cuts, 10 March). I have a mental health condition, physical disabilities and am neurodiverse. To do meaningful part-time work, I had to become self-employed, simply to work at my level of skill and experience. It costs me nearly £1,000 a month in various ways to remain well enough to work consistently – all post-tax.

The NHS is merely keeping me alive – it isn’t interested in optimising my life, for example, by tackling the hideous side-effects of my medication – and the tax system refuses to recognise that anything more than keeping me alive is required. And a Labour government thinks it can cast people out into the world of work with no resources to make them well enough to show up, day in, day out?

Until the NHS can do a lot more than just keep us alive, and the tax system recognises how much it costs us to fill the remaining gap between existence and wellness to work, any cuts are going to have hideous consequences.

I cannot bear the thought of a Labour government repeating the tragic losses of life seen when the personal independence payment system was so badly introduced by the Tories. I have been broadly satisfied with what Labour has done with less money in the kitty, but this is deeply concerning.
Heather Bingham
Wortwell, Norfolk

Your article (12 March) mentions plans to cut universal credit for those judged unfit for work. If someone is genuinely unable to work because of sickness or disability, how can there be any justification for cutting their benefits? I should really like to understand the logic behind this. If someone is falsely claiming to be unable to work, this should be picked up by the assessment process.

As someone who loved their job as a teacher until I was forced to stop working nine years ago as a result of a brain injury, I can assure the government that reducing my benefits will not help my brain heal.
Carolyn Sutton
Glastonbury, Somerset

In the 1970s, when I worked as an occupational psychologist (OP) for the then Ministry of Labour, there was a much more humane and effective way of getting the long-term sick back into work than the current punitive sanctions and cuts. At industrial rehabilitation units those recovering from injury or illness spent several weeks in work-like settings being assessed by a team including an OP, a doctor, social worker and disablement resettlement officer, before being placed in appropriate work or training. This worked well, a bit like a proper prison rehabilitation scheme that cuts recidivism rates.

Enabling the disadvantaged to help themselves is much more effective, and cheaper in the long run, than simple “punishment”.
Michael Miller
Sheffield

The prime minister is right about Britain’s broken benefits system, but if the country does need to reboot the system, the government needs to respect rights while it does so. Adequate social security is not a political gift, it is a human right. Ensuring people can eat and live safely with their families and in communities is a right that the UK has committed to. However, successive governments have failed to respect and enforce those rights.

And now, instead of using this moment to address the root causes of out-of-control costs of housing and essentials, and the resulting reliance on food banks and debt for so many people, it looks like this government is playing to the gallery and selling its reform credentials by making threats to reduce the “burden” on society of people who are ill or disabled. For so many in the UK, poverty is a political choice forced upon them. The prime minister can choose to end it.
Sacha Deshmukh
Chief executive, Amnesty UK

Keir Starmer cannot reduce the colossal benefits bill without addressing the crisis in primary care in England. Medical certificates are signed by GPs. To help someone back into work or counsel them properly about their situation requires time and, ideally, a face-to-face appointment. I worked as a GP for the NHS for more than 20 years. Every day we had to prioritise seeing people who were acutely unwell over some of these other important needs. I, like many of my colleagues, have reissued a medical certificate to a patient I don’t know without so much as a phone call. And we spend many hours supporting patients with their appeal process when their benefits have been cut or stopped. Demand for appointments will soar as benefits are cut and poverty hits.
Dr Natalie Symes
London