Nick Wilson, 48, served in the British Army for 14 years (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
A military veteran has urged Sir Keir Starmer to spend a day in his “lonely and scared” life as disability benefit cuts loom.
The Government is looking to reduce the number of people claiming disability benefits — currently 3.7 million of working age — through potential changes to work capability assessments and the personal independence payment (PIP) and a clampdown on benefits fraud.
Nick Wilson, 48, who served in Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Iraq before leaving with a degenerative spinal injury, is among the ex-service people “terrified” of the plans.
While he applauds the focus on fraudsters, the 48-year-old said it scares him that the Government had “jumped into disability benefits for money saving” without considering how it would impact vulnerable patriots like him.
Mr Wilson, who suffers from PTSD, told the Express: “Billions of pounds have been wasted on projects like HS2 – so much money has been thrown away on ridiculous things, and look where they’re going to find more funding.
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The 48-year-old served in Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Iraq (Image: Nick Wilson)
“I think the money currently being spent on welfare is a ludicrous amount. I understand that money needs to be saved somewhere and the economy’s in the tank. But surely there are other places we can look before attacking people like me.
“So many of us have no trust in the Government as it is. Go for fraudsters, absolutely, but leave us alone.”
Disability benefits spending totalled around £39 billion in 2023/4, an amount the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said could rise to £58 billion in 2028/9.
The Department for Work and Pensions () is expected to outline a proposal for sickness and disability benefits reform in the spring, tackling an “£8 billion overspend” by the previous Conservative Government.
The Treasury could cut around £5 billion from welfare spending, The Times reported this week, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves hoping to direct savings towards other services while Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall fights to re-invest it in back-to-work programmes for the long-term sick.
As well as struggling with his mental health since his time in the Royal Logistics Corp, Mr Wilson, who lives in Towcester, Northamptonshire, was left homeless 16 months ago when the landlord of his flat decided to sell.
The council told him that no wheelchair-access properties were available, and he was assigned a small flat in a retirement complex, where he has had to remove all the doors to get around and is still barely able to reach the kitchen sink.
He added: “My chair leaves chips in the doorframes and on the walls. I had to sell my couch because there was no space for it. And I’m surrounded by 90-year-olds,” he said. “It’s not a community for someone of my age.”
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Mr Wilson said his life has been “lonely” since leaving the army (Image: Nick Wilson)
West Northamptonshire Council said it doesn’t comment on individual cases. Still, it was “committed to finding suitable housing for vulnerable residents, despite seeing both a local and national shortage of accessible homes available”.
“My housing benefit pays for this place, and I get £270 PIP for daily and enhanced mobility as well as a war pension, which is £250 a month,” Mr Wilson said. “If it wasn’t for the war pension, I’d be really struggling and I can’t afford a normal life as it is.
“I don’t go out anywhere. It makes things worse, being socially isolated and lonely. I don’t have friends around and don’t spend money on going out and socialising. I couldn’t afford to. The last time I bought new clothes was around three years ago.”
A natural enterpriser, the 48-year-old has begun to carve out an income stream as an online content creator under the handle ‘Disabled Adventurer’ and recently worked with the National Trust to create accessibility videos for their paths and trails.
If any of his benefits were cut, however, he would be forced to stop working because he could no longer afford to make up a reduction in his benefits entitlement linked to his employment status despite still being unable to pay himself.
The Government’s messaging, to be “ruthless” in slashing expenditure, betrays a “cavernous disconnect” with the disabled community, including other veterans who Mr Wilson said share his concerns.
“It’s a very scary rhetoric for someone in my situation to hear, and I know a lot of my followers feel the same. Everyday is tough already. You wouldn’t believe the level of stress, depression and anxiety we feel when we’re grouped in with people who are scammers and lazy.”
“I don’t know how they can think about making cuts when there are so many disabled people only just affording to pay for their food and bills,” Mr Wilson added. “They’re making it sound like we’re on thousands of pounds a month with our feet up.
Mr Wilson struggles to fit through the doors at his ‘unsuitable’ flat (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
“I’d like to invite Mr Starmer to come and spend a day in a wheelchair with me, and I’ll show him what it’s actually like. If the Prime Minister spent time with disabled people and saw all the small, incredibly difficult things they have to deal with every day, I have no doubt that he’d be shocked.”
“The Government would win a lot more hearts and minds if they spoke to us and put better infrastructure in place instead of making these quick cash grabs,” he said.
“So much of how the world works isn’t designed for disabled people, especially wheelchair users. I think we have to be sensible in what we ask to be changed – there’s not enough money for councils to create lots of dropped kerbs. But where I live, no taxis will take a wheelchair. It’s difficult to get on the bus. Especially in rural areas, it’s just not possible for people to get out of the house, let alone go to work.”
Labour’s “biggest fraud crackdown in a generation” could also include giving banks access to the accounts of welfare benefit claimants, according to reports.
Mr Wilson is unenthusiastic at the prospect of his financial records being exposed to scrutiny. “It’s really scary because it’s so complex. It lends to this black-and-white approach that could hurt people like me. And it doesn’t solve the problem of the Government being so disconnected from disabled people anyway.”
Sasha Misra, of the armed services charity Help for Heroes, echoed Mr Wilson’s frustration, stressing that “welfare reform must recognise the sacrifices made by veterans and place their often complex needs at the heart of any changes”.
“Through our work, we know many are disadvantaged by the current system,” she added. “For veterans, welfare support is not just a safety net, but a bridge to stability, recovery and where possible, employment.”
The charity has urged the Government to “engage directly with veterans and veteran organisations to achieve this” as well as to “explore how veterans’ health and rehabilitation services could be integrated into workforce strategies”.
Hannah Pearce, Director of Campaigns, Policy and Research at the Royal British Legion, said the national veterans charity is also “concerned about potential cuts impacting the support available to those in the Armed Forces community”.
“Data from the 2021 Census shows that 32% of veterans in England and Wales are disabled, so cuts to benefits like PIP could undermine the support system that so many of our veterans and their families rely on,” she told the Express.
“The Government needs to make sure that the benefits system works for the unique needs of the Armed Forces community, who may have specific mental and physical health issues and difficulty accessing health services, so they are provided with adequate resources to live full and dignified lives.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We are deeply proud of our veterans for the contribution they make to our country. Theirs is the ultimate public service, and their professionalism and bravery is rightly respected across the world.
“Building on our Get Britain Working White Paper, we will bring forward proposals for reforming the health and disability benefits system within weeks so we can build a better welfare system for everyone, and are working closely with disabled people, disability organisations and people with health conditions so their views and voices are at the heart of our plans.”