Stephen Fry, Stanley Tucci and Arlene Phillips among stars demanding benefit cuts U-turn

19 comments

1. Stephen Fry and Stanley Tucci would be a formidable team to argue with.

2. Actors and choreographers being famously representative of the vox populi.

3. Love most of those guys but their opinion on politics is irrelevant. This fawning over actors is so cringe. Most of them are just as posh and privileged as the people at the root of the problem.

4. My brain missed the word U-Turn then, thought it was kinda harsh of them

5. Ask them to share their actual marginal tax rate after they’ve funnelled it all via companies to avoid getting paid by PAYE …..

   People like them are the reason cuts are needed

6. Maybe we can use some of that half a billion that we waste per year on Fry’s “dear friend”, Charlie.

7. I don’t think the cuts are targeted at the people who actually need it.

8. The cuts are needed against those who don’t need them. You should never be better off on benefits than you would be working. Likewise, those who genuinely can’t work should be protected at all costs. While this happens though, we absolutely should be making the filthy rich pay more and make it harder to find loopholes.

9. Woah buddy!!! Did your elected government just propose a new change without the approval of.. *checks notes*… the guy from transformers? not cool dude….

10. Maybe Fry should hand back his Knighthood if he’s so upset about it.

11. People say nice things

    This sub: don’t trust them, they’re up to something.

12. completely out of touch…. benefit fraud is rife in the uk

13. What’s wrong with you people?
    These people have a huge public presence, and their opinions carry weight. It doesn’t matter if they are rich or not.
    The fact is Starmer is taking the piss with these PIP cuts and the more people complain loudly about it, the better.

14. There was a good conversation about this on the newsagents podcast.

15. I love all the commenters here stating that actors are divorced from day to day existence of poor people so their opinion isn’t valid…

    Whilst salivating over the opinions of the ‘man of the people’ – the privately educated commodities trader millionaire who owns the company they vote for.

16. What is the solution then? If those not at the most need are not brought back into the world of work (assuming there are actually jobs for them), how are we going to continue paying PIP payments in the longer run? If the bill is already £20bn higher after COVID and is set to double again in the coming years, this will cripple the countries finances. Moreover, we now face an existential threat in the coming years with a likely ear in Europe and the Far East with China and Taiwan – how are we going to defend ourselves? There seems to be a backlash against all mental health conditions being eligible for PIPs and that’s wrong – assessment needs to get better but also the root causes of some conditions like anxiety and depression need to be tackled with better services because an ever growing PIP and benefits bill is not possible.

17. Does that mean they would be happy to pay more tax into the coffers then?

18. If they manage to help reverse this cruel change in legislation, I don’t care who they are.
    I have mental health issues and without my PIP, I won’t be able to exist. Thanks, Kier….

19. How the hell has Stanley Tucci got involved?!

    Stephen Fry I get, because he’s always been quite vocal about his opinions; Arlene Phillips is probably looking for some relevance; Rosie Jones probably has some very personal insight into and experience of this. Stanley Tucci? I’m drawing a blank!

Comments are closed.