People ‘shoved’ by Labour staff during benefits protest in city

A group of around 10 people from Oxford Transsexual Menace sat outside Oxford Labour’s offices on Wednesday, March 26. 

The group describes itself as “Oxford-based action for trans futures and collective liberation”. 

A group spokesperson said: “Regrettably, employees of Labour and Unite the union shoved sitting protesters, crossed the picket line, and called the police on our peaceful demonstration. 

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“We carry tombstones because Labour budgets, whether through neglect and deprivation in the UK, or by facilitating genocide overseas, kill. 

“Oxford Transsexual Menace demands dignity, safety and joy for all: trans and cis, disabled and abled, in our city and across the world.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “With Labour, our welfare system will always be there for those who need it most. Our Plan for Change is getting Britain working again by fixing the broken welfare system we inherited which was failing millions of people. Our principled reforms will ensure those who can work, do work, and will put the welfare system on a more sustainable footing so those in need of support always have the opportunity to access it.”

Thames Valley Police has been contacted for comment.

The Government earlier this month announced a tightening of eligibility for the main disability benefit personal independence payment (Pip) and changes to the sickness element of universal credit.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her spring statement on Wednesday to also confirm that universal credit health benefits for new claimants will be halved in 2026 and then frozen until 2030.

The Oxford Transsexual Menace spokesperson added: “These cuts will result in more than one million people with disabilities losing vital support: meanwhile, the MPs inflicting the cuts are set to receive a 2.8 per cent pay rise. 

“Keir Starmer’s government is continuing the death-dealing austerity of the Tory governments that preceded it, abnegating its responsibilities to society’s most vulnerable—whether disabled, trans, poor, or immigrant—at every turn. 

“The cuts also occur in the context of the government’s recent £13.4bn per year increase in defence spending at the expense of foreign aid.”

Work and pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms said the changes to personal independence payments are “definitely not being rushed” and will be done in a “managed and compassionate way”.

Speaking in the Commons after the spring statement, Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell recognised the importance of financial responsibility but said the Labour Party has an “additional responsibility around having social responsibility”.

Addressing the Chancellor, she said: “So can we look at the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) changes again?

“Of course, protecting the most vulnerable, but it’s those people just above that band which are set to lose and we’re really worried about those.”